Specific assessment strategies:

Dynamic assessmentAssessment of prior knowledgeFeedbackTeaching for transferExplicit criteriaStudent self assessmentEvaluation of teaching

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Prior knowledge

New learning is shaped by prior knowledge and cultural perspectives.

Therefore, classroom practices should include assessment of students relevant knowledge and experience not only to inform teaching but also to draw students into the habit of reflecting on their own knowledge resources.

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Prior knowledge Prior knowledge techniques Instructional conversations (Tharp & Gallimore, 1988) K-W-L (Ogle, 1986)are not seen as assessments but yield valuable data for revising instruction.Prior knowledge is more than facts amassed at home. It includes language patterns and ways of thinking developed through social roles and cultural experiences. Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez (1992) use "funds of knowledge" to describe household knowledge of children from poor families based on farming,carpentry, childcare, cooking, medicine, religion, and budget management that can be used to support school knowledge.

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

FeedbackFeedback is most effective when it focuses on correction of errors in relation to original learning goals.A key role of the scaffolder is to summarize the progress that has been made and point out behaviors that led to the successes One type of feedback is pointing out the distinction between performance and the ideal another type of feedback is attributing success to effort and explicitly restating the concept that has been learned (Hogan & Pressley, 1997)

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

An Intervention StudyElawar & Corno (1985). A factorial experiment in teachers written feedback on student homework: changing teacher behavior a little rather than a lot, Journal of Educational Psychology.

Study design:Teachers were trained to give written feedback focused on specific errors and poor strategy with suggestions about how to improve. The control group received grades on homework but no comments.

Findings:The effect of focused feedback on final achievement was as great as the effect of prior achievement.There were also large positive effects on attitudes toward mathematics and the initial superiority of boys over girls was reduced.

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Student Work as a Display of Thinking

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Transfer

There is a close relationship between truly understanding a concept and being able to transfer knowledge and use it in new situations. In contrast to the behaviorist assumption that each application must be taught as a separate learning objective true understanding is flexible, connected, and generalizable.

Good teaching constantly asks about old understanding in new ways, calls for new applications, and draws new connections. (Shepard, 1997)And good assessment does the same.

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Teaching and Assessing for TransferTeaching for Robust UnderstandingsMultiple Ways to Ask about the Concept One-Half1. Circle each shape that has one-half shadedSource: Assessing Mathematical Understanding, 1989

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Measuring Up, Mathematical Sciences Education Board, National Research Council, 1993.

Teaching and Assessing for Transfer

Part 1

All of the bridges in Part 1 are built with yellow rods for spans and red rods for supports, like the one shown here. This is a 2-span bridge like the one you just built. Note that the yellow rods are 5 cm long.

1. Now, build a 3-span bridge.

a. How many yellow rods did you use? ____

b. How long is your bridge? ____

c. How many red rods did you use? _____

d. How many rods did you use altogether? ____

2. Try to answer these questions without building a 5-span bridge.

If you want, build a 5-span bridge to check your answers.

a. How many yellow rods would you need for a 5-span bridge? ____

b. How long would your bridge be? ____

c. How many red rods would you need? ____

d. How many rods would you need altogether? ____

yellow

red

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Measuring Up, Mathematical Sciences Education Board, National Research Council, 1993.

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Explicit criteriaThe transition from feedback to self-monitoring can occur only when the student comes to know what constitutes quality. (Sadler, 1989)The assessment system (should) provide a basis for developing a metacognitive awareness of what are important characteristics of good problem solving, good writing, good experimentation, good historical analysis, and so on. (Frederiksen & Collins, 1989)

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Student self assessment promises to increase students responsibility for their own learning.In case studies, students became more interested in the criteria and substantive feedback than grades more honest about their own work, fair with other students, and able to defend their opinions in terms of the evidence. (Klenowski, 1995)

Self assessment

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

An Intervention StudyWhite & Frederiksen (1996).The Thinker Tools Inquiry Project: Making Scientific Inquiry Accessible to StudentsCenter for Performance Assessment, Educational Testing Service.Assessment criteria were developed for attributes desired while conducting investigations in science.Students engaged in a set of activities to foster reflective assessment. At several stages in the Inquiry Cycle curriculum, students evaluated their own work in terms of the criteria. Each time they applied the criteria AND wrote a brief rationale pointing to the features of their work that supported their rating. Students in the reflective assessment classrooms also used the criteria to give feedback to classmates after oral presentations.Compared to controls, students in reflective classrooms produced more highly rated projects (with the greatest gains for low-achieving students).Low-achieving students also showed dramatic gains on a measure of conceptual understanding.

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Evaluation of teachingAssessment should be used to evaluate teaching as well as to improve student learning.If we want the cultural practices in the classroom to support development of students identities as learners where students naturally seek feedback and critique their own work then it is reasonable that teachers would model this same commitment to using data systematically as it applies to their own role in the teaching and learning process.

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Classroom Assessment Practices Also Have a Profound Effect on Students Motivation to Learn. Summative assessment and grading pose a serious threat to the learning purposes avowed for formative assessment.If tests diverge from valued learning goals, students focus only on the graded portion of the curriculum.The use of grades as rewards and punishments undermines intrinsic motivation to learn.

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Students with a Performance Orientation(Extrinsically motivated)Believe in fixed abilityWork toward performance goals, i.e., for grades, to please the teacher, and to appear competentFocus on the exchange value of learningPerformance-oriented students pick easy task and are less likely to persist once they encounter difficulty.Girls are over represented in this category.

Stipek, 1996

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Students with a Learning Orientation (Intrinsically motivated)Attribute success to their own effortsWork toward learning goals, i.e., to increase a sense of mastery and to become competentFocus on the use value of learningLearning-oriented students are more engaged in schoolwork, use more self-regulation, and develop deeper understanding of subject matter.

Stipek, 1996

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Mutually Supportive Formative andSummative AssessmentsTo be mutually supportive, formative and summative assessments must be conceptually aligned.They should represent important learning goals using the same broad range of tasks and problem types to tap students understandings.Summative assessments should not be repeats of earlier formative tasks but should require students to use their knowledge in ways that generalize and extend what came before.Summative assessments are milestones on the same learning continua that under gird formative assessment.

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

To Foster a Learning Environment, Findings from Cognitive and Motivation Research Should Be Brought Together.Focus efforts on developing competence.Provide diverse opportunities to demonstrate mastery.Adapt instruction to students knowledge and understanding.Provide opportunities for students to take responsibility for learning.Emphasize working hard and learning rather than right answers.Make thinking visible in classroom discourse.Treat errors and mistakes as a normal part of learning.Evaluate progress as well as outcomes.Help students learn the meaning of criteria for good work.Provide opportunities for students to improve competence based on feedback.Base grades on mastery standards rather than social norms.

School of Education, University of Colorado at Boulder

Our goal should be to create a learning culture where students share an expectation with their teachers that finding out what makes sense and what doesnt is a joint and worthwhile project, essential to taking the next steps in learning.

To do this we have to make assessment more useful and at the same time change the social meaning of evaluation.