LITERACY AND ASSESSMENT FOR
LEARNINGVancouver Principals and Vice-
PrincipalsMay 13th, 2009Faye Brownlie
Literacy…It’s all
about…
Engagement &
Meaning Making
Literacy is about more than reading or writing – it is about how we communicate in society. It is about social practices and relationships, about knowledge, language, and culture.
Those who use literacy take it for granted – but those who cannot use it are excluded from much communication in today’s world. Indeed, it is the excluded who can best appreciate the notion of ‘literacy as freedom.’
UNESCO, Statement for the UN Literacy Decade, 2003-2012
Model
Guided practice
Independent practice
Independent application
Pearson & Gallagher (1983)
GRADUAL RELEASE MODEL
BLACK & WILIAM (1998)
HATTIE & TIMPERLEY (2007)
Assessment OF Learning
Purpose: reporting out, summative assessment, measuring
learning
Audience: parents and public
Timing: end
Form: letter grades, rank order, percentage scores
Assessment FOR LearningPurpose: guide instruction, improve learning
Audience: teacher and student
Timing: at the beginning, day by day, minute by
minute
Form: descriptive feedback
Assessment FOR Learning
Purpose: guide instruction and learning
•The Grand Event
•Ongoing in the Class
Assessment FOR LearningPerformance Based Assessment Descriptive scoring Coding in teams Class/grade profile of strengths and areas
of need Action plans developed - what’s next? Individual students identified for further
assessment
What do I need to teach?
(with the goal in mind)
Moscrop Secondary, Burnaby
Literacy teacher pulled 40/70 students who were identified at risk in fall assessment
1:1 assessment, performance based Read text orally Looked for patterns
Moscrop Secondary, Burnaby
Encouraged kids to mark the text Predicting from title, picture, caption –
average of 4 seconds Comprehension – analyzed 3 samples,
students ranked by performance standard rubric
Inference – adding your thinking, not summarizing - practiced
1
From Assessment to Instruction
Brownlie, Feniak, Schnellert, 2006
2
4
3
Assess(against criteria)
Set a Goal (target)
Plan/Teach(with the goal in mind)
Reassess
BILL’S YEAR AT A GLANCE-SEPT.
BILL’S YEAR AT A GLANCE-OCT.
The Six Big AFL Strategies
1. Intentions
2. Criteria
3. Descriptive feedback
4. Questions
5. Self and peer assessment
6. Ownership
What’s working?
What’s not?
What’s next?
Descriptive Feedback
School Leadership and Student Outcomes: What works? – V.Robinson
•ensuring an orderly & supportive environment
•planning, coordinating & evaluating teaching and the curriculum
•strategic resourcing•promoting & participating in teacher
learning & development•establishing goals & expectations
Low Impact•ensuring an orderly & supportive environment•strategic resourcing•establishing goals & expectations
School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works and Why – Viviane M.J. Robinson, University of Auckland
Medium Impact
•planning, coordinating & evaluating teaching and the curriculum
High Impact
• promoting & participating in teacher learning & development
ACEL, #41, Oct. 07
…the more leadership is focused on the core business of teaching and learning the greater its impact.
Robinson, 2007