ASSESSMENT THAT SUPPORTS HIGH-QUALITY LEARNING

A BALANCED APPROACHDAY ONE

Getting Ready for the Next Generation of Assessment

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Presenters: Abbie Lareau Susan Palma

Goals and Outcomes

Identify connections between standards, curriculum, and assessment practices.

Develop an assessment vision that can be communicated and shared across the district with all stakeholders.

Identify the most effective use of your current assessments.

Formulate an action plan to improve the capacity of the district, school, and classroom to engage in assessment practices that support and promote high-quality learning.

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Day 1 Objectives

District Teams will be able to…Recognize and understand the components of a balanced assessment systemUse the Principles of Assessment to reflect and provide feedback regarding current district assessment plan.Define reliability and validity regarding district, school, and classroom assessment. Create a district vision for assessment of student achievement.

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What are the Next Generation of Assessments?

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How do we get ready for the next generation of assessments?

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What does readiness look like…

At the district–level? At the school-level? At the classroom-level?

Principles of Assessment

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What is a Balanced Assessment System?

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Definition of Balanced Assessment System

A balanced assessment system is comprised of formative and summative assessments* administered on both a large scale and at the classroom level. In this context, “balanced” does not refer to assessments that are of equal weight (Redfield, Roeber, & Stiggins, 2008).

*Interim/Benchmark fall into both categories

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Balanced Does Not Always Mean Equal

Balanced Assessment System---A balanced assessment system is a configuration of different assessment types and processes to fulfill purposes that align with expectations for learning and performance (Bazemore, Cippoletti, Howard, et al., 2008). It meets the needs of all users, but does not necessarily mean equal or of equal weight

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Is this equal?

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Balance Does Mean Sound

Balancing multiple pieces of assessment data—formative, benchmark and summative—provides the most robust, sound information for educators.

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Three Types of Assessment“(In)formative Assessments,” Harvard Education Letter, 2006

SummativeBenchmark/

InterimFormative

Key Questions

Do you understand?

Is this class on track for proficiency?

What do you understand?

When Asked

End of unit/term/year

3 – 4 times per year

On-going

Timing of Results

After instruction

ends

Slight delay – within 72

hours

Immediate – within 24

hours

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Productive Assessment Systems

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Purpose

To provide students, educators, parents and the public with a range of information about academic achievement, and to determine the best practices and policies that will result in improvements to student learning.

The Purpose of a The Purpose of a Balanced Assessment SystemBalanced Assessment System

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Important Question

How do you know when you have a balanced assessment process?

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  FORMATIVE BENCHMARK/INTERIM

SUMMATIVE

Classroom        

       

    

School         

District          

   

Balanced Assessment SystemA visual representation of responsibility

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Shifts in Assessment PracticesFROM:

Separating successful from unsuccessful learnersPrimarily summative

Focus on large-scale assessmentsTeacher directed

TO:Ensuring universal competence/success

Balance of formative and summativeBalance large-scale w/ classroom assessmentTeacher and student focused

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Assessment vs. Testing

Assessment is the process of gathering and discussing information from multiple and diverse sources in order to develop a deep understanding of what students know, understand, and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educational experiences; the process culminates when assessment results are used to improve subsequent learning.

Testing – is a procedure for critical evaluation.

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Assessment – Balanced and Productive

Assessments must evolve from being isolated events to becoming events that happen in ongoing series so as to reveal patterns in student learning over time. This will reveal to the learner and the teacher, not only current achievement status, but improvements in student own capabilities—a powerful booster of confidence and motivation.

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Reflection

“Methods of assessment are determined by our beliefs about learning.”

Dietel, R.J., Herman, J.L., Knuth, R.A. NCREL

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Growing Your Vision

What do you want your

assessment system to accomplish?

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Vision Matched to Reality

How does your present reality match your vision?

Does your present assessment system serve children well?

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Purpose! Purpose! Purpose!

To plan learning prior to instruction

To support learning during instruction

To monitor learning between instruction

To verify learning after instruction

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How Are You Assessing?

At your table divide into two groups, identify all the assessments you use. With the total group at your table compare and contrast the ways you assess student learning. Identify the most commonly used and the most unique approaches, record on chart paper.Discuss what you do with the results and student work?

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Reflection on Assessment Inventory26

Consider the system of assessments used in your school and district:

How are your assessments aligned to the principles of assessments? To what extent?

Standards alignment Cognitive processes and 21st century skills Improving teaching and learning Teacher involvement Response to data

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Analyzing Your Assessment Inventory

Do you see any trends or patterns?What direction do you need to go?

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Assessment Alignment – Tools to Use

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SummarySummary29

Use more than one type of assessment; employ multiple measures; and gather holistic evidence

Not necessary to have the same “amount” of formative, benchmark and summative assessments; balance is achieved by how you use the data

Consider assessments, their purpose and characteristics along a continuum of options. Not as important to have balance between assessment types, but balance between types of data that result from various assessments

Data from one assessment often informs another as there is often overlap among assessment types

Think about all types of data you can gather, rather than the different types of assessment you need to give.

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Getting Answers to All Your Questions

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Action Planning

Look forward!

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Thank You to the Design Team Members• Dr. Shelbi K. Cole, Consultant, Bureau of Student Assessment, SDE

• Harriet Feldlaufer, Chief, Bureau of Teaching and Learning, SDE

• Dr. Nick Fischer, Superintendent, New London Public Schools

• Abbie Lareau, Consultant, Education Connection

• Tim Nee, Director of Montessori Initiatives, CREC

• Gail Pagano, Consultant, Bureau of Student Assessment, SDE

• Sue Palma, Consultant, Education Connection

• Dr. Tony Rigazio-Digilio, Central Connecticut State University

• Dr. Philip A. Streifer, Superintendent, Bristol Public Schools

• Charlene Tate Nichols, Consultant, Bureau of Teaching and Learning, SDE

• Dr. Michael Wasta, External Consultant, SDE

• Iris White, Consultant, Bureau of Accountability and Improvement, SDE

• Joanne White, Consultant, Bureau of Teaching and Learning, SDE