Part of intro to OAME LEADERSHIP Fall 2011 (draft of ideas) Chris Suurtamm & Connie Quadrini

New assessment ideas Revolution or evolution?

Research and thinking inform new practices Moving from a 20 th century thinking and research to a 21 st century view that recognizes new thinking and research about learning and the purposes of assessment

20th Century Paradigm Behaviorist Learning Theories Test-teach-test Knowledge as bits Intelligence as innate, unitary, and fixed Psychology Education Measurement Schools as factories Educational objectives = jobs Achievement is the accumulation of bits of knowledge Objective tests to measure achievement Adapted from Shepard (2000)

Emergent Paradigm Intellect is socially and culturally developed Learners construct knowledge and understanding New learning shaped by prior knowledge Cognitive and Constructivist Learning Theories Reformed Vision of Curriculum Assessment All students can learn Encourage critical thinking & problem solving Fostering habits of mind A process rather than an event Students active in evaluation process Provides feedback for both teaching and learning Adapted from Shepard (2000)

Some basic premises All students can learn  All students need opportunities to show what they know and can do Learning is complex  Assessing learning is equally complex Assessment can inform learning  Assessment is ongoing and embedded in instruction

These views appear in many places: Principles for Fair Student Assessment Practices for Education in Canada (1993) NCTM Assessment Standards (1995) The Student Evaluation Standards: How to Improve Evaluations of Students (2003) Curriculum documents, etc.

NCTM Assessment standards

Shifts in mathematics assessment Assessing students’ full mathematical power Giving students multiple opportunities to demonstrate their full mathematical power Basing inferences on multiple sources of evidence Viewing students as active participants in the assessment process Comparing students’ performance with established criteria Aligning assessment with curriculum and instruction Regarding assessment as continual and recursive Giving support to teachers and credence to their informed judgment Developing a shared vision of what to assess and how to do it Using assessment results to ensure that all students have the opportunity to achieve their potential Holding all concerned with mathematics learning accountable for assessment results (NCTM, 1995) towards

Ontario policy statements

What does this mean to you? “ The purpose of assessment is to improve student learning.” Ontario Ministry of Education

Growing success List of principles from beginning of document

But where else is there evidence of the evolution of these ideas? What do these ideas look like? Discuss with your table partners how you have seen the evolution of assessment ideas in your own context:  In classrooms  In professional development

Facing dilemmas in practice Discussion of a 2 – 3 dilemma scenarios of teachers/leaders at different places in their understanding/use of assessment (perhaps have 1 connected to alignment, another to formative, another to summative)

Moving forward Connie introduces why we’re using the PRIME framework (this will connect to the dilemmas as well as some of the important ideas in the previous messages)

Introduction of NCSM’s PRIME Leadership Framework Background Overview, including: Cycle of Action and Leading (page 7), including stages of leadership development

Assessment Leadership Principle 4 Leadership Actions:  matching activity OR leader profile and ID Assessment leadership actions (examples from PRIME Leadership book study)

Self and Group Assessment PRIME Assessment: leadership actions   self-assessment for where am I?  clicker / sticker dots for where are we as a collective? (keep in mind anonymity)

Mathematics Assessment Leadership Planning Cycle Sharing of thinking / progress  Participants pose clarifying / probing questions to support participant reflection of cycle