ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING MOTIVATING - ENGAGING - PURPOSEFUL

1. ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNINGMOTIVATING - ENGAGING - PURPOSEFUL UBCO Teacher Candidate Session - April, 2017 Welcome / Take Time to Peruse Resources Contact Info: WEBSITE: http://pamsamaddar.weebly.com EMAIL: pamela.samaddar@sd23.bc.ca Google Docs: pamela.samaddar@learn.sd23.bc.ca

2. I’M EXCITED TO SHARE WITH YOU THIS AFTERNOON!

3. Agenda http://pamsamaddar.weebly.com

4. Why Are We Here? “Seeking to ensure that each young person leaves his or her family, community and school prepared to be an independent, self-directed, lifelong learner – a person who will most likely have many careers over a lifetime.” Anne Davies, MCAW (2007)

5. An Inspiring Video The Late Rita Pierson “Every kid needs a champion” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFnMTHhKdkw 7:48

6. I can gain a deeper understanding of what quality assessment “is” …“is not” I can explore helpful resources on assessment I can reflect on my own practice with assessment I can “harvest” strategies and take away one idea to use in the near future Learning Targets

7. Life seeks organization, but it uses messes to get there. Organization is a process, not a structure. Margaret Wheatley

8. A JOURNEY WITH THE END IN MIND Reflection is one way to dialogue with yourself about a learning experience . • Did I accomplish what I set out to accomplish? • What did I learn that was useful to me as an educator? • How did this learning change my thinking or practice? • What more would I like to learn about the subject?

9. REFLECT AS WE GO?

10. Margin Notes •  I agree •  A question I have about this • “Aha!” Post-Its

11. Exploring Quality Assessment The teaching practice that ensures greater understanding by placing the student at the heart of their own learning

12. What Quality Assessment Means to Us?” ASSESSMENT DONEPOORLY (IS NOT…) DONERIGHT (IS…) LOOKS LIKE

13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZo2PIhnmNY

14. DESCRIBE YOUR BEST ASSESSMENT STORY OR - What forms does assessment information take in your classroom?

15. Assessment in Your Classroom? • Grade • Symbol • Number • Percent • Raw score • Comment • Other

16. “Innovations that include strengthening the practice of formative assessment produce significant and often substantial learning gains.”—Black & Wiliam, 1998b, p. 140

17. Review of Research “Inside the Black Box” by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam.What were the effect sizes reported? • .4 to .7 gain • .7 standard deviation score gain = • 25 percentile points on ITBS (middle of score range) • 70 SAT score points • 4 ACT score points Largest Gain for Low Achievers

18. What gives formative assessment its power?What practices do Black & Wiliam recommend as necessary?

19. Provision of descriptive feedback, with guidance on how to improve, during the learning • Development of student self- and peer-assessment skills

20. Use of classroom discussions, classroom tasks, and homeworkto determine the current state of student learning/understanding, with action taken to improve learning and correct misunderstandings

21. Increasedescriptive feedback, reduce evaluative feedback • Increaseself- and peer-assessment • Increaseopportunities for students to communicate their evolving learningduring instruction

22. Refining Our Definition of Formative Assessment • Review the definitions of formative assessment offered by other researchers. • Taking into account these definitions, and the practices Black & Wiliam identified, revisit your own definition. • How might you change it?

23. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT Formal and informal processes teachers and students use to gather evidence for the purpose of improving learning SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT Assessments that provide evidence of student achievement for the purpose of making a judgment about student competence or program effectiveness

24. It is the use we make of the assessment information, not the instrument itself, that determines whether it is formative or summative.

26. Assessment for Learning “There are no hard and fast rules, only ideas to be thoughtfully explored and decisions to be made…Just as there are many right ways to teach, no one can tell you exactly how you should assess your students.” Anne Davies

27. Assessment and instruction are inseparable – effective assessment informs learning. Students become central to all aspects of assessment – it is done with them, not to them. To be central, students must be partners in all aspects of the assessment process. The Big Idea

28. “Learners need assessment like fish need water.”Anne Davies Flipping the dynamic - Make your efforts fruitful Fish need water like we need air – assessment needs to be constant; ever present; learning from mistakes

29. Indicators of Student Involvement: Students are able to articulate the learningdestination and understand what success looks like Students have time to learn Students collect evidence of their own learning SD #23 District Vision Quality assessment is the teaching practice that ensures greater understanding by placing students at the heart of their own learning.

30. Have access to samples showing quality work Are able to describe what evidence of learning might look like Set criteria with teachers to define quality Students are able to articulate the learning destination and understand what success looks like, students:

31. Receive and give themselves specific, descriptive feedback as they learn Debrief their learning with peers and others; get feedback for learning Use feedback and self-assess to set goals for future learning Revisit and reset the criteria as they learn more Students have time to learn, students:

32. Present evidence of learning to others and receive feedback Are authentically engaged in the learning/assessment process Students collect evidence of their own learning, students:

33. Students should know as much as us – E.g., learning targets; consider it “like a journey” to Vancouver Learning Targets (Big Ideas, Curricular & Core Competencies) Breakdown into manageable steps (Like stops along the way, Merritt) Students can be taught the meaning of big ideas/competencies; caution the use of “kid-friendly” language (Anne Davies) Asks us to question, “What we are doing because it is a “fun” activity but it does not fit with learning Other Thoughts…

34. Building Student SuccessBC’s New Curriculum – Responsive to Needs of All Learners • Personal Awareness & Responsibility* • Positive Personal and Cultural Identity* • Communication* • Social Responsibility* Intellectual • Creative Thinking* • Critical Thinking* SD23’S Attributes of a Learner: Learner-Thinker-Collaborator-Contributor -Thinker New Curriculum https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum Same? Different? https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/sites/curriculum.gov.bc.ca/files/pdf/redesign.pdf *Core Competencies https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/competencies

35. Learning occurs when we are making mistakes • Feedback is most effectivewhen we are working on the task • Assessment is imperative at the moment of greatest need • Strategies to consider: • Group work, Cooperative Learning (E.g., Kagan • Peer assessment • 3 before me • Silent signals – red light/green light

36. Tests/Quizzes/Grades? • Do not place the student at the center. • Do not tell the whole story • Are easily reduced to a single grade. • Are so seductive !

37. Formative Assessment in Teachers’ Hands —Chappuis, 2009, p. 9 • Who is and is not understanding the lesson? • What are this student’s strengths and needs? • What misconceptions do I need to address? • What feedback should I give students? • What adjustments should I make to instruction? • How should I group students? • What differentiation do I need to prepare?

38. To attain the achievement gains promised by formative assessment, the ultimate user of formative assessment information must be the student.

39. Formative Assessment in Students’ HandsWhat are students’ information needs? What formative assessment practices address these needs?

40. Formative Assessment in Students’ Hands The indispensable conditions for improvement are that the student: • Comes to hold a concept of quality roughly similar to that held by the teacher • Is able to monitor continuously the quality of what is being produced during the act of production itself • Has a repertoire of alternative moves or strategies from which to draw —Sadler, 1989, p. 121

41. Where are you trying to go? • Identify and communicate the learning goals. • Where are you now? • Assess or help the student to self-assess current levels of understanding. • How can you get there? • Help the student with strategies and skills to reach the goal. • Atkin, Black, & Coffey, 2001, p. 14

42. Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning Where am I going? • Provide students with a clear and understandable statement of the learning target. • Use examples and models of strong and weak work. Where am I now? 3. Offer regular descriptive feedback. 4. Teach students to self-assess and set goals. How can I close the gap? • Design lessons to focus on one learning target or aspectof quality at a time. • Teach students focused revision. 7. Engage students in self-reflection, and let them keep track of and sharetheir learning.

43. In a classroom of between 24 – 30 students how can we keep assessment immediate and ever present for every child? The Big Question!

44. Marking does not enhance achievement The first grade given sets the student’s expectations for the course Subsequent grades confirm their expectations Gender influences attitude to grades Research Findings

45. You need criteria before evaluating. You need to communicate it clearly. The purpose or goal must be clear Without criteria, personal preference becomes unspoken criteria. More Discussions and Findings

46. Effective Feedback Evaluative language is: • judgemental, • value laden, • rewarding or punishing. Descriptive language is: • value neutral, • directive, pinpoints strengths and weaknesses, • specific, implies a better way.

47. Encompassing the 3 R’s - Relevance, Relationship, Rigor • Relevance • purpose of each task is understood • relevant to life • fosters self-reflection and growth • develops skills for independent, life- long learning

48. Rigor • Engaging • Motivating • Relevant to life • Fosters creative thinking and problem solving, • Exploratory • Active

49. Relationship • Learning takes place in an atmosphere of mutual respect and caring • empowering

50. TRIANGULATIONProducts Conversations Observation A KEY COMPONENT OF ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING