FOCUS

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FOCUSFormative, Ongoing, Classroom Understanding
of Students and Standards

• An assessment system giving new directions to
  schools desiring to positively impact student
  achievement

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How to Leave LOTS of Students Behind

• Arise from mistaken fundamental beliefs
• Disregard the 4 important ingredients in a sound
  assessment system

• Fail to have in place key necessary conditions
• Fail to track and clearly report progress or
  improvement in learning, whether short or long
  term
• Lack community understanding of and support for
  sound assessment practices

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Setting the Stage
Curriculum Assessm
ent Instruction
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the essence of good instruction lies not in
presentation of content-teachingbut in assessing
student learning and coaching students toward
better performance.(Wiggins, as quoted during
ASCDs 2005 Conference on Teaching Learning)
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FOCUS Goals

• To provide quarterly assessments for grades 3-8
  in math literacy, EOC algebra, EOC geometry,
  EOC literacy formatted after the Benchmark while
  learning is still underway
• To provide diagnostic feedback to students,
  parents, and teachers regarding student
  performance in relation to standards so that next
  steps in planning for instruction and
  intervention can occur in real time
• To provide feedback to students so that they can
  improve the quality of their work

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What is meant by Assessment of and for Learning?

• Of Learning
• Happen after learning is supposed to have
  occurred to determine if it did
• Make statements of student learning status at a
  point in time to those outside of the classroom
• Examples state assessments, local standardized
  tests, college admissions tests, classroom
  assessments used to gather evidence to determine
  report card grades
• How did I do?

• For Learning
• Assessments that happen while learning is still
  underway
• Conducted throughout teaching learning to
  diagnose student needs, plan next steps in
  instruction, provide students with feedback
  they can use to improve quality of their work
• Grading function is laid aside not about
  accountability-those are assessments of
  learning-these are about getting better
• How can I get better?

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An Effective Assessment System

• if the only feedback system you have about how
  you are doing against state standards is one test
  at the end of the year that you dont know the
  results of until the summer, thats a dumb
  system. Youve got to know how youre doing in
  November and February and March against May
  standards so you can make adjustments before its
  too late.
• (Wiggins as cited in Education Update, Feb.
  2006)

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Edusoft as a Tool

• Assessment Delivery System
• Storage for test item answer keys
• Delivery system for disaggregated reports
• Performance Band Report
• Class List Report
• Subgroup/Intervention Report
• Item Response Report

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AFSCs FOCUS Approach

• General Pacing Guide Committee
• Identify SLEs to be tested by quarter
• Develop general pacing guide as option for
  districts without one in use
• Test Development Committee
• Trains on use of Edusoft as a storage area for
  test bank
• Creates m/c o/r questions and rubrics aligned
  with quarterly testable SLEs formatted after
  the Benchmark

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AFSCs FOCUS Approach

• Test Review Committee
• Reviews test items for clarity, validity,
  alignment to standards
• Reviews rubrics for alignment to standards
  open-ended response/prompt
• Professional Development Committee (TOTs)
• Trains on intent and use of formative assessments
• Trains on Edusoft for scanning of reports
  downloading of reports
• Trains on report interpretation open-ended
  scoring
• Trains district staff in the above after initial
  training

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Pacing Guide Committee

• Goal collaborate to create a calendar based
  curriculum map for 3-8 math literacy, algebra
  I, geometry, EOC literacy that is
• Aligned with state standards
• Focused on power standards
• Endurance Does the standard provide knowledge
  and skills that are useful among several
  disciplines?
• Leverage Will the standard provide knowledge
  and skills that are useful among several
  disciplines?
• Readiness for the next level of learning Will
  attaining the standard provide students with the
  knowledge and skills necessary to be successful
  at the next level of learning?
• Clustered into testable objectives
• Non-program specific
• Flexible in nature

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Test Development Committee

• Goal to develop quality quarterly assessments
  for grades 3-8 math and literacy, algebra I,
  geometry, and EOC literacy that
• Measure student performance against testable,
  power standards as outlined in pacing guide
• Are formatted to the Benchmark
• Consist of multiple choice open response items
  that are valid and clear

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Test Review Committee

• Goal to review created test and scoring items
  for clarity, validity, and alignment to state
  standards
• Review multiple choice items to meet above
  criteria
• Review open response items to meet above criteria
• Review rubrics to meet above criteria
• Make recommendations for improvement
• Review item response report for validity

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Professional Development Committee

• Goal train to become a trainer for the building
  in communicating the purpose and use of FOCUS
  assessments, scanning of reports, report
  downloads and interpretation, and scoring of open
  response items

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Calendar of Events

• Sept.
• 14 Prof. Dev. Committee Edusoft Training
• 15 Prof. Dev. Committee Edusoft Training
• Oct.
• 9-11 FOCUS Assessment window
• Oct. 12 Test Dev. Committee
• 13 Test Rev. Committee
• Dec.
• 4-6 FOCUS Assessment window
• Jan.
• 23-24 Prof. Dev. Committee Edusoft Next Steps
  training
• Jan.
• 25 Test Dev. Committee
• 26 Test Rev. Committee

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Calendar of Events

• Feb.
• 12-14 FOCUS Assessment window
• 15 Test Dev. Committee
• 16 Test Rev. Committee
• April
• 30-May2 FOCUS Assessment window
• May
• 3 Test Dev. Committee
• 4 Test Rev. Committee

• Summer 2007
• Dates to be scheduled with committees

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What is the role of the administrator?

• To review reports in order to
• Identify needed system changes
• Identify needed professional development
• Provide collaborative data review and
  intervention planning time for teachers

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teachers cannot rely solely on state or
district test results to guide their daily
decision making. The data on which they base
their day-to-day instructional decisions must be
more immediately derived from formative
tests(Harper as cited in Blankstein, 2004, p.
149)
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What is the role of the teacher?

• To formatively assess students in order to
• Analyze data to diagnose individual needs
• Use as a monitoring tool for AIP students
• Create a plan of intervention by
• Addressing curricular instructional issues
• Establishing a method for revisiting, reviewing,
  re-teaching, revising instruction in order to
  meet individual needs
• Communicate results intervention plan to
  students parents

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FOCUS Testing

• Caution
• Disaster to use quarterly assessment for grade
• S. Chappuis, Stiggins, Arter, J. Chappuis
  state, Use assessments for learning as the basis
  for providing students with descriptive feedback
  they can use to see how to improve do not factor
  them into report card grades (2004, p. 268).
• Purpose becomes punitive rather than a tool for
  descriptive feedback to empower students to
  monitor their own progress toward clearly
  understood curricular goals

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Candie Watts,AFSC Professional Development
Specialist FOCUS Project Coordinatorcwatts_at_afsc
.k12.ar.us501-354-2269 ext. 1025501-514-2256
(mobile)