1

Assessment Survey What do you think?

Solo-Silent Write

Record your responses on the

Assessment Survey

MODULE 4 : USING ASSESSMENT TO DRIVE

INSTRUCTION

HOW WILL I KNOW IF MY STUDENTS ARE LEARNING/HAVE LEARNED?

33

Participant Responsibilities

Review of Previous Modules

• Overview; Catalyst Teacher• Learning Cycle• Managing the Learning Environment

DESIRED OUTCOMES

• We will:– Identify the differences between pre-assessment

(diagnostic), formative, and summative assessments.

– Articulate the need for using assessments to drive instruction.

– Identify appropriate formative assessment tools.– Identify ways to use assessment data to track

student progress, differentiate instruction, and celebrate success.

A-Z ListA M

B N

C O

D P

E Q

F R

G S

H T

I U

J V

K W

L X Y Z

7

Assessment SurveyLine-Up

Some educators would continue to teach their unit on navigation

while the ship is going down.

Why Do You Assess?

In your group:– Think about your current assessment practices.– Discuss the reasons why you assess students.

Why Assess?

• To determine student readiness.• To plan instruction.• To monitor student progress.• To modify instruction.• To determine mastery of content.

• “Assessment is today’s means of understanding how to modify

tomorrow’s instruction.”Carol Tomlinson

Assessment has more to do with helping students grow than with cataloging their

mistakes.Carol Tomlinson

So …

• Assessment beFORe learning• Assessment FOR learning• Assessment OF learning

12

Components of AssessmentExamining the Assessment Sequence

When Do You Assess?

• Most teachers assess students at the end of an instructional unit or sequence.

• When assessment and instruction are interwoven, both the students and the teacher benefit. The next slide suggests a diagnostic continuum for ongoing assessment.

On-going Assessment:A Diagnostic Continuum

_____________________________________Preassessment Formative Summative

(Finding Out) (Keeping Track & ( Making Sure)Checking –up)

15

Any method, strategy or process used to determine a student’s current level of readiness or interest in order to plan for appropriate instruction. Assessment beFORe Instruction Guides initial planning Used to determine readiness – What students know, understand and can do (KUD)This can be used to determine interest and learning preference.

Pre-assessment Is…..

Designing a Pre-Assessment…

• How do we assess the gap between what we know about students and what performance is expected of them for the final assessment of the next unit?

• And how should teacher decide on a method of pre-assessment?

Three Questions that Help…..

1. What do I know about my students now?2. What is the nature and content of the final

assessment for this unit or period of time?3. What don’t I know about the content

knowledge, the critical thinking, and the process or skill demonstration of my students?

Pre-AssessmentPURPOSE To determine what students already know, understand and are able to do.

WHEN Before instruction and during initial planning.

HOW STUDENTS USE THE RESULTS As a preview of what they need to know, understand and be able to do.

HOW TEACHERS USE THE RESULTS To guide initial instruction, to make grouping decisions, and to differentiate learning experiences

WHAT Products, conversations, observations to assess readiness, prior knowledge, or mastery.

What the research says--

• “There is a diagnostic aspect to all formative assessment, and diagnostic information can inform both students’ studying and teachers’ teaching. The key is having a concept of the goal or learning target, which originally is the teacher’s, but which ideally the student will internalize, eventually setting his or her own goals and monitoring progress toward them.”

Sadler, 1989; Gipp, 1994 cited in Brookhart 2001

•  “Students who could identify their learning scored 27 percentile points higher than those who could not.” Marzano, 2005

20

Formative AssessmentAssessment FOR Learning

On-Going (Formative) Assessment

administered by the teacher to check for understanding

Can be formal or in-formal

Students taught to reflect on their learning

Formative Assessment Is….• Assessment for learning rather than

assessment of learning.• An instructional tool that teachers and

students use while learning is occurring.• An accountability tool to determine if learning

has occurred.• Focused on the learning process and the

learning progress.• COLLABORATIVE and FLUID

2222

Teachers must have clarity about what students should know, understand, and be

able to do

Students can hit any target

they can clearly see and which

stands still for them.

--Rick Stiggins, educator and assessment expert

24

Students are able to:

•clearly understand and articulate their individual learning targets

•personally monitor what they are learning

•use the feedback to make adjustments in their understanding

The Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning

Where am I going?1. Provide a clear statement of the learning target2. Use examples and models

Where am I now?3. Offer regular descriptive feedback4. Teach students to self-assess and set goals

How can I close the gap?5. Design focused lessons6. Teach students focused revision7. Engage students in self-reflection; let them keep track

of and share their learning

What the research says--• “Research shows that formative assessments might be

one of the more powerful weapons in a teacher’s arsenal.” Marzano, 2007

• “Improved formative assessment helps low achievers more than other students and so reduces the range of achievement while raising achievement overall.”

Black and Wiliam, 1998

• “The effect of assessment for learning on student achievement is some four to five times greater than the effect of reduced class size.”

Stiggins, 2006

Formative AssessmentsPURPOSE To guide and adjust instruction and

provide student feedback.To provide evidence of progress and learning over time.

WHEN Regularly and frequently during lessons and units.

HOW STUDENTS USE THE RESULTS To self-monitor understanding and progress.

HOW TEACHERS USE THE RESULTS To check for understanding in order to adjust and differentiate instruction.

WHAT Rubrics, exit slips, self-assessment checklists, conferences/anecdotal records, questions, conversations

On-going assessment? Why?

2828

Which shoe fits your readiness to use more Pre-assessment

and On-going assessment? Why?

Red High HeelMuddy BootFuzzy SlipperAthletic Shoe

Corners

Summative Assessment

• Assessment OF Learning• To determine a student’s mastery of knowledge• To monitor progress and evaluate the overall

success of both students and instructional programs on a long-term basis.

• Ongoing summative assessment represents an important tool for monitoring student progress across time—both a single year and multiple years—and across subject areas.

What the research says--

• “Assessments of learning that contribute to a report card grade can affect students’ motivation to learn.”

Stiggins, 2006• Theory about classroom assessment and formative

assessment may need to include some references to summative assessment, and vice versa, in order to describe more adequately the cyclical process successful students apparently construct for themselves

Sebatane, 1998

Summative AssessmentPURPOSE To determine if students have mastered

what they should know, understand and be able to do.

WHEN End of lesson, unit, course, year

HOW STUDENTS USE THE RESULTS To gauge their progress towards course or grade-level expectations

HOW TEACHERS USE THE RESULTS To provide feedback, to indicate progress and to inform future instructional decisions.To determine a grade that represents what the student knows, understands, and is able to do.

WHAT Projects, portfolios, paper and pencil tests, FCAT, exit exams, district assessments, presentations

Sources of Assessment InformationWhat should I use to assess my students?

ProductsJournals, worksheets, quizzes, tests, projects, self-assessments, reports,

stories

ObservationsCooperative learning teams, working with manipulatives, role-

plays, demonstrations,

experiments

ConversationsStudent-teacher

conferences, oral presentations, peer conferences,

group work

Tree Map Activity

In your group:– Analyze the assessments that you wrote on your

sticky notes.– Determine whether they are diagnostic, formative,

or summative.– Place your assessments on your tree map under

the correct category.

Reflect on Tree Map

• BREAK

Putting the Pieces Together

Diagnostic Assessment

Pre-assessment is the process that Mrs. Lanier uses to determine soil’s readiness for planting. Using a test kit, she collects and analyzes data, then adjusts the soil accordingly. By checking the soil first, she knows what and how to prepare for the different types of vegetables that she plans to grow.

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment is the process that Mrs. Lanier uses to feed and water the vegetables appropriate to their needs—directly affecting their growth. She may base these needs on continued testing of the soil as well as observation and conversations with the garden representatives at Home Depot.

Summative Assessment

Summative Assessment is the process Mrs. Lanier uses to measure her vegetables to determine if they met the industry standard. She finds it interesting to compare measurements among the different vegetables; however, this information does not affect the growth or appearance of the plants.

I’ve assessed: NOW WHAT??

Assessment results guide decisions to adjust:– Content– Process– Product– Learning Environment

To support students in their– Readiness – Interest– Learning Profile

Thus encouraging maximum growth and individual student success.

49

Readiness Interest Learning profile

Differentiation of Instruction

based on students’

teachers can differentiate

Tomlinson, The Common Sense of Differentiation, ASCD, 2005 OPTIONS, FDLRS Action Resource Center

Differentiated Instructionis

A teacher’s response to a learner’s needs

clearlearning

goals

respectful tasks

flexible grouping

positive learning environment

Content Process Product

guided by general principles of differentiation, such as

ongoing assessment and adjustment

Planning for Meaningful DifferentiationExamining the Assessment Sequence

Pre-AssessmentOn-going (Formative)

AssessmentSummative Assessment

Identify Desired Results

(KUD)Determine Acceptable Evidence

1

2

Plan Learning

Experiences

32.

1.

3.

Grading in a Differentiated Classroom

• Grades should be based on clearly specified learning goals that are communicated to students.

• Measure what you mean to measure.• Grades should be criterion-based not norm-

based.• Avoid grading on a curve

Key Concepts

• Norm –referenced Tests : determine a student’s placement on a normal distribution curve. Students compete against each other on this type of assessment.

• The GRE, SAT, and ACT are examples of Norm-referenced tests.

Key Concepts

Criterion-Referenced Tests: assess what concepts and skills students

have learned from a segment of instruction measure how well a student performs

against an objective or criterion rather than another studentExamples: classroom quizzes and exams that are based on course objectives.

Grades in a Differentiated Classroom• Avoid averaging zeros into final grades.• Avoid group grades.• It is unwise to over-grade work. The most

current information is likely the most accurate depiction of a student’s learning.

• Avoid penalizing students’ multiple attempts at mastery.

Response to Intervention (RtI)

Response To Intervention

RtI is the practice of…• providing high-quality instruction/intervention

matched to student needs• using learning rate over time and level of

performance to make important educational decisions

In other words, RtI is a school wide model. RtI will help us improve education for all students.

***add info to show integration of assessment to RtI

• Utilize frequent, up-to-date assessment data• Ensure that the assessments target the area needing

intervention• The assessments should be sensitive to small amounts of

growth

Tracking Student Progress-Informal

• Exit Card• Teacher Checklist• Student Self-Assessment Checklist• Question and Answer during Lesson• Thumbs up/Thumbs down• White Board Responses• Classroom Performance System (CPS)- clickers

Tracking Student Progress- Formal

• Portfolio• Student Led Conferences• Grade Cam• School Specific Data Collection Sheets• Data Walls• Progress Monitoring Plans (PMP)

Graphing Me ChartI am excellent at

this

I am very good at this

I am fairly good at this

I can do this if I work hard

I am not very good at this-but I

want to learn

I am really not good at this

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Reinforcing Effort

• What are you doing to celebrate student’s progress toward mastery?

Recognition

READINESS

LEARNING GOAL 1

LEARNING GOAL 2

LEARNING GOAL 3

LEARNING GOAL 4

Mastery of Standard

Multiple Attempts at Mastery

The consequence for a student who fails to meet a standard should not be a low grade, but rather the opportunity- indeed the requirement – to resubmit his or her work.

One of the most consistent practices of effective teachers is the provision of multiple opportunities to learn.

For many students, year upon year of “not good enough” has

eroded their self-confidence and motivation.

Celebrating SuccessStop to acknowledge attainment

of learning targets in order to encourage success for mastery of standard.

Little successes build on each other, giving confidence to tackle the next challenge.

What’s Next

• Module 5– We will learn how to incorporate instructional

strategies in lesson and unit plans.

66

ProcessEXIT CARDS

3 things that made sense to you

2 things you plan to use

1 question that you have