how are we doing? assessment, rubrics, and school improvement
DESCRIPTION
Presentation for Oxford, CT November 2, 2010TRANSCRIPT
How are we doing?Assessment Design and
Technology
Justin Reich
EdTechTeacher.org
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Objectives• Explain the manifold purposes and possibilities of
assessment• Examine the role of assessment in Backwards Design• Design rubrics and incorporate them in ongoing
conversation with students• Leverage technology to make student behavior visible
and to more easily collect and analyze assessment data• Incorporate assessment data in ongoing conversations
about teaching and learning
Summative vs. Formative Assessment
Summative
• Happens at the end• Emphasis on evaluating
understanding• Typically higher stakes• Demonstrates
understanding of goals• Drives unit and lesson
design
Formative
• Happens throughout• Emphasis on fostering
understanding• Typically lower stakes• Evaluates intermediate
understandings• Drives unit and lesson
adjustment in real time
Purposes of Assessment: assess student comprehension or mastery via performance of understanding benchmark progress assess teacher efficacy hold teachers, students, administrators, others accountable clarify expectations (for students, parents, teachers, colleagues…) motivate students to work/study/stick to requirements motivate teachers to work/study/stick to requirements teach new material in context of assessing student mastery of other
material/skills assign grades sort students (or teachers) compare students (or teachers) to an external norm or set of criteria conform with/adhere to external requirements (MCAS, etc.) demonstrate to students how much they’ve learned – give them something to
show off or celebrate help students become better at taking tests
Types of Assessment
Backwards Planning (UbD)Select learning goals
What do you want students to be able to do by the end of the lesson or unit?
Design assessment tasksHow will students demonstrate their developing mastery of those goals?
Develop lesson activitiesHow will you prepare students to master the goals and
succeed on the assessment task?
Backwards PlanningSelect learning goals
What do you want students to be able to do by the end of the lesson or unit?
Design assessment tasksHow will students demonstrate their developing mastery of those goals?
Develop lesson activitiesHow will you prepare students to master the goals and
succeed on the assessment task?
Intermediate Goals/
Formative Assessment
Good Learning Goals
If Goals Assessments, then they must be:
Clearly articulated
Observable/Measurable
Appropriate
Mini-Lesson: Characteristics of Good Learning Goals
Clearly articulated students, parents, educators, and
general public can understand them without additional explanation
focused and specific
Good Learning Goals
Clearly articulated
Observable/Measurable– teacher can measure or assess student
mastery of the goal
– students and parents can assess student mastery of the goal
– short-cut evaluation for cognitive learning goals: uses a verb from Bloom’s Taxonomy
Good Learning GoalsClearly articulatedObservable/MeasurableAppropriate
– goal meets students’ and/or society’s needs as defined by teacher, school, district, state, etc…
– goal is achievable given context timeframe, class size, students’ ages and backgrounds,
available resources, externally-imposed constraints
– goal is worthwhile aligned/consonant with teaching aims
Writing/Revising Cognitive Learning Goals
Original Goal: Students will understand causes of the U.S. Civil War. Task: Revise this goal to be clearly articulated, observable, and appropriateContext: 7th grade U.S. history course in Oxford PS, untracked
If it helps, look at the Bloom action words!
Goals• Students demonstrate their understanding
of the chronology of the origins of the civil war by will arrange in chronological order the 4 or 5 events that caused the civil war in three class periods…
Discussion Questions• First, discuss one idea or strategy from this
morning that you can implement in your own instruction this year. What is one thing you may do differently? Ask probing questions of your colleagues to understand their ideas.
• Second, what ideas or strategies from this morning could grades/departments/ teams/colleagues at GOMS implement collaboratively to improve student learning. Develop an action plan for one idea as a group.
Google Form Challenges• Create a new form• Give your form a title• Add 2 questions of two different “types”• Post your form link at todaysmeet.com/edtechteacher• Answer two people’s quizzes• Look at your data summary• ADVANCED: create a summary of your data using
equations or graphs• ADVANCED: develop a quiz/survey for your class
Rubistar Challenges• Go to rubistar.4teachers.org• Scroll down and choose a subject area • Choose a specific project to create a rubric for• Enter the basic title information• Select a category• Revised a benchmark in a prepopulated category• Create a new category• Submit and Preview
Using Data to Address Instruction
Further Reading: Data Wise and Data Wise in Action
Backwards Planning (UbD)Select learning goals
What do you want students to learn by the end of the lesson or unit?
Design assessment tasksHow will students demonstrate their developing mastery of those goals?
Develop lesson activitiesHow will you prepare students to master the goals and
succeed on the assessment task?
Things I showed at the end
• Typewith.me
• Meebo.com
• Blogger.com
• Wikispaces.com
Synchronous Discussion
Discussion Boards and Chat
Synchronous Discussion• Conversation about Conversation
– Write down 5 thought questions to inspire discussion about the effective use of discussion in class
• Assign groups– Elect a leader– Discuss questions on forums– Refresh often– Use @Justin to respond to particular people if
unclear
• The leader from each group should invite the other members into a chat. From this point forward: NO TALKING, ONLY TYPING.
• Each person will then in turn ask one of their discussion questions. You will be given 15 minutes to discuss. The goal is to discuss questions as deeply and thoroughly as possible. I'd rather read an in-depth examination of two questions than brief discussions of six. GO DEEP!
• You will get a 5 point grade for this exercise. While I will raise the standards later, for now the grade will be mostly based on the following:
• 1) Do you stay on topic?• 2) Do you carefully read and respond to each other?• 3) Do you ensure that you finish each question before moving
on?• In the future, I will also expect you to actively challenge one
another and to incorporate evidence from the source material.• When you are finished, the leader should copy and paste the
chat into an email and send it to turninreich.
• Pablo Toribio-09[10:11:31 AM]: Why is Arjuna is reluctant to fight?• Jess Lippincott-09[10:11:54 AM]: because he doesn't want to kill all of those
people• Pablo Toribio-09[10:11:55 AM]: Arjuna is reluctant to fight because he believes those
people are his family.• Jess Lippincott-09[10:12:02 AM]: and his teachers• Vinesha Collymore-09[10:12:07 AM]: yeah• Jess Lippincott-09[10:12:09 AM]: and his great uncles• Vinesha Collymore-09[10:12:22 AM]: his family, he didnt want to kill them• Jess Lippincott-09[10:12:29 AM]: right• Vinesha Collymore-09[10:12:39 AM]: he felt like he was close to these people• Jess Lippincott-09[10:13:12 AM]: yeah, and he thought it would be cruel and
unnecesary to kill them• Vinesha Collymore-09[10:13:17 AM]: yeah• Jess Lippincott-09[10:13:28 AM]: +, he says he doesnt want a kingdom• Jess Lippincott-09[10:13:30 AM]: right• Vinesha Collymore-09[10:13:32 AM]: he became overcome with grief• Pablo Toribio-09[10:14:04 AM]: "Then Arjuna saw in both armies fathers,
grandfathers, sons, grandsons; father of wives, uncles, masters;brothers companions, and friends. When Arjuna thus saw his kinsmen face to face i both lines of the battle, he was overcome by grief and despair and thus he spoke with a sinking heart. "
• Jess Lippincott-09[10:14:20 AM]: right• Vinesha Collymore-09[10:14:44 AM]: so that's our conclusion for number 1• Jess Lippincott-09[10:14:49 AM]: then "I have no wish for victory Krishna,
nor for a kingdom, nor for its pleasures"
Asynchronous Discussion
Blogs and Discussion Boards
New Ways to Develop
Fundamental Skills
Rehearse for 21st Century Situations/
Environments
Improve Student Engagement
Hypothesized Benefits to teaching with Web 2.0
Enable Rich CollaborationEnable Rich Collaboration
Motivate StudentsMotivate Students
Improve Writing Skills
Improve Writing Skills
Engage in New Civic
Dialogue
Train for Web 2.0
Applications in Business
Engage in New Global
Dialogue
Learn New
Media Literacies
Learn New
Media Literacies
Practice Deeper and
Richer Discussion
Practice Deeper and
Richer Discussion
Train for Writing
under Real World
Conditions
New Ways to Develop
Fundamental Skills
Rehearse for 21st Century Situations/
Environments
Include More Students
Include More Students
Improve Student Engagement
Hypothesized Benefits to teaching with Web
2.0
Some Exemplar Blogs• Professor Cooper's Fundamentals of Writing Blog• Comparative Religions• The Secret Life of Bees • Middle East Studies• Daisy• Nobles goes to Tanzania• Chris’s American Literature 11• Stephanie (U.S. History)• Extreme Biology• Sargent Park Math Zone• HHC Collaboration Blog
Blog Challenges:• Create a Blog• Add a post
– Use formatted text– Include a link– Include an image– Publish the post
• Add a post– Save as a draft
• Go to Justin’s blog– Add a comment to the
new post (how could you use a blog in your class)
– Reply *directly* to someone else’s comment