1. Assessment and Differentiation of Instruction

2. Assessment for Learning

3. Where to Begin? -Cornell University  Goal statement: Start with clear statements of your most important goals. (What key things will students be able to say, think, or do after completing the activity?)  Opportunities: Provide opportunities for students to learn.  Assessment: Plan your assessments carefully so that they assess the goals you have articulated.  Standards: Define clear, appropriate standards for student performance. (What constitutes exemplary, adequate, and poor work?)

4. Assessment Principles  Consider the strengths and needs of the student  Use multiple and varied assessments  Use ongoing assessment  Students should receive transparent and ongoing feedback

5. Types of Assessment  Summative: occurs after instruction and summarizes learning e.g., end of semester test, national exam e.g., end of semester test, national exam  Formative: begins before teaching and continues during the learning process; informs and helps inform the teaching and learning; embedded in ALL lessons; observe and modify e.g., keeping track of progress toward a short-term goal e.g., keeping track of progress toward a short-term goal  Self assessment

6. Just like soup… Which one is formative, summative?  Chef tastes soup… Customer tastes soup… Robert Stake

7. Assessments…  Formal, norm-referenced (e.g., published tests administered under standardized conditions; for diagnostics)  Criterion-referenced; measures the extent which students have mastered a skill; there is a pre- established criterion (e.g., informal reading inventories)  Curriculum-based (e.g., measures a student’s progress towards meeting instructional goals)

8. Other Tools…  Interviewing  Surveys, checklists, rubrics, retellings  Benchmarks  Student self-assessment  Peer feedback  Portfolios  Conferences  Observations

9. What Basic Aspects of Comprehension to Assess? Cain, 2010  To understand text, the reader or listener needs to (word level skills assumed)….  Comprehend word meanings  Comprehend sentences (grammatical understanding)  Process and comprehend discourse (may include listening comprehension assessment)  Connect ideas between sentences with general knowledge

10. What about pre-readers?  Oral language ability correlates with later reading comprehension skills…  Oral vocabulary skills  Grammatical/Syntax ability  Narrative skill development

11. Constructing a Rubric  Practice making a rubric  http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

12. Differentiation of Instruction

13. Teachers Differentiate for Students’ Needs When They….  React responsively to a learner’s needs  Are flexible (e.g., re: learning goals, materials, modes of teaching, student groupings, etc.  Differentiate based on ongoing assessment  Use flexible groupings (i.e., whole, small, and individual groupings)  Variable groupings; at times homogeneous, heterogeneous, interest driven, based on learning style, etc.  Finding a ‘good fit’ for task to learner

14. Differentiation  Curriculum can be differentiated…  Process can be differentiated…  Products can be differentiated… Response to Intervention (RTI)Response to Intervention (RTI)

15. Curriculum can be differentiated…  Content (what the teacher plans for students to learn; how the student gains access to the knowledge; essential facts may be constant)  Use manipulatives with some learners  Use different reading levels  Present material using part to whole and whole to part approaches  Use reading buddies  Reteach  Use computers, videos to convey key concepts

16. Process can be differentiated…  Process: how the learner comes to understand the key facts, concepts, generalizations, skills; varying the activity  Involve other modalities to support learning  Provide options for level of difficulty or for individual interests  Vary the amount of support  Provide different choices for response (e.g., verbal open vs. choice; nonverbal; manipulatives)

17. Products can be differentiated…  A student’s demonstration of learning, understanding  Expressing learning in varied ways  A good product makes a student rethink about what has been learned; stresses creativity, and application and critical thinking skills  Students design products around essential learning goals  Portfolios  Varied assessments including student generated rubrics

18. Differentiation by… Learning Style and Individual Needs

19. Differentiation by Learning Style Grade One

20. Differentiation by Interest… Academies

21. Ten Ways to Differentiate  PARTICULAR: group activity pg. 105  Select a book, a skill, and a student problem