Strategies for Differentiated Teaching and Learning Online EDU 673

Weekly Objectives By week’s end, you will be able to:  Explain how assessment drives current and future differentiated instruction.  Evaluate formal and informal assessment tools in collecting data for student’s readiness, interest, and learning profile as a guideline for differentiating instruction.  Create effective formative and summative assessments that are based on differentiated learning principles.

Harnessing the Power of Data “We must harness the power of data to make school more interesting and relevant—and to prepare students to succeed as workers, college students, and informed citizens.” ~ (Schmoker, 2008, p. 73)

What Schmoker’s quote means to me…. The above quote was pulled from an article, Measuring What Matters (Schmoker, 2008). Think about how this quote relates to our readings for this week? Do you agree that assessment now should prepare our students for their future lives? And, if you do agree, how can we make this happen? If you don’t agree, consider what you believe to be the purpose of assessment. I often ponder these questions myself, especially when creating and planning my writing curriculum. So much of what our students will be faced with, in college and beyond, requires high-quality writing skills. But, how do I prepare my students to become life-long effective writers?

Rubrics … One way I try to help my students become better writers is through the use of writing rubrics. When planning my writing lessons, I first create a rubric that clearly breaks down the components of each writing assignment. By using rubrics that are tailored to the specific skill I am teaching, students are given the necessary tools to 1) understand what will be expected of them, 2), identify what each component of the assignment will require and 3) self-monitor their own progress. Before going on, you can click on the following link to learn how to use Interactive Rubrics:

Rubrics: Formative and Summative Rubrics have the potential to serve as formative and summative assessments. According to Earl (2012, as cited in Puckett, 2013), assessment can be “of learning, for learning, or as learning” (“Ch.6 Introduction”). On the following slides, I demonstrate how rubrics fit each of these three types of assessment.

Assessment of Learning “Assessment of learning is a summative process that conveys student progress” (Puckett, 2013, “6.1 Assessment of Learning”). Rubrics can be used as a summative assessment, evaluating how well the student understood the content and/or writing process. When creating my rubrics, I first consider what skill I want my students to learn. In an Expository piece, I would want students to demonstrate the ability to write an effective introduction paragraph, complete with a thesis statement. I would also want them to craft their body paragraphs based on the sub-topics identified in their thesis statement. To wrap things up, I would be looking for how students close with concluding thoughts, specifically restating their thesis statement. Therefore, these elements would be included in the rubric. In essence, I incorporate “backward mapping” when creating grading rubrics.backward mapping

Assessment for Learning “Assessment for learning provides information about what students already know and can do, and what confusions, preconceptions, or gaps they might have” (Puckett, 2013, “6.2 Assessment for Learning”). I might not use a grading rubric to pre-assess student knowledge but I do use rubrics to monitor students at certain milestones. This allows me to provide formative feedback to help my students reach the learning objective, as well as adjust my teaching for specific student needs. For example, in a five-paragraph essay on Endangered Animals, I might use a rubric to evaluate students’ introduction paragraphs to ensure they have their three subtopics identified in a thesis statement prior to them moving on to the body paragraphs. I would then use the information gleaned from these rubrics to revisit certain introductory paragraph elements as needed.

Assessment as Learning Rubrics have the potential of placing the learning directly into students’ hands. I always give my students a copy of the rubric I will be using for evaluation. This allows students to assume “responsibility for analyzing and directing their own learning” (Puckett, 2013, “Ch. 6 Introduction”). The questions Puckett (2013) poses at the beginning of section 6.3 Assessment as Learning, are important ones to consider as we create assessment pieces. With a carefully designed rubric, students will not only know exactly what I will be looking for, they will assume greater responsibility for their own learning (Puckett, 2013). After reviewing these questions opening up 6.3 Assessment as Learning, ask yourself if you use student assessment as learning. If so, in what ways? If not, how can you start?

Measuring What Matters Returning to my earlier conversation regarding rubrics, I believe using rubrics satisfies both of these emerging patterns. Rubrics can be used formally, to actually grade an assessment, or informally, as a sort of checklist to make sure students are on track. They can be summative, wrapping up a unit of study, or formative by providing teacher and student with glimpses into what the students are grasping. And, they provide the target elements of a lesson or unit of study in a clearly organized format. The aforementioned article, Measuring What Matters, highlights the New York Performance Standards Consortium, a group of “forward-looking institutions” operating on a waiver system (Schmoker, 2008, p. 72). Operating under a waiver system, these schools are able to eliminate some of the high-stakes standardized tests that the state of New York administers. This, in turn, allows them to implement alternative methods of assessment, such as project-based assessments and rubrics. Their website provides a wealth of resources that the consortium gladly shares with other educators:

Closing Thoughts… Until we begin incorporating authentic, effective assessment into our daily classroom routines, we will continue to gather skewed data that is not truly indicative of student understanding or ability. Every piece of data collected, whether formal or informal, summative or formative, should provide the teacher with valuable knowledge that positively influences his or her future teaching practices. I will leave you with links to two videos on assessment: What is “Authentic Assessment” Differentiated Instruction and Formative Assessment

References Edutopia.org (2014). The George Lucas Educational Foundation. Retrieved from: Levy, H. M. (2008). Meeting the needs of all students through Differentiated Instruction: Helping every child reach and exceed standards. Clearing House, 81(4), Puckett, K (2013). Differentiating Instruction: A Practical Guide. Bridgepoint Education: San Diego, CA. Schmoker, M. (2008, December). Measuring What Matters. Educational Leadership, 66(4), EBSCO Discovery Service.