Common Formative Assessments:

The Key to Learning

Sharon Kramer, Ph.D. Solution Tree Associate

drkramer1@comcast.net

Learning For All

1

Your Name:_________ __________________

Will You Be My Partner?

Your Name: _________

__________________

Tennis

Your Name:__________ ____________________ ____________________ Bicycling

Rollerblading

Your Name:___________

____________________ Golfing

2

Inside the Black Box Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment

By Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam Phi Delta Kappan 80(2), pp.139-148, 1998

What this study found: Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam reviewed research from 250 studies of schools using formative assessment to improve student achievement. These studies were selected internationally and included students from 5 years old to university students, and involved multiple subject areas. There were three questions raised in this research study. The first is “Is there evidence that improving formative assessment raises standards?” The answer was a resounding yes. To draw this conclusion, they looked at students who were provided an innovation (formative assessments) and compared them to similar students who were not. Results are provided as an effect size ratio calculated from the average improvement of students during the innovation divided by the typical scores of the students not provided the innovation. Effect sizes for these students ranged from 0.4 and 0.7. These sizes are greater than those typically found in educational studies. Black and Wiliam provide some context information in their article to explain what these gains mean. At the lower end (0.4) students who have been through the innovation score at about the same level as the top 35% of students who have not been through the innovation. At the top end (0.7) the score would have moved scores from the “middle of the pack of 41 countries” to one of the top five countries. Another important conclusion drawn by the researchers is that using formative assessment helps reduce the achievement gap between the average students and the low achievers by especially helping the low achievers. They suggest that this is beneficial because it is important that these students don’t see themselves as being incapable learners.

3

The second question asked in the research was “Is there evidence that there is room for improvement?” Again, the answer was yes. They identified the following problems: •Tests usually test for rote learning rather than understanding •Test questions are typically developed by individual teachers and not reviewed and analyzed by colleagues •Teachers often reward quantity over quality of work •Too much emphasis is given to the final grade rather than the learning process. •Students are compared to each other which causes many students to stop trying because they don’t feel they can learn. •Effective feedback to students is not provided. •Tests are given to create grades rather than to provide information to teachers to help learning. The third question asked was “Is there evidence about how to improve formative assessment?” The article suggests that knowing formative assessment can improve achievement doesn’t necessarily make it an easy to do so. They suggest that teachers must •Increase the amount and quality of feedback provided to students •Assure that students are actively involved in their own learning •Use the results of formative assessments to adjust teaching and learning •Consider how assessment can be used to motivate students especially by engaging students in self-assessment and reflection about their own learning.

4

Vocabulary Quiz

1. Test

2. Evaluation

3. Assessment

5

Overview of Assessment

ClassroomAssessments

Most Formative More Formative More Summative Most Summative

Daily Weekly SemesterUnit Monthly Annual

Pyramid ofInterventions

Programmatic Support

ExternalAssessments

DIBELS Gates MacGinitie District Benchmarks

State Assessments NWEA-MAP ITBS

Collaboratively Developed and

Curriculum Embedded

Ongoing Student and Teacher

Assessment

Identify Groups of At-Risk Students Entrance and Exit

Criteria

Ranks and Benchmarks

Quizzes, Essays, and Projects

Common Benchmark Assessments

Common Formative

Assessments

6

Common Assessment Scenarios Common assessments are intended to help teachers study their impact and, ultimately, refine their craft. Common assessments are any assessment given by two or more instructors with the intention of collaboratively examining the results for:

• Shared learning • Instructional planning for individual students • Curriculum, instruction, and/or assessment modifications

When teachers look closely at their classroom results in a comparative way, it is easy to identify strengths and stretch points and then engage in the collaborative problem-solving required to help students close achievement gaps. Used in this manner, common assessments are very powerful learning tools for students and teachers alike. Conversations generated from common assessment results create profound and meaningful professional development opportunities. The practice of using common assessments should not be viewed as a fad; schools should not ask teachers to invent common assessments for the sake of doing them or because everyone else seems to be. A school’s efforts must remain deliberate and focused. Educators must keep a well-trained eye on the ultimate goal of student learning to do this work well. It might seem that common assessments are only suited to use with teams who share the exact same curriculum and/or students. What happens when a single specialist (an elementary art teacher or a middle school band teacher) or even a whole team (a high school business department with seven teachers teaching 15 different courses with no overlaps in responsibility) has no one with whom to share a curriculum? With care and creativity, teams of teachers operating as professional learning communities are figuring out ways to use the common assessment process to improve their instruction and student learning. The teams in the stories that follow are operating on one of three ways to conduct common assessments:

Whole- school effort

such as writing

across the curriculum

Vertical or horizontal alignment

Cross buildings or districts

7

Example 1: Cooper High School

Cooper High School officials knew they needed to do something about literacy in their building. While their students mirrored the state’s demographics almost perfectly, they underperformed on the state’s average for reading proficiency. No one in the high school was trained as a reading teacher, and it seemed virtually impossible that they could do anything about their less-than-satisfactory results. When educators examined their state data, they determined

that their students were low in the areas of a) identifying the main idea, b) analysis, and c) evaluation. Teachers agreed that they wanted the students in their own subject areas to be successful with those same skills (physical education, woodworking, business, family and consumer science, math). Everyone engaged students in reading, and everyone believed they could at least impact the students’ success if they taught and assessed those three skills. The staff then made the following commitments to each other:

• We will provide direct instruction in the three targeted skill areas and weave those skills into daily conversation and student assignments.

• At least once per quarter (dates agreed upon in advance), we will give an assessment with our own curriculum addressing those three skill areas.

• We will always have five questions per skill (identification of main idea, analysis, and evaluation).

• We will work with each other to write our questions and verify that we are of equal rigor in the level of our questions.

• We will score our own assessments for content and collaboratively review our results regarding student mastery of the three skills.

As agreed, everyone on staff gave at least four common assessments that year, and they reviewed their results together, making collaborative decisions on how best to improve their results each time. In one year’s time, the students at Cooper High School went from underperforming to exceeding the state average on the reading test. While the students were still not at the level the staff desired, the staff now understood their own ability to impact the reading achievement results, and the work is continuing.

Whole- school effort

such as writing

across the curriculum

8

Example 2: Singleton Elementary

Singleton Elementary, a K–8 building, is so small that there is only one teacher per grade levels K–5. There is a single teacher per discipline to cover grades 6–8 (one grade 6–8 language arts teacher, one 6–8 math teacher, and so on). To operate as a professional learning community, staff must be in vertical teams: grades K–2, grades 3–5, and grades 6–8. As a whole, the staff acknowledged that while their scores were low in math, they were observing a steady increase in

student achievement, and they felt progress was being made. However, their reading scores—though slightly better than the current math scores—were low and stagnant, as no observable changes had happened within the last 5 years. Each learning community was charged with identifying SMART goals for improvement in the area of reading. Teachers in grades K–2 decided to work on comprehension and began collaboratively writing common assessments that targeted identifying main ideas and key details, word-attack skills, and story-predicting for each of the different grade levels involved. Even though they offered their students different materials with different levels of difficulty, the team agreed to gather and collaboratively evaluate their results, making sure their learners had the necessary building blocks for reading. Teachers in grades 3–5 continued the work on comprehension in much the same manner. Members did the following: a) helped with writing the assessments, b) used their own content, and c) collaboratively scored all the grades’ results. These teachers focused their reading goals on the learning targets of fluency, inference, and text features. Teachers in grades 6–8 determined that their learners were struggling most with nonfiction literature. All agreed that within their subject matter, they needed to help their learners to read and interpret tables of content, indexes, glossaries, charts, graphs, tables, and pictures. Using nonfiction literature and visual tools that would be natural to the subject matter, the team agreed to work on the following in their common assessments: a) elaboration of ideas presented, b) problem–solutions, and c) metacomprehension (student awareness and conscious control over understanding while reading a text). Like the other two teams, the grades 6–8 team still meets to review and score their students’ work collaboratively—doing their best to help each other increase student achievement with nonfiction literature.

Vertical or horizontal alignment

9

Example 3: DaVinci Middle School

DaVinci Middle School is set up in the “house” concept, and each house operates as an interdisciplinary team. The teams have worked diligently to create “authentic” and integrated student learning tasks (performance assessments across the disciplines) and the tasks from each house are very different from each other. While this attribute has made school seem fun and exciting for learners and teachers alike, it has made the process of using common assessments difficult for teachers.

Initially, each house tried to use authentic tasks as the common assessment. While it helped as a team to make sure kids within the team passed their individual assessments, it did not help teachers within the disciplines understand how to improve student learning within math or art or social studies, for example. To begin the process of common assessments and to support learners in mastering science expectations, the 7th- and 8th-grade science teachers identified their “big ideas” per trimester in science for each grade level. With that information in hand, the two teams (7th grade and 8th grade) established a pacing chart. For example, the 7th-grade team agreed to focus on the following learning targets within its content structure of the classes’ life science, physical science, and earth and space science:

Trimester 1: Life science • Structure and function in living systems • Populations and ecosystems • Diversity and adaptations of organisms

Trimester 2: Physical science • Properties and changes of properties in matter • Motions and forces • Transfer of energy

Trimester 3: Earth and space science • Structure of the earth system • Earth’s history • Earth in the solar system

Vertical or horizontal alignment

10

They then agreed that they could use different content in each house, relative to the integrated, authentic performance tasks of their respective houses, but that they would track student progress against their required expectations in science. So, when it came to teaching life cycle in Trimester 1, Team A used “whales,” Team B used “owls,” and Team C used “wolves.” The teams wrote their questions together for each life cycle, plugging in individual content for the actual assessments that fit within their house projects. Now the science team could track student progress on their science standards, help each other improve in the art and skills of teaching science, and still participate within their interdisciplinary house projects. Example 4: Multiple Middle Schools

In Islo School District, there are three middle schools. Each middle school has one band director who teaches all three grades 6–8. Unfortunately, it did not always work out that the collaborative time of one building would line up with the collaborative time of another building. Therefore, meeting during collaborative time was impossible, and the administration requested that the three instrumental-arts teachers find someone within their own buildings with whom to collaborate—such as the vocal-

arts teachers. The team of three was adamant that the best way to improve in teaching band was to talk with other band teachers. The three teachers planned creative ways to use their assigned collaborative time electronically (meeting via email) and reallocate time so they could meet on their own. In the meantime, they identified their 8–10 “big ideas” for each grade in band and generated the assessments and rubrics to score student work. It took a full year before they were able to convince the administration to revamp their schedules so that they could meet on Friday mornings at least twice a month. However, the team believes it was well worth its persistence. They believe they are doing more to help their kids achieve in band than they had ever been able to do on their own.

Cross Buildings or Districts

11

Example 5: Alternative High Schools Mr. Nelson teaches math at an area learning center (ALC), and he is the only math teacher for the building. He had always felt as if he was operating in a bit of a vacuum, and it made him nervous to think that he might not take his students as far as he could with their learning. He wanted to know if he was reaching high enough for his learners. He contacted his peers in other ALCs, along with his peers in the math department within his affiliated school district. First, he compared curricula and expectations against his own, seeking overlaps. Having found similarities, he invited ALC math teachers from other districts to share their assessments for those same learning targets. He offered to give the same assessment at the same time to his students, and he requested that they agree to compare results. Though the second assessment would be different, he offered the same opportunity to assess and compare results with his local high school math department. Nr. Nelson did not have ongoing comparative data with either site, but he had begun the process, and he now had some benchmarks for where he was with his students relative to where others were with their students. Because he learned so much from the process, he hopes to continue and even increase the opportunities for common assessments with his peers in other ALCs and with his peers in regular high schools. The students on Mr. Nelson’s watch will not fall behind if he can help it.

12

Types of Achievement Targets

Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & Chappuis (2004) identify four kinds of learning targets embedded in standards.

Knowledge mastery

Choose one

Mastery of substantive subject matter content, where mastery includes both knowing and understanding it

Reasoning

Choose one

The ability to use that knowledge and understanding to figure things out and to solve problems

Performance skills

Choose one

Developing proficiency in an area where process is important, such as playing a musical instrument, reading aloud, speaking in a second language, or using psychomotor skills

Products

Choose one

The ability to create tangible products, such as term papers, science fair models, and art projects, that meet certain standards of quality and present concrete evidence of academic proficiency

13

Sample Performance Standards or Outcomes

English: Oral Language The student uses interviewing techniques to gain information. English: Reading The student demonstrates comprehension of information resources to research a topic. English: Writing The student writes in a variety of forms, including narrative, expository, persuasive, and informational. Science: Force, Motion, Energy The student identifies simple machines and their uses. Social Studies: World Geography The student analyzes past and present trends in human migration and cultural interaction as they are influenced by social, economic, political, and environmental factors. Social Studies: Geography The student constructs a simple map of a familiar area, using basic map symbols in the legend. Music: Beginning Level Instrumental The wind or percussion student performs a one-octave chromatic scale, ascending and descending. Math: Number and Number Sense The student identifies ordinal positions—first through 20th, using an ordered set of objects.

14

Which Is Which?

Verbs help identify the type of target to be assessed.

Knowledge Reasoning Performance Skill Product

Know List name identify tell examine recognize explain understand describe define

compare–contrast–distinguish analyze organize infer–deduce predict interpret hypothesize sort evaluate prove judge support justify classify

play do use observe measure explore demonstrate carry out model listen perform question conduct speak

make generate design construct invent produce draw write create develop

Sources: Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & Chappuis, 2004; Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001

15

Deconstructing Standards

Standard: Type: Product

Skill

Reasoning

Knowledge

Product Skill Reasoning Knowledge

Based on the work of Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & Chappuis, 2004.

Learning Targets What knowledge, reasoning, skill, or product targets underpin the standard?

16

Mapping A Standard to Assessment

Standard

Summative Assessment

Target 1 Target 2 Target 3

Common Formative Assessment Common Formative Assessment Common Formative Assessment

Target Timeline Target Timeline Target Timeline

17

Student Name

Class 1 Class 2 Class 3 Class 4 Totals

Multiple Choice

Extended Response

Multiple Choice

Extended Response

Multiple Choice

Extended Response

Multiple Choice

Extended Response

1 80 4 80 4 100 3 100 4 2 80 3 80 3 60 2 80 3 3 100 1 100 3 80 2 40 2 4 100 4 100 3 80 3 100 3 5 80 3 100 1 60 2 100 4 6 100 1 100 4 60 2 80 3 7 40 2 80 4 80 2 100 1 8 100 4 80 3 80 2 80 3 9 80 4 100 4 100 1 100 4 10 100 1 100 4 80 3 100 4 11 100 4 100 4 80 2 60 2 12 100 4 100 3 100 4 100 3 13 80 3 80 4 60 2 100 3 14 80 3 80 3 80 2 80 3 15 100 3 100 4 60 2 60 2 16 20 2 100 4 100 3 80 3 17 80 4 100 3 80 3 60 1 18 100 4 100 3 80 2 100 4 19 100 4 80 4 80 2 80 3 20 100 4 100 4 80 3 20 2

Total 86 2.9 93 3.45 74 2.15 81 2.85

Making Inferences in Informational Text

18

Activity: Classroom Interventions

As a team, plan how you could intervene. What will you do for the students who need more time and support or who need challenge on the targets you identified above?

Learning Target More Time and Support Practice Challenge

19

Team:

Date:

Assessment:

Data Team Meeting

Targets Measured on Assessment Percent Proficient on Target

Which students need correctives?

Target Student Name Intervention Needed

20

What misconceptions were apparent? Question # Misconception

Which questions need review? Question # Concern

Which teaching strategies or pacing issues need to be discussed?

Strategy or Topic Issue of Concern

21

Turning Learning Targets into Student-Friendly Language:

Make predictions. 1. Word to be defined: Prediction Prediction: A statement saying that something will happen in the future. 2. Student-friendly language: I can make predictions. This means I can use information

from what I read to guess at what will happen next. (Or, to guess what the author will tell me next.)

Summarize text. 1. Word to be defined: Summarize Summarize: To give a brief statement of the main points, main events, or important ideas. 2. Student-friendly language: I can summarize text. This means I can make a short

statement of the main points or the big ideas of what I read. Compare and Contrast. 1. Words to be defined: Compare and contrast

Compare: Identify ways in which two or more items are similar, or alike. Draw an analogy between one item and another for the purposes of explanation or clarification.

Contrast: Identify ways in which two or more items differ. Juxtapose so as to bring out differences..

2. Student-friendly language:

I can compare. This means I can show how two things are alike. –or— This means I can point out ways in which two things are alike. –or— This means I can identify ways in which two or more items are similar. –or— This means I can show ways in which an unfamiliar thing is similar to a familiar thing to help others understanding the unfamiliar one. I can contrast. This means I can show how two things are different. –or— This means I can point out ways in which two things are different. –or— This means I can identify ways in which two or more items are different. –or— This means I can choose two things to put together side-by-side to make the differences stand out sharply.

22

Example of Learning Targets in Student-Friendly Language

Benchmark Clarification Key Elements IDENTIFIED and DEFINED

English Language Arts Strand V, Standard 7, Benchmark 2, all levels: Monitor their progress while using a variety of strategies to overcome difficulties when constructing and conveying meaning. Clarification, Middle School: Keep track of their progress in communication and learn and apply useful strategies when they encounter new problems or difficulties.

Monitor = Keep track of, be aware of, think about Variety of strategies = _____________________ ________________________________________ Constructing meaning = Understand what is read, heard or seen.

Conveying meaning = Make sure others understand what is meant through writing, speaking, drawing, or other means of communication.

CLARIFYING Learning Targets FOR STUDENTS Turn the KEY ELEMENTS into one or more “I can” statements:

“I CAN” STATEMENTS I can monitor my understanding of what I read, write, see or listen to. This means I can tell if I understand what is meant. I can use different strategies to improve my understanding. This means I can____________ __________________________________________________________________________ I can monitor whether others understand what I write, tell, or draw. This means I know how to keep track of other peoples’ understanding of what I say. I can use different strategies to help other people understand what I mean. I can _________ _________________________________________________________________________ Adapted from: Practice with Student-Involved Classroom Assessment, Arter & Busick, 2001, p.83

23

Feedback Strategies Can

Vary In…

In These Ways… Recommendations for Good Feedback

Timing •When given •How Often

•Provide immediate feedback for knowledge of facts (right/wrong) •Delay feedback slightly for more comprehensive reviews of student thinking and processing. •Never delay feedback beyond when it would make a difference to students. •Provide feedback as often as is practical, for all major assignments.

Amount •How many points made •How much about each point

•Prioritize—pick the most important points •Choose points that relate to major learning goals. •Consider the student’s developmental level

Mode •Oral •Written •Visual/demonstration

•Select the best mode for the message. Would a comment passing the student’s desk suffice? Is a conference needed? •Interactive feedback (talking with the student) is best when possible •Give written feedback on written work or on cover sheets •Use demonstration if “how to do something” is an issue or if the student needs an example

Audience •Individuals •Group/class

•Individual feedback says, “The teacher values my learning.” •Group/class feedback works if most of the class missed the same concept on an assignment, which presents and opportunity for reteaching.

24

How Do You Do Assessment for Learning? Putting Teacher and Student Practices Together

Royce Sadler identified a progression of three questions to define students’ information needs met by effective formative assessment. They are: • Where am I going? • Where am I now? • How can I close the gap? The seven strategies listed below (some of which are teacher actions and some of which are student actions) are designed to help students answer Sadler’s three questions. The seven strategies are more fully explained on the following pages. Activity directions: As you read the explanations on the next four pages, categorize the strategies to which one of Sadler’s three questions each is designed to answer. Using Assessment for Learning: Seven Strategies

Question Answered

1. Provide an understandable vision of the learning target.

2. Use models of strong and weak work.

3. Offer regular descriptive feedback.

4. Teach students to self-assess and set goals for learning.

5. Design lessons to focus on one aspect of quality at a time.

6. Teach students focused revision.

7. Engage students in self-reflection. Let them keep track and share what they know.

25

Involving Students Using Assessment for Learning Strategies

A key outcome of using assessment for learning strategies is encouraging students to become involved in monitoring their own learning. Royce Sadler, an Australian researcher, suggests that there are three ways assessments can help students control, and therefore improve their own learning: Sadler Question 1: Where am I going? Students need to know and recognize quality work. Students should understand what exactly it is that they are trying to do.

Stiggins Strategy 1: Provide a Clear and Understandable Vision of the Learning Target Share with your students the learning target(s), objective(s), or goal(s) in advance of teaching the lesson, giving the assignment, or doing the activity. Use language students understand, and check to make sure they understand. As, “Why are we doing this activity? What are we learning?” Convert learning targets into student-friendly language by defining key words in terms students understand. Ask students what they think constitutes quality in a product or performance learning target, then show how their thoughts match with the scoring guide or rubric you will use to define quality. Provide students with scoring guides written so they can understand them. Develop scoring criteria with them. Stiggins Strategy 2: Use Examples and Models of Strong and Weak Work Use models of strong and weak work—anonymous student work, work from life beyond school, and your own work. Begin with work that demonstrates strengths and weaknesses related to problems students commonly experience, especially the problems that most concern you personally. Ask students to analyze these samples for quality and then to justify their judgments. Use only anonymous work. If you have been engaging students in analyzing examples or models., they will be developing a vision of what the product or performance looks like when it’s done well. Model creating a product or performance yourself. Show students the true beginnings, the problems you run into, and how you think through decisions along the way. Don’t hide the development and revision part, or students will think they are doing it wrong when it is messy for them at the beginning, and they won’t know how to work through the rough patches.

Sadler Question 2: Where am I now? Students need to know exactly how their work compares to this final standard.

Stiggins Strategy 3: Offer Regular Descriptive Feedback Offer descriptive feedback instead of grades on work that is for practice. Descriptive feedback should reflect student strengths and weaknesses with respect to the specific learning target(s) they are trying to hit in a given assignment. Feedback is most effective when it identifies what the students are doing right, as well as when they need to work on next. One way to think of this is “stars

26

and stairs”—What did the learner accomplish? What are the next steps? All learners, especially struggling ones, need to know that they did something right, and our jobs, as teachers, is to find it and label it for them, before launching into what they need to improve. Remember that learners don’t need to know everything that needs correcting, all at once. Narrow your comments to the specific knowledge and skills emphasized in the current assignment and pay attention to how much feedback learners can act on at one time. Don’t worry that students will be harmed if you don’t point out all of their problems. Identify as many issues as students can successfully act on at one time, independently, and then figure out what to teach next based on the other problems in their work. Providing students with descriptive feedback is a crucial part of the increasing achievement. Feedback helps students answer the question, “Where am I now?” with respect to “Where do I need to be?” You are also modeling the kind of thinking you want students to engage in when they self-assess. Stiggins Strategy 4: Teach Students to Self-Assess and Set Goals Teaching students to self-assess and set goals for learning is the second step of helping students answer the question, “Where am I now?” Self-assessment is a necessary part of learning, not an add-on that we do if we have the time or the “right” students. Struggling student are the right students, as much as any others. The research described previously tells us it is they who gain the most. Self-assessment includes having students do the following: •Identify their own strengths and areas for improvement. You can ask them to do this before

they show their work to you for feedback, giving them prior thoughts of their own to “hang” it on—your feedback will be more meaningful and will make more sense.

•Write it in a response log at the end of class, recording key points they have learned and questions they still have.

•Using established criteria, select a work sample for their portfolio that proves a certain level of proficiency, explaining why the piece qualifies.

•Offer descriptive feedback to classmates. Use you feedback, feedback from other students, or their own self-assessment to identify what

they need to work on and set goals or future learning. Sadler Question 3: How can I close the gap? Students need strategies to help them know what they need to do to further their own learning.

Stiggins Strategy 5: Design Lessons to Focus on One Aspect of Quality at a Time If you are working on a learning target having more than one aspect of quality, we recommend that you build competence one block at a time. For example, mathematics problem solving requires choosing the right strategy as one component. A science experiment lab report requires a statement of the hypothesis as one component. Writing requires an introduction as one component. Look at the components of quality and then teach them one part at a time, making sure that student understand that all of the parts ultimately must come together. You can then offer feedback focused on the component you just taught, which narrows the volume of feedback students need to act on at a given

27

time and raises their chances of success in doing so, again, especially for struggling learners.. This is a time saver for you and more instructionally powerful for students. Stiggins Strategy 6: Teach Students Focused Revision Show students how you would revise an answer, product, or performance, and then let them revise a similar example. Begin by choosing work that needs revision on a single aspect of quality. Ask students to brainstorm advice for the (anonymous) author on how to improve the work. Then ask students, in pairs, to revise the work using their own advice. Or ask student to write a letter to the creator of the sample, suggesting how to make it stronger for the aspect of quality discussed. Ask students to analyze you own work for quality and make suggestions for improvement. Revise your work using their advice. Ask them to again review it for quality. These exercises will prepare students to work on a current product or performance of their own, revising for the aspect of quality being studied. You can then give feedback on just that aspect. Stiggins Strategy 7: Engage Students in Self-Reflection and Let Them Keep Track of and Share Their Learning Engage student in tracking, reflecting on, and communicating about their progress. Any activity that requires student to reflect on what they are learning and to share their progress both reinforces the learning and helps them develop insights into themselves as learners. These kinds of activities give student the opportunity to notice their own strengths, to see how far they have come, and to feel in control of the conditions of their success. By reflecting on their learning they deepen their understanding, and will remember it longer. In addition, it is the learner, not the teacher, who doing the work. Here are some things you can have students do: •Write a process paper, detailing how they solved a problem or created a product or performance. This analysis encourages them to think like professionals in your discipline. •Write a letter to their parents about a piece of work, explaining where they are now with it and what they are trying to do next. •Reflect on their own growth. “I have become a better reader this year. I used to….but now I…” •Help plan and participate in conferences with parents and/or teachers to share their learning.

Adapted from Classroom Assessment for Student Learning Stiggins, R., Artner, J., Chappuis, J. & Chappuis, S., Assessment Training Institute, 2004

28

Assessment for Learning

Student Self-Reflection and Goal Setting

Students use test plans as a basis for evaluation of strengths and areas of study.

Students complete self-evaluation and goal-setting form on the basis of test or quiz results.

On the following pages you will find an activity students can do to help them know what the results of a test mean about what they have learned and what they still need to work on. It is a

way of providing descriptive feedback to students that engages them in self-assessment and goal setting. While the activity is appropriate at the elementary and secondary level the process and

forms differ.

Here is the process: 1. The teacher identifies the learning target each item on the test represents and fills out

the first two columns on the form, Identifying My Strengths and Areas For Improvement.

2. Secondary students mark one of the next two columns – confident or unsure – for

each item as they take the test. Elementary students skip this step – it’s not on the elementary student’s form.

3. The teacher corrects the tests and hands them back. 4. Students mark the next two columns – right or wrong – by looking at their corrected

tests. 5. Students mark the last two columns – simple mistake or further study – by reviewing

the items they got wrong. To make this decision, they ask themselves, “Do I know what I did wrong? Could I correct this myself?” If the answer is “Yes,” then they mark the “simple mistake” column. If the answer is “No,” they mark the “further study” column.

6. Students then transfer each learning target to one (or more) of three categories on the

Strengths, Review, and Further Study form. 7. Finally, they use the Student Goal Setting form to make a plan to improve.

29

Identifying My Strengths and Areas for Improvement Name: George Assignment: Math Test #7 Date: December 1, 2007

Please look at your corrected test and mark whether each problem is right or wrong. Then look at the problems you got wrong and decide if you made a simple mistake. If you did, mark the “simple mistake” column. For all the remaining problems you got wrong, mark the “more study” column.

Problem Learning Target Right? Wrong? Simple mistake?

More study?

1 Place Value: Write numerals in expanded form to 10 thousands place

X

2 Place Value: Write numerals in expanded form to 10 thousands place

X

3 Place Value: Write numerals in expanded form to 10 thousands place

X

4 Place Value: Identify place value to the thousands place

X

5 Place value: Put numbers in order through the thousands

X

6 Place value: Put numbers in order through the thousands

X

7 Place value: Put numbers in order through the thousands

X X

8 Write fractions to match models X

9 Write fractions to match models X X

10 Write fractions to match models X

11 Write fractions to match models X X

12 Subtract 3-digit numbers with borrowing X

13 Subtract 3-digit numbers with borrowing X X

14 Subtract 3-digit numbers with borrowing X

15 Subtract 3-digit numbers with borrowing X X

16 Measurement: Read time to the nearest minutes X X

17 Measurement: Read a thermometer X

18 Measurement: Know how much a liter is X X

19 Measurement: Know how long a centimeter is X

20 Measurement: Choose the right tool to measure length, weight, liquid, and temperature

X

30

YOU BE GEORGE GEORGE, A THIRD-GRADER, FILLED OUT THE FORM ON THE PREVIOUS PAGE AFTER RECEIVING HIS CORRECTED TEST FROM HIS TEACHER. PLEASE IMAGINE YOU ARE GEORGE—DO A LITTLE SLEF-ANALYSIS AND GOAL SETTING BY COMPLETING THE FORM ON THIS PAGE. NAME: GEORGE TEST DATE: DECEMBER 1, 2007

I AM GOOD AT THESE

I AM PRETTY GOOD AT THESE BUT NEED TO DO A LITTLE REVIEW

I NEED TO KEEP LEARNING THESE

Learning targets I got right:

Learning targets I got wrong because of a simple mistake: What I can do to keep this from happening again:

Learning targets I got wrong and I’m not sure what to do to correct them: What I can do to get better at them:

31

STUDENT GOAL-SETTING

To get better at ____________________________________________________ , I could…

•

•

•

•

• One thing I am going to start doing is…

•

•

•

I’ll start doing this on _____________________ and work on it until ___________________. Date Date One way I’ll know I’m getting better is …

Goal Steps Evidence

What do I need to get better

at?

How do I plan to do this? What evidence will show I’ve achieved my goal?

32

Learning Targets tested – Ninth-Grade Biology Test

Below are 14 Key Learning Targets for Unit 9a. In the student assessment of you achievement of these learning targets, you will identify the areas in which you demonstrated proficiency and the areas in which you need to do additional study and preparation for mastery of the Unit 9 skills and knowledge. 1. Recognize that ecology is the scientific study of the interactions between organisms

and their environment.

2. Distinguish between a population, community, ecosystem, biome and biosphere.

3. Describe how organisms interact with each other in different ways (producers, consumers, predator, prey, scavengers, parasites, decomposers) to transfer energy and matter in an ecosystem.

4. Recognize that energy flows from one tropic level (one direction only) to another.

5. Recognize 90% of the energy of a trophic level is lost during life processes and as heat in the transfer to the next trophic level.

6. Describe how energy relationships can be represented and calculated in food/energy, biomass and numbers pyramids.

7. Explain all energy for an ecosystem originates from the sun.

8. Diagram the relative amounts of energy in a tropic level using an ecological pyramid.

9. Diagram the flow of energy in a food chain or food web.

10. Explain why matter is constantly recycled in an ecosystem.

11. Recognize each element is cycled in a specific way.

12. Express how the recycling of matter is necessary to make it available for organisms to use.

13. Distinguish between the four biogeochemical cycles (H2O, CO2, O2, and N2).

14. Explain the major steps in each of the four biogeochemical cycles (H2O, CO2, O2, and N2).

33

IDENTIFYING STRENGTHS AND AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Name: George Assignment: Unit 9a Biology Test Date: October 1, 2006

Please look at your corrected test and mark whether each problem is right or wrong. Then look at the problems you got wrong and decide if you made a simple mistake. If you did, mark the “Simple mistake” column. For all the remaining problems you got wrong, mark the “Further Study” column.

Question Learning Target # Confident Unsure Right Wrong Simple

Mistake Further Study

1 1 X X

2 2 X X

3 3 X X

4 7 X X X 5 3 X X X 6 3 X X 7 3 X X 8 3 X X X 9 9 X X X 10 6 X X 11 2,9 X X 12 3 X X 13 4,6,9 X X X 14 3,4 X X 15 3,4 X X 16 6 X X 17 6 X X 18 5 X X X 19 5 X X X 20 6 X X X 21 10,11.12 X X 22 13 X X X 23 5,11 X X X 24 13 X X

25 13 X X

34

STRENGTHS, REVIEW, AND FURTHER STUDY

1. To identify your areas of strength, write down the learning target numbers

corresponding to the problems you felt confident about and got right. Then write a short description of the target or problem.

MY STRENGTHS:

Learning Target # Learning Target or Problem Description

2. Do the same ting for the problems you were unsure of and for the problems on which

you made simple mistakes. WHAT I NEED TO REVIEW:

Learning Target #

Learning Target or Problem Description

3. To Determine what you need to study most, write down the learning target numbers

corresponding to the marks in the “Further Study” column (problems you got wrong, NOT because of a simple mistakes). Then write a short description of the target or problem.

MY HIGHEST PRIORITY FOR STUDYING:

Learning Target #

Learning Target or Problem Description

35

Resources for Professional Inquiry

Ainsworth, L., and Donald Viegut (2006). Common formative assessments. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80 (2), pp. 139-148.

Brookhart, S., Moss, C., & Long, B. (2008). Formative assessment that empowers. Educational Leadership, 66(3), 52–57.

Brookhart, S. (2008). How to give effective feedback to your students. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Chappuis, S., & Stiggins, R. J. (2002). Classroom assessment for learning. Educational Leadership, 60(1), 40–43.

Darling-Hammond & Bransford, (eds.). (2005). Preparing teachers for a changing world. DuFour, Dufour, & Eaker. (2008). Revisiting professional learning communities at work. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree. Fisher, D., and Nancy Frey. (2007). Checking for Understanding, Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Fullan, M. (2005). Leadership and sustainability: System thinkers in action. Thousand Oaks, CA:Corwin Press. Little, J.W. (2006). Professional Community and Professional Development in the Learning-Centered School. Washington, D.C.: National Education Association.

36

Marzano, R. J. (2006). Classroom assessment & grading that work. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Marzano, R. J. (2007). The art and science of teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

O’Connor, K. (2002). How to grade for learning: Linking grades to standards. Glenview, IL: Pearson.

O’Connor, K. (2007). The last frontier: Tackling the grading dilemma. In D. Reeves (Ed.), Ahead of the curve: The power of assessment to transform teaching and learning (pp. 127–145). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Olson. (May 2, 2007). “Just in time tests” Change what classrooms do next. Education Week, pp. 2. Popham, W.J. (2008). Transformative Assessment. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Reeves, D.(editor). (2007) Ahead of the Curve. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18, 119–144.

Stiggins, R. (2005). Assessment for learning: Building a culture of confident learners. In R. DuFour, R.Eaker, & R. DuFour (eds.), On common ground: the power of professional learning communities (pp. 65-83). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

37

Stiggins, R., Judith Artner, Jan Chappuis, and Stephen Chappuis. (2004) Classroom assessment for student learning. Portland, OR: Assessment Training Institute.

Stiggins, R. J. (2005). Student-involved assessment for learning (4th Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Stiggins, R. J. (2008, September). Assessment for learning, the achievement gap, and truly effective school. Paper presented at the Educational Testing Service and College Board conference, Educational Testing in America: State Assessments, Achievement Gaps, National Policy and Innovations, Washington, DC.

Wiliam, D. (Dec.2007/Jan. 2008). Changing classroom practice. Educational Leadership, 65 (4), pp. 36-41.

38