1 Exemplars and the Evaluation Process Production du sous-comité d’anglais de la Table de la Montérégie Gillian Baxter and Cindy Stern

2 The WH- of Evaluation Warm up activity Why? What? When? By whom? How?

3 The 5 steps of the evaluation process Planning Gathering information Interpreting information Making a judgment Making a decision

4 Question Why is planning so important in the evaluation process?

5 “Starting with the end in mind” How did we get to the final product? MELS presentation RREALS and RCCPALS Mini-virage, February 2006

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10 Focus on... The information-gathering step

11 What do teachers do when they have to make a judgment on students’ level of development of competency? 1. Keep traces of student work. 2. Analyze work. 3. Refer to the competency levels. 4. Decide which competency level is represented by the all of the traces gathered. 5. Refer to exemplar to help /confirm the interpretation of the information gathered. 6. Determine action to be taken to help students progress to the next level.

12 What type of traces can we use to evaluate students’ level of competency? Final tasks from the LES Tasks from various LES: in-class group discussion End-of-unit tasks Tasks from and ES Projects Discussions and interaction

13 For example... Final task : students invent a new Olympic sport C1: students discuss with partners + brainstorm ideas C3: students write a description of the new sport including the rules and the equipment needed

14 For example... Reinvestment task : students read a story C2: after having completed a comprehension activity which serves as an enabling activity to help students carry out the task, students complete a Venn diagram to compare themselves with a character from the story

15 Information-gathering Tools Observation grids Checklists or verification lists Interviews/conferences Graphic organizers Comments and student work Rubrics Self-evaluation and reflection sheets Peer-evaluation forms

16 Tools for recording information Teacher’s logbook Anecdotal records: file folder using post-its file folder with students’ photos + post-its Portfolio

17 What do we use to help us interpret the information we have gathered? End-of-cycle outcomes Scales of competency levels

18 Serves the king. Holds a large tract of land called a manor or fief. Oversees the manor with his lady. Grants parts of his fief to vassals and protects them in return. Is a member of nobility. Holds land of his own. Is sovereign. Advises the king. Contributes knights to the king’s armies. Has law- enforcing powers. Does battle for the king. Defends a castle in return for land. Adheres to a code of chivalry. Participates in tournaments. Serves his knight. Brings weapons during battle. Allowed to carry a sword and a shield. Learns horsemanship and armed combat. Helps the knight dress and put on armor. Waits on his lord and lady. BaronLordKnightSquirePage Level 5Level 4Level 3Level 2Level 1 MELS presentation RREALS and RCCPALS Mini-virage, February 2006

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21 Exemplars

22 What is an exemplar? An exemplar is an assessment tool “designed with the specific intent of helping teachers to improve student learning.”

23 Who builds exemplars? Teachers across the province in collaboration with the MELS

24 Who uses exemplars? Students Teachers

25 Why do we use exemplars? To show students what is expected of them To show teachers what to look for when grading student work To help students and teachers identify the next learning steps: to guide the teacher to help him/her adjust teaching practices to direct students to the next level To encourage a consistent approach in evaluation

26 How do I use exemplars with students? Show them what a “good” product looks like to help them understand what is expected of them and plan what they need to progress.

27 When do we use exemplars? Throughout the cycle: to see where the student is and compare with where he or she needs to be At the end of the cycle: to confirm judgment as to a student’s level of development of competency Remember we need to consider more than one piece of student work to make a judgment.

28 MELS Exemplars for C1 Read the scales for C1. Highlight the key words for in each level. Refer to the bookmark “Competency levels, Glossary of terms” to help clarify the terms.

29 Feedback How did the exemplars for C1 clarify your understanding of the scales?

30 Homework Collect a variety of examples of student work for C3. Bring in 3 writing samples from 1 student that could be used to evaluate C3. (from cycle 2 or 3) Find samples that represent 3 different types of tasks. * Warning! We may not have time to use all of your samples.

31 Homework Final tasks from the LES Tasks from various LES: in-class group discussion End-of-unit tasks Tasks from and ES Projects

32 End of Day 1

33 Day 2

34 What do teachers do when they have to make a judgment on students’ level of development of competency? 1. Keep traces of student work. 2. Analyze work. 3. Refer to the competency levels. 4. Decide which competency level is represented by the all of the traces gathered. 5. Refer to exemplar to help /confirm the interpretation of the information gathered. 6. Determine action to be taken to help students progress to the next level.

35 Keeping traces of students’ work Remember, it is important to have more than one piece of students’ work to evaluate students’ level of competency development.

36 Exploring the MELS Exemplars for C3 Evaluate each piece of writing using your own personal grading system. Feel free to make comments on the texts. Remember that there are four evaluation criteria for C3 : a. use of strategies b. compliance with instructions c. language conventions targeted for tasks d. characteristics of final product

37 C3: To write texts

38 Exploring the MELS Exemplars for C3 Discuss and compare your evaluation with a partner. Comments? How did you determine which grade you would give?

39 Description of the Task In the LES “How Do I Plan a Trip”, the teacher reads a story about two friends who are separated when one travels around the world. Students plan a trip of their choice. The task is to write a postcard to a relative or friend from the country they are visiting. The postcard must have a salutation, four sentences, a closing and a signature.

40 Instructions Read levels 1 to 5 for C3. Highlight the key words in each level. Read each piece of writing again while using the competency levels. Do you think you have all the necessary information to evaluate the students’ work? Is anything missing?

41 Conditions for performance We need to know the context and the conditions in which the task was carried out.

42 Conditions for performance Teacher guidance Visual support Linguistic resources Language conventions

43 More Exemplars Read these 2 exemplars. Compare them with the previous ones. Identify the levels of these texts. Explain your choice.

44 Conditions for performance Teacher guidance Visual support Linguistic resources Explicit models such as “I really love ice cream... My all time favourite ice cream treat is a hot fudge sundae with bananas and whipped cream. I also adore butter pecan ice cream... The only kind of ice cream is maple... If you prefer hard ice cream... Perhaps not nutritious but really delicious.” Language conventions

45 MELS Document on Exemplars Take a few minutes to look at the exemplars. Read the comments on the texts for levels 1, 2 and 3. Compare with your comments.

46 Exploring Levels 4 and 5 Look at the exemplars for levels 4 and 5. Read the student texts. Identify the features that make these texts levels 4 and 5. Are your cycle 3 students achieving levels 4 or 5?

47 Winning Conditions for Your Classroom If the winning conditions are in place, more students will achieve levels 4 or 5.

48 Winning Conditions for Your Classroom Contexts for Learning for C3 Meaningful situations (purpose and intended audience) Opportunities to develop compensatory and learning strategies through use Availability of resources (open-ended models, checklists, word banks, posters, visual and thematic dictionaries, self-correction grids) Opportunities to interact with peers and the teacher Help from the teacher and peers Use of ICT

49 Winning Conditions for Your Classroom Brainstorm Word wall Posters Links Language conventions Revisions checklists No surprises

50 It’s Your Turn Work in pairs. Begin with one set of students’ work from the samples you have brought. Explain the context and the conditions for performance for each of the tasks. Using the competency levels for C3, and the 3 pieces of writing, determine the student’s level of development of competency.

51 It’s Your Turn Team up with another pair and share what you have done.

52 3, 2, 1 3 things I learned 2 things I will put into practice 1 thing I would like to learn more about

53 Thank you! Gillian Baxter, C.S. des Trois-Lacs Cindy Stern, C.S. Marie-Victorin Mandate for the Table Montérégie d’anglais langue seconde