Transforming Assessment

1. Transforming Assessment EDU Assessment Symposium Barrie, ON August 15, 2017

2. What do you hope to learn? • “to develop methods to plan and provide descriptivefeedback to students to move their learning forward • “to use the assessment process effectively to improve learning for all” • to help students to be more effective learners through making changes to teaching practices…focussed on assessment

3. What does the research say? “…teachers can enhance or destroy students’ desires to learn more quickly and more permanently through their use of assessment than through any other tools at their disposal.” Harlen, 2012

4. What is assessment? “Assessment is the process of gathering informationthat accurately reflects how well a student is achieving the curriculum expectations in a subject or course.” Growing Success, p. 23

5. What is evaluation? “Evaluation refers to the process of judging the quality of student learning on the basis of established performance standards (see Chapter 3) and assigning a value to represent that quality” Growing Success, p. 38

6. What is a process? • a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end

7. The assessment process? • Identifying, Sharing, and Clarifying the Learning Goals & Success Criteria • Eliciting Evidence of Learning • Providing Descriptive Feedback • Teaching Students to Peer and Self- Assess • Teaching Students to set Goals

8. What does the research say? Hattie compared over 100 factors known to affect achievement: feedback is in the top in terms of effect size. Student self reported grades – 1.44 Direct instruction - 0.93 Reciprocal teaching - 0.86 Feedback - 0.79 Students prior cognitive ability - 0.71 Small group learning – 0.49 Individualized instruction – 0.22 Ability grouping – 0.12 Effect size: a way of comparing the influence of different factors on student learning. An effect size greater than 0.4 indicates that the factor has a positive influence on achievement.

9. What does the research say? Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement, but this impact can be either positive or negative. Hattie & Timperley

10. What is Feedback? Feedback is “information provided by an agent (e.g., teacher, peer, book, parent, self, experience) regarding aspects of one’s performance or understanding”. Hattie & Timperley, 2007

11. What is Feedback? Feedback is “information provided by an agent (e.g., teacher, peer, book, parent, self, experience) regarding aspects of one’s performance or understanding”. Teacher to Student: “You did a great job of organizing your paragraph. It is focussed on one main idea, and you introduce it clearly. It would be more persuasive if you provided some examples.” My daughter to me: “You’re not going out in that, are you?”

12. Feedback at every stage of learning. Starting During Evaluating Teachers gather information about learning: What do they already know? What can they already do? Teachers gather information about learning and provide it to students: How are they progressing? What do they need to learn next? Teachers gather information about learning and summarize it for students and parents: How did they progress? Where are they now in their learning?

13. What does the research say? Feedback should help the student understand more about the learning goal, more about their own achievement status in relation to that goal, and more about ways to bridge the gap… …despite the teachers’ best efforts to make the disclosure full, objective and precise, many students do not understand it appropriately because…they are not equipped to decode the statements properly. Sadler, 2010

14. What is Feedback? Feedback is “information provided by an agent (e.g., teacher, peer, book, parent, self, experience) regarding aspects of one’s performanceor understanding”. Teacher to Student: “You did a great job of organizing your paragraph. It is focussed on one main idea, and you introduce it clearly. It would be more persuasive if you provided some examples.”

15. What should I know? What does it look like to provide descriptive feedback and use assessment practices that enhance learning? What should I do – not do? What should I say – not say? What skills do I need? Do you have examples?

16. TransformingAssessment We need to transform how we think about assessment: • What it is for? • Why we do it? • How we do it?

17. TransformingAssessment A thorough or dramatic change

18. Big Idea #1 What’s to be learned? (LG) What does that look like? (SC) Assessment plays a critical role in teaching and learning. T A S K Take action: Teach Assess and Share

19. Big Idea #2 Assessment should have as its goal the development of students as independent and autonomous learners.

20. TransformingAssessment Acting independently or having the freedom to do so

21. Big Idea #2 What’s to be learned? (LG) What does that look like? (SC) Assessment should have as its goal the development of students as independent and autonomous learners. T A S K Take action: Teach Take action: Learn Assess and Share Assess and Share

22. Feedback at every stage of learning. Students are agents too! Starting During Evaluating Teachers gather information about learning: What do they already know? What can they already do? Teachers & Students gather information about learning and teacherssummarize it for students and parents: How did they progress? Where are they now in their learning? Teachers gather information about learning and provide it to students and parents: How did they progress? Where are they now in their learning? Teachers & Students gather information about learning: What do they already know? What can they already do? Teachers & Students gather information about learning and provide it to students: How are they progressing? What do they need to learn next? Teachers gather information about learning and provide it to students: How are they progressing? What do they need to learn next?

23. Actually, not a new idea… Assessment plays a critical role in teaching and learning, and should have as its goal the development of students as independent and autonomous learners. Growing Success - P. 29

24. TransformingAssessment What does it LOOK like?

25. Both the teacher and the students need a clear, deep understanding of what is to be learned – the learning goal – and what it looks like to learn it – the success criteria. What does it LOOK like?

26. TransformingAssessment What does it LOOK like?

27. Big Idea #3 Teach students the skills they need so they can be a partner in assessment. What does it LOOK like?

28. Big Idea #4 Take every opportunity to DESCRIBE the learning. Avoid EVALUATING as much as possible. What does it LOOK like?

29. Criteria to Guide My Learning What’s the evidence? What might that look like? Have I made a ‘thorough or dramatic change’ in my thinking or actions related to assessment? What’s the evidence? What might that look like? Do I specifically identify the knowledge and skills to be learned (goals) AND what it looks like for learners to reach them (criteria)? What’s the evidence? What might that look like? Do I use feedback events to ensure learners have information about their learning AND to teach learners how to use criteria for themselves?