4
Digital Vision/Thinkstock
What Do We Know About Assessment?
Goals
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to do the following:
• Understand the role of assessment in instruction
• Recognize important assessment strategies
• Be aware of how standardized testing can help in assessing students
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Introduction
Introduction
W
hat do we know about assessment in K–12 education? Well, a lot. Many think
educational assessment is a specific moment of test taking or the episodes of
classroom evaluation. In reality, teachers assess every minute, not just during
“test time.” Testing, quizzes, and standardized tests are often considered the core means of
assessment used in the contemporary classroom, but daily classroom assessment encompasses many other things. In fact, it is easy to argue that every assignment, every question
in a class, and every action have some form of assessment tied to them. In essence, all
events in the classroom are feedback, and all feedback is assessment (Wiggins, 2004).
As you work your way through this chapter, try to remain focused on three key elements
that drive the effective use of assessment in the classroom: balance, purpose, and neutrality.
Balance
To ensure balance, assessments need to be blended among a variety of formats which
match the objectives the teacher and student are seeking. An oral response to a question,
a quick check-in on a student project, a visual survey of the class, student-developed scoring scales, and countless other daily classroom exercises fit into the realm of assessment.
So does the simple act of talking to a student. The key is to ensure that our determination
of learning and the feedback we are using to make a new decision about our instruction
do not depend on one assessment, one type of evaluation; especially important is that
responding to assessment is not isolated to actions conducted solely by the teacher (Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & Chappuis, 2004).
Purpose
It is essential that learning objectives are clearly stated for students and that all assessments are purpose driven toward meeting our intended learning objectives. This is critical
for the teacher if the goal is to determine where to go next in the progression of skills and
concepts for the class and the individual student (FairTest, National Center for Fair and
Open Testing, 2007). Without knowing the objective and/or the purpose of an assessment,
we often receive information that isn’t going to drive new learning.
All assessment should provide meaningful feedback, but for whom and for what purpose? In every classroom action, the teacher and the student are continuously gathering
performance data and are progressing toward the learning objectives. Good instructors
constantly review learning objectives and identify benchmarks, checkpoints, or other
strategies along the way to make sure the learning is on target to meet the given objective.
Neutrality
Much as we might think we are objective in our instruction, the fact is that neutrality
is difficult to maintain while instructing. Instructors may bring biases, or assumptions
based upon past experiences, cultural differences, and personal interpretations to what
student feedback means and what to do with it (Pelligrino, Chudowsky, & Glaser, 2001).
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Assessment is in essence a scientific process that requires objectivity, and the instructor
needs to be careful not to let any influences cause misinterpretations or false conclusions
about students and their progress. This is hard given what we know a student did last
week or given our own interpretations of content; however, to be effective, assessment
must be viewed from the perspective of feedback toward the task at hand, nothing more.
4.1 The Role of Assessment in Instruction
Pre-assessment
1. The three key elements that drive effective classroom assessment are
A.
B.
C.
D.
purpose, authenticity, and fairness.
balance, efficiency, and rigor.
balance, purpose, and neutrality.
fairness, rigor, and neutrality.
2. The primary difference between summative and formative assessment is
A. summative assessments are typically multiple-choice exams while formative
assessments use short-answer questions.
B. summative assessments ask students to summarize learning while formative
assessments ask students to formulate solutions to open-ended questions.
C. summative assessments are a bigger part of a student’s grade while formative
assessments are typically not worth any points.
D. summative assessments are assessments of learning while formative assessments are assessments for learning.
3. Which of the following questions should constructive feedback serve to answer?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Where am I going?
How am I going?
Where to next?
All of the above
4. Which of the following is not increased by using multiple measures of assessment?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Validity
Student confusion
Fairness
Student understanding
5. The primary purpose of grading is to communicate
A.
B.
C.
D.
student learning to students, parents, administrators, and institutions.
how responsible students are in completing and submitting work.
how a student behaves in class.
strengths and weaknesses so that parents or other teachers can intervene
when needed.
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6. For learning goals to be powerful motivators, they must
A. be broad and overarching and encompass a large number of standards or
objectives.
B. be listed on the board or in the course announcements so that students can
read and figure them out on their own time.
C. be written in formal academic language to convey the seriousness of each goal.
D. clearly communicate the expectations with supporting examples that show
the purpose of each goal.
7. Rubric scoring is most effective when
A. teachers use a common rubric for all assignments.
B. each part of the rubric is very specific and detailed.
C. teachers go over the rubric ahead of time while using previous work samples
to guide student understanding.
D. students do not know ahead of time that the assignment is being rubric scored.
8. Allowing students to guide and assess their own learning
A. shows a lack of control in the classroom and should be used only minimally.
B. empowers students and gives them choice, which helps to sustain student
motivation.
C. works best when there are very few guidelines in place and students have
complete control.
D. can confuse students who may rely on the teacher for specific guidance and
can take a class off track.
Answers
1. C. balance, purpose, and neutrality
2. D. summative assessments are assessments of learning while formative assessments are assessments for
learning.
3. D. All of the above
4. B. Student confusion
5. A. student learning to students, parents, administrators, and institutions.
6. D. clearly communicate the expectations with supporting examples that show the purpose of each goal.
7. C. teachers go over the rubric ahead of time while using previous work samples to guide student
understanding
8. B. empowers students and gives them choice, which helps to sustain student motivation.
T
o talk about assessment and instruction, we need to deal with some topics and terms
that define student assessment. While this can get a little technical, after reading it,
you will be able to talk about assessment like an expert. You will be a big hit at any
faculty party.
Assessment is interwoven into curriculum and instruction; it is connected to learning and
growth. Any assessment is an integration of three important foundations: (a) the achievement that is being assessed (cognition); (b) what we ask students to do to collect the evidence
about the achievement (observation); and (c) the process the teacher and student use to analyze the evidence or feedback a student provides (interpretation) (Pelligrino et al., 2001).
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Types of Assessments
In this chapter, we will get deeply into all three components of assessment—cognition,
observation, and interpretation—but for now, let’s start with how we observe learning
in assessment. These fit into three main categories of assessment: diagnostic, summative,
and formative.
Diagnostic Assessments
Diagnostic assessments are assessments that occur in front of the learning and are
intended to uncover strengths and areas for instructional intervention. These are often
called preassessments (Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & Chappuis, 2004). To really work, preassessments typically require a measure that can be looked at again at the end of the learning cycle to gauge growth in skills, attitudes, knowledge, or performance. This could be as
simple as giving the end-of-unit test up front or having a student compose a diagram of
what he or she already knows on a subject and then comparing the results with the same
instrument at the end of the unit.
Summative Assessments
Summative assessments are assessments of learning which are intended to show how
much knowledge a student has acquired, whether it be the spelling test, end-of-chapter
exam, speech, or project presentation. In essence, summative assessments evaluate the
learning and instruction that
have taken place during a given
period of time (Stiggins et al.,
2004). Often these are at the end
of the unit, but many times they
are benchmark assessments
given at set times through the
year to determine progress to
date on key standards or longterm learning goals (Assessment
and Accountability Comprehensive Center, 2010).
Formative Assessments
VStock/Thinkstock
Formative assessment sometimes is also known as assessSummative assessments, such as this math test, are meant to
measure how much a student has learned and retained over time. ment for learning. There has
been identified a strong correlation to student performance and
assessments for learning (William & Black, 1998). When the feedback of the assessment is
used to adapt the instruction and content for the needs of the learner, we have changed it
into a formative assessment. We will present more detail about formative assessment in
the next section.
No one form of assessment is more important than another. They all are critical, and truly
effective instruction involves balanced assessment (see Table 4.1). Remember to remain
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balanced in your use of assessments. Most important, all assessments must be valid. This
means that the test is actually measuring the concept, knowledge, or performance you are
intending to measure (Salkind, 2006).
Table 4.1: Example of how a diagnostic test can be used in other areas of assessment
Diagnostic Reading
Assessment
Diagnostic
Summative
Formative
Used to analyze errors
to determine focus of
reading instruction.
If assessment is scored
on a scale, it can be used
to determine effect of
reading instruction for
individuals or class and to
determine readiness for
next level/grade.
Shared with the student
to build agreement
and understanding of
reading processes and
where strategies are
strong or in need of
alternatives.
Feedback
Remember: All assessment is a form of feedback. As mentioned in the previous section,
formative assessment is used for receiving and acting upon very timely feedback. Most
important, formative assessment is focused directly with and for the student to understand and to act upon (Hattie, 2008).
Feedback for the student requires us to think from the student’s perspective. You may
recall a memory of a time when instructor feedback had a significant and lasting impact.
It may have been a small compliment, some kind of special recognition, or sorry to say,
some derogatory statement. For now, we will focus on the power of positive feedback.
This feedback can be from a teacher, from a classmate, from text, visuals, software, and
from the student’s own thinking.
Giving good feedback is not easy. Being timely is essential, and again, being balanced matters. This is something a friend of mine likes to jokingly call the Goldilocks Rule of Feedback: not too much, not too little, just the right amount. Feedback comes in two forms:
descriptive and evaluative. Evaluative feedback involves inferring a judgment about
a student’s knowledge, skills, or performance when measured against specific criteria
(Stiggins et al., 2004). Descriptive feedback involves a learner being provided with clear
opportunities to make adjustments and improvements toward his or her understanding
and performance (Hattie, 2008). Giving good feedback takes practice and real attention to
monitoring the student’s reaction to the given feedback. Also, in the absence of some key
elements, a teacher’s response to a student can even hinder progress. These key elements
include ensuring feedback is of a high quality, is specific, and demands the attention of
the student (see Table 4.2).
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Table 4.2: Key elements of how feedback should be used or not used
Should be used
Should not be used
• To relate clear and specific learning objectives
• To focus on challenging student goals
• To focus on what is correct and how that can
be used to advance the task or knowledge
• To relate to previous attempts and used in
future attempts
• As models, exemplars
• To draw on student’s perspective and
experience and performance
• To show performance needs
• As a reward
• To praise without context to learning goal
• With compliance (“You should do this . . .”
statements)
• In a discouraging, limiting, or threatening
manner
• As a teacher-centered directive
• To evaluate against other students’
performance
• To judge a student in a personal manner
Source: Hattie, 2008.
Constructive Feedback
Constructive feedback is aligned to the development (construction) of knowledge, skills,
or performance, which in turn is aligned to the objectives and can be either descriptive or
evaluative. Constructive feedback should answer three specific questions:
1. Where am I going? (What is the learning goal? Do I know the checkpoints? What
does the proficient result look like?)
2. How am I going? (Do I have clear evidence of progress? Am I meeting the benchmarks or checkpoints? Where am I approximating the answer or process?)
3. Where to next? (What are the next steps toward making the next level of progress?
Can I identify what the next level is?) (Stiggins et al., 2004)
The hard part in answering these questions is to ensure they are interwoven and not
administered in a step-by-step recipe. This feedback is used developing effective goals
and powerful learning objectives, and it is a complex undertaking that requires true, motivated interest on the part of the student in attaining the goal. In developing this high level
of engagement, the teacher may find that answering these three questions moves back
and forth continually. Effective feedback requires a very adaptive, highly open, communicative learning environment.
Feedback Through Multiple Measures
In discussing formative assessment and effective feedback, it is important to consider how
progress is reported to both the student and the parent. For the student and the teacher,
using multiple measures to make an evaluation is a validity check—that is, using more
than one assessment to make decisions (Brookhart, 2009). Before reporting or making a
final determination on performance, the teacher has to feel confident there is more than
one piece of datum to prove this determination and to make the overall assessment of
learning valid. It is really a question of fairness and responsibility to honest assessment.
At the student level, using more than one measure may also present a broader view of
what instructional steps are needed for improvement.
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Grading as Feedback
We must remember that the sole purpose of
grading is to communicate student learning to
students, parents, school administrators, and
postsecondary institutions (O’Connor, 1995). To
ensure this communication is accurate, fair, and
supports learning, we have to make sure we are
able to answer some key questions.
1. Am I including the information that
doesn’t confuse a true measure of learning? For academic grades, be honest,
upfront, and secure in identifying key
objective measurements that are aligned
with the grading standard and stick
with them.
2. Am I arriving at the grade from accurate mathematics? Don’t rely on a single
Comstock/Thinkstock
score derived from an average or mean
of different exams. Consider groupGrading is another important form of
ing similar types of assessments and
feedback. What steps would you take to
weighting for these groups or profesensure accurate and fair grades for your
sional judgment supported by evidence. students?
Most important is to be wary of the zero.
One missed assignment or a missed test
which results in a zero, when averaged with the other assignments, can significantly skew a grade average unfairly (O’Connor, 1995).
Application: The Role of Assessment in Instruction
Effective assessment process can be classified into five teacher actions called sound classroom assessment (Stiggins et al., 2004).
Sound Classroom Assessment Principle 1
The first principle states that when designing learning plans, we must use varied summative assessments to frame meaningful learning goals, which are defined expectations,
standards, or student-developed statements clearly stating an aim to acquire new knowledge and skills (Dweck, 2003). Performance goals need to align to academic standards or
course objectives. For these goals to be powerful motivators for students, they must be
communicated clearly to the students, who should also be given the purpose of the goals
and accompanying assessment(s) with examples.
By utilizing various assessments and emphasizing authentic assessments, or performance
tasks found in the real world, that demonstrate meaningful application, a teacher will be
forced to define the substantial concepts of the curriculum (Hogan, 2007). This approach
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of focusing on varied assessment measures in the unit, or lessons, allows the teacher to
broaden the planning to include key, overarching concepts.
Sound Classroom Assessment Principle 2
The second principle recommends that teachers show criteria and models in advance
that clearly demonstrate what the expectations for the final product are. By doing so, the
teacher reveals to the students the rationale and understanding of the essential content,
which also gives the student opportunity to question and clarify expectations.
This principle makes use of scoring rubrics, which are a set of grading descriptions organized by a scoring scale, detailing a hierarchy of achievement. In presenting a rubric, the
teacher should spend a good deal of time deconstructing, or discussing and dissecting, the
specific elements on the rubrics. An idea would be to have an extended conversation with
students about each element of the rubric, which would include a sample of each score
with examples from previous student’s attempts. In this way, the highest rubric scores as
well as the lower rubric scores are shown.
Another example would be to work with the students to develop the rubrics. This way,
the students can identify the criteria for high quality and low quality based on their own
interpretation of expectations, standards, and previous instruction. When the students
define the grading scale and the learning targets, they are able to develop the attributes
leading to a higher quality product.
Sound Classroom Assessment Principle 3
Following from the second principle, the third principle must take those learning targets and translate them into assessments that yield accurate results. To do so, you as the
teacher will need to understand the various assessment methods and then choose the
method that matches the intended learning goals. Preassessment is the key!
For example, before a new unit (say, a math lesson on adding fractions), a teacher gives a pretest and determines one small group of students is basically proficient on much of the material, but another group has struggled significantly. A third group, comprised of the majority
of students, is at the instructional level for the unit. Understanding this, the teacher is able
to modify the math time to still have the entire class participate on instruction on concepts,
math language, and sharing solutions. The teacher is also able to include in lesson planning
some small-group time focused on the needs of each group. As part of this extended time,
the plan calls for a subsequent test for the below-target students to determine where their
general instructional level resides and elements to teach in small-group instruction.
This example demonstrates a most important facet of preassessment and the strong opportunity it gives for feedback to tasks. When preassessing, look for student misinformation
and misinterpretation of prior knowledge. This is a key to discovering what is hindering or
promoting subsequent learning (Carnegie Mellon University, Center for Teaching Excellence, 2011). As a skilled teacher, the challenge is to facilitate questions and corrections
that identify fallacies in thinking or show new material that counters misperceptions, such
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as a video or anecdote. A well-designed preassessment can help bring these to the surface
for further instruction.
Sound Classroom Assessment Principle 4
The fourth principle is important in getting students involved in their own assessment. Student identification of their own areas of strength and areas of struggle is surprisingly accurate (Hattie, 2008). Also, to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and learning,
it is often best to utilize a menu of appropriate choices that students use to determine how
they will be evaluated. In other
words, the teacher needs to get
inside the student’s thinking.
Lifesize/Thinkstock
Giving your students the option of choosing how to showcase their
knowledge of a subject—like presenting it to their classmates—
allows them to play a more active role in the assessment process.
As an example, the teacher
could present a list of options
on how the students could show
the world the wonderful new
expertise and knowledge they
had acquired in a unit, lesson,
or subject. Choices could range
from a radio interview, a reader’s theater, a weblog poster;
the sky is the limit with ideas! In
this way, the teacher is addressing the power of using choice
and personal preference to sustain a motivating learning environment as well as address the
learning styles preferred by individual students.
A school I visit often is wholly committed to student goal setting. Every teacher has students identify goals every 9 weeks based upon interim benchmark assessments. Students write a simple action
plan detailing one academic goal area and the three or four academic activities they will focus on.
The principal visits with each student to ask about his or her action plans. There is an assembly
honoring students who have met their goals.
Sound Classroom Assessment Principle 5
The fifth principle recommends that assessment results are well managed and communicated effectively. It is also a good idea to allow new evidence or subsequent attempts
to achieve the goal to replace a poor grade or score. This is critical if the teacher wants to
ensure instruction is for learning. In the example of completing makeup tests, when the
teacher is selecting options of reporting to the student and parent, a choice could be made
to indicate performance over multiple attempts or to average grades. An alternative strategy might be to have the students communicate their own level of performance through
student-developed reports, portfolios, or student-led conferences. These options extend
learning and give further feedback for the student and the teacher on areas that need to be
addressed (Guskey & Bailey, 2001).
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A father was attending his child’s high school Parent Night and listened to teachers describe the
grading practices for the students. One teacher’s plan was pretty standard, with a list of quizzes,
weighted tests, and homework that would be averaged for a final score. The father asked if students
were allowed to take retests for poor scores on tests. Invariably, the answer was “no.” He let it go,
but really he didn’t understand the purpose of the instruction and assessment. Do you, as a soonto-be teacher, agree with this teacher’s grading policy? Why or why not?
Case Study: Anna Martin
Part One
Anna Martin is a young teacher in her 2nd year of teaching and 1st year in a second-grade class. She
has had great success working with students, and she makes great connections with her students.
On Monday, Anna found her district benchmark scores in her mailbox. These district benchmark tests
are given three times a year, and they measure student growth on a series of standards-based areas.
The benchmark assessments include a math test, a special math problem-solving assessment, a long
reading exam, and a writing prompt. In her report, she found a set of charts with all the students’
scores in columns across the page. The writing scores, however, weren’t on the chart because the
teachers will be scoring those at the next staff meeting.
The charts are an array of colors, with red scores indicating students who are below target, green for
those who have made the district target, and blue for students working above grade level. Unfortunately, this time, there is much more red, and it seems like the students didn’t make “district growth.”
1. What is the value of this assessment and what purpose does it serve?
2. Who is this feedback for?
Part Two
Anna decided to take the benchmark scores home and look for signs of hope. The district gave her an
Excel file, and her first step was to sort the students from highest score to lowest.
“What will sorting do for me?” she asked. She already had the students organized in reading and math
groups by their academic levels. But she remembered how huge the chart seemed. She feels a bit
overwhelmed and wondered if there was better way to organize this list.
1. Taking one academic area, how might Anna organize the data?
2. What is the final result that this teacher might be trying to achieve?
Part Three
Anna decided to focus on one area, the reading test. First, she sorted the students by overall reading score. By doing so, she saw some persistent problems: vocabulary and word analysis and, for
another group of students, problems in reading comprehension; some students showed problems in
both areas.
For the past 2 months, Anna has followed the district-adopted textbook and put students in small
reading groups based on reading level. The groups had worked through the intervention materials.
The textbooks seemed only to ask the students comprehension questions about what happened.
Anna looks at the Excel file and realized that the district test didn’t tell her anything except which student was low, which student was high, or who was in-between. She wondered how she could get more
information about how her students were trying to comprehend this material.
1. What might be some of the underlying problems that have caused her results?
2. What further data might help Anna? What might be missing in her approach and how could she
get it?
3. What else could Anna be doing to find out what she should be teaching her students? (continued)
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Case Study (continued)
Part Four
Anna decided she needed to get the students more directly involved. She wondered if she was using
the teacher’s edition too much and thought about how she was responding when students made
mistakes. She had posted the reading strategies on a wall; she pointed to them when students made a
mistake and told them to focus on the skills. She frequently told them what they were doing right and
what they were doing wrong.
She thought about what else in the past month she could have done to see these patterns emerging.
Lastly, before heading for the solace of a frozen yogurt, she wondered what her students would think,
if anything, if she asked them about these results.
1.
2.
3.
4.
What coaching questions come to mind if you were helping Anna?
If Anna speaks with her students, what might she want to know from them?
What kind of evidence might she gather before the next district benchmark?
What would be the most important information she could get from her teammates at tomorrow’s
meeting?
5. Do you have any other thoughts on Anna’s assessments?
4.2 Assessment Strategies
Pre-assessment
1. Effective assessment plans are aligned in the following order:
A. District to school, school to department, department to grade level, and grade
level to classroom
B. Classroom to grade level, grade level to department, department to school,
and school to district
C. Department planning should dictate assessment plans for a given subject area
D. Individual teachers are responsible for planning and enforcing their own
unique assessment plan
2. Authentic assessments should do all of the following except:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Demonstrate how the work will apply in the real world
Be relevant and have high interest for the student
Stand on their own without a need for any other supporting assessments
Focus on critical thinking as students pursue answers
Answers
1. A. District to school, school to department, department to grade level, and grade level to classroom
2. C. Stand on their own without a need for any other supporting assessments
“U
se the right tool for the right job” my father would always say. Usually, I heard this
while he was carrying a large hammer and heading out to use it on a record player or his
Swiss watch. Obviously, his actions spoke a little louder than his words. Still, this advice
applies to our work in educational assessment, especially if we seem to be following my Dad’s model.
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When looking at strategies for effective assessments, remember to ask these questions:
For what purpose am I giving this assessment? Is this the best type of assessment to
meet that purpose? Ideally, if we do our curriculum planning correctly, balance the full
range of assessments available, and keep the end in mind, this daunting task will be a
bit more manageable. In this section, we will dig into the hard work that lies underneath
this question and show some ways to organize assessments, discuss a few assessment
options, and gain an understanding of how assessment is not separate from curriculum
and instruction.
The Assessment Plan
An assessment plan is an organized collection of information derived to develop a deep
understanding of what students understand and can do in relation to specific learning
outcomes organized within set time frames. It can take on an enormous amount of variation in how we arrive at that deep understanding. Remember, assessment is feedback, and
our driving question is “feedback for whom?”
Effective assessment plans are aligned from a district, to school, then to department and
onto grade level, and finally, the classroom. Each has a specific purpose.
A district assessment plan measures mastery of agreed-upon content objectives for all students and demands review of data compared over time. For this reason, the assessments
are usually consistent from year to year. The school’s assessment plan follows this same
need but at a more precise level, given the instructional goals and school improvement
efforts. Hence, student performance relative to key standards, skills, and performance
are checked periodically. Finally, the department and grade level assessment plans, in
order to make decisions about supporting the wide variation in students, may look at student groups with assessments designed to measure specific units of study, key skills, and
larger performance measures such as a trimester writing assessment. In the classroom, the
teacher needs to know if the instructional plan is working both at the concept and skill
level and where each child is showing mastery, growth, and/or problems.
This sounds daunting, but by looking at some simple models of assessment planning,
it becomes clear not only how feasible it is to create them but also how they drive decisions on what learning measure to use and when. Assessment brings meaning to your
standards. As we dive into assessment planning, there are important considerations at the
forefront of developing a good assessment plan.
1. Reserve formal assessments for the most important objectives or targets, which
are decided upon and shared with students up front.
2. Include multiple types of assessment methods to meet different purposes.
3. Continually assess, seamlessly through the learning cycle, and develop mechanisms for the students to respond to the results as quickly as possible.
4. Ensure that monitoring for higher order thinking is included in the assessments.
5. Keep the user in mind: Is this assessment for the student, the teacher, or someone
else? (Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010)
There is no shortage of advice on how to build an assessment plan. You need to prioritize what is the end in mind for student learning, and all planning should come from
that goal. This is embedded in the curriculum planning and is described as backward
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design (Wiggins & McTighe,
1998). The end objective is often
called an enduring understanding, or essential question, and is
learning objectives that encompass, in broad terms, overarching concepts that apply to other
learning and disciplines.
Once decided, these essential
questions drive all decisions.
However, instead of starting
with the first day of the lessons,
this model works backward,
first planning the last day; in
determining assessments, this
means developing the end of
iStockphoto/Thinkstock
unit performance, final examination, or other culminating There are many factors to consider when building an assessment
activity. In this planning model, plan, but it is up to you to determine the “essential questions”
the preassessment would be the that will be the focus of the assessment cycle.
last thing decided, while benchmark assessments and other key
checks for understanding would be decided in a backward order. The backward model
is important, as we have said before, because the essential content is defined not in terms
of independent skills but within a context that will promote deeper understanding and
application to new learning.
Application: Effective Assessment Planning
In an effective model for classroom assessments, the assessments follow a basic rule of
curriculum planning. To ensure that instruction can transfer beyond the specific lesson
and to engage students in a meaningful experience, instruction must work through three
phases. People who develop curriculum call this model a whole to part to whole learning
model (Knowles & Swanson, 2010). The three phrases are as follows:
1. Understand what the context of the skills is to be learned.
2. Learn the specific skills within that context and through direct instruction.
3. Apply these skills back into the initial context.
Before we dive into these three as specific assessment planning components, there are a
few items to keep in mind to ensure assessment planning is effective and efficient.
•
It is not a do-it-yourself job. As mentioned previously, curriculum is aligned to
the state standards, the district expectations, and ultimately, to a department of
grade level agreement of content. Thus, some portion of the assessment plan has
to be agreed to by the team. This is critical in developing efficient responses to
struggling or advanced students.
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•
Communicate with students, teachers, and when appropriate, parents. Communicate consistently by asking these questions:
° Why are we doing each assessment?
° What is it going to show us?
° What does it look like when I have met the objectives?
° What should we do with the results?
• Put the results in manageable formats. Let the students chart progress when
appropriate; place the
results in a portfolio with
associated student commentary. Less is more. A
well-designed performance
assessment coupled with a
strong skills inventory, both
presented and displayed
so students are enabled
to respond to the results,
goes a long way to covering your formal assessment
needs (Stiggins et. al., 2004).
iStockphoto/Thinkstock
It is important for a teacher to communicate with students about
what the assessments are for and what will be done with them.
For more information on creating
assessment plans, see the Appendix at the end of this book.
Planning for Assessments: Before Learning
Our goal in teaching is to influence the transfer of learning to ensure that the student will
be able to continually apply this to new situations in different subject areas. For teachers,
we are always hoping that what is taught today will benefit the student in a subsequent,
often very different, learning experience. Thus, as we work in preassessments, we must
uncover how the student has transferred previous experiences and instruction. Diagnostic assessments enable us to understand the major impact of prior knowledge and give
insight on how we can assist the student in questioning the reasoning of misperceptions
or apply accurate perceptions to extend learning (Perkins, 1992).
Planning for Assessments: During Learning
Assessments during learning are typically formative assessments or can be used as benchmark tests which measure the student’s progress toward skill attainment. Thus, many
of the standard types of assessments such as true–false, multiple-choice, matching, and
short-answer tests will fit into this category. They will give quick feedback on progress
toward memorizing or building content knowledge. When developing these tests, teachers need to make sure not to create bias, ask for unintended information, or influence
responses. In some cases, it is best to rely on the published materials provided with your
instructional resources (Salkind, 2006).
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Along with these skill-based check-ins, the most common assessment type is the essay.
Some discussion about how to use essays is worthwhile because essays can be underutilized and are difficult to control for bias when scoring.
A Note on Essays
Essay questions measure simple reiteration of knowledge, yet they are one of the best methods for asking
students to demonstrate higher order thinking skills,
such as analyzing a problem, synthesizing multiple
pieces of information, and creating new solutions.
Essay responses are complex because of the competing elements within an essay. Most notably, the proficiency of the writer and adjustments needed to correct
writing deficiencies often compete with the content
being assessed. What else gets in the way of using
essays as assessment tools?
Hemera/Thinkstock
First, essays take a tremendous amount of time to score and thus are often reserved for summative
assessments. Second, it is very difficult to keep subjectivity away from the scoring. As a scorer, instructors may subconsciously prefer a certain writing style, belief, and knowledge of the content which,
again, is overcome by elements in the writing or the writing style. To get the best value out of using an
essay, the teacher should consider the following:
• Evaluate the essay with the name removed. This is an excellent system to eliminate bias from the
scoring. Use a predetermined rubric shared with the students ahead of time.
• At times, you may need to give two scores: one on the writing and another on the content.
Sometimes, you may give students an overall score and another score for a particular component you have been working on or a very specific score to one element only. Decide on the right
rubric: a holistic rubric, which gives a broad, overall score for the whole assignment, or an analytic rubric, which takes the overall content and provides extra rubrics for those important pieces
of the content. As a formative measure, an analytic rubric serves the student and the learning
more effectively by detailing the major concepts and skills that are mastered and those that need
continued work (Hogan, 2007).
Assessing during the learning depends on the fundamental actions a teacher provides
by using observations as well as having the ability to inquire and understand a student’s
thinking. The teacher should also be able to listen closely so thinking can be extended,
challenged, or directly corrected.
In addition, to assess in-the-moment learning requires the teacher to develop high-quality questioning techniques that engage students in thinking by asking about processes
of learning rather than whether something is right or wrong. Moreover, in-the-moment
assessment requires the teacher to build multiple opportunities for student self-review as
well as peer review. The teacher should also keep good student record keeping such as
growth charting. All of these practices bring a high level of personal motivation and
responsibility to the student and focus instruction on the essential element of our work:
thinking (see Table 4.3).
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Table 4.3: Examples of ways to assess in-the-moment learning
Name
Description
Learning Plans
The student builds a plan with goal(s), timeline, and criteria for success. Best
to have this broken into segments over the course of the project or unit so the
student can reflect on progress and revise accordingly.
Peer Review
Pairs or groups of students are graded not on the task but on how well the group
followed the process and provided supportive, helpful feedback. Students must have
clear criteria and multiple opportunities to practice and “train” for peer feedback.
Conferencing
Periodic conferences are held between the teacher and groups or individuals.
Interview questions (protocols) ask students to explain and give reasons for their
current understanding. Sharing a clear set of questions for understanding ahead of
the conference is important. Developing evidence to support conclusions is a critical
element in this process and forces individuals or teams to probe for understanding.
Fishbowl
Similar to the conference, but the task is more than checking for understanding.
Dialogue focuses on application of learning to date, discussion on a controversial
point, or debate. A group of students are placed in the center of a circle. The
remaining students sit around them. Students on the outside listen and take notes;
they may be selected to alternate into the fishbowl by a student in the fishbowl or
the teacher.
Source: Adapted from Intel Education, 2011.
Planning for Assessments: After the Learning
Assessments after learning are used to measure the major outcomes of learning, and
teaching requires multiple measures, or a variety of assessments, to determine student
learning over time and often across academic disciplines (FairTest, 2007). While planning
for the after-learning assessments, it is also important to ask the following question: Can
the student use the content learned in a real-world application to demonstrate mastery or
to solve a problem?
This question drives an important decision in the planning and use of authentic assessments. Authentic assessments are defined as performance or products that demonstrate
how the work is applied in the real world. It must be “real life, relevant, has high interest
on the part of the student, and synthesizes learning so that a focus on critical thinking is
evident” (Edutopia.org, 2011). These need to be used for important, overall concepts and
must be supported by other end-of-learning assessments, such as a skills inventory like a
multiple-choice test, a short essay, or other essay opportunities (see Table 4.4).
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Table 4.4: Examples of some alternatives to assessing after learning
Name
Description
Learning Logs
A record of experiences, reflections, and new learning kept by the student and
used for interaction with teachers and, possibly, peers. Within the log, the student
should have the opportunity to draw conclusions about how new learning applies
to real-world experiences. The log becomes an interactive journal when the
teacher periodically responds, questions, or instructs within the journal.
Portfolios
A well-organized system to collect, reflect, and evaluate work over time. The
portfolio should be an ongoing project, and students should personalize and own
the portfolio. A rubric or other means to set evaluation criteria for work samples is
required. It is also important that the student have an opportunity to conference
about the portfolio at the conclusion of the collection (with peers and teacher).
Performance
Tasks
A project or task guided by a manageable rubric which is in direct alignment
with the intended learning outcomes. These can be small, such as a speech, a
graphic representation, or an interview. They also can be large project-based
opportunities such as developing a documentary. Caution: Often, in performance
tasks, it is difficult to uncover substantial evidence of learning of major content
objectives from an overall general understanding.
Teaching Peers
Students present to the class a lesson from the content or teach a small group
from a younger or older grade; a peer classroom is a strong demonstration
of knowledge. This requires significant guidance by the teacher and plenty of
opportunity for rehearsal.
Source: Adapted from Intel Education, 2011.
Case Study: Andy Shawn
Part One
Andy is an eighth-grade social studies teacher. After surveying his students last year after the final
exam, he found the students thought he knew a lot, but they also hinted that they were bored with
how the information was presented. He has decided to add new digital content and other more engaging activities to the Civil War unit and have the students work on PowerPoint, Web searches, and videos. Last year, his assessment plan involved having two essay questions, weekly quizzes, and an end-ofunit multiple-choice exam. Students also gave a speech describing a significant event during the war.
This year, he decided he wanted to liven things up a bit. First, he reviewed the state standards. Here is
what he saw about the historical interpretation of overall social studies content:
Historical Interpretation
• Students summarize the key events of the era they are studying and explain the historical contexts of those events.
• Students identify the human and physical characteristics of the places they are studying and
explain how those features form the unique character of those places.
• Students identify and interpret the multiple causes and effects of historical events.
1. How can Andy fit the state standards into his overall assessment plan?
2. What overarching principles should he have in his assessment plan this year to keep this work
at the forefront?
Part Two
Andy then went on further to look at the specific state-standards skills section for the Civil War and
(continued)
found the following goals for the unit:
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Case Study (continued)
• Compare the conflicting interpretations of state and federal authority as emphasized in the
speeches and writings of statesmen such as Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun.
• Discuss Abraham Lincoln’s presidency and his significant writings and speeches and their relationship to the Declaration of Independence, such as his House Divided speech (1858), Gettysburg
Address (1863), Emancipation Proclamation (1863), and inaugural addresses (1861 and 1865).
• Describe critical developments and events in the war, including the major battles, geographical
advantages and obstacles, technological advances, and General Lee’s surrender at Appomattox.
• Explain how the war affected combatants, civilians, the physical environment, and future warfare.
1. Look at what the state standards are for the Civil War. Compare these to the overarching goals
in historical interpretation. What role should these play for Andy as he is thinking about his
planning?
Part Three
Andy also wants to get the students’ voices into the assessment process and provide continuous,
seamless feedback. He decides that the essential question or enduring understanding for the unit
should be: What were the human causes, economic and societal, of the Civil War and how did the
interpretations of governance in America affect the war and change as a result of the outcome?
1. What questions should Andy be keeping in mind about his assessment strategy?
2. What obstacles might he encounter and how can he avoid them from derailing the process?
Part Four
Your turn: Complete the following chart for Andy.
Figure 4.1: Essential learning
Civil War Assessment Plan
Summative,
post-assessments
Continuous
Monitoring/Feedback
Diagnostic
Pre-Assessments
Assessments Continuous Throughout the Unit
Other considerations
Note: See standards and Essential Question.
(continued)
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Case Study (continued)
Plan Check
After completing your plan, check to see if you have answered all of the following questions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Have you addressed student readiness?
Have you identified indicators of quality in student work?
Have you incorporated assessments of higher order thinking skills into your planning?
Is the plan responsive to student needs and student self-monitoring?
Is the final measurement comprehensive and does it assure acquisition of the content?
How will students know they have met their learning goals?
After addressing these questions, are there any other considerations that are needed within the plan?
4.3 Standardized Testing
Pre-assessment
1. “Balcony level” benchmark assessments are called this because
A.
B.
C.
D.
they allow a number of different teachers to look at and discuss the same data.
they look at multiple assessments that one student has taken.
they consider both the individual student as well as a larger class or group.
they look at how students have performed over a long period of time rather
than just on one assessment.
2. Assessment analysis at the program view level allows teachers to adjust which of
the following?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The specific standards and academic rigor of a curriculum
The way teaching and instruction is happening
Materials that are being used and how assessment is conducted
All of the above
3. Which of the following statements regarding standardized testing is true?
A. Standardized assessments are completely free of bias.
B. It is possible to determine how one teacher, resource, or change impacted test
scores.
C. Standardized testing provides a broad overview of student performance in a
given school, district, or area.
D. Standardized tests give a specific and accurate overall picture of an instructional program.
4. In California alone, the annual cost for maintaining the standardized testing program is
A.
B.
C.
D.
$100 thousand
$1 million
$10 million
$100 million
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5. When analyzing and using student data, which of the following is not a guideline for success:
A. Review results individually and without team discussion so that nobody feels
put on the spot.
B. Be explicit as a team about what goals are trying to be accomplished.
C. Use anonymous data at first to ensure that no member of the team feels
singled out.
D. Balance perceived weaknesses by also taking time to recognize team strengths.
Answers
1. C. they consider both the individual student as well as a larger class or group.
2. D. All of the above
3. C. Standardized testing provides a broad overview of student performance in a given school, district, or area.
4. D. $100 million
5. A. Review results individually and without team discussion so that nobody feels put on the spot.
A
standardized test is a test administered and scored in a consistent manner that
is designed to provide an accurate measure of a person’s mastery or skill in a
specific area (U.S. Legal, 2011). The key to making a test standardized is consistency in administration and results regardless of who administers the test, who took
the test, and when it was given. Standardized testing covers a very large range of tests;
some examples include the
Scholastic Achievement Test
and the American College Testing Exam (ACT), which most
people take for college entry.
Other examples which you
may have heard of or may
have experienced include IQ
tests or specialized academic
testing for an Individualized
Education Plan. In this section,
we will try to uncover how
standardized assessments can
provide valuable feedback for
the teacher, as well as uncover
iStockphoto/Thinkstock
some of the problems with the
overuse and generalizations that Teachers oversee a variety of standardized tests. These tests can
are made from these single provide valuable feedback.
measurements.
Standardizing Testing as Valuable Feedback
If used correctly, standardized test results deliver useful feedback for the teacher. How
you, as the teacher, respond to that information, both personally and professionally, determines whether or not the results add value. The role of the principal and other administrators in using these results for accountability purposes can also add value to the information within standardized, high-stakes assessment (Wellman & Lipton, 2003).
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Standardized assessments offer an important layer of data to make decisions that can
improve student learning. In a balanced system, we need high-level assessments that
help us review our overall expectations of our instruction and assist us in responding
with large-scale programmatic and curricular improvement efforts. With these assessments, teachers can base teaching curricular and programmatic decisions on something
other than assumptions. It is important to note that the critical component of school, grade
level, and team decision making depends on strategic analysis of data, so we may make
appropriate adjustments based on something other than our opinion (Schmoker, 1996).
Starting at the Ground Level of Assessments: The Student
The ground level of assessment is at the student level, either formative or summative, that
teachers use to assist students to engage in learning and to measure individual achievement. These assessments are highly responsive, differentiated, and the results can be
altered quickly. Most important, when effective, they offer descriptive feedback and the
student is deeply involved.
The Balcony Level: Benchmark Assessments
For the balcony level, the teacher is responding to the assessment feedback in time to
do something about performance before the end of the school year. The difference from
ground-level assessment is that the teacher is working from a view of the student as well
as the class or a specific group. In doing so, the teacher is analyzing performance toward
the target as a more formal event and making longer range plans toward intervening.
A well-designed benchmark assessment, a leading indicator, should serve as a predictor
for state performance. With a leading indicator, the results of the benchmark tests statistically correlate to performance on the state test (Foley, 2008). To ensure that happens, the
benchmark assessments must be based on the same standards as the state test, and if an
assessment is a true leading indicator, then the student should be proficient on the state test.
The 30,000-Foot Level: The Overall Curriculum and Program View
This overall view is where the real value of state-level standardized assessments can help
the teacher. These data present a large view of specific curricular areas and give an overall measure of student group performance on the intended outcomes, usually the state
standards. Results of these assessments are given to teachers in the summer, after students have moved on. Thus, as a friend of mine likes to say, they are about the same as
autopsies. We can determine what happened, but since usually the students have moved
to other teachers, we can’t do anything to fix these students’ specific areas of weakness.
However, we can use the results to adjust three things in the future.
1. The specific standards and academic rigor of the standards we are teaching;
2. The way we are teaching or our instruction;
3. What materials we are using and how we are assessing (City, Elmore, Fiarman, &
Teitel, 2010).
When reviewing the overall curriculum, especially reviewing year to year, teachers can
use these data to ask very important questions.
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•
•
•
Based on these results, are all our students, or are large student groups, meeting
the overall goals or standards?
Based on these results, if groups of our students are not meeting the standards
assessed in this test, on what areas are we not hitting the objectives?
Based on these results, are there students, or groups of similar students (for
example, boys), that are not hitting the overall target or specific objectives when
compared to other groups? (Wellman & Lipton, 2004)
Fallacies in Standardized Assessment
Many of the fallacies in the use of standardized testing come from the demand upon
education for accountability. Accountability is the auditing of the educational system to
determine if the students are meeting state standards or other preset learning objectives.
Auditing is done primarily with state and national standardized assessments where the
performance on these tests is then used in comparison to other states, districts, schools,
principals, or teachers. Many districts have also developed accountability systems on top
of the state accountability systems (Haertel, 2005).
Let’s boil the issues surrounding standardized assessments down to two simple decisions.
What is the purpose of standardized test feedback and for whom? Although there is value
in using state standardized assessment data, there is a lot of misuse when it comes to
applying these results as measures of accountability. Let’s look at a few of these.
Fallacy Number 1: Standardized assessments use instructionally insensitive measurement
to determine the instructional quality of teachers and learning of individual students.
Reality: The tool of standardized assessment is a very large hammer and cannot evaluate
anything more than a very broad overview of the program and student achievement; it
cannot give an accurate indication of an individual student’s performance. These measurements are meant to evaluate very large groups. Once a lot of students have taken this
test and we can look at this test over time, we can then start making some determination.
If for multiple years or for very large groups of students, when analyzed alongside other
measures (see Table 4.5), we determine our groups have not done well on areas of this test,
then from that pattern we can start to identify a trend to consider to make adjustments
(Bambrick-Santoyo, 2010).
Table 4.5: The distribution of questions on a reading portion of standards test
Word
Analysis and
Vocabulary
Development
Reading
Comprehension
Literary
Response
and Analysis
Written
Conventions
Writing
Strategies
Writing
Applications
8 items
11 items
18 items
15 items
13 items
16 items
Could you make a reasonable case that we can decide a school’s, district’s, or teacher’s performance on
how well the teacher taught Word Analysis and Vocabulary based upon 8 questions?
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Fallacy Number 2: Standardized assessments are unbiased and can be given to diverse
students and will have consistent results.
Reality: Many people argue that these measurements are inadequate to measure the range
of students we are educating in our schools. They actually have a tendency to support
higher test achievement for particular student groups, especially those from educated
families who speak predominately Standard English in the home (Popham, 2006). As a
teacher, this is something you need to be aware of.
Fallacy Number 3: We can make determinations that a specific program, intervention,
material, or teacher caused test scores to rise.
Reality: We just cannot make that claim. Statisticians use very complicated processes to
give a probable range of causality, or the relationship between one thing causing another
thing to happen, and it is unlikely people, the school, or the district is doing that with
state tests (Popham, 2006). We can’t simply eliminate other influences in our classrooms.
So things such as out-of-school learning, an instructional strategy, or various other influences on the final results are variables in the performance equation that are too numerous
to account for (Kohn , 2000).
Fallacy Number 4: Standardized assessments give us a gauge on the entire instructional
program.
Reality: In actuality, it is estimated that state tests measure only about 25% of the instructional content demanded by state content standards and what is taught in schools (Davidson, 2011). “Standardized tests can’t measure initiative, creativity, imagination, conceptual
thinking, curiosity, effort, irony, judgment, commitment, nuance, ethical reflection, or a
host of valuable dispositions and attributes. What they can measure and count are isolated
skills, specific facts and function . . .” (Ayers, 1993, p. 113).
Costs of Assessments
There are considerable costs associated with state-level standardized testing, including
those associated with the development, piloting, printing, and scoring of each test, as well
as those associated with producing results, reports, and shipping all of these materials.
Once the material is shipped, each district and school must take inventory, train the teachers, distribute the test, count each test, lock up each test at night, distribute them to classes,
count them again, then ship them back to the district, and then back to the company. In
California, the budget for maintaining the major testing program far exceeds $100 million
every year (California State Budget, 2011–2112).
When accounting for the costs of state testing, we should also figure in the cost of the educational impact this brings to our students and their learning. Some argue that important
subjects which add to overall proficiency, such as arts, music, and physical education, are
put aside to ensure math, language, science, and social studies are mastered (Popham,
2006). We should also add to the costs the many days teachers spend in test preparation
with students, as well as the staff development time which is appropriated to test procedures and analysis of test results.
For these and other reasons, we can argue that the high-stakes tests are not a highly effective
measure for gauging the performance of our educational system. However, the intentions
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underneath this effort—that of
ensuring every student does
achieve and that we use outside,
independent measures, in concert with school-level multiple
measures, and analyze and redirect our instructional efforts—
warrant consideration of using
standardized assessments (Stiggins et al., 2004).
Hemera/Thinkstock
Application:
Data-Driven Decisions
Before we can effectively use
assessment data, we must build
a culture that supports honest
inquiry. The data is ultimately
neutral. It is how we use the
data, how we talk about them, that adds value. Here are a few good rules to consider
when analyzing student data and setting goals.
Standardized tests usually focus on evaluating math, science,
language, and social studies, neglecting subjects like art and music.
What is the potential cost of neglecting these areas of study?
•
•
•
•
•
Declare and agree as a team the purpose of the data review and be explicit about
the expected use of data, identifying what they are not and guarding against
inappropriate uses such as a process for evaluating each other.
Depersonalize the data by collecting and analyzing the data collaboratively and,
at first, anonymously by the team. Once a team matures in the process, individual class results can be shared as long as there are explicit agreements and processes that promote respectful inquiry.
Review the results as a team to identify which data is most important, deciding
on what you are looking for in terms of understanding and analyzing the content
choices, what students are asked to do, and how the skills will be instructed.
Do not identify individual or team poor performance through the use of team
reviews and goal-setting activities.
Set out always to find strengths and leverage the areas of strong performance for
action before identifying weak areas for improvement (Schmoker, 1996).
Creating team ownership in the data is critical. The hardest part of the data review is
looking underneath the initial questions and analyzing results for conflicting data, other
insights, and direction for improvement. Beyond the mandatory state assessments, teachers can still direct what other data should be used to evaluate a program; thus, teachers
also need to be in a culture that promotes data-driven decisions (Foley, 2008) This type of
system would ensure that teachers have a say in what data they care about the most.
It’s also important to remember that the significant element is not the data themselves but
what we do with the data. Choosing the most important elements up front, guided by an
explicit decision about what is being analyzed, is crucial. Choosing the right assessments
that represent our questions and improvement plans is a vital consideration that had to
happen before the data are displayed. Often, we find that in reviewing data quality, overquantity is the golden rule.
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We have written often in this chapter of the analytical value of using multiple measures,
and this is particularly true when reviewing standardized test data. As your team works
to build a process aimed at revealing trends of strong performance and areas for growth,
as well as points of interest and ultimately potential areas for goals, remember to use other
measures identified by the team.
Case Study: Tracy Halsey
Part One
Tracy Halsey was appointed team leader for her school’s sixth-grade team. The team had decided the previous year to make special education students a focus for this year. Tracy was able to get the results from
this year’s state test, and she used the school process to determine if the team had met their goal and
what steps to take to create a new improvement plan. She was given a chart showing scores on the state
test over the last 4 years, which they used to analyze results over the last 4 years (see Tables 4.6 and 4.7).
Table 4.6: State test scores in language arts for sixth grade
ELA
SPED
Grade 6 Language Arts
2008
2009
2010
2011
27
26
22
27
22
12
18
41
% Advanced
4
0
0
0
% Proficient
19
12
18
41
% Basic
37
58
36
30
% Below Basic
33
23
32
15
% Far Below Basic
7
8
14
15
Number Tested
Total % Proficient
and Advanced
Table 4.7: State test scores in mathematics for sixth grade
Math
SPED
Grade 6 Mathematics
2008
2009
2010
2011
49
29
42
43
27
17
29
21
% Advanced
12
10
5
7
% Proficient
14
7
24
14
% Basic
29
24
19
33
% Below Basic
24
48
48
30
% Far Below Basic
20
10
5
16
Number Tested
Total % Proficient
and Advanced
Last year’s goal was to improve the percentage of proficient special education students to 40% in
English language arts and to 40% in mathematics. (continued)
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Chapter Summary
Case Study (continued)
1. Did the team make its goals? Were the goals reasonable? Why or why not?
Part Two
The team then looked at the next set of data, which showed subtests for special education in reading.
The team decided to look at the subtests and found a report that showed a 3-year average in English
language arts by subtest (Table 4.8).
Table 4.8: Subtest for special education in reading
Grade 6 – Special Education Students – 3 Year Average
Word
Analysis and
Vocabulary
Development
Reading
Comprehension
Literary
Response
and Analysis
Written
Conventions
Writing
Strategies
3yr Average
Meeting
Minimum
Percent
Proficient and
Advanced
25 %
29 %
33 %
26 %
29 %
3yr Average
Meeting
Minimum
Percent
Advanced
9%
9%
18 %
9%
11 %
1. What data pop out?
2. Given this is a 3-year trend, what might the focus area be for each group?
3. What questions might you ask in regard to the expectations and content or materials or
instruction?
4. How might we go about investigating these in a deeper manner?
5. If you were going to begin to think about a goal area for this sixth-grade reading program, in
what direction would you initially be thinking?
Chapter Summary
T
he intricacies of receiving and acting upon feedback are complex and varied. The
decision points in assessment planning rely on continual monitoring and responding with students to ensure they are actively engaged as assessors in their learning. Assessment proficiency is determined by the teacher’s ability to observe, record,
respond to, and analyze assessments in a manner that improves student learning. Providing descriptive feedback in responding to student learning has a tremendous effect on
student learning.
Determining the purpose of assessments and aligning those decisions to clearly defined
instructional objectives are crucial and continual processes for the responsive teacher. The
information received from those assessments must come from multiple and varied types
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Concept Check
of assessment activities, based upon formative (for learning), benchmark (during learning), and summative (after learning) assessments in both formal and informal experiences
with the student.
Lastly, understanding the value and appropriate use of information received in the various types of feedback, from classroom interactions to studying standardized and other
formal, ongoing assessments, will determine the effective use of that feedback. The analysis of feedback requires a neutral and objective disposition toward the assessment and the
students.
Concept Check
1. The three key elements that drive effective classroom assessment are
A.
B.
C.
D.
purpose, authenticity, and fairness.
balance, efficiency, and rigor.
balance, purpose, and neutrality.
fairness, rigor, and neutrality.
2. The primary difference between summative and formative assessment is
A. summative assessments are typically multiple-choice exams while formative
assessments use short-answer questions.
B. summative assessments ask students to summarize learning while formative
assessments ask students to formulate solutions to open-ended questions.
C. summative assessments are a bigger part of a student’s grade while formative
assessments are typically not worth any points.
D. summative assessments are assessments of learning while formative assessments are assessments for learning.
3. Which of the following questions should constructive feedback serve to answer?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Where am I going?
How am I going?
Where to next?
All of the above
4. Which of the following is not increased by using multiple measures of
assessment?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Validity
Student confusion
Fairness
Student understanding
5. The primary purpose of grading is to communicate
A.
B.
C.
D.
student learning to students, parents, administrators, and institutions.
how responsible students are in completing and submitting work.
how a student behaves in class.
strengths and weaknesses so that parents or other teachers can intervene
when needed.
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Concept Check
6. For learning goals to be powerful motivators, they must
A. be broad and overarching and encompass a large number of standards or
objectives.
B. be listed on the board or in the course announcements so that students can
read and figure them out on their own time.
C. be written in formal academic language to convey the seriousness of each goal.
D. clearly communicate the expectations with supporting examples that show
the purpose of each goal.
7. Rubric scoring is most effective when
A. teachers use a common rubric for all assignments.
B. each part of the rubric is very specific and detailed.
C. teachers go over the rubric ahead of time while using previous work samples
to guide student understanding.
D. students do not know ahead of time that the assignment is being rubric
scored.
8. Allowing students to guide and assess their own learning
A. shows a lack of control in the classroom and should be used only minimally.
B. empowers students and gives them choice, which helps to sustain student
motivation.
C. works best when there are very few guidelines in place and students have
complete control.
D. can confuse students who may rely on the teacher for specific guidance and
can take a class off track.
9. Effective assessment plans are aligned in the following order:
A. District to school, school to department, department to grade level, and grade
level to classroom
B. Classroom to grade level, grade level to department, department to school,
and school to district
C. Department planning should dictate assessment plans for a given subject area
D. Individual teachers are responsible for planning and enforcing their own
unique assessment plan
10. Authentic assessments should do all of the following except:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Demonstrate how the work will apply in the real world
Be relevant and have high interest for the student
Stand on their own without a need for any other supporting assessments
Focus on critical thinking as students pursue answers
11. “Balcony level” benchmark assessments are called this because
A.
B.
C.
D.
they allow a number of different teachers to look at and discuss the same data.
they look at multiple assessments that one student has taken.
they consider both the individual student as well as a larger class or group.
they look at how students have performed over a long period of time rather
than just on one assessment.
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Concept Check
12. Assessment analysis at the program view level allows teachers to adjust which of
the following?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The specific standards and academic rigor of a curriculum
The way teaching and instruction is happening
Materials that are being used and how assessment is conducted
All of the above
13. Which of the following statements regarding standardized testing is true?
A. Standardized assessments are completely free of bias.
B. It is possible to determine how one teacher, resource, or change impacted test
scores.
C. Standardized testing provides a broad overview of student performance in a
given school, district, or area.
D. Standardized tests give a specific and accurate overall picture of an instructional program.
14. In California alone, the annual cost for maintaining the standardized testing program is
A.
B.
C.
D.
$100 thousand
$1 million
$10 million
$100 million
15. When analyzing and using student data, which of the following is not a guideline for success:
A. Review results individually and without team discussion so that nobody feels
put on the spot.
B. Be explicit as a team about what goals are trying to be accomplished.
C. Use anonymous data at first to ensure that no member of the team feels
singled out.
D. Balance perceived weaknesses by also taking time to recognize team strengths.
Answers
1. C. balance, purpose, and neutrality. The answer can be found in Introduction, Chapter 4.
2. D. aummative assessments are assessments of learning while formative assessments are assessments for
learning. The answer can be found in Types of Assessments, Section 4.1.
3. D. All of the above. The answer can be found in Constructive Feedback, Section 4.1.
4. B. Student confusion. The answer can be found in Grading as Feedback, Section 4.1.
5. A. student learning to students, parents, administrators, and institutions. The answer can be found in
Feedback through Multiple Measures, Section 4.1.
6. D. clearly communicate the expectations with supporting examples that show the purpose of each goal.
The answer can be found in Sound Classroom Assessment Principle 1, Section 4.1.
7. C. teachers go over the rubric ahead of time while using previous work samples to guide student understanding. The answer can be found in Sound Classroom Assessment Principle 2, Section 4.1.
8. B. empowers students and gives them choice, which helps to sustain student motivation. The answer
can be found in Sound Classroom Assessment Principle 4, Section 4.1.
9. A. District to school, school to department, department to grade level, and grade level to classroom. The
answer can be found in The Assessment Plan, Section 4.2.
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Key Terms to Remember
10. C. Stand on their own without a need for any other supporting assessments. The answer can be found
in Planning for Assessments: After the Learning, Section 4.2.
11. C. they consider both the individual student as well as a larger class or group. The answer can be found
in Balcony Level – Benchmark Assessments, Section 4.3.
12. D. All of the above. The answer can be found in The 30,000 Foot Level – The Overall Curriculum and Program View, Section 4.3.
13. C. Standardized testing provides a broad overview of student performance in a given school, district, or
area. The answer can be found in Fallacies in Standardized Assessment, Section 4.3.
14. D. $100 million The answer can be found in Costs of Assessments, Section 4.3.
15. A. Review results individually and without team discussion so that nobody feels put on the spot. The
answer can be found in Application – Data Driven Decisions, Section 4.3.
Key Terms to Remember
accountability The auditing of the educational system to determine if the students
are meeting state standards or meeting
other preset learning objectives.
backward design Determining and prioritizing the essential elements of the set
of learning objectives to plan, from last to
first, the specific interim learning objectives, activities, and assessments that lead
to attainment of the determined essential
elements.
analytic rubric A set of defined scoring
guides which differentiates specific elements within the overall objective being
learned, usually comprised of a set of
separate descriptions associated with
separate scores.
assessment for learning, or formative
assessments Various types of assessments, often informally administered and
informally recorded, used to adapt the
instruction and content for the needs of the
learner usually with or by the student.
assessment plan An organized collection
of information derived to develop a deep
understanding of what students understand and can do in relation to specific
learning outcomes organized within set
timeframes.
authentic assessments, or performance
tasks Assessments that mimic activities
found in the real world, which demonstrate meaningful application of skills,
knowledge, and attitudes being taught.
benchmark assessments Assessments
of learning at the end of a specific period
of time, usually used to monitor interim
progress of learning.
causality The relationship between how
one thing caused another thing to happen.
In education, usually describes the attempt
to determine the actions that resulted in
student performance increases or decreases.
constructive feedback Assessments that
are either descriptive or evaluative but
clearly aligned to the learner’s specific
development of knowledge, skills, or performance aligned to the objectives.
descriptive feedback Assessment that
involves the learner being provided with
clear descriptions which provide opportunities to make adjustments and improvements toward his or her understanding
and performance.
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Key Terms to Remember
diagnostic assessments, or preassessments
Assessments that occur in front of the learning and are intended to uncover strengths
and areas for instructional intervention.
educational assessment The process
of gathering, measuring, and reporting
knowledge skills and attitudes of individuals, student groups, or broad organizations
such as a school district.
evaluative feedback Feedback to the
learner that involves inferring a judgment
about a student’s knowledge, skills, or performance when measured against specific
criteria, usually associated with a grade or
scoring mark.
holistic rubric A scoring guide which
describes an overall broad understanding
or application of the learning objective,
usually comprised of one set scoring guide.
leading indicator The use of the assessment results from one assessment to
predict results on a later assessment. Usually used in benchmark assessments that
statistically correlate to performance on the
state test or other higher stakes test.
learning goals Sets of defined expectations, standards, or student-developed
statements clearly stating an aim to acquire
new knowledge and skills.
multiple measures Using more than one
assessment or set of feedback to make
decisions on student learning.
transfer of learning Ensuring that the student will be able to apply learning not only
within the current lesson, or at the end of
the unit, but to new situations in different
subject areas at a later time.
standardized test A test administered
and scored in a consistent manner that
is designed to provide an accurate measure of a person’s mastery or skill in a
specific area.
summative assessments, or assessments
of learning Evaluative assessments to
determine the learning that has taken place
during a given period of time, usually at
the end of the learning cycle.
validity The assessment is measuring the
concept, knowledge, or performance the
assessment is intended to measure.
whole to part to whole learning model
A curriculum design which states that
learning is organized by establishing a
context for instruction and skills, teaching
specific skills relative to that context, and
applying learned skills within the originating context.
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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Panel Discussion with Eric Lehew
Steven Halfaker (Steve): Good afternoon. I want to thank everyone for joining us. We are
excited to talk about assessment today. Fortunately, we have some leading experts in the field,
and where going to start with Mr. Eric Lehew. Would you share a few examples about
formative or summative assessment?
Eric Lehew (Eric): I think one of the most exciting things I have seen has been an emergence
of putting students in charge of their own learning through understanding assessment. That’s
done with a benchmark assessment. A benchmark assessment is periodic, and not only is a
benchmark assessment periodic, it’s something we call computer adaptive. So I get right or
wrong answers and as I do that, it [the computer adaptive program] makes the test harder or
easier, and eventually I can end up with a score. We train the kids to look at that score so they
can make some decisions on a learning plan, like: “What’s my next move based upon my
lowest area,” for example, reading comprehension. What that has done, mostly, has proven to
be a motivational tool, that now students are engaged in their learning. They’re not waiting for
someone to tell them what to learn, when to learn, and reporting back if they learned it. So
that then allows them to be a participant instead of a recipient in their assessment. Then the
student can also set goals and move towards an objective. That really has changed the nature
of assessment in their classes.
Steve: So if I’m correct the student is actually interpreting the results with the teacher, and
then making a plan on what they can do next?
Eric: Exactly right, it’s not very complex. They sit down and the teacher says, “Your lowest
score was reading comprehension. Do you want to work on that?”, and “What can we do? Here
are some objectives…”, because in this type of assessment, your reading score is higher than
mine, so your objective when I meet with you might be a little different than mine. It really
doesn’t take a very involved Individual Education Plan (IEP), really [the student says to
him/herself] “These are the four things I’m going to do until the next assessment to focus on
reading comprehension. Then I’m going to pay attention to my results the next time around so
when I take the assessment, I’ve got a purpose, and understand that I have a personal
involvement in that assessment.”
Andrew Shean (Andrew): I love that a lot and one of the things that you always say, Eric, that
I’ve always kind of kept in my mind is that assessment should always drive instruction. And I
think with the available tools and technologies out there right now there are some amazing
ways to capture that. One example is that if you can have students, before they come into
class, take a pre-assessment on a concept that is automated and digital that can give them an
immediate score so they know where they’re at. And then as the teacher you’re able to look at
that even before you start class and determine, where’s your student strong in and where
your students weaker in, and let that assessment drive that instruction so you’re efficient and
most effective, I love that concept.
Donna Marvel (Donna): I agree I also think that instruction plays a huge role in meeting
those benchmarks and developing their own ability to self assess. I’ve found that no matter
what grade I’ve taught that if you use big projects with project-based outcomes, that it
increases motivation and engagement 200%. Recently I worked with the San Diego Opera and
our students came in and wrote their entire opera, music and script over the course of 5
months. And the first thing they had to do was take a score where they where basic and far
below basic and where they wanted to go, and determine the tasks they would need to do to
meet those standards. Then they took off and along the way they had to stop and assess how
they were doing, they would listen to music being played on the piano for them, they would
listen to the song being sung, they each took different parts of the story they adapted, it was
just a great vehicle so they could assess how they were doing and what they really needed to
practice so what they could accomplish it. And of course the formative assessments all along
the way happened almost daily. Because they would talk to each other and say, we need to do
this or that, but our summative assessment was fabulous. Because really what it was was the
reaction of the audience they performed for, and for me as teacher it was just incredible,
because better than any score on a standardized test they had created something new in the
world, and they were so successful, and everybody’s piece had to be successful for it to be
successful overall.
Eric: I think you both bring a very good point to this, the first is Andy’s about pre-assessment,
how do I know where my students are starting from, because often we’ll assume well the
standard says this, but I may have a lot of students in my class who have already mastered
that how do I know where to start from those students. When you have a performance based
assessment, something we call authentic assessment then those students have motivation but
you also build an application. To get the pre-assessment on that sometimes we just ask some
questions on what the finished product should and would look like, and you now have a
baseline for where those students are what their misconceptions are, so building that preassessment can sometimes be very formal and look like the end of course assessment or in
performance based assessments it might be a description of what do we know about this, and
what do we want to learn about it, and where do I hear the gaps in that so I can start planning
instruction about where the students are
Donna: It was very interesting too because we took a survey ahead of time about what they
knew, and again at the end, and we had to align it to the state standards.
Andrew: I’m just thinking I know how the Poway Unified School District really believes in the
3 R’s that I think Dr. William Daggett coined, relationships, relevance and rigor. Relationships
make relevance possible and relevance makes rigor possible. I think in your example the kind
of relationships you’d be able to cultivate with your students in an environment like that and
how relevant the learning is, it’s really really applicable and that makes the rigor happen, it’s
just a perfect example of those three R’s taking place
Donna: And I do have to say that the relationships where built amongst the students as well,
never before had we seen them interact that way and care about what the other person was
doing inside of that project, along the way we had some students who when they heard their
song played for the very first time they shed tears because they wrote those words, pretty
incredible.
Steve: That’s amazing, I’m always fascinated too that when you look at people in the highest
level of their profession, for instance I do like tennis, and I sometimes watch Wimbeldon or
the U.S. Open or one of those tournaments and they’ll show the audience and I’ll be shocked
that there’s always a coach sitting there and they will identify the persons coach. And I’m
thinking who could coach Roger Federer, and yet they are looking specifically at all the
techniques and all of the minute details of what they’re doing to be able to form a plan to
improve their instruction. So that assessment and feedback happens at all levels with our
young children and at the absolute highest levels of our professions.
Eric: And the critical role of that is the learner, it would be easy for someone of Roger
Federer’s expertise is to say “I’ve got it, I don’t need that” but he sees inside that coaching is
going to be that direction that guidance and that’s what we have to somehow build with our
kids that I’m not here to bust you. Too often it’s a punitive piece, I’m here to say you did or you
didn’t, and you’re incorrect, as opposed to this is what you’re doing this is what I’m seeing, do
you agree or disagree, and enter into that coaching relationship instead of entering into that
evaluative relationship
Steve: Yes great point, I think again it’s part of that what is the purpose of assessment, and
transitioning it from here’s the grade at the end of the semester and the students surprised
too, everyday there is assessment and feedback and the learner is fully participating as you
mentioned in your example. Well I want to thank everyone for participating today and I’m
really anxious to be a part of the next assignment.
“I think one of the most exciting things
I have seen has been an emergence of
putting students in charge of their
own learning through understanding
assessment.”
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