Assessment Literacy in a Standards-Based Urban Education Setting

Norman L. WebbWisconsin Center for Education Research

University of Wisconsin-Madison

http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/mps/

American Educational Research AssociationNew Orleans, LA

April 2, 2002

Session 13.1

Supported by a grant from the Joyce Foundation

General Research Question:

What capacity is needed in the district to implement successfully a Balanced Assessment Program?

Organizational Structure

Schools

Leadership

Educational Services

Research and Assessment

Curriculum/Instruction

Technology

Technical Services

Definition of Assessment Literacy

The knowledge about how to:

• assess what students know and can do,

• interpret the results from these assessments, and

• apply these results to improve student learning and program effectiveness.

Assessment and Standards History in MPS1991 K-12 Teaching and Learning Goals

1991-92 Grade 4 Writing Performance Assessment

1993 School-to-Work Program

1993-94 State WKCE grades 4, 8, and 10

1993-94 Curriculum specialists begin work on grade-level expectations

1994-95 Grades 11 and 12 Mathematics Performance Assessment

1996 MPS School Board Adopts Graduation Requirements

Middle School Proficiencies (Grade 8 in 2000)

High School Graduation Requirements (Grade 12 in 2004)

Assessment and Standards History in MPS (continued)

1996-97 District administers performance assessments in writing, math, science

1997 State requires all districts to adopt standards

1998 MPS School Board Adopts K-12 Academic Standards and Grade-Level Expectations (ELA, M, SCI, SS)

2000 MPS School Board adopts Balanced Assessment System

2000 Middle School Proficiencies goes into effect

2001 Longitudinal assessment Rdg/ELA, Math grades 3, 5, 6, 7, 9

2002 Middle School Proficiencies phased out

MPS Balanced Assessment System

Grade

External Internal

State Assess-ments

Longitudinal Assessments

Classroom-Based Assessments

Central Assessments School-Site Assessments4

K5 Rdg1, Writing1, Math

1 Rdg1, Writing1, Math

2 Rdg1, Writing1, Math

3 WRCT Math Writing Rdg, ELA, Math, Sci, SS

4 WKCE2 Rdg, Writing, ELA, Math, Sci, SS

5 Rdg/ELA, Math Writing Rdg, ELA, Math, Sci, SS

6 Rdg/ELA, Math Writing Rdg, ELA, Math, Sci, SS

7 Rdg/ELA, Math Writing Rdg, ELA, Math, Sci, SS

8 WKCE2 Rdg, Writing, ELA, Math, Sci, SS

9 Rdg/ELA, Math ELA, Math, Sci, SS

10 WKCE2 ELA, Math, Sci, SS

11 HSGT3 ELA, Math, Sci, SS

12 HSGT3 ELA, Math, Sci, SS

MPS Balanced Assessment System(continued)

Notes:

1Beginning with the 2001-02 school year, results from the Wright Group’s On-the-Mark Assessment will provide data for the Reading and Writing Classroom Assessments in K5-2 across all schools districtwide.

2WKCE subtests include: Writing, Rdg/ELA, Math, Science (Sci), Social Studies (SS).

3HSGT subtests include: ELA, Math, Science (Sci), and Social Studies (SS).

4School-site classroom assessments will be scored and recorded at the schools. Central Services will provide examples of assessments in each content area that model a standards-based approach, but schools will be able to select or develop their own assessments instead. Results from Classroom Assessments in K-8 will be recorded as proficiency levels and results in 11-12 will be recorded as GPAs for the purposes of student accountability under Promotion and Graduation Requirements, Policy 7.37.

Board approved assmt sy#1B7.xls MPS Office of Research and Assessment Revised: June 2001

Teachers’ Needs as Perceived by Curriculum Specialists

• Ability to write classroom assessments based on standards

• Using assessments to inform instruction• Understanding that assessment is not just testing• Different methods and strategies of assessment• Aligning curriculum with standards• Awareness of teaching standards• Looking at student work and scoring it• Lack of reliability and consistency among teachers in

scoring• Evaluating grade-level work

Initial Two-hour Workshop Design

I. Assessments types

II. Uses for different assessments

III. Types of assessment items

IV. Types of scoring schemes

V. Measuring students’ attainment of standards

System Criteria

Quality of Assessments

Saturation

Alignment with Standards

Other Issues

Reaching all teachers in the district

Standardize the use of rubrics by the content areas

Attend to student work in assessment development