The Role of Teachers and Technology in Assessing the CCSS Speaking and Listening Standards NCSA, June 2014, New Orleans, LA Marty McCall, Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium

Note on range and content of student speaking and listening To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students must have ample opportunities to take part in a variety of rich, structured conversations— as part of a whole class, in small groups, and with a partner. --CCSS Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening

Comprehension and Collaboration: Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.

Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

Interview Structured Collaboration Discussion Formal Informal Interview Conversation One to one Interactive Structured Collaboration Discussion Many to many Comprehend Speech/ presentation Many to one Listening Give speech/ presentation One to many Speaking

Conversation Interactive Discussion Listening Speaking Inside class, traditionally Formal Informal One to one Interview Conversation Many to many Interactive Structured Collaboration Discussion Comprehend Speech/ presentation Many to one Listening One to many Give speech/ presentation Speaking

Comprehend Speech/ presentation Outside class Formal Informal One to one Interview Conversation Discussion Many to many Collabo- ration Interactive Many to one Comprehend Speech/ presentation Listening

Drawing from language acquisition Interactive speaking and listening precede reading and writing Mastery of first language speaking and listening skills occurs well before formal school begins The English used in school may differ from the home language of students Phonemic inventory Grammar Vocabulary Idioms Degree of social privilege

Observing individual oral interaction How engaged is the student in class oral life? Does the student understand the teacher? Does the student interact with peers one- on-one? In discussions? Does the student ask for clarification or help? Are a variety of grammatical structures used? Rich vocabulary? Observational instruments (e.g., ESL Scales)

Conversation Interactive Discussion Listening Speaking Inside class, 21st Century Formal Informal Interview One to one Conversation Interactive Structured Collaboration Discussion Many to many Comprehend Speech/ presentation Many to one Listening One to many Give speech/ presentation Speaking

Formative assessment as instructional dialogue- “Because of the social nature of classroom activities, a great deal of the information collected through informal formative assessment is through classroom conversations.” Maria Araceli Ruiz-Primo  Teacher Elicits information Student Responds Teacher Recognizes Teacher Uses the information collected to move student learning forward. Alexander, R.J. (2008) Towards Dialogic Teaching: rethinking classroom talk (4th edition), Dialogos.

Formative assessment as instructional dialogue- Informal interaction Explicit goals for gathering evidence Student spoken response closely observed Evidence of comprehension Evidence of expressive skill Immediate action based on feedback Usually unrecorded

Group Work What is the role of formal and informal interaction in learning? Can interactive elements be assessed? Group score? Individual score? Observational/descriptive frameworks Creating awareness of productive vs unproductive dialogue Instruction in formal roles in structured collaboration

The Assessment and Teaching of 21st-Century Skills (ATC21S) Investigates assessing 21st-century skills and encourages teaching and adopting those skills in the classroom. Collaborative Problem Solving Empirical Progressions (MOOC) on the Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills is being hosted on Coursera starting June 30 2014.

PISA COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING Formal assessment of collaboration skills Computerized simulation Student interacts with one or more computerized “agents” of varying competence The student works with different agent teams on a variety of problems For each problem, the team works through states that give the examinee options communication. Choices determine subsequent actions.

COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING Scoring framework (1) Establishing and maintaining shared understanding (2) Taking appropriate action to solve the problem (3) Establishing and maintaining team organisation Each category is rated low, medium or high. Generally proceeding from random to intentional and self-oriented to team and solution oriented.

Thank you for your attention marty.mccall@smarterbalanced.org