Formative Assessments for 21 st Century Skills Nancy White, 21 st Century Learning & Innovation Specialist Academy School District 20 Academy School District 20

Objectives What are 21 st Century Skills? Why & what do we assess? 21 st Century Assessment Strategies Assessment Tools – Free & Online Workshop Time: Explore the Resources

What are the qualities of effective “assessment”? LINO-IT

Characteristics of Good Assessment The content of the tests (the knowledge and skills assessed) should match the teacher's educational objectives and instructional emphases. The test items should represent the full range of knowledge and skills that are the primary targets of instruction. Expectations for student performance should be clear. NCREL: rel.org/sdrs/areas/stw_esys/4assess.htm rel.org/sdrs/areas/stw_esys/4assess.htm

Colorado's description of 21st century skills is a synthesis of the essential abilities students must apply in our fast changing world. These essentials skills are: Critical thinking and reasoning (for example, but not limited to: problem solving, analysis, logic, cause/effect) Information literacy (for example, but not limited to: knowledge acquisition, source discernment, systems management) Collaboration (for example, but not limited to: synergy, team resourcing, social skills, leadership) Self-direction (for example, but not limited to: adaptability, initiative, personal responsibility, work ethics, self-advocacy) Invention (for example, but not limited to: creativity, innovation, integration of ideas)

CDE 21 st Century Skills Wordle

21 st Century Skills in Academy District 20

Assessments – Why? Inform the teacher: –How students performed – to assign a grade –What needs re-teaching

Assessments…Also Provide students with information about their performance that can promote their learning Motivate students to study or apply themselves because they know they are to be evaluated. Provide teachers with data to evaluate the effectiveness of their instruction

Assess What? -Product Traditional Assessments: –Content Knowledge –Organization –Presentation Summarizes what has been learned.

What about the Process? Research process –Information Literacy Skills –Use of Tools “The Three C’s” of 21 st Century Learning –Collaboration –Communication –Creative Problem Solving

21 st Century Skills Invention Technology Literacy Collaboration Information Literacy Self Direction Critical Thinking & Reasoning

Inquiry Elements Explore Question Investigate Explain Connect Communicate Evaluate

Inquiry & 21 st Century Skills Explore Question Investigate Explain Connect Communicate Evaluate Information Literacy Technology Literacy Critical Thinking & Reasoning Collaboration Self Direction

ISTE NETS Creativity & Innovation Communication & Collaboration Research & Information Fluency Critical Thinking, Problem Solving & Decision Making Digital Citizenship Technology Operations & Concepts

How can we assess the skills?

Formative Assessment Good assessment starts with a clear purpose inFORMS instruction (teacher) inFORMS students – what they know and don’t know or how to do

Components of Formative Assessment Chappuis, Jan. (2005, Nov.) Helping Students Understand Assessment. Educational Leadership.

Students have clear picture of learning targetslearning targets Photo by Michael Surran, / /

Students received feedback Photo by Wonderlane:

Students Engaged in Self-Assessment Bias, Gene. ocps010.jpg.. Pics4Learning. 14 Jan 2008

Provide understanding of specific steps students can take to improve Bias, Gene. comp008.jpg.. Pics4Learning. 14 Jan 2008

Strategies to Involve Students in Formative Assessment Provide a clear and understandable vision of target Use examples of strong & weak work Offer regular descriptive feedback Teach students to self-assess and set goals Design lessons to focus on one aspect of quality at a time Teach students focused revision Engage students in self-reflection Chappuis, Jan. (2005, Nov.) Helping Students Understand Assessment. Educational Leadership.

Formative Assessment: Examples Think-Pair-Share Activity Student Summarizes Information Interview students/conferencing Research journal Observation checklist Student checklist Rubrics

21 st Century Assessments Supports a balance of assessments Emphasizes useful feedback on student performance Requires a balance of formative and summative assessments that measure student mastery of 21st century skills Partnership for 21 st Century Skills

Black & Wiliam, 1998 Research Findings Comments have a strong impact on learning, stronger than comments & grades or only grades Quality of feedback is crucial to learning Setting process goals is more effective than setting product goals “Assessment Conversations” are effective Formative feedback is associated with more positive attitudes towards learning

Rubrics: What Should Be Assessed? Standards & Benchmarks –What do you want students to know and be able to do? –What will you be teaching specifically? –Ask yourself: “How will I know that they know?” …What does success look like?

Example: Information Literacy Skill Researches and Evaluates Information –Uses a variety of appropriate tools to record notes and store information

Information Literacy Skill Researches and Evaluates Information –Middle School: Uses a variety of appropriate tools to record notes and store information

Skill to Rubric What criteria will you highlight? What should I look for? –The descriptors of degrees of quality in meeting the criteria Answer this: What does success look like? Quantitative? Or Qualitative?

Information Literacy Skill Researches and Evaluates Information –Middle School: Uses a variety of appropriate tools to record notes and store information Qualitative Quantitative

Information Literacy Skill Researches and Evaluates Information –Middle School: Uses a variety of appropriate tools to record notes and store information Qualitative Quantitative

Information Literacy Skill Skill/ Criteria In Progress ProficientAdvanced Uses tools What makes the tool appropriate? What are the variety of tools they might choose from? Does quality or quantity equal success? Records Notes Quality: What do quality notes look like? Quantity: Is quantity more important than quality? Stores Information What were students taught? Is this an either they did it or they didn’t do it thing? How can you best measure success?

Creating a Rubric In Progress Partially Proficient ProficientAdvanced Little or no evidence student meets the benchmark Partially meets the standard/ benchmark Meets the standard/ benchmark Exceeds the standard/ benchmark

More Examples of Formative Assessments Checklists –PBL ChecklistsPBL Checklists Rubrics –8 th Grade Technology Assessment “Rubric for Any Research Project”Rubric for Any Research Project –RubistarRubistar

Academy District 20 Formative Assessments of 21 st Century Skills

Intel’s Assessment Site Intel’s Assessment Site Intel’s Assessment Site Intel’s Assessment Site Tour Tour Set up Account Set up Account Build assessment plans Build assessment plans

Designing Assessment When will you assess? Backwards Design: 1.What do you want students to know and be able to do (Standards) –Knowledge/Skills - Objectives 2.How will you know they know it/can do it? 3.Learning Activities 4.Big idea/essential question

Work Time Explore Intel Database and other assessment tools

Recap Assessing the process is critical Assessments are diagnostic Use the information to inform your teaching Assess what matters – what you want students to know and be able to do

TechLearning:

Assessment For Learning Assessment For Learning Assessment For Learning Assessment For Learning

Questions?Questions? Nancy White