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Middle Years Assessment Policy

Student Engagement

Advance Organizer:Why Engagement?

• How has the role of school changed?

• What about the Middle Years Learner?

• What does the Research tell us about Student Engagement?

• What does the Research tell us about Assessment?

• What are some of the Instructional and Assessment Strategies that make a Difference?

Purpose of School has Changed

from to

Ranking/sorting Learning for all

Goal: Independent, self-directed learners

The Mountain

y

x0 Mean

Ranking and Sorting

Moving the Mountain

Higher Learning for All

The Middle Years

Learner

School Level

Key Focus Brain BasisCurriculumEmphasis

Most AppropriateAssessment Approaches

Student Teacher

Relationship

Pedagogical Tools

Examples of How A Subject Could be

Taught (e.g. Reading)

Early childhood(3–6 yrs)

Play Rich dendritic connections, effects of environmental stimulation on synaptic development

Rich, sensorimotor experiences, open-ended imaginative play

Observation and documentation of spontaneous play experiences

Student as player, teacher as facilitator

Play house, play-ground, hands on sensory-exploration, dress-up, drama, blocks

Not taught at all, only exposure to words, books, etc. , as part of the play space

Early Years(7-10 yrs)

Learning how the world works

Pruning of synaptic growth

Learning about symbol systems, customs, rules, the natural world & Institutions

Performance-based; assessments of project-based learning (criterion - based, ipsative measures)

Student as worker/learner, teacher as coach

Activity centers, field trips, theme-based instruction, project-based learning, simulations

Rich literature-based, language-based literacy program (with phonemic awareness as an integral part)

Middle Years(11-14 yrs)

Social, Emotional, & Metacognitive learning

Limbic system maturity, lack of frontal lobe maturity

Emotional Intelligence Development & small group work

Self-assessment (journals, projects), student-teacher review of work,, peer review

Student as explorer, teacher as guide

Active learning, community of learners, affective/social learning, metacognitive strategies

Reading for self-discovery, peer reading groups, metacognitive reading strategies

Senior Years(14-18 yrs)

Preparing to live independently in the real world

Progressive development of frontal lobes

Career preparation and development

Portfolios, certification tests, college prep exams

Student as apprentice, teacher as mentor

Apprenticeship, internship, cooperative education, career counseling

Reading for pleasure, forwork roles, and collegepreparation

Research – Based Human Developmental Continuum

Adapted from Thomas Armstrong, 2006

Circle of Needs

Belonging

Fun Freedom

Power

Purposes of Behaviour

• All human behaviour is purposeful. • Meeting basic needs is behind all behaviour.. • Trouble ensues when needs are not being met

or when needs are in conflict.– Survival (Safety)– Belonging (Love)– Power (Efficacy)– Fun (Sense of Accomplishment)– Freedom (Choice)

(Gossen, Glasser)

Mindsets make a big difference!

• The Fixed Mindset • Don’t make mistakes

• Don’t work hard

• If you make mistakes, don’t try and repair them

• The Growth Mindset• Take on challenges

• Work hard

• Confront your deficiencies and correct them

adapted from Carol Dweck

What Influences Mindsets? The Kind of Feedback Students

Receive.• Praising intelligence

Praising the student who quickly finished and got the right answer for being smart is actually contributing to the Fixed Mindset and is detrimental to long term achievement.

• Recognizing effort, effective strategies employed, and perseverance through descriptive feedback

Praising the student for working hard, applying what they learned in the past and persevering even when a task is difficult contributes to the Growth Mindset. (Descriptive feedback - what the teacher has seen and heard the student do or say.)

adapted from Carol

Dweck

Beliefs

• Mission of School is to Promote Maximum Success – Learning for All, Not Ranking and Sorting

• All Students Can Learn - But they don’t all start at the same place, learn at the same rate or reach the same level

• Learning Doesn’t Happen Because Adults Demand It – Learners must want and feel able to learn, see learning as worth the effort

Activity

• Turn to your neighbor(s)• Share three ideas that have been

presented, so far• What are the implications of what we have

talked about, so far, for– Teacher– Students– Schools

• Be prepared to share you thoughts

Levers for Learning

Assessment

Engagement

Engagement

What does brain research tell us is necessary for engagement?

• Novelty brains are wired to pay attention to new things

• Challenge proximal zone

• Feedback descriptive, within thirty minutes

• Coherence fits with what is known

• Sufficient Time to go deep, construct newknowledge

Eric Jensen

Engaging Work

• Differences in engagement affects effort that students are prepared to apply to their school work

• Effort affects achievement at least as much as ability

• Teachers can affect engagement by creating work that has engaging qualities

Philip Schlechty , 2002

Working on the Work

Organization of Knowledge

Product Focus

Clear Criteria

No Fault Practice

Affirmation &Affiliation

ChoiceNovelty &Variety Authenticity

Relevant Content

Design of Engaging Work

Affirmation &Affiliation

Organization of Knowledge

Product Focus

Clear Criteria No Fault

Practice

ChoiceNovelty &Variety Authenticity

Relevant Content

Design Elements of Engaging WorkAffirmation Recognition of work and worthAffiliation Working with others towards a

common goal Safe No fault practiceClear Criteria Clear description of qualityChoice Sharing decision making

(empowerment)Authenticity Real life expectations–

meaningful, valuable Relevant Content Enduring, necessary for

future learning, important in real life

Organization of Learning How/Where learning fitsNovelty & Variety Brain is hard-wired to pay

attention to anything new

Remember that the person doing the work is growing the dendrites.

Pat Wolfe, 2001

Assessment

Assessment is Changing

because we know more about

a. how students learn (constructivism)

b. brain research

c. supporting learning through feedback

d. importance of engagement/motivation

e. impact of classroom assessment on learning

The Research

Black and Wiliam (1998), synthesized results from 250 international studies on classroom assessment, and concluded that • involving students in assessment, and • increasing the amount of descriptive

feedback while decreasing evaluative feedback

has a more powerful impact on learning than any educational innovation ever documented. 

The Research

Effect Size• .5 – 1.0 standard deviation score gain

• 1.0 S.D. equals– 35 percentile points– 2 to 4 grade equivalents

• Largest gains for low achievers, but all do better

Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind

• WNCP developed

• Manitoba lead province in development

• Endorsed and released January 2006

• Applies K-12

FOR OF

FOR AS OF

Essentials of Classroom Based Assessment

Research shows increases in student achievement and motivation when students

Are Involved

Understand Learning Goals

Know Criteria for Success

Receive and Use Descriptive Feedback

Activity

• Create a small of group of 3 or 4

• Discuss the benefits and the challenges that teachers face when putting the puzzle pieces into action in their classrooms

• Be prepared to share some of your thoughts

Shifting the Balance

Do more

• Explain purpose and relevance of learning

• Provide choice and scaffolding toward responsibility

• Provide opportunities to learn with others

• Specific, descriptive feedback

• Self-assessment related to criteria

Do less

• Testing

• Drill and practice for test taking

• Self-evaluation (grading own work)

• Comparison of students re: test results

• Competition for marks

Levers for Learning

Engaging work

Achievement

Intrinsic Motivation

Assessment for and as learning

Factors Influencing Achievement

School

Teacher

Student

1. Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum

2. Challenging Goals and Effective Feedback

3. Parent and Community Involvement

4. Safe and Orderly Environment

5. Collegiality and Professionalism

6. Instructional & Assessment Strategies

7. Classroom Management

8. Classroom Curriculum Design

9. Home Environment

10. Learning Intelligence/ Background Knowledge

11. Motivation

Synthesis of the Research

On

Learn

ing

Synthesis of the Research

Bo

b M

arza

no

’s

Strategies that Work

1. Identifying similarities & differences

2. Summarizing & note-making

3. Re-enforcing effort & recognition of progress

4. Creating and using non-linguistic representations like graphic organizers

5. Using the elements of cooperative learning

Strategies that Work

6. Establishing clear goals for students

7. Providing, timely, descriptive feedback

8. Generating, testing, hypothesizing ideas

9. Using questions, cues, and other advance organizers

Marzano

Engaging Work

Physical & Emotional Safety

Developmentally Appropriate

Assessment

Appropriate Role

Models & Positive

Relationships

Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum

Social Emotional Development

Student Voice

Health & Wellness

Metacognitive Development

Elements of Effective Middle Years Programming

Adapted from Thomas Armstrong, 2006

Motivation and Achievement

• Students may hit the target today or they may not.

• What is crucial is that they remain willing to return and try again tomorrow.

Stiggins

References• Armstrong, Thomas. The Best Schools. Alexandria, VA:

ASCD, 2006.• Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

New York, NY: Random House, 2006.• Gossen, Diane, and Judy Anderson. Creating the

Conditions. Chapel Hill, NC: New View, 1995.• Jensen, Eric. Teaching with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria,

VA: ASCD, 1998• Marzano, Robert. Classroom Instruction that Works.

Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2001.

• Schlechty, Phillip C. Working on the Work. San Francisco: Josse-Bass, 2002.

• Stiggins, Rick, Judith A. Arter, Jan Chappuis, and Stephen Chappuis. Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing It Right—Using It Well. Portland, OR: Assessment Training Institute, 2004.