‘ Play ’ the slide show

1. ‘Play’ the slide show • ...in order for the links (yellow text) to be usable

2. EDWN 601 • Assessment and Grading

3. Overview • Assessment vs Standardized testing • Teacher-created tests & Performance Assessment • Grading and evaluation - communication with parents and students • Reflective practice - communication with peers, community • PRETEST...

4. Homework • Think of a topic you might teach and make a list of fewer than 10 concepts or skills you might include in that topic. Bring your list tomorrow morning. • e.g. topic: ecology, • concepts/skills: habitat, carrying capacity, interdependence, producer, consumer, food web

5. Standardized Testing • what it is and what it’s not...

6. Testing • Take a moment and discuss each question: • What do we care about? • How do we use tests? • What questions do you have? • Each answer reported to papers on wall

7. Standardized Assessment • What it is: • Test designed to compare a student to a large population • a ‘snapshot’ of student performance on a particular day/time • paper and pencil tests that are designed to assess specific skills • expensive to administer and score • required by law • What it is NOT: • the only way to measure skills • necessarily diagnostic of skill or knowledge success • the boogeyman • Prepare for your debate • ProConAnother one to read

8. Terms on Std Tests • Reliability - how consistently the scores can be reproduced • Validity - how well the test measures what it’s supposed to measure • norm-referenced - a test that compares student scores - provides percentile data • percentile score - an ordinal report - # means that out of 100 students, # would have scored the same or worse (bell curve) • grade equivalent - BEWARE - grade # means that a student in the grade # would probably score at this level on this particular test. DOES NOT mean that student could do work at that grade level • National Curve Equivalent (NCE) - a mathematical manipulation of the raw score, which approximates the percentile - can be used for research comparisons of students/schools because it’s a real number

9. Testing procedures • Standardized test procedures - all students participating in the test follow the same procedures, hear the same directions, are allowed the same time/assistance. VERY IMPORTANT • quiet, controlled setting, teacher may read test questions or explain word meaning on most tests, but not on reading test • SPED modifications - often include smaller group, test read aloud, extended time, other as indicated on IEP

10. Typical Standardized Tests • Achievement • WKCE • Iowa Test of Basic Skills • Terra Nova • Stanford Achievement Test • California Achievement Test • College admissions • ACT [max 36] • SAT [max 800] • IQ • WISC-R • Raven’s Progressive Matrices

11. IQ tests • General intelligence • scores range from 20-180 • 80-120 is average • most people don’t know their score • paper and pencil vs individually administered

12. Wisconsin school report cards • Report card for every school in WI • Several criteria: Achievement, growth, closing gaps, college and career readiness (CCR) • Info guide at:http://reportcards.dpi.wi.gov/files/oea/wirptcrdguide/story.html

13. Analysis of WSAS results • Proficient & Advanced %’s • AYP - mandated by NCLB • Original goal 100% proficiency by 2014 • Modified 2011 for all states, many states (incl. WI) have been given waivers for the 100% • Sort by demographics to see differences (or similarities)

14. WINNS data • Select school by various sorting criteria • Modifications to WSAS for SpEd students or WAA • WKCE data can be found at: • http://data.dpi.state.wi.us/data/SelSchool.aspx

15. Communicating results • WSAS results go home to parents • Test in the Fall, results in late Spring • parent-teacher conference? accompanied with letter? • results discussed with students - rarely

16. Smarter Balanced Assessments • Developed by a consortium of states • Currently piloting ELA & Math, science will be next • Will be computer adaptive and provide immediate results http://www.smarterbalanced.org

17. Standardized assessment Paper • Discuss your feelings about standardized tests - pro or con, support your opinions with citations • Choose a WI school district and analyze its most recent test results for grade 8 or 10 • Overall results, but pay special attention to your subject area • Do demographic differences affect scores?

18. Data driven decision making • IMPORTANT new strategy in teaching • Using information from standardized testing and other quantitative/qualitative sources to guide school decisions like grouping, curriculum planning, staffing, remediation, acceleration • Activity • - in your assigned groups, examine the provided data and prepare a presentation of your findings.

19. Where am I at? • Please write brief notes on each bullet: • What ideas were interesting/new? • What additional information would I like? • How can I use these ideas?

20. Test and performance assessment construction

21. Planning a curriculum, reprise • Begin with a general topic • Create an outline with additional subtopics • Link to Wisconsin Model Academic Standards (WMAS) • Lay out topics into sets that fit together and that can be assessed every 2 weeks or so • Plan multiple strategies to teach as many of the concepts as possible

22. Semester Plan Assignment • Any questions? • Outline of topics • WMAS and Disciplinary Literacy Standards • All teachers should address both sets of standards • Each unit should address a subset of the standards

23. Planning assessment • Not only evaluative • ASSESS progress, skills, perspectives, in addition to content comprehension • Use in planning instruction through pretest, or to focus re-teaching

24. Formative & Summative • Formative assessment: opportunity for feedback, intended to support growth • Summative assessment: determination of overall success/quality/learning • Any assessment can function either way, depending on how you use it.

25. Test questions • Multiple choice - easy to use, hard to write • True/false - can be tricky either way • Matching - easy to write, really best for vocab • Short answer/essay - easy to write, hard to grade (maybe use a rubric) • Skill based [math problem, applied problem, practical exam, etc.] - be very clear!

26. Matching • Can be a good way to start a test • Difficulty is increased by having more answers than questions • Make sure word choice is consistent with your teaching [one of the potential problems with ‘book tests’] • Provide a line on which to place answer - otherwise somebody will draw impossible to interpret lines to answers

27. True/False • Write very clearly. • Avoid absolutes (always, never). • ... interesting twist - underline/italicize a term/phrase and have it replaced when false

28. Multiple Choice • Keep the bulk of the words in the stem of the question. • Write reasonable distractors - don’t include Dumbo • Use a correct answer and 2-3 distractors, decrease the number of distractors for SpEd students • Make sure the correct answer is not always the same “letter”

29. Skill • Critical for skill-based courses like math, foreign language, science, FACE, Tech • Set up a situation that is similar, but not identical to, a skill learned in class. • Prepare a set of criteria ahead of time, so that grading will be more consistent [rubrics can help here]

30. Short Answer • Write your question as clearly as possible. [duh] • Using a question/example from class makes this comprehension • Using a new, similar question/example makes this an application or analysis • Prepare in advance some criteria for grading [rubrics are helpful here]

31. ALL tests • Major form of communication with students • Make sure all written work is correctly spelled and reads at the appropriate level • Check pagination • Be sure all directions are clear [have somebody unfamiliar with the content read through]

32. Clapping Institute • 11 volunteers • Debriefing: • Volunteers: How did you feel during the activity? • Observers: What did you notice? • How does this all relate to assessment?

33. Performance Assessment • Criterion referenced - compared to an ideal • Accomplishment of a specific task, report, presentation, project, complex skill demonstration • Provide criteria for performance PRIOR to work • Rubrics/checklists - common tools • Norm referenced - compared to a large group • Standardized tests • Textbook/teacher made tests

34. Designing a performance task • Choose a realistic activity that conveys successful understanding/skill demonstration & Write a performance assessment • Be specific about the components of the task • describe the task • write a rubric/checklist • use standard English

35. Checklist • Best for tasks that have only ‘done’ or ‘not done’ as possible evaluations. • e.g. name on paper, safety procedures followed • More difficult to use for leveled grading unless many items are listed - otherwise the grade will be pass/fail

36. Creating a good checklist • Break the task into smaller steps that are essential to the task - task analysis • Each item on list should be independent from the others and should be observable in the performance • Making PB&J sandwich • wash your hands • take out two slices of bread • using a clean knife, lift peanut butter out of open jar

37. Rubrics • Good for evaluation of performances/tasks that are not all or nothing • Clear descriptions of expectations enhance learning, provide a feedback tool • Provide clear communication about learning outcomes • Increases the consistency of scoring

38. Making a rubric • List the essential components of the task • Describe in words how a top level performance would look for each component [place next to component] • Describe the lowest performance you would accept as passing for each component [place furthest away] • Devise 1-2 levels in between these • optional: Assign points to each level, to arrive at a numeric score [e.g. 5,4,3 instead of 3,2,1]

39. Design a rubric • Task: cleaning your room • Create at least 3 essential components of this task • Make a rubric with at least 3 levels that describe each component

40. Unit assessment • Once you have chosen the WMAS and CCSS your unit addresses: • Write a test or quiz to assess some or all of the info • Write a performance task with rubric that could be used in the unit.

41. Where am I at? • Please write brief notes on each bullet: • What ideas were interesting/new? • What additional information would I like? • How can I use these ideas?

42. Grading • Article - Grading student work • - read your section and jigsaw

43. Traditional grading • Directions are given for each assignment • Each assignment is given a numerical evaluation by the teacher • Scores are averaged and range applied • ABCDF grading most common • Average or sum often determines overall grade • Bell Curve • May assume that some portion of children will fail • Competitive/Comparative

44. A ‘normal’ curve

45. Things to consider... • percents? mastery? • components of student work - achievement, effort, behavior, attendance • weighting of components - allocation of points • ease of use and ease of explanation

46. Grading activity • Graph the total points on attached graph paper • Assign grades based on some defensible criteria • Identify other information you would have wanted to include in the grade and consider how you would keep track of it. • When time is up, share your system/grades with your group

47. Where am I at? • Please write brief notes on each bullet: • What ideas were interesting/new? • What additional information would I like? • How can I use these ideas?

48. Reflective Practice • A process in which professionals engage routinely while practicing a skill in order to improve • Must be: ongoing • May be: • written/oral • private/collaborative • formal/informal