Jul 15 2008
“Another” Conference! ETS Assessment Training Institute- Notes from Monday and Tuesday!
Location: Portland, Oregon
Date: July 14-16
First impression this AM after a relaxing commute to downtown Portland from my home in Hillsboro is that this workshop has a HUGE binder! The thing must weigh about 10 pounds… AND there is no wireless access in the session. The wireless session is available but…. no code is provided to give us access to the network! Grrr… what a pain! So I am blogging offline!
Shanghai American School has a nice contingency of almost 20 people. I am so proud to have reps from each of the divisions and a wide variety of departments and grade levels. I am hoping that we can use these folks’ new found enthusiasm and knowledge
Keynote address from Rudy Crews, currently Superintendent of Miami-Dade Public Schools. For a good summary go to Amanda DeCardy’s blog www.sometechsense.com for a review.
My first of a concurrent session is Tapping the Full Potential of Assessment FOR Learning, presented by Rick Stiggins. I have been reading and rereading Rick’s book for several years.
Some important notes from Rick’s presentation-
A Revolution in Assessment Dynamics:
What STUDENTS think about and do with assessment results is as important as what adults think about and do with them…
Kids should go first when it comes to learning. What they think and do with their learning as a profound effect on the learning process. There is a thought process that goes into this… to build confidence with their learning and their own learning process. We need to encourage self-efficacy.
Self-Efficacy
Self-Effective People see themselves as:
-learners who are enhanced by human accomplishments
-Challenges to be mastered
-intrinsic interest in things they do.
-they contribute failure to insufficient effort, deficient knowledge and skills
In contrast… people who are not….
- shy away from difficult tasks
- Low aspirations
- dwell on personal deficiciencies
- slack in efforts
- view failure as a deficient aptitute
3 ways to develop academic self efficiacy
Student experiences real, credible success at learning
See other who are like me experiencing success
Talk learners into believing they can succeed.
To improve, students must:
- Know what good work looks like
– Compare their work to that standard
– Understand how to close the gaps
Know what good work looks like-
– Start instruction with student friendly versions of the target
– Accompany that with samples of student work
Compare their work to that standard-
– Provide continuous descriptive feedback (NOT JUDGEMENTAL)
– Teach students to generate their own feedback and set goals (self assessment!)
Understand how to close the gaps-
-Help them improve
Assessment Collaborative
Teachers
- make key decisions
- define targets
- provide models
- Assess
- Provide feedback
- Promote growth
- judge sufficiency
- Gain self -efficacy
Students
- Make key decisions too
- Understand those targets
- Understand the models
- self assess
- Generate feedback
- Understand growth
- see sufficency
- feel self-efficacy
4 assessment methods
- selected response
- written response (essay)
- performance assessment
- direct personal interaction
Why we assess?
1. Inform instructional decisions- a quality system gives quality information
Always begin by asking:
What decisions?
Who’s making them?
What information will be helpful to them?
Information needs vary profoundly:
- Classroom level users
- Program-Level Users
- Institutional/Policy Users
We should build balanced assessments to meet the needs of all three groups, as they are important to all.
Why classroom?: Promote learning for all with FOCUS of mastery of pre-set standards. PREP for ASSESSMENTS: Standards arrayed in learning progressions to unfold within and across grade levels. ASSESS CHALLENGE: To know where each child is in their learning.
Classroom Assessment:
-Decision- What comes next in learning
-Who: Student, Teacher and Parents
Helpful Info??- Continuous information on learning progress
Program Level Assessment:
-Decision- What Standards mastered?
-Who: teachers, principals, curriculum specialists
Helpful Info??- Periodic but frequent information/evidence summarized across classrooms indicating standards being met.
Institutional Use:
-Decision- How many kids are reaching standard?
-Who: Community, Board, etc
Helpful Info??- % of sucess, annual reports, etc.
A revolution in assessment dynamics: BALANCED Assessment means …. If assessment isn’t working well in the classroom– if poor decisions arise from unsound assessments DURING the LEARNING– The other assessment levels don’t matter; THEY ARE WASTED; THEY CAN’T FIX THE PROGRAMS THAT RESULT…
A belief in balance in the power and quality of classroom assessment. We need to support the classroom teacher in quality assessment training.
- All assessment must cent on high quality standards.
- All assessment must yield accurate evidence
- All assessments must lead to further student learning.
2. Encourage students to try to learn. (more on this in other session)
BOTH #1 and #2 are equally important.
Rick Stiggins has identified 5 Doors to Excellence in Assessment
Door 1: Clear Achievement Targets
Door 2: Meet ALL user needs (teacher, parents, students, admin, board, etc.)
Door 3: Assessment Quality
Door 4: Communicating Effectively
Door 5: Setting Sound Policies
What is behind Door 1: Clear Achievement Targets Essential Conditions
- Quality Standards?
- Appropriate number given the available resources?
- In learning progressions? From beginning to end?
- Each been deconstructged oinot scaffolding?
- Transformed into student friendly versions?
- TEACHERS are masters of the content they are expected the teach?
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=door%2C%20creativecommons&w=all&s=int
What is behind Door #2: Meet ALL user needs?
Who needs:
- Annual Accountability test scores? Why?
- Interim assessment results? Why?
- Classroom assessment results? Why?
What is behind Door #3: Assessment Quality
- Do we gather dependable information?
A poor quality common assessment is worse than NOT doing it at all!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/47/137194122_820d3dbd4c_m.jpg
What is behind Door #4: Communicating Effectively
“Report card reporting systems are a throw back to a time when we rank ordered students for further placement”
- Agreed upon achievement targets?
- Accurate information?
- Balancing descriptive information and judgmental as appropriate?
- Symbols have common meaning?
- Message receiver open to hearing and acting on results?
http://flickr.com/photos/tiggywinkle/420446132/
Communications Options
- Test Scores
- Letter or number grades
- standards-based report cards
- portfolios
- conferences
What is behind Door #5: Sound Policies to Guide Sound Practices
- Curriculum Policy?
- Assessment Policy?
- Communications Policy?
- Personnel Policy?
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/150/411212338_29d09bc56e.jpg?v=1173094453
“Are there any policies about a student’s role in assessment reporting?”
Questions for our team at SAS to ask each other are:
- - Is our standards house in order?
- - Are we meeting all information needs?
- - Are all of our assessments accurate?
- - Are we communicating effectively?
- - Are we guided by sound policies?
Technorati Tags: ATI, Assessment training institute, Portland
Thanks to Cliotech for some great notes here: 
