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Assess

Why?

What are we doing?
 
Just because we taught it, doesn't mean they got it!
​Assessing "OF" Learning

Summative Learning

A summary of how much a student has learned at a particular point in time. Primary users of this data includes state, school district, school, and collaborative teacher teams. Leadership team analyse school data and establishes school goals based on summative data.

 

 

Examples of Assessing "OF" Learning:

 

  • Cumulative Information:

  • End of Unit exam/chapter test/end of course

  •  

  • State assessment

  • District benchmark assessment

  • National test: ACT

  •  

  • Summative: Holds schools & districts accountable which leads to teaching to the test




 

Summative Assessment tells you how much a students has learned as a result of the instruction that has occurred.

 

 

Summative & Formative Assessment are Interconnected.

​​Assessing "FOR" Learning


Formative Learning

Learning is still happening, students have increments of achievement and learn how to do better next time.  Primary users of this data is the classroom teacher and student.  This data supports learning by helping the teacher respond to student needs. Assessing "FOR" learning allows for the curriculm to be revised, and monitors the learning progress.

 

Examples of Asessing "FOR" learning:

  • Pre-assessments

  • Short or extended response

  • Short quizzes

  • Directed questions

  • Concept maps

  • Entrance or exit cards

  • Self-Reflections

  • Journals

  • Observations

  • One-to-one conversations

  • Surveys

  • Quick Writes

  • Authentic feedback Teacher & Students

  • Self-assessment

  • Peer-assessment

  • Graphic Organizers

  • Learning to Learn:  student outcomes

  • Learning/Response Logs:

  • Data Keeping: Compare pre-assessment with post-assessment and looking at % of increase

  • Tracking individual student progress

  • Designing differentiated learning activites for flexible groups

  • Varied approaches to assessing student understanding

  • Varied instruction methods to meet diverse needs

  • Oral Check for Understanding 

  • Performance Task

  • Goal Setting

  • Questioning strategies

  • Student Record Keeping

 

 

Formative Assessments tells you where a students can benefit from changes during the instruction or how they will benefit from changes while the instruction is ongoing.  The majority of real formative assessment is informal, with interactive and timely feedback and responses.  

 

Questioning Technique:

 

Questioning is not only a tool, but a way for teachers to find out exactly what students know, understand, and are able to transfer knowledge  in new situations.

 

Questioning allows teachers to identify gaps in knowledge and correct misunderstanding of a concept.

 

Questioning plays a vital role as part of assessment for learning:

 

Strategic questions:
encourage students to listen, speak, and be actively involved.
 

Planning questions:
is a deliberate activity to help teachers target comprehesion about new materials and aids in evaluation of student understanding.
 

Circulate around the room:
to make asking of questions are evenly ask of all students.
 

Plan questions: 
different levels of Blooms
 

Wait Time:  
Pausing is an integral part of questioning, this allows for demanding answers and increased the quality of the response.
 

Teacher Receptiveness:  
It is crictical how a teacher will respond to the student's answer.  

  1. Responses to wrong answers can be rephrasing the orginal question

  2. Ask for clarification to student's statement

  3. Ask for examples to of the student's statement

  4. Ask student to put answer a different way.​
     

Reflect on Questioning:

Are you questioning all students?

 

 

 

Learning Looks/Sounds Like:

 

Assessment FOR Learning: 
 

  • Requires the use of many assessment methods to gain a accurate evidence of students' knowledge. 
     

  • Assessment matches the kinds of learning targets
     

  • Assessment is continuous to connect the patterns of student mastery.
     

  • Teachers provide descriptive feedback to students.
     

  • Teachers use to help students with the information needed to let them know what and how to improve achievement.
     

  • Purpose is to improve learning and believe that succes is achievable.
     

  • Examples: peer/self assessment, using rubrics, descriptive feedbacks, 

​

 

Assessment OF Learning:
 

  • Benchmark Assessments verify individual and groups mastery of specific objectives.
     

  • Communicates evidence of student performance.
     

  • Communicates performance to parents and students of mastery over a period of time.
     

  • This data is used to evalute and improve school level programs
     

  • Happens after the learning takes place, this is used to rank and sort students
     

  • Purpose is to document achievement of standards.
     

  • Examples: final exams, placement test, state assessments, unit test

 

 

 

 

Positive Growth Mindset:

 

Traditional ways of assessing are no longer the way teachers should be assessing students.   The days of yesterday, are long gone, students should not be sitting in rows, waiting to show the teacher they can listen to lecture then share their comprehension from that moment in time.  Teachers are no longer the gate keeper of knowledge.  They are now the facilator of learning and assessment must change so they can be successful as well as their students.  We do not have a one-size fits all method of teaching, each student has their own needs, and as teachers we must find ways to help each student find the path to success and impact student achievement.

 

Assessment is a:

  • way to learn what students understand

  • way to use results to transform instruction

  • way to engage students in ongoing assessment of their work and others

  • way for students to have descriptive feedback that empoers and motives the student for success
     

​In her book, Mindset, Carol Dweck outlines beliefs of the growth mindset have on learners: 

Growth Mindset:

  • wants to improve intelligences

  • engages challenges to improve

  • Persist in overcoming obstacles

  • treats criticism as an opportunity

  • feels inspired by other's success

​

Teach student's to have

a Growth Mindset:

  1. Believe it

  2. Teach it

  3. Model it

  4. Nourish it

  5. Assess it

 

Teach students to say:

  • What am I missing?

  • I seem to be on the right track.

  • I am going to train my brain.

  • It will take some time.

  • I can figure this out.

  • That is an interesting idea for improvement.

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