Assessments! New Teacher Meeting November 2, 2011

Learning Targets:  Teachers will be able to distinguish between summative assessments and formative assessments.  Teachers will have a better understanding of the importance of formative assessments.

Think, Pair, Share  With a partner, compare and contrast what you already know about summative and formative assessments.

Formative Assessments: Assessments FOR Learning  Formal and Informal processes teachers and students use to gather evidence for the purpose of improving learning.  Used to help student learn more WHILE the learning is occurring and informs instruction  Takes four different forms  Selected response and short answer (M/C, T/F, matching)  Extended written response (essay, report, paper)  Performance assessment (oral report, performance)  Personal communication (verbal cues, conferencing)

Summative Assessments: Assessments OF Learning  Assessments that provide evidence of student achievement for the purpose of making a judgment about student competence or program effectiveness.  Results of the assessment record the END RESULTS of all learning opportunities  Benchmark testing, ACT, MAP, AP

Used with skill, formative assessments can:  Motivate the unmotivated  Restore students’ desire to learn  Encourage students to keep learning  Create—not simply measure—increased achievement -- Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & Chappuis, 2004

Who Uses Assessment Information, and How? Beginning with the person whose birthday is closest to today and moving clockwise, assign the following roles:  Student  Parent  Teacher  Principal  Athletic coach  Guidance counselor

Write your role in the blank on the handout. Answer #1 individually (3 – 5 minutes), then beginning with the “student,” share your list. When all roles have shared, notice what conclusions you are drawing about classroom assessment. Note and discuss your responses to question #2.

Some Conclusions  Data must be sound because major decisions that affect students’ well-being are made on its basis.  Assessment data is used for many purposes beyond grading.  Students are crucial decision-makers, whose information needs must be met.

Think of a time you were assessed and it was a negative experience. What made it negative?

Now think of a time you were assessed and it was a positive experience. What made it positive?

Emily’s Story: Assessment for Learning  Read Emily’s story and the two papers she wrote.  Then read Emily’s interview with Rick Stiggins after the school board meeting.

What did Emily’s teacher do that helped Emily succeed?

Krissy’s Experience  Read the story of Krissy’s assessment experience.  What did this teacher do that made it difficult for Krissy to achieve the learning goals?

What are the essential differences between Emily’s and Krissy’s experiences? How did ASSESSMENT AFFECT MOTIVATION in these two students’ experiences?

What actions can you take to improve your assessment environment?

Seven Strategies of Assessment FOR Learning  Where am I going? 1. Clear Learning Targets 2. Model examples  Where am I now? 3. Descriptive feedback 4. Self assess and set goals  How can I close the gap? 5. Focus on ONE learning target 6. Teach students focused revision 7. Self reflection, students share their learning

Homework  Please read Chapter 2, pages  Next Meeting: November 30, 2011  We will not meet in December!!!

Circle, Square, Triangle Reading Reflection  Please take a few minutes and reflect over your reading, pages  Circle: What question is still circling in your mind?  Square: What are two things that square with your beliefs about Strategy 1?  Triangle: What are three points you learned from your reading?  Please post your geometric shape on the corresponding anchor chart.

Learning vs. Performance Goals  Learning Goal:  Goal is to improve work and get better  Performance Goal:  Goal is to get the work done, to get the points or grade, be seen as smart

Learning or Performance 1. Students will successfully complete the exercises in the back of chapter Students will create a metaphor representing the food pyramid. 3. Students will be able to determine subject/verb agreement in a variety of simple, compound, and complete sentences. 4. Students will understand the defining characteristics of fables, fairy tales, and tall tales. 5. Students will investigate the relationship between speed of air flow and lift provided by an airplane wing.

Robert J. Marzano Designing and Teaching Learning Goals and Objectives  1, 2, and 5 are performance goals, activities or assignments, things students will be asked to DO…how the learning goals are to be accomplished.  3 and 4 are learning goals, a statement of what students will know or be able to do.

Strategy 1: Making targets clear to students  Share the learning target with students  Use language students understand  Prerequisite: a suitable rubric  Creating a student-friendly rubric  How to introduce a student-friendly rubric to students  When to share the learning target  Checking for understanding of the intended learning

Is this an example of clear targets? ScienceSubject ElectricityTopic P. 152Resource Changing the amount of energy Activity/Performance Goal

Strategy 1 Options  Share the target as is (knowledge, some reasoning targets)  Convert target to student-friendly terms (reasoning targets)

Creating a student-friendly definition  Identify word(s) needing clarification.  Define the term(s)  Convert the definition(s) into language your students will understand.  Turn the student-friendly definition into an “I or a “We” statement  Try the definition out with students  Let students have a go at this procedure occasionally, using learning targets you think they could successfully define and paraphrase.

Learning Target- Science  2.A.7.l: Classify materials as conductors or insulators of electricity when placed within a circuit. Activity: Converting Learning Targets to Student-friendly Language

Think about it...  Based on your student-friendly definition, how many lessons do you now have to teach?  While you were doing this process, what were some things that stood out to you?

Targets, Performance Goals, and Learning Goals  Clear Targets--Curriculum objectives  Learning Goals--small pieces of learning that get the student to the target  Performance Goals--what students are asked to do as they learn along the way.

“Clear targets means they are not just listed on the wall, but they are in the child’s head.” -Jan Chappuis

Next Steps…  Please read pages 42-51, Strategy 2.  Reflect and Respond (Before Christmas)  Please post a reflection on your reading under New Teacher Discussion.  Then respond to at least one colleagues post.  Next Meeting, Wednesday, January 25th