DATA CHAT: AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT IN TEACHER EDUCATION COURSEWORK Department of Teacher Education HANDOUTS: Case Study Data Packet Report Template Sample Data Presentation DATA CHAT: AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT IN TEACHER EDUCATION COURSEWORK Amanda R. Hurlbut, Ph.D. ASSIGNMENT OBJECTIVES STEP 3: DATA INTERVENTION Teachers have long been aware of the importance of assessment in the learning process. However, studies show that teacher preparation programs rarely provide adequate experiences on how to do this (Reeves, 2017). The purpose of this project is to provide a comprehensive method of teaching pre-service teacher candidates how to examine, analyze, plan, and communicate student assessment data in a simulated professional environment. Source: Reeves, T.D. (2017): Equipping preservice elementary teachers for data use in the classroom, Action in Teacher Education, DOI: 10.1080/01626620.2017.1336131. After identifying the areas of strength and weaknesses, TCs begin to examine the corresponding test to determine the difficulty of the question and how student mistakes can be corrected instructionally. TCs align the weak standards from the test to the curriculum and research methods for re-teaching the deficit skills. TCs then have to select an appropriate formative and summative assessment to determine whether the re-teach lesson was successful. STEP 1: CASE STUDY Teacher candidates (TCs) are introduced to the national and state T-TESS standards governing the importance of data literacy in teaching. The class examines an example case study data set that includes class performance average, class averages broken down by the individual learning standards, and then hypothetical discussion scenarios. TCs work in groups to determine the appropriate instructional steps based on the sample data. STEP 2: DATA ANALYSIS & FORMAL REPORT STEP 4: DATA COMMUNICATION TCs review all State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) terminology and reports. TCs receive chosen data sets from the previous year’s released data. Groups of TCs work to analyze three data reports – the testing blueprint report, student demographic data, and the item analysis report. Specifically, TCs are looking for patterns of strengths and weaknesses in student performance. TCs complete an extensive formal data write-up. Finally, TCs work in collaborative groups to prepare a cohesive presentation that highlights the assessment, student performance data including overall and categorical performance, and strong/weak areas. TCs create a presentation that highlights corresponding areas of the data report, including proposed instructional remediation. The presentation is geared toward a professional audience of teacher colleagues and administrators working to improve student learning.