CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT FOR STUDENT LEARNING

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CLASSROOM ASSESSMENTFOR STUDENT LEARNING
Rick Stiggins
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Assessment quality requires ACCURACY as well as
EFFECTIVE USE
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PurposeAssess to meet whose needs?
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PURPOSETwo Uses of Assessment

• SUMMATIVE
• Assessments OF Learning
• How much have students learned as of a particular
  point in time?
• FORMATIVE
• Assessments FOR Learning
• How can we use assessment information to help
  students learn more?

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Assessment for Learning

• Rick Stiggins

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Rick Stiggins Video Clip

• Two Sheets of Paper
• Of Learning on one sheet of paper
• Definition
• Main points
• For Learning
• Definition
• Main Points

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All those activities undertaken by teachers and
by their students that provide information to
be used as FEEDBACK to modify the teaching and
learning activities in which they are engaged.
--Black Wiliam, 1998

• FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

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Research consistently shows that regular,
high-quality FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT increases
student achievement.
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Research On Effects

• .4 to .7 Standard Deviation Score Gain
• Largest Gain for Low Achievers

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Formative Assessment

• Formative/In-Process
• Students teachers participate
• Focus on learning goals
• Where is current work in relation to goal
• Take action to move closer to the goal

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NEEDED IMPROVEMENTS

• Increased accuracy of formative assessments
• Increased descriptive feedback, reduced
  evaluative feedback
• Increased student involvement

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Why Assessment for Learning Works

• When students are required to think about
  their own learning, articulate what they
  understand, and what they still need to learn,
  achievement improves.
• --Black and Wiliam, 1998 Sternberg, 1996
  Young, 2000

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Balanced Assessment Meeting the Needs of All
Stakeholders

• Annual accountability testing
• Interim, short-cycle or benchmark
• Ongoing, accurate classroom assessment for
  learning

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Balanced Assessment
Summative Provides evidence achievement to
certify student competence or program
effectiveness
Formative Formal and informal processes teachers
and students use to gather evidence to directly
improve the learning of students assessed
Assessment for learning Use assessments to help
students assess and adjust their own learning
Formative uses of summative data Use of summative
evidence to inform what comes next for
individuals or groups of students
Assessment for learning Use classroom assessments
to inform teachers decisions
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Keys to Classroom Assessment

• Key 1 Clear Purpose
• Key 2 Clear targets
• Key 3 Sound Assessment Design
• Key 4 Effective Communication
• Key 5 Student Involvement

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Key 1 Clear Assessment Purpose

• Always begin by asking
• What decisions?
• Whos making them?
• What information will be helpful to them?

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Key 2 Clear Learning Targets

• Know what kinds of targets are represented in
  curriculum
• Know which targets each assessment measures

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Kinds of Targets

• Master content knowledge
• Know it outright
• Know where to find it or how to do it
• Use knowledge to reason
• Demonstrate performance skills
• Create quality products

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Key 3 Sound Assessment Design

• Target-method match
• Select a proper method
• Item quality
• Build the assessment with quality ingredients
• Sample
• Gather enough evidence
• Minimize bias
• Avoid sources of bias and distortion

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Key 4 Effective Communication

• To the student descriptive feedback
• About the student, to others grades
• Involving the student, tracking learning
  portfolios
• Involving the student, to others conferences
• About the student standardized tests

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Key 5 Student Involvement

• Clear Purpose Consider the student as the most
  important user of assessment information
• Clear Targets Communicate the learning targets
  in advance in language students can understand
• Sound Design Set assessments up so that students
  can use the information to self-assess and set
  goals
• Effective Communication Provide students with
  descriptive feedback involve students in
  tracking and communicating about their learning

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Keys to Classroom Assessment
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The Long-Standing Problem

• Educators have rarely been given the opportunity
  to learn how to gather dependable evidence

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Three Essential Questions for Students

• What do I need to know?
• Where am I?
• How will I get there?

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Seven Strategies of Assessment FOR Learning

1. Clear Understandable Vision of Target
2. Examples/models of strong weak work
3. Regular Descriptive feedback
4. Teach Students to Self-Assess Set Goals.
5. Focus on One Aspect
6. Teach Focused Revision
7. Engage students in Self-Reflection

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7 Strategies
Read-Share-Inquire

• A, B Partners
• Individually read section
• A shares key point or connection
• B And what makes that important to you?
• Alternate, repeat until finished

15 minutes
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First Turn/Last Turn

• Group Sharing
• In turn share one of your items, ----but do not
  comment on it - The First Turn.
• Group members comment in round-robin order about
  the item. (No cross talk)
• The initial person who named the item then shares
  his or her thinking about the item and gets The
  Last Turn.
• Repeat the pattern around the table.

25 Minutes
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Three Essential Questions for Students

• What do I need to know?
• Where am I?
• How will I get there?

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Expected Benefits and Proven Results

• Better instruction focused on standards
• Profound achievement gains for all students, with
  the largest gains for lowest achievers
• More self-managed learning by students

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What decisions do students make on the basis of
classroom assessment information?
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From High Stakes Assessment to In-Process Measures

• Mistaken Belief Its the adults who use
  assessment results to make the most important
  instructional decisions
• Mistaken Belief The most important decisions
  are made annually based on annual high-stakes
  tests

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Students and Assessment

• Rick Stiggins

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• Assessment Through the Students Eyes
• The Assessment Experience
• Scenario 1 Scenario 2

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NEW IDEA

• Formative assessment can and should be done
• BY STUDENTS,
• as well as by teachers. The key to improvement is
  how students and teachers use assessment
  information.

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Data

• What data should be collected?
• How should data be used?
• Who should be involved?
• What makes it relevant?

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Using Data

• How good is good enough?
• Does this meet the standard?
• What are students doing well?
• What are the weak areas?
• What do we do about it?

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Data Should Be

• Multi-sourced
• Relevant
• Timely
• Consistent over time
• Collected by users
• Disaggregated
• Driving effective decision-making
• Supportive of mission success for all
• Foundation of team efforts to find solutions

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Using data to guide decision-making and
continuous improvement

• How has the Cedar Rapids district implemented
  this principle?
• How has your school?
• You in your role?
• What could you do?

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3-2-1 Exit Card

• 3 things you Learned today
• 2 things you liked OR want to do tomorrow
• 1 Word to describe the way you feel

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• Why are kids not connected to school?

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Why arent kids connected to school?