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Dr. Les Bolt explores the need for educational reform, emphasizing mastery over coverage in assessment practices to ensure students' comprehension and success. Discover key strategies for effective instructional planning and teaching methods.
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Assessing for Content Mastery Les Bolt, Ph.D.
Why Are We Here? • Schools need to be better • More complex job environment • Accelerating knowledge base • Kids in the Middle finally matter • Programs for the bottom and top 25% • 50% in the middle are the measure of school success
What Has to Happen ? • A change of mind set – from coverage to mastery • A change of planning practice – from end to beginning • A change of instructional practice – from looking forward to looking back • A change in assessment practice – from separation to support
Change of Mind Set • Traditional focus is on coverage – how much content has been taught – how much of the book has been covered – how much of the outline has been covered • Focus must be on what students have mastered – what have the students learned and incorporated
Nothing has been taught unless something has been learned - the measure of successful teaching is what the students can do, not what the teacher has done.
Change of Planning Practice • Traditional focus is on where you are going - what is the objective – what is the outcome? • Focus must be on not only where you are going; but first, where are you beginning?
How can you know how far you can take a student, unless you know where they are at the beginning?
Change of Instructional Practice • Traditional focus is on what to cover next – what do we do tomorrow, next week, next month, etc. – unit plans – curriculum maps • Focus must be on looking back in order to go forward – what has been learned before what needs to be taught
Instruction should be driven but what students are ready to do and not by what comes next in the outline.
Change in Assessment Practice • Traditional focus is on using assessment to separate students – GPA – class rank – ability groups – GRADES • Focus must be on how to use assessment to support instruction, support students, and support learning
Students should look forward to the benefits of effective assessment, not fear what ineffective assessment may do to them.
Purposes of Assessment • Instructional Placement Decisions (Teacher) • What do students know and what should I teach next? • Diagnostic Decisions (Student) • What specific difficulties are student having and what remediation is needed? • Formative Evaluation Decisions (Curriculum) • Is the instructional program effective or does it need changing?
Assessment as a Key Part of Instructional Planning Objective Instruction Assessment Teaching does not mean that learning has occurred……assessment is the key to knowing.
Formative and Summative Start Act 1 Act 2 Objective Formative Formative Formative Summative Learning is developmental and builds on itself. Assessment should do the same.
Formative - Summative Start _____________________________ Check Point 1 ______________________ Check Point 2 ______________________ Overall Objective ___________________
Requirements for Good Instructional Assessments • Address all three purposes of assessment • Measure important learning outcomes • Provide clear descriptions of student knowledge • Administer, score, and interpret easily • Reinforce the goals of learning • Generate accurate, meaningful information (valid and reliable)
Keys to Good Assessments • Assessment should parallel instructional methodology…assess content and concepts in the manner in which they were taught. • Assess the stated objectives…no surprises…tell students what is expected of them and then assess what you told them. • Vary the format…bring different learning styles into play…give all students a chance. • Focus assessment on key concepts…most people learn global to specific…if they understand the concepts, they can figure out the specifics.
