1. Competence based Assessments
Kuwait National Curriculum and Standards Development Project
Competence based Assessments

2. Objectives of this session
Find the difference between the modern competence-based assessment and the traditional evaluation approaches .
Characterize the main forms of modern assessment (diagnostic, formative and summative) and explain its role.
List the range of assessment methods and tools
Use the different kinds of formative assessment methods in real classroom settings.
Use the performance standards for summative assessment
Explain the impact of the competence-based subject curriculum on: formative assessment and designing descriptors, instruments and activities of assessment based on the curriculum standards.

3. Define : assessment
Assessment = a set of activities aiming at collecting, organizing, interpreting data that are obtained from applying various instruments in order to judge students’performance and make an educational decision.

4. We are interested in the diagnostic role of assessment. WHY?
Assessment goals
Diagnosis (It is concerned with the diagnosis of learning /acquisition of learners)
Prognosis (allows predictions of future achievements of learners)
We are interested in the diagnostic role of assessment. WHY?
For providing feedback concerning individual learning in order to ensure the student’s learning progress.

5. Assessment ... ?!? Premise on assessment
The main purposes of assessment:
to generate the learning progress and
to measure this progress

6.  Plan of this talk 1. Introducing the topic
9/19/2018
Plan of this talk 
1. Introducing the topic
2. A new vision on assessment
3. Methods of assessment
4. Formative vs summative assessment
5. Dimensions of “good” assessment
9/19/2018
Aalborg Nov 2006

7. Part 2 Why and how to develop a new vision on assessment

8. ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION/REPORTING
we used to . .
Compare learners to each other
but . . .
This made comparisons more important than the actual learning
so now . . .
Each learner could be evaluated on what he or she can do in relation to the standards
because . . .
This helps each child feel valued as a learner and builds on individual strengths
Based on Dr. Moses Mutuku’s report, Northern Illinois University

9. ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION/REPORTING
we used to . .
Place more emphasis
on what students could not or should not do
but . . .
We should learn
that this focus undermined the confidence of many students and that we could be more supportive of their accomplishments
so now . . .
We should begin with what students can do, then consider their learning needs
because . . .
This helps to develop confidence and gives a foundation for building and further developing their competences
Based on Dr. Moses Mutuku’s report, Northern Illinois University

10. ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION/REPORTING
we used to . .
Use pencil/paper tasks as the main way of assessing and evaluating students
but . . .
We might now know that this gave a limited view of what students could do
so now . . .
We should encourage students to represent their learning in a variety of ways (show what they know)
because . . .
This provides opportunities for more students to demonstrate their intelligence and to be successful learners
Based on Dr. Moses Mutuku’s report, Northern Illinois University

11. ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION/REPORTING
we used to . .
Use marks for reporting students’ progress  
but . . .
The marks are dependent on teacher and parent interpretation and often focused on surface knowledge rather than on understanding
so now . . .
We should use/add reports to describe students’ learning
because . . .
They give a more detailed picture of what students can do and identify future learning goals
Based on Dr. Moses Mutuku’s report, Northern Illinois University

12. ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION/REPORTING
we used to .
Exclude students
from the assessment and evaluation process
but . . .
This did not encourage the development of self-evaluation skills
so now . . .
Students should be encouraged to take a more active role in assessing and evaluating their own progress and, with the help of the teacher, set future learning goals
because . . .
As students construct meaning of the world around them, this process encourages independent learning and a commitment to further learning
Based on Dr. Moses Mutuku’s report, Northern Illinois University

13. Brief synthesis
begin with what students can do, and consider their learning needs
give students the support needed to progress
relate the evaluation to standards of achievement
use reports to describe students’ learning
encourage students to take a more active role in evaluating their own progress

14. Part 3 Assessment methods

15. Assessment methods: traditional (based on a variety of items):
written tasks
oral tasks
practical tasks
 alternative/ complementary:
observation - sheets, grids, scales, checklists
self-assessment - questionnaires, journaling, checklists
investigation
project
portfolio

16. Observation It can assess: concepts and abilities
 students’ attitudes with respect to a given task
 communication
 - it can be done via grids, rubrics, scales, checklists, assessment sheets
Observing Students

17. Self-assessment It stimulate the students’ metacognition.
Self-assement statements at the end of an important task:
I’ve learned ...
I’ve discovered ...
I’ve used (the method) ... because ...
In completing this task I encountered the following difficulties ...
Self-assessment is a valuable skill for students to learn. Give students opportunities to assess their efforts and attitudes regularly. Students can do this through questionnaires, journaling, and checklists.
EXAMPLE: Following a cooperative learning activity, students could fill out a questionnaire asking them to rate their performance on statements, such as "I helped my group," "My group helped me," "My group shared," and "I took turns with the others in my group." They could write in their journal about the most important thing they learned from the activity. Students could also create a list of skills they "can-do": "I can capitalize at the beginning of a sentence," "I can read words with short /a/."

18. Investigation It can assess: creativity and initiative
participation within the group
cooperation and decision making within the group/ leadership, if the case
persistence
flexibility and open mindedness
generalizations
Questioning is similar to the process of interviewing, but is more informal. As students work on an assignment, circulate to ask individuals questions relating to their work.
Example: After teaching a lesson on reading for information followed by an assignment to read a selection and answer questions, ask students things such as, "What information do you need to know?" "Where will you get that information?" "Can you tell me more?" "What is the most interesting part of the reading?" "What have you learned?" Help students do Think Aloud by asking them to talk you through what they are doing.

19. Project It can assess: methods that are being used
adequate use of bibliography
adequate use of materials and equipment
accuracy
problem generalization
organizing ideas and materials
the quality of presentation
etc.

20. Portfolio The portfolio could gather information on :
It is a collection of data about the student’s school progress which is obtained by a variety of methods and assessment techniques.
The portfolio could gather information on :
student’s school results ;
outdoors activities;
career guidance;
personal data ;
results at school contests
feed-back on behalf of the parents and feed-back on behalf of the teachers
An example of standardized portfolio in UK – the portfolio gathers information on:
student’s progress ;
basic skills ;
aptitudes ;
self-assessment ;
personal timetable ;
interest in and approach to a career;
monitoring and assessing activities and results.

22. What does the research say?
Most are probably familiar with the work of Dr. Lorna Earl, a leader in the field of assessment and evaluation, and a recently retired Associate Professor in the Theory and Policy Studies Department at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto.
In the webcast “Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind”, Dr. Earl identifies three approaches to assessment.
As you listen to this short clip, consider how this approach to assessment will impact your practice. What do you need to consider? Which of your current practices will you continue? Which might you revise?
After the clip, you’ll have an opportunity to share your thoughts.
To put the clip into context, she is addressing a school staff in a workshop format. The workshop was recorded, as a webcast, as part of a series of webcasts published by the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat. The entire recording, which is about one hour in length, can be viewed on the website of Curriculum Services Canada.

23. Assessment
OF Learning
Assessment
FOR Learning
Assessment
AS Learning

24. Assessment OF Learning FOR & AS Learning Evaluation Summative (after)
Judging
Assigning grades & reporting on achievement
Assessment
Diagnostic (before) & Formative (during, ongoing)
Coaching
Providing feedback to students & teachers to make decisions about next steps in learning
Ministry policies and resources will refer to the concepts of “assessment for learning” and “assessment of learning”. Both are important, but they are not the same thing. Assessment for learning emphasizes that the main purpose of assessment is not just to determine a mark at a particular point in time.
The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning.
It is meant to be on-going, to help students understand and to help teachers make adjustments before an evaluation takes place.
With this in mind, let’s talk about planning.
Here is a summary that compares the two types of assessment Dr. Earl spoke of.
Assessment of learning focuses on Evaluation. It is the traditional approach, typically using examinations to test what students know and are able to do. Through formal testing, teachers report on what students HAVE LEARNED at the end of a unit or course. It is summative, and it is what teachers are most familiar with.
The teacher’s role in evaluation is as JUDGE,
to assign grades
to report to students and their parents how they did
Assessment for learning, on the other hand, focuses on on-going assessment – the gathering of information about achievement.
It can take place before learning, through diagnostic assessment to determine students’ prior strengths or learning gaps,
or during learning, using more informal methods of assessment, which can include observation, performance, or student-teacher conference as well as quizzes and written assignments throughout the learning process.
The teacher takes a coaching role, giving students detailed feedback to tell them how they can do better.
The purposes of assessment FOR learning are to help teachers determine how student learning is developing, to identify what’s working and where problems are. This process assesses the effectiveness of instruction as well and helps teachers determine how instruction has to change to help struggling students.
As Dr. Earl stated, much of teacher’s formal assessment planning tends to fall into the “of learning” category. We carefully plan summative evaluations, perhaps because of the ‘accountability’ involved, and the fact that they are used for evidence when reporting to parents, or making decisions about placement.
While assessment ‘for’ learning occurs, it tends to be done more informally, as the occasion presents itself.
Our key message, and Ministry policy, suggests that this should not be the case…that assessment ‘for’ learning also needs to be planned.

25. Assessment Continuum Learning Goals Success Criteria
For
Learning
Learning Goals
Success Criteria
Descriptive Feedback
Peer/Self assessment
Individual Goal setting
Eliciting Evidence of Understanding
Video Clip: Self Assessment: The Process 0:48 – 2:01

26. Scaffolding I do, you watch I do, you help You do, I help
Assessment
For
Learning
I do, you watch
I do, you help
You do, I help
You do, I watch

27. Planning for Learning
Assessment
For
Learning
How can we plan assessment, evaluation, and instruction to improve student learning?

28. Current knowledge and skills Desired knowledge and skills
Diagnostic assessment to determine current knowledge/skills
Share learning goals
Develop success criteria with students and post for ongoing reference & revision
Feedback (from teacher, peers, self)
What am I supposed to learn?
What does successful learning look like?
How am I doing?
Think about assessment and evaluation as a collaborative partnership between you and your students. In this partnership, each of you has an important role to play in promoting students to move from their
current knowledge and skills to the
desired knowledge and skills identified in the curriculum. At outset of a period of learning,
you use diagnostic assessment to determine the student’s current level of knowledge and skills.
Students need to know what they are supposed to learn.
It’s your role to determine how to share the learning goals with them in ways they can understand.
Students also need information about what successful learning looks like.
One way to do this is to develop the success criteria with them, and post this co-constructed criteria for ongoing reference and revision.
During learning, students need ongoing feedback about their progress.
They get this information from you, as well as from their peers, and through self-assessment.
Your role in this partnership is to ensure that students know where they are going, and how to get there, and to promote your students’ ability to do this for themselves through teaching and modelling.
Desired knowledge
and skills

29. Planning the assessment
With
what?
How much?
Why?
What?
How?
Focus specific
competences/meet the standards
Select the learning content
Undertake learning activities
Analyze resources
Set assessment

30. Planning the learning units
With
what?
Why?
To what extent?
What?
How?
Focus specific
competences/meet the standards
Select the learning content
Undertake learning activities
Analyze resources
Set assessment
Specific competences
/Curriculum standards
Learning content (Details)
Learning activities
Resources
Assessment

31. Planning for Learning
Assessment
For
Learning
To maximize learning, assessment AND instruction must be purposefully planned to support students to attain a clearly defined learning goal.
We know that to maximize learning, assessment AND instruction must be purposefully planned to support students to attain a clearly defined learning goal.

32. Planning with the End in Mind
What do I want them to learn?
Where in the unit do you see evidence that this question has been addressed?
How will I know they have learned it?
Planning with the End in Mind is an effective planning process that we can use to address all of these components and make them work together to support students in their learning.
Look at one example of a way to plan and to record that plan. These are units meant to model a variety of effective instruction and assessment strategies, including differentiation, literacy, and assessment for learning. There is no expectation that teachers should record their planning in this particular format. We’ll share other formats as we progress through the day.
In the sample unit, how do you see evidence that the first planning question is addressed.
Addressing clusters of overall and related specific expectations
Examining how these expectations are linked to the categories of the achievement chart
How will I design the learning so that all will learn?

33. Enduring Understandings Overall Expectations
Planning with the End in Mind
What do I want them to learn?
Enduring Understandings
Overall Expectations
Key Questions
Learning Goals
Planning with the End in Mind is an effective planning process that we can use to address all of these components and make them work together to support students in their learning.
Look at one example of a way to plan and to record that plan. These are units meant to model a variety of effective instruction and assessment strategies, including differentiation, literacy, and assessment for learning. There is no expectation that teachers should record their planning in this particular format. We’ll share other formats as we progress through the day.
In the sample unit, how do you see evidence that the first planning question is addressed.
Addressing clusters of overall and related specific expectations
Examining how these expectations are linked to the categories of the achievement chart

34. Assessment of Learning (Evaluation) What evidence will be produced?
Planning with the End in Mind
Assessment of Learning (Evaluation)
How will students demonstrate their knowledge and skills when they have finished learning?
What evidence will be produced?
How will I know they have learned it?
Products
Conversations
Observations

35. Assessment for Learning
Planning with the End in Mind
Assessment for Learning
How will I know they are learning it?
How will students demonstrate their knowledge and skills while they are learning?
How will we monitor their progress?
Exit cards, journal entries, observation, conversations, …

36. Assessment Instruction
Planning with the End in Mind
Ongoing monitoring of learning
Strategies and tools to elicit evidence of learning
Teacher feedback
Peer Assessment
Self Assessment
Learning “how to learn”
Assessment
Show video clip Feedback #3 1:33 – 3:03
How will I design the learning so that all will learn?
Instruction

37. SUCCESS!
What we think we
are teaching
What they think they
are learning
How can we ensure that students know and understand what we expect them to learn?

38. Part 4 Formative Assessment vs Summative Assessment

39. A reflection moment
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

40. Formative assessment = Assessment for learning
Helps teachers to have a clear picture of the abilities and needs of their learners
Is done for the purpose of measuring what the learners can and cannot do during the learning process It
is on-going
is tied to learning outcomes
provides information that help decisions about planning and instruction
allows teachers to provide immediate, effective feedback that guides learning

41. Formative Assessment Assessment for learning
Taken at varying intervals throughout a course to provide information and feedback that will help improve
the quality of student learning
the quality of the course itself

43. Summative assessment = Assessment of learning
Measures the learners’ abilities to meet outcomes after learning. It
is tied to learning outcomes
occurs at the end of a learning unit or cycle
is used to evaluate whether learners have achieved the standards and to what degree
is used to make decisions about learners’ next placement

44. Summative Assessment Assessment of learning
Generally taken by students at the end of a unit or semester to demonstrate the "sum" of what they have or have not learned.
Summative assessment methods are the most traditional way of evaluating student work.
"Good summative assessments--tests and other graded evaluations--must be demonstrably reliable, valid, and free of bias" (Angelo and Cross, 1993).

45. Formative
‘… often means no more than that the assessment is carried out frequently and is planned at the same time as teaching.’ (Black and Wiliam, 1999)
‘… provides feedback which leads to students recognizing the (learning) gap and closing it … it is forward looking …’ (Harlen, 1998)
‘ … includes both feedback and self-monitoring.’ (Sadler, 1989)
‘… is used essentially to feed back into the teaching and learning process.’ (Tunstall and Gipps, 1996)
Summative
‘…assessment (that) has increasingly been used to sum up learning…’(Black and Wiliam, 1999)
‘… looks at past achievements … adds procedures or tests to existing work ... involves only marking and feedback grades to student … is separated from teaching … is carried out at intervals when achievement has to be summarized and reported.’ (Harlen, 1998)

46. The Garden Analogy If we think of our children as plants …
Summative assessment of the plants is the process of simply measuring them. It might be interesting to compare and analyze measurements but, in themselves, these do not affect the growth of the plants.
Formative assessment, on the other hand, is the equivalent of feeding and watering the plants appropriate to their needs - directly affecting their growth.

47. When the cook tastes the soup, that's formative
When the cook tastes the soup, that's formative. When the guests taste it, that's summative!
Robert Stake
This distinction leaves out any reference to the type of assessment technique used or to the time at which it is used. So, the results of a written unit test could be used for both summative and formative evaluation. If the test or the unit is never referred to again and if the mark is simply reported, then that is summative evaluation. If, upon correcting the test, you find that most of the students have failed to grasp an important concept, and, if you decide to reteach the concept before going on to the next unit, then you have carried out formative evaluation as well. In school we have very few instances of evaluations that are purely summative or purely formative usually we make use of the same assessment information in both modes.

49. Part 5 Dimensions of good assessment

50. Five dimensions of good assessment

51. Characteristics of a Good Test
Validity
Reliability
Practicality
Comprehension
Relevance:
Balance:
Authenticity
Difficulty:
Clarity:
Objectivity:
Time

52. BREAK

53. What are National Assessments?
What are performance standards?
Why developing performance standards?
What are Performance Levels ?
Performance levels based on empirical evidence: why and how.

54. Performance Standards
National curriculum
What learning is valued?
What kind of learning is recommended?
What do we want our learners to know and be able to do ? (curriculum standards)
Performance Standards
How well do we expect students to perform?
NationalAssessments
Are Kuwaiti students actually performing at the expected level ?

55. Kuwait National Curriculum
…has established competences that should be developed through the school experience, breaking those into more specific competences , defining the type of learning experiences and activities that are useful in developing such competences , and defining the expected learning outcomes or curriculum standards for students.
This has been done for the first stage of the school journey.
At the end of each school stage (5th,9th ,12th) it is necessary to stop and see how successful has this journey been and to verify to what extent these competences has been developed

56. Standards
…can be understood as definitions of what someone should know and to be able to do ,so as to be considered competent in a particular domain(professional or educational )
In the context of the National Curriculum Kuwait has been developing learning achievement standards for each grade level , stating what students should learn ,know and be able to do for each specific competence .
We have called these “curriculum standards”

57. Performance standards
The question that performance standards answer is “how well do we expect students to perform “by the end of this key stage ?
To what extent do we expect that they have developed their competences at that point?
It is the quality level to be achieved by learners in performing their competences by the end of each stage .

58. Description of the fully accomplished performance
The National Curriculum has described how the performance of a student who has fully developed the competences by the end of fifth grade would look like .
However ,we know that students progress at a different pace and that not all intended outcomes are fully achieved.

59. Performance levels
which is the process that describes the steps or levels towards achieving the fully accomplished level.

60. Standards - Performance Levels Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
What is the CEFR?
Framework of reference that can be used to teach and assess a second, third, etc. language.
Internationally accepted and used.
It provides levels of proficiency.

61. Standards - Performance Levels CEFR Levels of Proficiency
Proficient User
Mastery (C2)
Effective Operational Proficiency (C1)
Independent User
Vantage (B2)
Threshold (B1)
Basic User
Waystage (A2)
Basic User (A1)

62. Standards - Performance Levels CEFR Levels of Proficiency

63. Standards - Performance Levels CEFR Levels of Proficiency

64. Standards - Performance Levels CEFR Levels of Proficiency

65. Standards - Performance Levels Relationship between the CEFR Levels and the National Curriculum
Stages of Education
Grades
CERF Levels
Primary
1-2 A1
3-5 A2
Intermediate
6-9 B1
Secondary
10-12 B2

66. Standards - Performance Levels Relationship between the CEFR Levels and the Performance Levels that will be described
Performance Level
CEFR level
Level 2 A2
Level 1 A1

67. ----------- Performance Levels : some examples Proficient level
Infer the main idea of a text based on background knowledge and on the capacity of process information of the text.
Make inferences from clearly stated information in short factual texts and stories ,
Below the minimum standard
At the minimum standard
Proficient level
Students that perform at the proficient level
Students that perform at the level of the minimum standard but still don’t reach the proficient level
Students that still don’t reach the minimum standard

68. The importance of developing performance standards and Competences
As they are relevant at the end of each stage of education, performance standards are different forms of the national summative assessment or examination. When there are well written assessments, aligned to the competences stated by the national curriculum, it is possible to observe student performance that they demonstrate in different levels of mastery of these competences.

69. Why developing performance levels?
For reporting assessment results and setting goals for progress.
Describing the kind of tasks that students are able to solve in each of these levels is very illuminating for the development of assessment , because it becomes clear that the assessment needs to contain items targetted to these different levels.

70. How to describe these levels for Kuwait ?(criteria)
Performance Standards and their Performance Levels must be aligned with the National Curriculum.
Performance Levels must be assessable.
Performance Standards must provide achievable and yet demanding goals for learning. Describing more than one benchmark is recommended.
The Performance Levels should describe a progression in the development of the competences and should define significantly different stages in such progression.
Each Performance Level should demand knowledge and abilities of a similar difficulty level.
Performance Standards and their Performance Levels should be communicated to teachers, students, parents, etc. in a clear way including illustrations and explanations.

71. Thank you