Developing Common Assessment In Mathematics Sandra MacDonald September 2008

4 Purposes of Assessment Purposes of Assessment Making instructional decisions Monitoring student progress Evaluating programs Evaluating student achievement Promote Growth Improve Instruction Recognize Accomplishment Modify Program Van de Walle (2005) p.68

A point to ponder…. Summative Assessment vs Formative Assessment

One could compare the former (summative assessment) to an autopsy, and the latter (formative assessment) to a physical examination. Dufour, Dufour, Eaker & Many

A summative assessment, like an autopsy, can provide useful information that explains why the ‘patient’ has failed, but the information comes too late... at least from the patient’s perspective. Dufour, Dufour, Eaker and Many

A formative assessment, like a physical examination, can provide both the ‘doctor’ and the ‘patient’ with timely information regarding the patients’ well-being and can help with a prescription for an ailing person or assist a healthy person to become even stronger. Dufour, Dufour, Eaker and Many

Summative or Formative? How would you classify each of the following types of assessments: Homework assignment End of term test Grade 2 CAT assessment Grade 12 Provincial Exam Weekly test Be prepared to justify your response!

Purpose of Common Assessment To identify trends in the data, (strengths and challenges), inform practice, modify programs, and improve instruction.

Why Common Assessments? We have to know and be clear about what students need to know and be able to do We need to know how they are doing in a timely manner, when it’s fixable! We need to reflect principles of learning in teaching practice: teachers learn best in social and collaborative setting As schools work on accreditation, being purposeful in our data collection becomes increasingly important

Thinking about assessment: What will it be used for? (Limit add-ons and think about what it can REPLACE) When is the best time? (Think about when it will be used and how) How will it be assessed? Who will assess it? What will you do with the data? It’s important to go beyond just creating common assessments and think about how it can be used to improve student understanding.

You need to have a plan… An agenda and a timeline will help make it a reality.

Common Assessment Planning Task DateDone  Comments Meet to select a topic or strand for common assessment based on the school goal. Meet and select or create the common assessment. Consider how it will be assessed. Choose a tool. Set a date for meeting after assessment. Administer the assessment. Meet to mark the assessment & record the results. Review the results and develop the strategies to be used to support the needs of all students. Meet to make any adjustments to the assessment or set a new task. Begin anew! (set date!)

Sample School CA planning Task DateDone  Comments Meet to select a topic or strand for common assessment based on the school goal. 06/09/08  Communication was an area identified as weak in previous external assessments. This was supported by teachers’ own data. A decision was made to target student communication of mathematical understanding in writing.

Task DateDone  Comments Meet and select or create the common assessment. Consider how it will be assessed. Choose a tool. Set a date for meeting after assessment. 11/09/08  Grade level teachers will select a journal question each month to use as a common assessment. Characteristics of a good performance task will be used to review the task. A teacher generated rubric will be used. Meeting to assess student work 22/09/08

Task DateDone  Comments Administer the assessment. Week of 17/09/08  Different teachers choose times to suit their timetable and professional judgment of best day for students.

Task DateDone  Comments Meet to mark the assessment & record the results. 22/09/08  One teacher has many samples of rich communication. What is her secret? Discussion of how her students are succeeding: Let’s all try her approach next month (she shared a simplified rubric with the students!) Some students need more scaffolding. Gr1 teacher shared template for journal writing. Gr5 teacher shared 3-Read strategy she is using. Review the results and develop the strategies to be used to support the needs of all students. 22/09/08 Next meeting: 15/10/08 

Common formative assessments represent the most effective strategies for determining whether the guaranteed curriculum is being taught and more importantly, learned. Dufour, Dufour, Eaker and Many

Common, team-developed formative assessments are such a powerful tool in school improvement that no team of teachers should be allowed to opt out of creating them. Dufour, Dufour, Eaker and Many

References Van de Walle, John A., and LouAnn H. Lovin. Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics : Grades K-3. Danbury: Allyn & Bacon, Incorporated, Lisa Lunney, St. FXU Chappuis, S., Stiggins, R.J., Arter, J., and Chappuis, J. Assessment FOR Learning: An action Guide for School Leaders Assessment Training Institute. Portland, Oregon Tanya MacDonald’s planning template for Common Assessments Katie Foley’s problem-solving template 3-Read Strategy from Teaching Resource