Preparing Educators in Classroom Assessment Edward Roeber Michigan State University

Preview of Coming “Attractions” A “common core” of academic content standards has been developed by states Within four years, there will be multi-state summative assessments measuring the common core Common assessments will place uncommon added pressure on educators to “teach to the test” Will educators be any better prepared for these assessments? Will our assessment systems become even more unbalanced than is currently the case? 5/3/2019

Practitioner Preparation There are different aspects to preparing practitioners in assessment: Current practitioners who may not have had much, if any, preparation in college Future practitioners, especially teachers and school leaders, currently being prepared in colleges of education Educators using alternative routes to becoming a teacher, with less advance preparation in content, pedagogy, or assessment The processes and experiences are similar, but a bit different, too 5/3/2019

What Teachers Need to Know About Assessment Different purposes for assessment Different types of assessment - for classroom use and elsewhere Match of assessment purposes to types of assessment Achieving balance in assessment by using Summative assessments Interim benchmark assessments Formative assessment 5/3/2019

What Teachers Need to Know About Assessment Keys to quality assessments Clear purpose Clear targets Sound assessment design Selection of assessment methods Sampling Item quality Bias and distortion limited Effective communication of results Student involvement 5/3/2019

What Teachers Need to Know About Assessment Basic measurement concepts (non-statistically) Reliability Validity Correlation versus causation Effect size Development of good quality assessments Multiple choice Written response Performance assessments Portfolio-based assessment 5/3/2019

What Teachers Need to Know About Assessment Formative classroom assessment Assessment strategies Assessment techniques Understanding reports of assessment results Student-level Classroom-level School-level Using assessment results Student Classroom School 5/3/2019

What Teachers Need to Know About Assessment Reporting assessment results Classroom results to students and parents Student results to each student and parents School results to students, parents, and others Increasing student involvement in assessment Student self-assessment Student peer assessment Student-led conferencing Student-directed assessment 5/3/2019

What School Leaders Need to Know About Assessment All of what teachers need to know (they should have been doing these when they were teachers, or learned these so that they could understand, watch for, and promote teachers doing these) Understanding disaggregated reports of results Demographic reports School and district summaries Statewide summaries of results Understand the results from and implications of national and international assessments 5/3/2019

What School Leaders Need to Know About Assessment Know enough about the state assessment program to lead constructive school team analyses of the results Know how to spot weaknesses in the school’s instructional program and know what to do about these Be able to lead a team of teachers to identify and suggest corrections for instructional weaknesses Motivate staff to care about how well students can do; expect all to do well Become proficient in data analyses packages, including their shortcomings 5/3/2019

What School Leaders Need to Know About Assessment Use school learning teams to Develop and maintain a school improvement plan Determine where the school is in meeting its goal on the SIP Identify educational needs Collaboratively develop plans with the learning team for meeting the needs identified in the SIP Monitor implementation of the plans and activities to address the SIP-identified needs Determine if the changes have been effective Provide mentoring and support to school staff in improving their assessment and instructional skills 5/3/2019

What Educators Need to Know About Assessment Key Ideas The most challenging type of assessment to learn is formative classroom assessment These are the assessments teachers should use as they teach: Plan in advance instruction, the assessment to be used to check understanding, and how to re-teach if necessary Teach a concept Determine student understanding Adjust learning and teaching activities in a planned manner to assure student success 5/3/2019

Pre-service Educator Formative Assessment Learning A three-part implementation is suggested: Experience formative assessment in their college classes in the College of Education Learn about formative assessment in a new class on assessment Practice formative assessment when working with students while student teaching Develop learning teams of student teachers in the same content area 5/3/2019

Experience a Variety of Assessments The goal is to have students observe college instructors using a variety of assessment methods in their classroom Summative strategies used to assess the students Interim, instructional-unit based assessments Formative classroom strategies used by the instructor to modify their instruction (and to let students know that this occurred so that they can readily see the “modeling” going on) 5/3/2019

Experience a Variety of Assessments One place where this work is certainly encouraged is through TEAC or NCATE accreditation NCATE and TEAC encourage each faculty to make claims and to show evidence in support of its claims If a faculty claims that it prepares students to become good teachers, what evidence can the college muster to support this claim? 5/3/2019

Experience a Variety of Assessments This means that colleges of education need to collect performance data on recent graduates Show that newly-minted teachers are actually effective (or not) in a real classroom of their own Will this carry over to demonstrating competence in classroom assessment? 5/3/2019

Learn About a Variety of Assessments Teach classroom assessment explicitly as a required course for all teachers Teach about assessment in other teacher education courses in which classroom assessment strategies could be embedded 5/3/2019

Practice Using a Variety of Assessments Student teaching at MSU lasts for an entire year (the internship year) Students take classes (1/2 master’s degree) and student teach for an entire year Student interns are supervised by someone from MSU (faculty member or graduate student) The internship year would be a good one to practice classroom assessment embedded within student teaching 5/3/2019

Practice Using a Variety of Assessments Practice in assessment could be/should be mentored by the supervisor of the placement, perhaps in conjunction with other students Through in-person and electronic meetings, the interns and the supervisor could practice good assessment embedded in instruction, and through this, learn how to use formative assessment strategies well. 5/3/2019

Challenges in Learning About FA in College College instructors, as former K-12 teachers, may have had little or no training or experience with assessment College teachers may not be inclined to use interim or formative assessments in their classes Colleges already teach courses on assessment, so the need for learning about FA may not be seen 5/3/2019

Challenges in Learning About FA in College Colleges may not provide sufficient PD opportunities for their own faculty If PD opportunities were provided, would faculty avail themselves of the opportunities? College faculty are rewarded for being “experts” and admitting shortcomings may hurt tenure chances Many individuals need to learn about formative assessment yet collaborative work is not the norm at the university level 5/3/2019

Challenges in Learning About FA in College Colleges are now stressing online classes Typical online classes may be too structured or unstructured for modifying instruction to occur Some courses may not lend themselves to experiencing or practicing such strategies Even if intern supervisors know how to use classroom assessment strategies, they may not know how to mentor others in their use Teachers in whose classrooms interns are placed may not support classroom assessment work 5/3/2019

Overcoming the College of Education Challenges Offer assessment PD as something “new,” so existing faculty can learn in a non-threatening environment Provide assessment literacy information and education in a variety of formats Develop and offer online educational materials to teach about assessment Colleges of education could work together to support each other as well as learn from one another 5/3/2019

What are your ideas? What do teachers and school leaders need to know? How can assessment literacy best be provided to pre-service and in-service practitioners? How might colleges of education work together and learn from one another how to provide the needed learning opportunities? 5/3/2019

Questions/Comments Edward Roeber Michigan State University 201H Erickson East Lansing, MI 48840 (517) 432-0427 roeber@msu.edu 5/3/2019