SYDNEY REGION Literacy and Numeracy ASSESSMENT Promoting best practice in assessment and feedback

ASSESSMENT OFF PLEASE WTC Course outline What is quality assessment? What approaches should schools be taking? What about NAPLAN? Tools and tasks 3 days Day 2 : 21 MAY OFF PLEASE

POLICY 1.3 Literacy assessing and reporting Teachers K-12 will use school-based and state-wide literacy assessment information to inform teaching and to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of teaching programs. Schools will report formally and informally to parents, caregivers and school communities on student literacy achievement using state-wide and school based assessment information. Numeracy assessment and reporting School and state numeracy assessment data will be used to guide teaching programs and to obtain information about each student's numeracy achievement for reporting requirements.

Assessment is the process of identifying, gathering and interpreting information about students’ learning. The central purpose of assessment is to provide information on student achievement and progress and set direction for ongoing teaching and learning. (Principles of Assessment and Reporting in NSW Government Schools DET NSW, 1996)

DYLAN WILIAM What does one of the world’s leading writers and researchers have to say about how we should approach assessment in schools?

ACTIVITY

How many marks is this worth? PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT An important part of students’ learning Enhances students’ learning Improves teaching

DISCUSS /feedback How comfortable are you with your current assessment processes? What would you change in either classroom, whole school or system approaches to assessment, if you could?

Assessing students’ thinking?? Is this possible? Lorna Earl: Assessment which reveals what students know and understand but also captures how this new learning came about and what growth in the way students think has occurred … Assessing students’ thinking??

Once a semester, once every two year tests do not provide teachers with the moment-to-moment and day-to-day information about student achievement that they need to make crucial instructional decisions. Teachers must rely on classroom assessment to do this. Are teachers able to gather or effectively use dependable information on student achievement daily or even weekly ? Teachers need to create and conduct appropriate classroom assessments. We need to build healthy assessment environments that can meet the information needs of teachers and also help students want to learn and feel able to learn, and thus support increases in student achievement. Creating those mechanisms to create these environments will require that we begin to see assessment through new eyes.

Assessment for learning is ongoing and allows teachers opportunities to plan and change future teaching and learning based on students needs identified through assessment students opportunities to understand their own development of knowledge, understanding and skills a regular part of teaching and learning informs judgements about student achievement and progress and allows for future planning both formal and informal.

DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT BEFORE TEACHING What can my students do? What do my students know? What outcomes, markers do I need to focus on for teaching? What are my students interests? Where To From Here? Can we plan our assessment processes a term in advance?

How are my students going? FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT DURING TEACHING How are my students going? How do I know?

WHAT DID MY STUDENTS LEARN? HOW WELL DID THEY LEARN IT? SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT WHAT DID MY STUDENTS LEARN? HOW WELL DID THEY LEARN IT? HOW WELL DID I TEACH? WHAT WILL I TEACH NEXT?

However, formative and summative assessment are interconnected However, formative and summative assessment are interconnected. They seldom stand alone in construction or effect. . Although these assessments may take different forms they can work in tandem. ‘What matters is how the evidence is used.’ (Harlen, 2006)

PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT and REPORTING IN NSW PUBLIC SCHOOLS

HOW I TEACH School-based influences and structural and organisational arrangements have limited effect on student outcomes (open vs traditional classrooms; multi-age vs age graded classes; ability grouping; gender; class size; mainstreaming) . It is the quality of teaching that occurs within these structural arrangements which is most important. The teacher and the quality of his or her teaching are major influences on student achievement, along with the individual student and his or her prior achievement. Dinham. 2011 Assessment is an integral part of teaching- how well we do it impacts significantly on students

Effective teachers know and work with knowledge, skills and understandings that their students bring with them ‘Frequent, formative assessment is used by effective teachers to make students’ thinking visible to themselves, their peers and their teacher and to monitor student learning progress. Assessments tap students’ understanding rather than merely the ability to repeat facts or perform isolated tasks. They also provide feedback to guide modification and refinement in students’ thinking, teaching practice and curriculum and planning.’ Victoria – Office of School Education

social and interpersonal interactions MUST ASSESS… The essential or critical aspects of the syllabus outcomes. Aspects which inform reporting. COULD BE ASSESSED…. peripheral or additional content work habits engagement social and interpersonal interactions Effort ????

WELL DESIGNED ASSESSMENT Assessment is a process that assists teachers to define the curriculum. It spells out the most important learning and guides the quality teaching of that learning. It helps teachers frame the curriculum around the particular needs of their students

What happens in your school or stage? Assessment is treated by staff and students as an integral and prominent component of the entire teaching and learning process rather than a final adjunct to it. What happens in your school or stage? How do you know?

Are we all on the same page with assessment?

What happens in your school or stage? A whole school policy guides the assessment practices used by teachers . There is an overall school plan for assessment of signficant aspects of the curriculum that is linked to the school’s reporting practices. What happens in your school or stage? How do you know?

Changing emphasis in assessment Knowledge focused Teacher centred Testing students Educational measurement Outcomes focused Learner centred Competence Authenticity Developing teacher and student capacity to make judgements Learning and assessment fully integrated Past Now Future

Trends Fewer isolated decontextualised assessment events Decreased reliance on ‘single event’ assessments Increased range of thinking skills and challenges included in assessments Try again - this is how you can improve Assessments clearly reflecting the most important learning - deep knowledge deep understanding

WHAT ASSESSMENTS ? It is important for teachers to recognise the types of information that different assessment processes can provide and the value of different assessment instruments A variety of instruments gives a comprehensive and valid picture. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE AND INTENDED AUDIENCE FOR THE DATA GATHERED FROM THE ASSESSMENT?

Consider all the common forms of assessment listed below. teacher observation teacher designed tasks student/ teacher conferences work samples and projects stage or grade based tasks standardised tests NAPLAN 1. Which of these do you use most frequently? 2. Which of these gives you the most valuable information? Why? DISCUSS IN GROUPS

Stiggins, R. J. 2002. Assessment Crisis Assessment for learning can contribute to the development of effective schools. If assessments of learning provide evidence of achievement for public reporting, then assessments for learning serve to help students learn more. The crucial distinction is between assessment to determine the status of learning and assessment to promote greater learning.   Stiggins, R. J. 2002. Assessment Crisis …. As we promote improved learning then our results on assessments of learning will improve…

NAPLAN – system level assessment At system level - Assessment of learning: provides assurance about the quality of education provides the means of evaluating progress towards raising achievement certifies the achievement of students reports to government provides the foundation for further learning.

The Black Box: findings Black and William’s research indicates that improving learning through assessment depends on five deceptively simple factors: Providing effective feedback to students. Learners’ active involvement in their own learning. Adjusting teaching to take account of the results of assessment. Recognising the profound influence of assessment on learners’ motivation and self-esteem - both crucial influences on learning. Ensuring learners assess themselves and understand how to improve.

Evidence – Black and William Range of typical performance improvements in ‘assessment for learning’ groups Performance range in control groups Low High Performance range in Assessment for Learning groups Finally, Black and Wiliam concluded that no other single improvement initiative improved performance levels to the extent that formative assessment did. Black and Wiliam’s review of at least 20 studies on classroom assessment showed that significant, and often substantial, quantifiable learning gains were achieved in the classrooms conducting formative assessment experiments. There is a long known effect of drift as learners get older, especially among those learners at the bottom end of the performance range. Evidence shows a tendency for learners at the bottom end of the range to ‘catch up’ due to the increased performance assessment for learning stimulates. This slide shows the range of improvement indicated in the research. It reflects learners of all learning abilities. The improvement ranges from 15 to 30 percent, with differential effects in post-primary of around 2 full grades at GCSE after 2-3 years. These figures have since been underpinned by subsequent research in UK schools like the Kings-Medway-Oxfordshire formative assessment project (1999 onwards) and The Gillingham Partnership’s formative assessment project (2000-2002). Low High Average effect size: 25% shift in performance compared to control groups after 2.5 years, and a reduced ‘spread’ in the performance range. Source: Black and Wiliam (1998)

WHICH FORMS OF ASSESSMENT DOES THE SCHOOL USE TO INFORM REPORTING TO PARENTS? English Overall Achievement A B C D E   Effort 5 4 3 2 1 Area of learning Achievement outstanding high sound basic limited Talking & Listening   Reading Writing

Can tests tell us what we need to know? Using one assessment for a multitude of purposes is like using a hammer for everything from brain surgery to pile driving. – Haney. 1991 Can tests tell us what we need to know? Ranking, grading or spreading students Student performance measured against a standard Accountability System and government data collection and analysis

WHAT DO I WANT MY STUDENTS TO LEARN? What will they know, understand and do? …….. Why does that learning matter? How will I know? How well did they do it?

The Assessment Crisis Richard J Stiggins If we wish to maximise student achievement… we must pay far greater attention to the improvement of classroom assessment .. If we are finally to connect assessment to school improvement in meaningful ways we must come to see assessment through new eyes