Math Assessments: Creating Technology Enhanced Items and Adding Rigor

1. “I guarantee that we will see mathematics scores fall sharply…This is an indication that we are expecting more of students, not that they are learning less” -- Pat Wright, Virginia State Superintendent of Education

2. Math Assessments:Creating Technology Enhanced Items and Adding Rigor Henrico County Public Schools August 2012

3. Introductions • What is your name? • Where do you teach? • Which type of assessment item (True/False, multiple choice, matching, etc.) best matches your personality?

4. Our Goals • Identify shifts in assessment practices and brainstorm implications of these changes • Identify current assessment instruments used to measure academic growth and their strengths and limitations • Examine current assessments to identify areas of rigor and relevance • Examine standards (verbs) and determine appropriate assessment options • Begin the process of creating or revising assessments – distinguish short and long-term goals

5. Curve of Change Implementation Progress Past Practice Denial Acceptance Anger Understanding Fear Depression Where are you?

6. Key Questions • What do we want students to be able to do? • How do we want them to demonstrate it? • How can our assessments help determine the level of understanding? • Why does Virginia/Henrico assess students? • Why do teachers assess students?

7. We MUST change instruction! • Teachers must instruct in the manner that we are going to assess. • Students must have experiences with these assessments regularly in their classroom. • Teachers must learn how to ask good questions.

8. Bloom’s Taxonomy

15. Traditional Assessment Standards/Objectives Instructional Activities Assessment 21st Century Assessment Standards/Objectives Real-World “Ends” Instructional Activities Assessments

16. SOL Assessment Changes – All Levels • Increased focus on multistep and applied (“practical” or “real world”) problems • Increased emphasis on models and multiple representations

17. We all have a role in a quality implementation of new standards

18. Mathematics Supervisors • Curriculum/pacing guide updates • Resources realignment • Communication of changes and countywide PD efforts/emphasis • Collaboration • Within the division • Among divisions • Professional development

19. School-level Administrators • When observing, notice who is doing the most thinking – teachers or students • Communicate with the mathematics supervisor and/or central office staff about what is being observed • Facilitate common planning periods for teachers (general and special education) of the same subjects – when possible • Provide guidelines and expectations for planning (learning community) meetings

20. Teachers • Engage students in the learning, providing relevant and rigorous activities and tasks • Ask high-leverage questions – make students work harder than you • Require students to communicate their thinking and listen carefully to them • Make students justify their thinking • Use multiple models Process Goals!

21. Teachers • Use formative assessments to learn about the level of student understanding and reflect on your own teaching • Know what needs to be taught and to what extent

22. What did we learn about assessments in college? How should we assess students? 2 minute group discussion

23. Types of AssessmentInformal and Formal • Formative • Checking in on the formation of learning • Diagnostic in nature – should lead to changes in instruction • Assessment for learning • Questions (verbal), homework, classwork, quizzes, benchmark tests • Includes a lot of student feedback

24. Types of Assessment • Summative • Assessment of learning • Provides a numeric evaluation • Tests, projects, simulation tests • Less feedback

25. Types of Assessment • Multiple choice • Open response • Short response • fill in the blank • solve/simplify/select/sort/compare • create/describe/shade • explain why/justify • Open-ended • no predefined answer • synthesizes multiple concepts

26. How will you plan to use assessments to better determine your students level of understanding? It is time to upgrade Our knowledge Our instruction Our assessments

27. Are you smarter than aGeometry student? OLD NEW

28. Increased Rigor Understanding the “increased rigor” of the new SOL comes through analysis of the SOL and the Curriculum Framework

29. Exercise #1

30. Instruction, Assessment, and Backwards Design STEPS • Analyze an SOL and Curriculum Framework - what students should be able to do • Brainstorm ways to assess the SOL • Develop an assessment • Brainstorm instructional strategies • Develop instructional resources/lesson plans

31. Analysis - What should students be able to do? Analyze the SOL and list at least 5 different things that students should know and be able to do. SOL 6.13 The student will describe and identify properties of quadrilaterals • Sort and classify polygons as quadrilaterals, parallelograms, rectangles, trapezoids, kites, rhombi, and squares based on their properties. Properties include number of parallel sides, angle measures, and number of congruent sides. • Identify the sum of the measures of the angles of a quadrilateral as 360°.

32. Developing Assessments and Appropriate Instruction – Backwards Design • Analyze an SOL and Curriculum Framework - what students should be able to do • Brainstorm ways to assess the SOL • Develop assessment items • Brainstorm instructional strategies • Develop instructional resources

33. Developing Assessments and Appropriate Instruction – Backwards Design • Analyze an SOL and Curriculum Framework - what students should be able to do • Brainstorm ways to assess the SOL • Develop assessment items • Brainstorm instructional strategies • Develop instructional resources

34. Exercise #2 Compare the 2001 SOL to the 2009 SOL group discussion

35. How has the rigor increased? 2001 SOL 7.22 The student will a) solve one-step linear equations and inequalities in one variable with strategies involving inverse operations and integers, using concrete materials, pictorial representations, and paper and pencil; andb) solve practical problems requiring the solution of a one-step linear equation. 2009 SOL 7.14 The student will a) solve one- and two-step linear equations in one variable; and b) solve practical problems requiring the solution of one- and two-step linear equations.

36. Trending articles Backwards Planning Takes Thinking Ahead • Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/backwards-planning-thinking-ahead-rebecca-alber

37. Technology Enhanced Items (TEI) Format of Questions: • Fill in the blank • Drag and drop • Hot-spot: Select one or more “spots” to respond to a test item, i.e. select answer option(s), shade region(s), place a point on a grid • Creation of graphs

38. Technology Enhanced Items (TEI) Spring 2012 Test Administration For online tests that assess 2009 Mathematics SOL: • Grade 6 through End-of-Course (EOC): TEI will be operational (approximately 15% of the test form)

39. Sample TEI – Fill in the Blank

40. Sample TEI – Drag and Drop

41. Sample TEI – Hot Spot

42. Sample TEI – Create Graphs

43. Practice SOL Items • It is essential that students have experiences with the Practice SOL Items prior to testing. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/practice_items/index.shtml • Use of the Practice Item Guides is STRONGLY recommended. • Practice Item Guides provide: • Guided practice with tools • Information specific to TEI functionality • Information on item format

44. Modifying Assessment Items Use these guiding questions to “upgrade” the following SOL questions • How could a test item writer ask this in a TEI format? • What types of classroom activities or assessments could I use to prepare students?

45. Modifying Assessments

46. Modifying Assessments

47. Modifying Assessments

48. Modifying Assessments

49. Modifying Assessments

50. Modifying Assessments