Classroom Assessment

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Classroom Assessment

• What to Assess and How to Assess It

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Learning Targets

• LTs define academic success.
• They define what students should know and be able
  to do.
• They should be clearly stated and transparent to
  all.
• Different readers (i.e., teachers) should
  interpret statements of LTs the same way.
• They should be written in kid-friendly language.

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Learning Targets are Specific

• Not specific The student will understand the
  concepts and procedures of mathematics.
• More specific The student will understand and
  apply concepts and procedures of mathematics.
• Better yet The student will understand and apply
  concepts and procedures from number sense.

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Why Specific Learning Targets?

• Help teachers make their educational goals
  explicit.
• Communicate the intent of instruction to
  students, parents, other teachers, and
  administrators.
• Describe specific performances against which
  teachers can evaluate the success of instruction.
• Communicate to students what they are expected to
  learn.

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Learning Targets Identify What is Important

• Targets center on what is truly important.
• Not just from our perspective, but
• from the perspective of professionals in the
  field of study.

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LT Clarify the PURPOSE of Assessment

• Determine beforehand what inferences you want to
  draw from students performance on an assessment.
• Diagnostic information?
• Formative evaluation?
• Summative evaluation?
• Decide how poor performance on the assessment
  will be interpreted how good performance will be
  interpreted.

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Three General Types ofLearning Targets

1. Cognitive Learning Targets (Achievement).
2. Affective Learning Targets (Dispositions)
3. Psychomotor Learning targets (Motor Skills).

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Goals vs Learning Targets

• Educational goals are stated in broad terms.
• Used for planning overall educational activities.
• Typically are organized by subject area.
• Provide a curriculum framework.
• Not specific enough to serve as learning targets.

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Evaluationg Learning Targets (LTs)(Nitko, 1996)

• Are the LTs appropriate for the educational level
  of the students?
• Do the LTs identify the important outcomes for
  the sequence of instruction?
• Can the LTs be defended by currently accepted
  principals of learning?
• Are the resources available to teach to the LTs?

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Specifying Learning Targets

• Learning targets define academic success.
• Define what students should know and be able to
  do.
• Need to be CLEARLY stated
• So that different teachers can understand them.
• So that students will understand what is expected
  of them.
• See Verbs for Defining Learning Targets in the
  Exhibits Section of the Web Site

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Finally, Learning Targets Should

• be broad enough so that instruction can be
  organized around them,
• be measurable, and
• identify a more global outcome that encompass
  several more specific learning objectives.

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Taxonomies for Learning and Taxonomies for
Teaching

• Some taxonomies of learning targets (e.g., Bloom)
  are useful for classifying different types of
  learning outcomes.
• Other taxonomies (e.g., Marzano) are intended to
  provide a framework for teaching.
• It is important to realize that some learning
  targets might fall into more than one category.
  This is especially true of complex learning
  targets.

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Using Taxonomies to Identify Learning Targets

• Using a taxonomy of learning targets helps focus
  attention on higher-level outcomes.
• Several taxonomies have been presented in the
  instructional literature (See, for example,
  several of the examples given under Classroom
  Assessment Links on the Web on my website.
• Take a few minutes to browse the web for other
  examples of learning target taxonomies.

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Criteria for Choosing Learning Outcome
Taxonomies(Nitko, 1996)

• Completeness Can your important learning targets
  be classified within the taxonomy?
• Point of view Does the taxonomy help you explain
  your teaching methods to others?
• Simplicity Is the taxonomy easily understood by
  your target audiences?
• Reporting Is the taxonomy useful for organizing
  assessment results in ways that are meaningful to
  target audiences?

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Match Assessments to Learning Targets

• Abasic requirement of the validity of classroom
  assessment procedures is that the
  proceduresmatch the intentions of the specific
  learning targets that you include in your
  assessment plan. (Nitko, 1996 p. 32).

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An Example for Writing

• The student will write clearly and effectively.
  To meet this learning target the student will
• Develop a topic or theme organize written
  thoughts with a clear beginning, middle, and end
  use transitional sentences and phrases to connect
  related ideas and write coherently and
  effectively.
• Continued on next slide

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An Example for Writing

• Additionally, the student will use a style
  appropriate to the intended audience and purpose
  and
• Use proper voice, word choice, and sentence
  fluency for the selected style and audience.
• In addition
• Continued on next slide

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An Example for Writing

• The student will apply acceptable writing
  conventions. He or she will
• Know and apply correct spelling, grammar,
  sentence structure, punctuation, and
  capitalization
• Know and apply specified formatting, including
  margins, headings, and size of font.

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An Example for Science

• The student will understand and use scientific
  concepts and principles. To achieve this learning
  target, the student will
• Use properties to identify, describe, and
  categorize substances, materials, and objects.
• Use characteristics to categorize living things.
• Continued on next Slide

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An Example for Science

• Recognize the components, structure, and
  organization of various systems and the
  interconnections within and among them.
• Understand and be able to articulate how
  interactions within and among systems cause
  changes in matter and energy.

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End