Assessment Professional Learning Module 2: Assessment OF Learning

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Assessment Professional Learning Module 2
Assessment OF Learning
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(No Transcript)
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Assessment OF learningoccurs when teachers use
evidence of student learning to make judgements
on student achievement against goals and
standards.

• Assessment FOR learning
• occurs when teachers use inferences about student
  progress to inform their teaching.

• Assessment AS learning
• occurs when students reflect on and monitor their
  progress
• to inform their future
• learning goals.

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Assessment OF learning

• occurs when teachers use evidence
• of student learning to make judgements
• on student achievement against goals and
  standards.
• It is usually formal, frequently occurring at the
  end of units of work where it sums up student
  achievement at a particular point in time. It is
  often organised around themes or major projects
  and judgements may be based on student
  performance on multi-domain assessment tasks. It
  has a summative use, showing how students are
  progressing against the standards, and a
  formative use, providing evidence to inform long
  term planning.

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The Victorian Essential Learning Standards
provide

• an opportunity to reconnect student learning with
  quality assessment practices and
• a space where curriculum and assessment can be
• re-designed to enhance students deep
  understanding of big ideas.

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Victorian Essential Learning Standards

• Strands - 3 interwoven threads in the triple
  helix
• Discipline-based Interdisciplinary
• Physical, personal social learning
• A domain is a description of essential
  knowledge, skills and behaviours within a strand
• e.g. Thinking Processes
• Domains are further divided into dimensions

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• Standards are written for dimensions at levels
  to
• Enable assessment of student achievement and
  progress
• Reporting to parents to occur at levels for
  which there are standards
• Ensure state-wide consistency
• Intermediary progression points show steps in
  between the standard levels
• (e.g. 3.5 is expected about the end of grade 5).

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• Teachers are designers of curriculum and
  learning experiences and
• of assessments
• As with other design professions, standards
  inform and shape our work.
• (Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe 1998, p. 7)

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A range of assessment task types

• A wide variety of assessment tasks will be
  needed to assess students achievement against
  the standards.
• Some of these should assess across domains and
  enable students to work at different levels.
• These multi domain and multi level assessment
  tasks promote deep understanding.
• Their design is one focus point in this module.

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Effective assessment OF learning tasks are
open-entry (students with various prior
learning levels can begin them and they cater for
different learning preferences and interests)
open-ended (no single right answer, multiple
pathways and products are possible) build
students capabilities on the standards
provide space for student ownership and
decision-making. and
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Multi domain assessment tasks are
authentic (engage students in relevant,
integrative and worthwhile problems that result
in students producing, not reproducing,
knowledge) productive (have intellectual
challenge, are connected to students worlds and
other parts of the curriculum, respect
differences among students) require deep
understanding of important ideas and are
often performance or portfolio assessment.
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Performance assessment

• values work done over a longer time scale
• can assess complex skills and allow students to
  show their achievement in a variety of ways
• can be used to evaluate both the process and
  the product of an assessment task (Albert
  Oosterhof, 2003)
• students can do something in front of an
  audience (e.g. solve, dance, act, talk, weigh )
• make a product (e.g. device, model, webpage )
• or both
• (e.g. create a piece of music in groups and play
  it for an audience).

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Portfolio assessment

• involves students in making decisions,
  selecting, and justifying the inclusion of
  samples of their work that show achievement of
  the Standards over a period of time (i.e. they
  are selections not collections)
• usually requires students to meet guidelines or
  parameters set by, or negotiated with, the
  teacher
• e.g. include
• - at least 2 pieces that show improvement over
  time
• at least 1 . or 1

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Multi domain assessment tasks are one method of
assessment against the standards and can be
designed in a 3-step process

• 1. The standards across domains are used to
  develop the specific student learning outcomes
  for curriculum.
• 2. The assessment task is designed using the
  student learning outcomes from the curriculum
  planning.
• 3. The rubric that is used to judge the quality
  of students work is created.

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Step 1 The standards across domains are used to
develop the specific student learning outcomes
for curriculum

• A context is chosen (could be a theme, problem,
  big idea or local/international event).
• Learning focus statements and the standards
  across a number of domains and levels are
  examined to identify those that fit the
  context.
• Student learning outcomes for the overall task
  are developed.
• Curriculum is planned (For further details on
  this step see the Curriculum Planning Modules).

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Step 2 The assessment task is designed using the
student learning outcomes from the curriculum
planning. (see Activity2-4A)

• Student learning outcomes (from step 1) are used
  to ask What would count as evidence of student
  learning? (i.e. what would they have to do, say,
  write, make or show me?)
• Then an idea for an assessment task is
  generated (sometimes quickly, at other times
  after brainstorming ideas). How can we bring
  this together into a coherent whole?
• The task is spelled out in a flowchart
  What exactly will students have to do - and by
  when?
• A creative version to engage students is
  prepared.

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Spelling out the task - a flowchart
(Hildebrand, 2005)
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Step 3 The rubric that is used to judge the
quality of students work is created. (see
Activity 2-5).

• The student learning outcomes are re-visited,
  sharpened and clarified into criteria
• They are entered down the left column in a rubric
• Four columns of quality are entered
• (choose your own labels, see ideas in Activity
  2-5)
• Descriptors for each level of quality are
  entered across each row (start with highest
  quality work and work back from that).
• The rubric is tested (other teachers,
  students, samples of work) and refined.

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What is a rubric?

• Derives from the latin word for red ruber.
• A rubric is a set of scoring guidelines for
  evaluating students work (Grant Wiggins, 1998,
  p.154).
• The criteria and the rubric aim to make an
  essentially subjective process as clear,
  consistent, and defensible as possible
• (Judith Arter and Jay McTighe, 2001, p. 4)
• A rubric is a tool to assist both students and
  teachers make judgements about student
  achievement of the standards.

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A rubric is

• your promise to students about how you will
  judge the quality of their achievement of the
  standards
• about the work, not about labelling the students
• about the important criteria and substance of the
  task (not every tiny detail)
• never perfect the first time you use it!

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One row in a rubric for rubric design
Criteria Novice Apprentice Capable Expert
Writes clear descriptors for each criterion in the rubric Uses vague words like some and few in several rows Avoids vague words but some ambiguity present Descriptors are clear and link directly to the Standards Explicit descriptors of observable Standards in each row
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Sample multi domain units of work with assessment
tasks and rubrics are athttp//vels.vcaa.vic.edu
.au/support/sample_units.html

• Level 1 Tools
• Level 2 Travelling to school
• Level 3 Pulling Strings
• Level 4 In the News
• Out of this world
• Level 5 The Right Moves
• Level 6 Zines

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Multi-domain assessment tasks are a useful tool
for