OAT Toolkit for Social Studies Building Effective Classroom Instruction and Assessment

The phases of development a teacher undergoes in accepting and interpreting data to improve their instruction are: 1.confusion and overload 2.feeling inadequate and distrustful 3.challenging the test 4.examining the results objectively and looking for causes, and 5.accepting data as information, seeking solutions, and modifying instruction What is your “Datattitude?”

Assessments: Classroom, School, District, State Compile Data Analysis, Interpretation and Dialogue Determine Aligned Resources Curriculum Design and Planning for New Learning and Re-Teaching Standards Classroom Implementation Standards Data Analysis Cycle Standards

OAT Released Items Test Item Number What knowledge is assessed by this question? What skill(s) are assessed by this question? What benchmark is this question aligned to? What teaching strategies would elicit the knowledge and skills required by this benchmark? Deconstructing Released OAT Items

Instructional Management System

Item Annotations On the IMS page, you can search for items by benchmark.

Success Web Site oh-us.info/

Search the IMS for assessment items Select your content area and grade level Use keywords to find specific topics Store multiple items in your backpack Share items in your backpack with your team Item Annotations

Think about it… “Our instructional choices should be based on all kinds of evidence and experience, processed together in professional learning communities that help us identify common problems, swap ideas and strategies, and develop and deploy our own school-based assessment instruments.” Dennis Shirley & Andy Hargreaves, “Data-Driven to Distraction”, Education Week, January

“…ready-made benchmark tests cannot substitute for day-to-day formative assessment conducted by assessment- literate teachers.” Chappuis, Steven and Jan. The Best Value in Formative Assessment, Educational Leadership, v.65,N4,January 2008.

Common Assessments Are more efficient than assessments created by individual teachers. Are more equitable for students. Represent the most effective strategy for determining whether the guaranteed curriculum is being taught and more importantly, learned. Inform the practice of individual teachers. Build a teams’ capacity to improve its program. Facilitate a systematic, collective response to students who are experiencing difficulty.

Monitoring Student Achievement Suggested framework for this process: 1.The department or grade-level team uses the district’s curriculum goals and the state standards/benchmarks/GLIs to identify the general goal for the course or grade level they are teaching. 2.The team develops common, comprehensive assessment strategies that will produce data on individual and collective student achievement. ( DuFour and Eaker, 1998)

Monitoring Student Achievement 3. The team identifies the proficiency levels all students should achieve. 4. The team reviews the results of the collective student achievement, identifies problem areas in which student performance did not meet anticipated proficiency levels, and develops plans to address those areas. DuFour, Richard and Robert Eaker. Professional Learning Communities at Work. Bloomington: National Educational Service, 1998.

Continuous Improvement Curriculum and assessment processes should foster commitment to continuous improvement. A results-oriented school will use a variety of strategies to assess the level of student learning. Assessment provides another important opportunity for teacher collaboration. In fact, collaboration on the criteria to be used in assessing student work can have a positive impact on classroom instruction.

A breakthrough model of school reform… “…calls for a shift in school culture that uses data to make decisions in order to personalize instruction and … precision teaching that is data driven and provides feedback to students to monitor their own learning.” Fullan, Hill and Crevola (2006)

Strategy #1 Check for Understanding Align with enduring understanding. (Wiggins &McTighe 1998) Allow for differentiation. (Tomlinson 1999) Focus on gap analysis. (Bennett et. al. 2004) Lead to precise teaching. (Fullan et. al. 2006)

Strategy #2 Use Questions Tie questions to the Bloom Taxonomy

Strategy #3 Prompts for writing to learn –admit/exit slips –crystal ball –found poems –awards –yesterday’s news –take a stand –letters

Strategy #4 Projects and Performances NOTE: Self and group assessment rubrics are a must with this type of assessment!

Strategy #5 Visual Displays graphic organizers foldables Adapted from Checking for Understanding: Formative Techniques for Your Classroom. ASCD, Alexandria, VA. P

Ohio Social Studies Resource Center

INFOhio

Assessment Committees:  Content Advisory Committees  Fairness & Sensitivity Committees  Rangefinder Committees  Standard Setting Committees Members of assessment committees are selected to ensure that each committee reflects the diversity of Ohio’s school districts and population. Interested educators, parents, business and community members must complete a Nomination Form. Nomination Forms are available at: Serving on an Assessment Committee

“If we are not going to try to improve what we do, there is little sense in assessing it.” William Glasser

Contact the Office of Assessment: (614) Contact the Office of Curriculum and Instruction: (614) Consult the Ohio Department of Education Web site: To Obtain Further Information

References Chappuis, Steven and Jan. The Best Value in Formative Assessment, Educational Leadership, January DuFour, Richard and Robert Eaker. Professional Learning Communities at Work. Bloomington: National Education Service, 1998 Fisher, Douglas and Nancy Frey. Checking for Understanding: Formative Assessment Techniques for Your Classroom. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007 Schmoker, M. First Things First: Demystifying Data Analysis. Educational Leadership, v60 n5 p22-24 Feb Trimble, S., Gay, A., Matthews, J. Using Test Scores to Focus Instruction. Middle School Journal, 2005.