Office of School Improvement Differentiated Webinar Series Formative Assessment – Assessment for Learning December 13, 2011 Dr. Dorothea Shannon Dr. Greg Wheeler Mrs. Thomasyne Beverly 1

The ultimate goal in school improvement is for the people attached to the school to drive its continuous improvement for the sake of their own children and students. - Dr. Sam Redding 2

Today’s Agenda 1.Welcome (2 minutes) 2.Team reports - Status of Implementation Plan(10 minutes) 3.Why Assess Students (15 minutes) 4.The Magic of “For” (5 minutes) 5.Formative versus Summative Assessment (20 minutes) 6.Reflections/Assignment for the subsequent webinar (8 minutes) 3

Purpose Example: To identify the why we assess students. To examine how assessments are currently being used in your school. To understand the difference between assessing of learning and assessing for learning. To recognize the difference between formative assessment and summative assessment. 4

Team Reporting (10 minutes) Please describe the work you have completed since our last web session. 1.What indicators were selected? 2.What is your implementation schedule? 3.Have you used the TeachFirst site and completed an “Instructional Conversation”? 5

Assessing Students  Why do we assess students?  What are some types of assessments?  What are the effects of different kinds of assessment on students and on teachers?  What are the challenges of using assessment for accountability?  How can teachers use assessments to promote learning? 6

Why Assess Students? To certify achievement Summative Assessment To compare or evaluate curriculum, schools, teachers, and/or students Accountability To inform teaching and learning Formative Assessment 7

How are assessments currently being used in your school? Take a few minutes within your group to answer the following questions, raise your hand when you are ready to share. 1.What assessments are currently being used by teachers? 2.Are assessments currently being used to identify the learning needs of the students? 3.Are assessments currently being used to modify instruction? 4.How is information passed from grade level to grade level and from one year to the next? 5.What’s the current status of formative assessment in my school 8

The Magic of “For” Take a couple of minutes and discuss these two statements, what is the difference between the two? Write your answer in the “chat” box. Assessment of learning…….. Assessment for learning……. 9

Source: Editure- TeachFirst, In assessment for learning, Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, and Chappuis (2004) detail 5 keys to classroom assessment quality: 1.Know the reason for assessing. 2.Develop a clear goal for student learning…what, specifically, is being assessed. 3.Design assessments in a way that produces accurate results and provides a relevant sample of student work across the spectrum of achievement. What the Research Says 10

Research continued Communicate assessment results clearly to students through feedback, and 5. “students must be taught the skills they need to be in control of their own academic success: self-assessment and goal setting, reflection, keeping track of and sharing their learning”. 11

Formative v. Summative Assessment Formative  Ongoing/daily  Part of the instructional process  Helps teachers adjust teaching and learning as it happens  Think of it as practice – helps the teacher determine the NEXT STEP  Student involvement  Descriptive feedback  Checking for understanding Summative  Periodic assessment  Tells us what the student knows or does not know  Part of the grading process  State assessments  Benchmark tests  Unit/chapter tests  Gauges student learning at a particular time relative to content standards  Can be a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of the instructional program 12

Activity/Discussion  Take a minute and write in the chat box the advantages of understanding and using formative assessment. 13

What the Research says Successful Formative Assessment Involves changing perspectives and enhancing current practices by providing relevant descriptive feedback, to students developing greater student understanding of learning goals, and valuing the quality of student work over quantity (Black & Walton, 1998). 14

What was one idea I learned during today’s webinar that I plan to share with teachers at my school? 15

Team Assignments for Webinar Session 4  Continue using the “Instructional Conversations” from the Editure website.  Be prepared to discuss an assessment indicator that you selected and the tasks that were developed to achieve the objective.  Bring an artifact from the module you have worked on that is an example of a teacher using FA. 16

Questions? Next Web Session January 17, 2011 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. 17