Assessing For Learning and Transfer

1. Assessing For Learning and Transfer

2. Pre-Assessment • Questions for us to consider: • How do I define assessment? • What is the role of assessment in my classroom? • How do I consider both individual and grade-level expectations? • How will I measure higher-level thinking and understanding through assessment? • How will I also prepare students for their end of course assessments? • How will assessment relate to my instruction?

3. Updating Questions, Concerns, Etc.

4. Agenda • Overview of formative vs. summative, the power of each type of assessment. • Developing formative assessments that align with KUDs and build toward performance tasks. • Developing performance tasks that show evidence of transfer and meaning (including rubrics).

5. Michael Jordan: • “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

6. In Your Groups… • Define assessment • What is the purpose of assessment? • How do you most often see assessment used in today’s classrooms?

7. On Page 136 of Your Workbook • What questions do you have about this framework that we will be investigating? • Individually complete the self-assessment on page 143 and then discuss what areas you would like to improve on. • Use this as a self-improvement guide for the next two days.

8. Assessment and Instruction are parts of an interdependent process…. Big Ideas of discipline/ Understanding of student development Objectives: Understandings, skills, and facts; standards integrated Reflect Pre-assessment Instruction: Designed to help students master the objectives while addressing issues indicated by pre/formative assessments Revise Revise Ongoing, formative assessment Summative Assessment: (Evaluates students’ grasp of big ideas, objectives, standards) Reflect

9. ”nice to know” 4 weeks worth being familiar with foundational knowledge & skill 4 years important to know & do “big ideas” worth exploring and understanding in depth 40 years Big ideas Stage 1: Establishing Priorities around “Big Ideas” See pages 78-80 9

10. Recognizing Effective Assessment EL Reading: “Learning to Love Assessment”, Carol Ann Tomlinson. • Video: What is formative assessment? at http://bcove.me/zmouirm8 • Based on the readings and video, identify various assessments types used in your classroom/school, distinguish the purpose and determine the value of each, then look for areas of your instruction where formative assessment might help you and your students.

11. The Assessment Continuum:Use a Range and Variety of Assessments • performance tasks and projects • academic prompts for essays and reflection • quizzes and test items • informal checks for understanding, including observations, dialogues with students

12. Use Formative and Summative Assessments • Formative Assessment (Assessment FOR Learning) • Assessment occurring during the process of a unit or a course. During the formation of a concept or item. Answers question: How are students doing? What are they learning? What misconceptions do they have? • Quiz, exit card, bellringer questions, journals, teacher observations, mid-unit test, one-minute essay • Gives feedback to either the teacher or student (or both) on what revisions to make to teaching or to student work. • Summative Assessment (Assessment OF Learning) • The assessment done at the end of a unit, course, grade level. Provides a final summation of learning. • End of chapter, final exam, final draft of writing portfolio, benchmark test, senior exhibition. • The adding-up or summary stage. Summarizes the learning for both the teacher and the student.

13. Assessment-Centered Classrooms Use ongoing, formative assessments – both formal and informal. Goals: • Uncover students’ misconceptions • Give students the chance to revise and improve their thinking, as well as to see their own progress • Help teachers target areas that need to be remediated.

14. For our purposes, we will “…use the definition offered by Black and William that formative assessment encompasses ‘all those activities undertaken by teachers and/or by students which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they engage’ (pg. 7-8).” R.J.Marzano

15. Affective Benefits of Assessment FOR Learning… • “Self- efficacy is defined as people's beliefs in their own capabilities….People with high assurance in their capabilities approach difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided. Such an efficacious outlook fosters intrinsic interest and deep engrossment in activities. They set themselves challenging goals and maintain strong commitment to them. They heighten and sustain their efforts in the face of failure. They quickly recover their sense of efficacy after setbacks. They attribute failure to insufficient effort or deficient knowledge and skills which [they believe] are acquirable [rather than to a lack of inherent ability]” (Bandura, 1994, p. 71). R.Stiggins

16. Help students understand how to close the gap between where they are now and where you want them to end up: • Teach them to improve the quality of their work one key attribute at a time, always realizing that they will have to put the pieces together. • Provide the opportunity for students to sense and understand the improvements that are evident in their work; help them learn to reflect on those changes and why they are happening. R.Stiggins

17. Powerful Assessment • “Formative assessment can help students focus on a task, direct attention towards the processes needed to accomplish this task, provide information about misunderstood ideas, and motivate students to invest more effort.” • Hattie, 2012, p. 115 • What sets powerful assessment apart? Provide some examples.

18. How Could This Be Used As a Powerful Assessment? • http://emc7x.edu.glogster.com/assessing-for-learning

19. Assessment: What Does Brain Research Tell Us? • Formative • Formative, non graded assessment is less likely to be stressful. • Formative assessment builds competence, which makes summative assessments less stressful. • Effective assessment is an effort in clarity, not in judgment.

20. Summative • Students may or may not retain info after taking a test (especially if they don’t see a need to retain it). • 21st century skills require use of knowledge, not retention, so we need to prepare students for divergent and executive thinking. • Divergent and evaluative questions engage multiple areas of the brain. When more areas of the brain have to respond, there is a greater likelihood of endorphins being released and greater learning. • Tasks being aligned with learning goals (that are clear and known to the students) will lead to better performance • Performance tasks that are layered and authentic attach meaning and challenge students, which can lead to increased retention and achievement. • Allow them to show what they know rather than what they memorized, forgot, or never learned. • From Sousa and Tomlinson (2010) Differentiation and the Brain.

21. Transfer tasks (Performance): different types • Mathematically model complex phenomena • Tell and justify your own “history” of an event, era • Write effectively for a genuine audience and purpose • Speak effectively and sensitively in the target language, in a culturally-demanding situation • Respond to a specific Request for Proposals as an artist, with an appropriate portfolio of work • Adapt your strategy in a game with an opponent whose strength plays to your weakness 21

22. Discussion: Wormeli on Assessment • Watch the videos • After each one, jot down some ideas about how his ideas might be included in your assessment plan. • At the end I would like you to share your ideas. • Some questions to get things going: • What benefits might standards-based grading have on schools? Teachers? Students? • Are there any drawbacks to these changes? • Think about the practicality of the suggestions.

23. Understandings Serve as… ..."adhesive" in the brain... Velcro ...so the facts have something to which to stick!

24. Bloom Levels (2001) CREATE Create DO What? Evaluate Evaluate USE Analyze Analyze Analyze Apply Apply Apply Apply RECALL Understand Understand Understand Understand Understand Remember Remember Remember Remember Remember Remember

25. What should we assess? • Categorize what you listed under the following three aspects: • Grade-level expectations • Individual expectations • Working smart: habits, effort, response to feedback, etc.

26. assessments servedifferent purposes… “The quality and quantity of feedback is directly proportionate to the increase in student achievement” Grant Wiggins

27. VS. ONGOING ASSESSMENT Some teachers talk about--- LEARNING Some teachers talk about--- GRADES • Can these two coexist peacefully? • Should one receive emphasis over the other?

28. Quote Discussion Select one of the following quotes on the next slide. How does this play out in the classroom? Get with one other person who has chosen the same quote. Share your ideas. Get with someone else who chose a different quote. Share again Group discussion

29. “We need both standards of achievement and defensible rates of progress. Students go to school to make progress beyond what they bring at the start; hence progress is among the most critical dimensions for judging the success of schools.” P. 59 • “The aim of feedback is to assist students moving from what do I know and what can I do, to what do I not know and what can I not do, to what can I teach others and myself about what I know and can do. This leads to higher engagement and confidence which tends to lead to more effort.” P. 121 • “Students prefer feedback that is forward looking (i.e. next steps), related to the indicators for success in the lesson, just in time, individualized, and about the work the students do, not the students themselves.” P. 131

30. Formative assessment is critical • We do too much “testing” and not enough “feedback giving” • The research is clear: lots of formative assessment is key to the greatest gains in learning, as measured on conventional tests.

31. Some of the Most Powerful Influences on Student Achievement (Hattie, 2012) Providing Formative Evaluation (Ongoing)= .90 Feedback = .75 Metacognitive Strategies = .69

32. Nine Guidelines For Providing Feedback (Shute, 2008 p.136) • Focus feedback on the task and not the learner • Provide elaborated feedback (what, how, why) • Present this feedback in manageable units • Be specific and clear with feedback messages • Keep feedback as simple as possible, but no simpler • Reduce uncertainty between performance and goals • Give unbiased, objective feedback, written or via computer • Promote a learning goal orientation via feedback (errors are welcome and essential) • Provide feedback after students have attempted a solution (leading to more self-regulation).

33. 7 Keys To Effective Feedback (Wiggins) Read the Article, then select two keys to focus on.

34. Effective Feedback Video:“Key Characteristic: Results in Rapid Feedback” (http://bcove.me/k0u24cpl ) Try and think of two groups of students in your class based on a recent lesson, one with some grasp of the material, and one with a strong grasp of the material. Provide feedback to each student based on the guidelines provided by Wiggins in Seven Keys to Effective Feedback.

35. “Assessment is today’s means of understanding how to modify tomorrow’s instruction.” Carol Tomlinson

36. A Private Universe: Revisited Why did these misconceptions persist? What could the teacher have done differently?

37. Essential Question • Why do teachers fail to use formative assessment? What can be done to increase the use of formative assessments in schools?

38. Why Formatively Assess?

39. What is formative-assessment? • Finding out: • What students know (or don’t know) about what you’re about to teach • What students are interested in • How students best process information

40. FA Examples • VIDEO 1:Elementary teacher Andrea Fulginiti works with students on note-taking and summary skills in their comparison of historical fiction vs non-fiction history texts. • http://bcove.me/j7fsovan • VIDEO 2: Example is from science class; lab experiment. • http://bcove.me/yqfxheco

41. EXIT CARD GROUPINGS Group 2 Students with some understanding of concept or skill Group 1 Students who are struggling with the concept or skill Group 3 Students who understand the concept or skill Readiness Groups

42. Teaching Channel Ex’s Exit cards Podcasts

43. 3-2-1 Cards Name: • 3things I learned today about ecosystems • 2questions I still have/ am confused about… • 1 thing I would like to learn more about…

44. Another Alternative…. ENTRY CARDS

45. Metaphor Lesson ENTRY CARD Name: ____________ Period:_____ • What is a “metaphor”? • Give at least two examples. • Explain why song-writers and poets use metaphors.

46. Two Tasks… • “ME” Metaphor Poem • Choose something to compare yourself to. It can be something in nature, a machine of sorts, a song, a force, and animal, a color—the only thing it CAN”T be is another person. • Strive for at least 4 stanzas (line lengths in stanzas can vary). • ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ • (Advanced Understanding – Complete assignment independently) “ME” Metaphor Poem • Write a poem describing yourself using a series of metaphors and similes. You can describe both what you are and what you are not. • Try using couplets – and strive for about 5-7 couplets. See page 314 an 315 for more information. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Basic understanding – Assignment follows mini-lesson on metaphors) A B

47. You can change the category titles to suit your instructional needs. Frayer Diagrams TOPIC or CONCEPT DEFINE IT GIVE IMPORTANCE LIST EXAMPLES LIST NON-EXAMPLES

48. Unit “Hook” Example POWER Where Do you have it? Where do you lack it? “Shrew” Characters who had it: “Shrew” Characters who lacked it:

49. Economics Example Free Enterprise System DEFINE IT GIVE IMPORTANCE LIST EXAMPLES LIST NON-EXAMPLES

50. Think-Pair-Share ? pair NOTE: SEE PACKET think + share