High Quality Classroom Assessment

1. High Quality Classroom Assessment

2. Assessment • DIAGNOSTIC: provides instructors with information about student's prior knowledge and misconceptions before beginning a learning activity. • FORMATIVE: takes place during a learning activity to provide the instructor with information regarding how well the learning objectives of a given learning activity are being met. • SUMMATIVE: cumulative evaluations used to measure student growth after instruction and are generally given at the end of a unit in order to determine whether long term learning goals have been met.

3. Criteria for Ensuring High-Quality Assessment • Clear and Appropriate Learning Objectives • Appropriateness of Assessment Methods • Validity • Fairness • Alignment

4. Clear and Appropriate Learning Objectives • Right level of difficulty? • Motivate students? • Adequate balance of different types of objectives? (Bloom’s) • Consistent with overall goals? (subject matter, 21st century tools, and soft skills) • Comprehensive? • Criteria for judging clear? (RUBRICS)

5. Types of Assessment Methods • Selected-Response • Constructed Response • Performance • Essay • Observation • Self-Assessment

6. Selected-Response • Multiple Choice • True / False • Matching Can best assess the following levels of Bloom’s Objectives: -Remember -(Simple) Understand

7. Constructed-Response • Short answer • Completion • Label a Diagram • “Show your work.” Can best assess: --Remember --(Simple) Understand

8. Essay • Restricted Response (A few sentences) • Extended Response (Multi-Paragraph) Can best assess: -Understand (Deeper) -Apply -Analyze

9. Performance Assessments • Papers • Projects • Poems • Videos / Audios • Spreadsheets • Web pages • Journals • Graphs • Speeches • Demonstrations • Debates • Illustrations Can best assess: --Apply --Analyze --Evaluate --Create

10. Observation • Formal (using observation sheets) • Informal • Watch as students respond to questions and work • Listen to students as they speak with others • Look for nonverbal cues (frustration, squinting, lack of effort, etc.) Can be used as formative assessment of all types of learning.

11. Self-Assessment • Surveys • Questionnaires • Ratings • Self-Reflections Can be used to assess: --Evaluate

12. Validity • Trustworthiness of the assessment • “the extent to which the test measures what it is supposed to measure” • Consistency between what is taught and what is tested

13. Fair Assessment • Provides all students with an opportunity to demonstrate achievement • Differentiation—Accommodate special needs— ”Everyone gets what they need (instruction, tools, etc) to be able to succeed.” • Give various types of assessment options

14. Alignment Agreement among standards, objectives, benchmarks, assessments, curriculum, and instruction. • Does the assessment content match the content in the standards and objectives? • Do the assessments, objectives, and standards cover a comparable “range” of knowledge? • Does the level of challenge called for in the objectives and standards match that required for students to do well on the assessment? • Does the assessment avoid adding material that is irrelevant to the standards/objectives being assessed?

15. For Your Unit • Assessments must measure competency of subject-matter, use of 21st century tools used to gain knowledge, and the soft skills associated with the unit. • One assessment can measure proficiency in all three areas, or a variety of assessments can be used. • Use BOTH traditional and performance-based assessments within the unit.

16. Performance Assessments Should be: • Essential: represents a “big idea” • Authentic: uses processes appropriate to content area; students value the outcome • Rich: task leads to other problems; raises other questions; has many possibilities • Engaging: thought-provoking • Active: student is the worker and decision maker; the students interact with each other

17. Feasible: can be done within school and homework time • Equitable: develops thinking in a variety of styles; contributes to positive attitudes • Open: has more than one right answer; multiple avenues of approach; accessible to all students • Students should be aware of the criteria that will be used to judge their performance: RUBRICS

18. RUBRIC • Scoring guide that uses criteria to differentiate between levels of student proficiency. • Holistic or Analytic • Should have criteria related to all three aspects of our unit (subject matter, tool, and soft skill)

19. Holistic Rubric • Each category of the scale contains several criteria, yielding a single score that gives an overall impression or rating. • Provides a reasonable summary rating. • All traits are combined. • Work is scored quickly. • Often used with summative assessments. • Must be well-developed and specific in order to show how judgments were made. • Disadvantage: Reveals little about what needs to be improved.

21. ANALYTIC RUBRIC • Each criterion receives a separate score. • Provides more feedback • Used best for diagnostic assessments and formative assessments, so that students can see how they can improve before a summative assessment. • Disadvantage: Takes longer to create and score.

23. Developing Rubrics • Be sure criteria focus on important aspects of the assessment. (objectives / standards) • Match the type of rubric with purpose of assessment. ( diagnostic, formative, summative) • Descriptions of criteria should be directly observable. (Try to avoid behaviors / adverbs that can be faked easily or subject to bias.)

24. Criteria should be written so that students, parents, and others understand them. Rubric should be shared with students before instruction. Characteristics and traits used in the rubric should be clearly and specifically defined. Be sure to have enough detail so that the criteria are not vague. Take appropriate steps to minimize scoring error. Be objective and consistent. Scoring system needs to be feasible. Limit the number and complexity of criteria that are judged. (5-8 criteria are sufficient and manageable.)

25. Tools to help design rubrics • http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/assess.html • http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ • http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/ • http://www.rubrics4teachers.com/

26. EETT UNIT / ASSESSMENTS • Teachers will compose a character sketch that outlines the qualities of a 21st century educator. Character Sketch Assignment (Performance) Assesses subject matter and 21st century tools (wiki / Microsoft Word) • Teachers will collect information relating to 21st century teaching using the Internet, focusing on the skills and knowledge that can be applied to their own classroom. Prewriting Sheet / Observation Assessment: Multiple Choice Flipchart (Selected Response) • Teachers will be able to appraise the character sketches of two colleagues by providing feedback that identifies the most important qualities of their writing. Comments posted to wiki (Restricted-Response Essay) Assesses subject matter, tool, and soft skill. • Teachers will utilize 21st century technology to avoid plagiarism in their writing. Assesses 21st century tool and soft skill..Observation of teachers using http://www.dustball.com/cs/plagiarism.checker/

28. Teachers will demonstrate the ability to work cooperatively to complete a task. Observation Teachers will locate online sources and list information relating to an aspect of 21st century teaching. Observation Teachers will distinguish relevance of particular pieces of information. Blog Entries-Restricted Response Essays / Constructed-Response Questions Teachers will design a power point on a given topic. Performance (subject matter and 21st century tool) Teachers will make a short presentation to their colleagues. Performance Teachers will utilize online resources to gather information needed to complete the project. Observation

30. Teachers will recognize vocabulary associated with Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. Selected-Response: Multiple Choice Flipchart Teachers will classify objectives into the appropriate category of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. Constructed-Response (Bloom’s Chart Activity) Assesses subject matter and 21st century tool. Teachers will create instructional objectives that consider the natural transformation of student knowledge into meaningful application. Performance Teachers will create instructional activities that carefully consider Bloom's Knowledge Dimension, Cognitive Process Dimension (complexity of learning) and authenticity of learning. Performance Teachers will critique their ability to write instructional objectives. Observation / Self-Assessment Teachers will compare and contrast their instructional objectives to that of their colleagues for the purpose of validating and updating their understanding of Bloom's Taxonomy Revised. Blog entry: Restricted Response Essay / Self-Assessment

31. Teachers will be able to compare and contrast two different learning environments to determine the value of each. Performance– Spreadsheet (Assesses 21st century tool and subject matter) Teachers will recognize overlaying as a process that considers each instructional element of the unit as equally important to one another and seamlessly integrated. Observation : Questioning Teachers will illustrate their understanding of the overlaying process. Constructed Response: Blog Entry Self-Assessment : statements that evaluate your overlaying process and a partner’s Teachers will apply the principles of Bloom's Taxonomy to create a chart that documents the levels of their instructional objectives. Constructed Response: Label the in the chart Teachers will be able to utilize the SAS to create alignments for their unit and lesson plans. Performance: Unit/Lesson plan templates

32. Traditional Assessment of this Power Point • Assessment Resource used for this power point:McMillan, James. Classroom Assessment. Boston: Pearson. 2007.