1. The Role of Teachers and Technology in Assessing the CCSS Speaking and
Listening Standards
NCSA, June 2014, New Orleans, LA
Marty McCall, Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium

2. Note on range and content of student speaking and listening
To build a foundation for college and career readiness, students must have ample opportunities to take part in a variety of rich, structured conversations— as part of a whole class, in small groups, and with a partner.
--CCSS Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening

3. Comprehension and Collaboration:
Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Evaluate a speaker's point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric.

4. Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas:
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.

5. Interview Structured Collaboration Discussion
Formal
Informal
Interview
Conversation
One
to one
Interactive
Structured Collaboration
Discussion
Many
to many
Comprehend Speech/ presentation
Many
to one
Listening
Give speech/ presentation
One
to many
Speaking

6. Conversation Interactive Discussion Listening Speaking
Inside class, traditionally
Formal
Informal
One to one
Interview
Conversation
Many
to many
Interactive
Structured Collaboration
Discussion
Comprehend Speech/ presentation
Many
to one
Listening
One
to many
Give speech/ presentation
Speaking

7. Comprehend Speech/ presentation
Outside class
Formal
Informal
One
to one
Interview
Conversation
Discussion
Many
to many
Collabo- ration
Interactive
Many
to one
Comprehend Speech/ presentation
Listening

8. Drawing from language acquisition
Interactive speaking and listening precede reading and writing
Mastery of first language speaking and listening skills occurs well before formal school begins
The English used in school may differ from the home language of students
Phonemic inventory
Grammar
Vocabulary
Idioms
Degree of social privilege

9. Observing individual oral interaction
How engaged is the student in class oral life?
Does the student understand the teacher?
Does the student interact with peers one- on-one? In discussions?
Does the student ask for clarification or help?
Are a variety of grammatical structures used? Rich vocabulary?
Observational instruments (e.g., ESL Scales)

10. Conversation Interactive Discussion Listening Speaking
Inside class, 21st Century
Formal
Informal
Interview
One to one
Conversation
Interactive
Structured Collaboration
Discussion
Many
to many
Comprehend Speech/ presentation
Many
to one
Listening
One
to many
Give speech/ presentation
Speaking

11. Formative assessment as instructional dialogue-
“Because of the social nature of classroom activities, a great deal of the information collected through informal formative assessment is through classroom conversations.” Maria Araceli Ruiz-Primo 
Teacher Elicits information
Student Responds
Teacher Recognizes
Teacher Uses the information collected to move student learning forward.
Alexander, R.J. (2008) Towards Dialogic Teaching: rethinking classroom talk (4th edition), Dialogos.

12. Formative assessment as instructional dialogue-
Informal interaction
Explicit goals for gathering evidence
Student spoken response closely observed
Evidence of comprehension
Evidence of expressive skill
Immediate action based on feedback
Usually unrecorded

13. Group Work
What is the role of formal and informal interaction in learning?
Can interactive elements be assessed?
Group score?
Individual score?
Observational/descriptive frameworks
Creating awareness of productive vs unproductive dialogue
Instruction in formal roles in structured collaboration

14. The Assessment and Teaching of 21st-Century Skills (ATC21S)
Investigates assessing 21st-century skills and encourages teaching and adopting those skills in the classroom.
Collaborative Problem Solving Empirical Progressions
(MOOC) on the Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills is being hosted on Coursera starting June

15. PISA COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING
Formal assessment of collaboration skills
Computerized simulation
Student interacts with one or more computerized “agents” of varying competence
The student works with different agent teams on a variety of problems
For each problem, the team works through states that give the examinee options communication. Choices determine subsequent actions.

16. COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING Scoring framework
(1) Establishing and maintaining shared understanding
(2) Taking appropriate action to solve the problem
(3) Establishing and maintaining team organisation
Each category is rated low, medium or high. Generally proceeding from random to intentional and self-oriented to team and solution oriented.

19. Thank you for your attention