Why this focus on clarity and formative assessment?

1. Why this focus on clarity and formative assessment? Learning outcome: Effectiveness research

2. What works & How do we know? We explain “what works” through effect size (d) Most things do have an impact on students The “hinge point” on whether or not something is a difference maker is an effect of .40 or greater The typical teacher gets an effect between .20 to .40

3. General Rank Order of Effect Size: By Category ContributionEffect Student d=.40 Home d=.31 School d=.23 Teacher d=.49 Curricula d=.45 Teaching d=.42 Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge: London.

4. Effects from Students Prior achievement has an effect (d=.67) The past can be a good predictor of the future Prior lack of success impacts coping strategies, attendance, and negative outcomes The ability and want to self-regulate learning is lost Self-reported grades (d=1.44) Students are very capable (and accurate) of estimating their own performance Can self-assessment of work be used to leverage learning by those who typically have not done well?

5. Effects from Home Socioeconomic status (d=0.57) Parent education level, parent occupation and parental income were separate students that contributed to this overall effect Home environment (d=0.57) Intellectual stimulation; socio-psychological aspects of home

6. Contributions from the Teacher Micro-teaching (d=0.88) Mini lessons (often video-taped) followed by reflection and analysis of teaching techniques Teacher Subject Matter Knowledge (d=0.09) Content expertise doesn’t (automatically) translate into student outcomes Teacher-Student Relationships (d=0.72) Teacher Clarity (d=0.75) Communicating intensions of lessons and what success looks like; organization, explanation, examples and guided practice

7. Effects from the Teacher Feedback (d=0.73) Teachers to students Students to teacher What students understand, where they make errors, when they have misconceptions…

8. Contributions from the Teacher AreaEffect Goal setting d=.56 Adv. Org. d=.41 Concept Map d=.57 Mastery Learning d=.58 Feedback d=.73 Formative assesmt d=.90 Questioning d=.43 Inquiry-based inst d=.31 Cooperative learn. d=.41 Study Skills d=.59 Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge: London.

9. What does the research find to be the “difference maker”? The teacher… …but the most important variable is what teachers do, rather than what they know. All things being equal…pedagogy matters more than content knowledge. This, coupled with student involvement in the process, leads to high levels of learning.

10. 21st Century Skills? The only true 21st century skill is the skill of being able not to give the right answers to questions you were taught,but to make the right response to situations that are outside of the scope of what you were taught in school. --Papert, 1998 from Wiliam, 2009 Adult life isn’t comprised of a series of 45 minutes unconnected learning sessions where facts are the emphasis. Our future adults will need to be able to see patterns and connections between knowledge and concepts.

11. Some Guiding Principles • All things being equal, what matters more is not what you know, but what you do • Teaching is engineering effective learning environments so—you’reengineers • Teachers do not create learning…learners create learning • Students need to have learning experiences that are INTERNAL and UNSTABLE (Dweck, 2000) • Internal—they are in control or at least they feel they are in control of what the outcome will be (success is the outcome) • Unstable—learning is a function of engagement and effort by the student…learning is unstable because it changes

12. Balanced Assessment Practices & Why It Matters Learning Outcome: Balanced Assessment All slides related to the 5 Keys to Quality Assessment are ideas taken from: Stiggins, R.J., Arter, J., Chappuis, J. & Chappuis, S. (2007). Classroom assessment for student learning: Doing it right—using it well. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

14. Two Purposes for Assessment SUMMATIVE Assessments OF Learning How much have students learned as of a particular point in time? FORMATIVE Assessments FOR Learning How can we use assessment information to help students learn more?

15. Balanced Assessment Summative Provides evidence achievement to certify student competence or program effectiveness Formative Formal and informal processes teachers and students use to gather evidence to directly improve the learning of students assessed Formative uses of summative data Use of summative evidence to inform what comes next for individuals or groups of students Assessment for learning Use assessments to help students assess and adjust their own learning Assessment for learning Use classroom assessments to inform teacher’s decisions

16. Balanced Assessment: Meeting the Needs of All Stakeholders Administer annual accountability testing Develop interim, short-cycle or benchmark Ensure ongoing, accurate classroom assessments for and of learning Consider the student as the most influential user of assessment information

17. 5 Keys to Quality Classroom Assessment Why assess? (PURPOSE) Assess what? (TARGETS) Assess how? (DESIGN) Communicate how? (COMMUNICATION) Involve students how? (STUDENT INVOLVEMENT) Stiggins, et al (2007). CASL

18. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION DESIGN ACCURACY EFFECTIVE USE PURPOSE STUDENT INVOLVEMENT TARGET Stiggins, et al (2007). CASL

19. Key 1 Purpose Educators need to: Understand who the assessment users are and the needs of the assessment users Understand the relationship between assessment and student motivation Use results in a formative & summative way Have a plan to integrate assessment of and for learning in the classroom

20. Key 2 Targets The most critical question because it drives planning, instruction and assessment. NOTE: We will use learning targets, indicators and standards interchangeably. We need to… Have identified the essential learning targets Understand the differences between learning targets and activities Understand the complexity of the targets (Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate & Create) Have a comprehensive plan over time for assessing the learning targets in both a formative and summative way

21. Key 2 Targets Overarching goals & themes What all students should know and be able to do

22. What does “clarity of learning targets” look like?

23. Communicate learning targets to students and parents in student friendly language prior to, during and after instruction occurs Unwrap indicators to identify concepts, skills, Essential Questions & Big Ideas Link Big Ideas and Essential Questions from standards to daily learning by students (make connections) Use a learning taxonomy to identify complexity of learning targets Alignment of… Learning TargetsInstructionAssessment What do we mean by clarity?

24. Problems with Posting Targets Much ado has been made about posting targets. Briefly have a discussion at your table regarding some potential issues your discipline might have as it relates to posting targets?

26. Key 3: Assess how? (DESIGN) Why is that important? Target-Method Match There are specific ways in which learning targets are most effectively & efficiently assessed.

28. What is the evidence of learning?

29. Key 4: Effective Communication Conditions for Effective Communication • Targets are clear • Information is accurate because the assessments are accurate (Why, What, How) • Symbols are clear • Communication is tailored • Timing—needs of audience are considered • Level of detail—meets the needs of user • Unintended negative side effects—avoid these

30. Key 5: Student InvolvementTheSeven Strategies of Assessment for Learning Where am I going? 1. Provide a clear statement of the learning target Use examples and models Where am I now? 3. Offer regular descriptive feedback Teach students to self-assess and set goals How can I close the gap? 5. Design focused lessons 6. Teach students focused revision 7. Engage students in self-reflection; let them keep track of and share their learning

31. Student Involvement Why? It is a catalyst for student learning How do you know? Look at the effect size (1.44)

32. Examples of what it might look like?