Assessment Power! Pamela Cantrell, Ph.D. Director, Raggio Research Center for STEM Education College of Education University of Nevada, Reno

Teacher Efficacy Personal Teaching Efficacy “If I try really hard, I can get through to even the most difficult or unmotivated students.” Teaching Outcome Efficacy “When it comes right down to it, a teacher really can’t do much because most of a student’s motivation and performance depends on his or her home environment.”

Teacher efficacy has been linked to teacher effectiveness and appears to influence student achievement (standardized tests), attitude and affective growth.

Agenda Assessment Activity Types of Assessment Assessment Strategies/Methods Uses of Assessment Designing Assessments Constructing and Using Test Blueprints

Usual Assessment Question What did my students learn about the concept from the lesson? What we actually measure... What my students know about the concept after the lesson.

Powerful Assessment Questions What understandings about the concept do my students bring to the learning activity? What did my students learn about the concept as a result of the learning activity?

Three Types of Assessment Assessment Power! Pre- Assessment FormativeSummative

Many Assessment Strategies Student Interviews Questioning Performance Tasks Journals—drawings, reflections Portfolios Concept Maps Pencil/Paper

Uses for Preassessments Check for conceptual understanding prior to starting a unit of study Identify naïve understandings or misconceptions As a tool to adjust teaching/learning strategies

Uses for Formative Assessment Teachers “Shape” or inform teaching On-the-fly adjustments Check for student understanding Allows for diagnostic feedback Students What they currently understand What they still need to learn (Generally embedded in daily instruction)

Uses for Summative Assessment “Sums” learning to date Demonstrate learning Certify competence Grading Promotion Classification When paired with pre-assessment, can be a tool for identifying effective instructional practice!

Designing Assessments Identify desired results Determine acceptable evidence Plan learning experiences & instruction

It’s All About Alignment Identify desired results Determine acceptable evidence Plan learning experiences & instruction Goals/Objectives/Standards Assessment

1. Identify Desired Results…

Enduring Understanding Important to Know & Do Worth Being Familiar With

2. Determine Acceptable Evidence How will we know if students have achieved desired results? What will we accept as evidence of proficiency and understanding?

3. Plan Learning Experiences & Instruction What enabling knowledge (facts, concepts, and principles) and skills will students need to perform effectively and achieve desired results? What activities will equip students with the needed knowledge and skills?

What will need to be taught and coached, and how should it best be taught, in light of performance goals? What materials and resources are best suited to accomplish these goals? Is the overall design coherent and effective?

Discussion: Test Result Distribution Curves

Test Blueprints Content Domain Familiar—20% Important—30% Enduring Understanding—50% Cognitive Domain Factual Knowledge—30% Conceptual Understanding—35% Analysis/Synthesis—35%

Item Develoopment Variety of styles Multiple choice Short response T/F Across spectrum of difficulty Some differentiating questions—5%-10%

Threats to Internal Validity Not deeply challenging Cuing Just-in-time teaching Implausible answer choices Paired distractors Difference in writing style

Looking at the Results Sum content domains Sum the cognitive domains Calculate item degree of difficulty Disaggregate student data Gender Ethnicity Special Education SES

Closing the Loop Development Delivery Assessment Evaluation Reflection