Teaching is the Core Grant
Teaching is the Core: Assessment Review
As a result of the NYSED Teaching is the Core Grant awarded to the HFM BOCES-led consortium, our district had the opportunity to review student assessments related to APPR. Our local assessment review team which is comprised of teachers and administrators who have been trained on the assessment review process, reviewed # assessments. Based on this extensive review, our recommendations are as follows:
· Keep 23 assessments (includes NYS tests)
· Modify 0 assessments
· Eliminate 0 assessments
· Create 0 assessments
The review team is also designing an action plan for implementation in the 2015-2016 school year and beyond to continue to focus on the assessment review process. The plan will ensure that teachers are continuing to design and use assessments that will inform instruction and support student learning.
Action Plan
What is the difference between formative and summative assessment?
Formative Assessment
The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically, formative assessments:
•help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work
•help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately
Formative assessments are generally low stakes, which means that they have low or no point value.
Examples of formative assessments include asking students to:
•draw a concept map in class to represent their understanding of a topic
•submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture
•turn in a research proposal for early feedback
Summative Assessment
The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.
Summative assessments are often high stakes, which means that they have a high point value.
Examples of summative assessments include:
•a midterm exam
•a final project
•a paper
•a senior recital
Information from summative assessments can be used formatively when students or faculty use it to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses.
Source: https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative-summative.html
Formative Assessment Strategies
· Observations (Running Records, Anecdotal Notes, Anecdotal Notebook, Anecdotal Note Cards, Labels or Sticky Notes)
· Peer Observation
· Questioning (Open-Ended; Text-Based; Oral or Written)
· Discussion Keep a list of your students handy as you discuss concepts and questions so you can easily note who has added to the discussion (as well as who has not with a understanding rating).
· Exit/Entrance Slips (Written responses to questions the teacher poses at the end of the lesson(exit) or beginning of class (admin) to gauge student understanding of key concepts – Should take no more than five minutes)
· Learning/Response Logs (Learning Logs are used for students to reflect on the material they are learning. Students record the process they go through while learning. This allows students to ask questions on concepts they do not understand. Students can also make connections to what they have learned and can set goals as they reflect upon their progress and their struggles.) (Response Logs can be used to show understanding of characters’ motivations and actions. This would help with inference development.)
· Graphic Organizers (Venn, KWL, KWLA, KWHL, KNWS, Brainstorming Web, AlphaBoxes, Mind Map, T-Chart, Double Entry Journal, Sense-O-Gram, Chain of Events, Summary Star, etc.) http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/GraphicOrganizers.html
http://freeology.com/graphicorgs/
· Peer/Self Assessments (Two Stars and a Wish Strategy, Two Roses and a Thorn, The Mirror, As I See It, Windshield Check, Signals) Also, have students evaluate their own work using the same rubric or matrix you use. Discuss the self-evaluation. http://www.teachprimary.com/learning_resources/view/using-peer-assessment-in-the-primary-classroom
· Practice Presentations (feedback through a T-Chart +/-)
· Reader’s Theatre http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/printouts/30698_rubric.pdf
· Visual Representations (Drawings, Graphic Organizers as seen above, Verbal and Visual Word Association) http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/VerbalandVisualWordAssociation.html
· Kinesthetic Assessments (Quick Nod, Body Language, Thumbs up, middle, or down, Red/Green Card, Fingers Up/Fist to Five(Scale of 1-5), Hand thermometer, Math Graphing Example, ELA Grammar Example, Debate Circles, Fish Bowls) Traffic Lights (Green, Yellow, Red)
· Individual Whiteboards
· Laundry Day (Tide, Gain, Bold, and Cheer – In preparation for a chapter or unit test, students organize themselves into different groups to focus on specific skills and content learning based upon their comfort level. http://fai.tie.wikispaces.net/file/view/1a_WY+State+Conf+HOs.pdf
· Four Corners (Students are presented with a controversial statement where they need to select whether they agree, strongly agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. Students must be able to defend their position.
· Constructive Quizzes (Quick quizzes that provide immediate feedback to students.)
· Think-Pair-Share (Students are paired. They are then given a question or problem to ponder. This may take the form of thinking or writing. Then, the first partner shares his/her thoughts with the partner. Then, the other partner shares. Discussion follows. A full group discussion may follow as groups present out.)
· Appointment Clock (This is a strategy for pairing students with four different partners by scheduling times at each 15 minute interval on the clock.) http://www.teamstraus.com/SchoolDaysBorder_files/Teacher%20Farm/clockbuddies_Lower_El.pdf
· As I See It (Students are taught this skill. This is where the teacher designs a template to address the points they want the partner to review. Some suggestions of possible sentence stems include: When I read this, I imagine that… or I was most impacted by….)
· 3x Summarization – Ask kids to write three different summaries: One in 10-15 words, one in 30-50 words, and one in 75-100 words. The different lengths require different attention to details. Compare/contrast with peers/ look at teacher model (via document camera) http://www.edutopia.org/groups/assessment/250941
· Postcard – Have students write a postcard as a historical figure to another historical figure discussing and describing a historical event.
· 3 Things – List three things that a fellow student might misunderstand about the topic.
· My Favorite No (Good for Math, Possibly Grammar) – Assign students a warm up problem or two. Hand out index cards to students. Collect responses. Sort into correct answers (YES PILE) and incorrect answers (NO PILE). Choose your favorite NO response and analyze it as a class.
· Ideas for Extension Projects- Students brainstorm creative ideas to demonstrate additional understanding of a concept. http://www.litcircles.org/Extension/extension.html
· Text Rendering - Students read an informative text independently, highlighting or writing down a few sentences they find important, interesting, of note, or that gives them an “Ah ha!” moment. Then, group students and have each share a sentence from the text. Next, have each student pick and share a phrase from the sentence they shared. Finally, each student will pick one word from that sentence and share. Have students then discuss if the words, phrases, and sentences they chose sum up the main idea of the text. (Photos to Assess Learning – Chose two or three photos that represent a process. Have students write captions for each photo followed by a short summary.)
· Partner Quizzes – Kids work on the first question together and provide each other with feedback, then work independently on a new question covering the same concept.
· Rotate Groups - Have students work in stations and rotate through the stations. In small groups, supervise an activity or a discussion and assess students in small groups and provide everyone in the group with feedback relevant to the discussion (possible rubric). http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
· Jigsaw Groups - Groups work on a different section of a text and become experts on that section. Then, restructure the groups so each new group has a member who read a different section of the text. Each “expert” will share their work with the rest of the students. http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/jigsaw
· Answer the LEQ- Can the students answer the Essential Question from the lesson (either verbally or written)?
Technology Options:
· Google Forms https://www.google.com/forms/about/
· Survey Monkey https://www.surveymonkey.com/
· Clickers (Smart Response)
· Fubaroo (Create Self-Marking Quizzes for Formative Assessments) http://www.flubaroo.com/try-flubaroo-now
· Cold Call – Can Use Smart Board for random selection
· Text the Answer Wifitti (http://goo.gl/wrxOC) or Remind https://www.remind.com/
· ActivePrompt http://activeprompt.org
· Twitter Voting
· Back Channel (like Today’s Meet – online group https://todaysmeet.com/) http://backchannelchat.com/
· Cork Board – Parking Lot – Students post their closing thoughts, ideas, or questions on a digital cork board) * can be paper version with post-it notes http://www.spaaze.com/home
· Quizlet – Create quick review quizzes for formative assessment https://quizlet.com
· Socrative – This website provides a virtual Socrative classroom. http://socrative.com
As a result of the NYSED Teaching is the Core Grant awarded to the HFM BOCES-led consortium, our district had the opportunity to review student assessments related to APPR. Our local assessment review team which is comprised of teachers and administrators who have been trained on the assessment review process, reviewed # assessments. Based on this extensive review, our recommendations are as follows:
· Keep 23 assessments (includes NYS tests)
· Modify 0 assessments
· Eliminate 0 assessments
· Create 0 assessments
The review team is also designing an action plan for implementation in the 2015-2016 school year and beyond to continue to focus on the assessment review process. The plan will ensure that teachers are continuing to design and use assessments that will inform instruction and support student learning.
Action Plan
What is the difference between formative and summative assessment?
Formative Assessment
The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically, formative assessments:
•help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work
•help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately
Formative assessments are generally low stakes, which means that they have low or no point value.
Examples of formative assessments include asking students to:
•draw a concept map in class to represent their understanding of a topic
•submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture
•turn in a research proposal for early feedback
Summative Assessment
The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.
Summative assessments are often high stakes, which means that they have a high point value.
Examples of summative assessments include:
•a midterm exam
•a final project
•a paper
•a senior recital
Information from summative assessments can be used formatively when students or faculty use it to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses.
Source: https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative-summative.html
Formative Assessment Strategies
· Observations (Running Records, Anecdotal Notes, Anecdotal Notebook, Anecdotal Note Cards, Labels or Sticky Notes)
· Peer Observation
· Questioning (Open-Ended; Text-Based; Oral or Written)
· Discussion Keep a list of your students handy as you discuss concepts and questions so you can easily note who has added to the discussion (as well as who has not with a understanding rating).
· Exit/Entrance Slips (Written responses to questions the teacher poses at the end of the lesson(exit) or beginning of class (admin) to gauge student understanding of key concepts – Should take no more than five minutes)
· Learning/Response Logs (Learning Logs are used for students to reflect on the material they are learning. Students record the process they go through while learning. This allows students to ask questions on concepts they do not understand. Students can also make connections to what they have learned and can set goals as they reflect upon their progress and their struggles.) (Response Logs can be used to show understanding of characters’ motivations and actions. This would help with inference development.)
· Graphic Organizers (Venn, KWL, KWLA, KWHL, KNWS, Brainstorming Web, AlphaBoxes, Mind Map, T-Chart, Double Entry Journal, Sense-O-Gram, Chain of Events, Summary Star, etc.) http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/GraphicOrganizers.html
http://freeology.com/graphicorgs/
· Peer/Self Assessments (Two Stars and a Wish Strategy, Two Roses and a Thorn, The Mirror, As I See It, Windshield Check, Signals) Also, have students evaluate their own work using the same rubric or matrix you use. Discuss the self-evaluation. http://www.teachprimary.com/learning_resources/view/using-peer-assessment-in-the-primary-classroom
· Practice Presentations (feedback through a T-Chart +/-)
· Reader’s Theatre http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/printouts/30698_rubric.pdf
· Visual Representations (Drawings, Graphic Organizers as seen above, Verbal and Visual Word Association) http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/VerbalandVisualWordAssociation.html
· Kinesthetic Assessments (Quick Nod, Body Language, Thumbs up, middle, or down, Red/Green Card, Fingers Up/Fist to Five(Scale of 1-5), Hand thermometer, Math Graphing Example, ELA Grammar Example, Debate Circles, Fish Bowls) Traffic Lights (Green, Yellow, Red)
· Individual Whiteboards
· Laundry Day (Tide, Gain, Bold, and Cheer – In preparation for a chapter or unit test, students organize themselves into different groups to focus on specific skills and content learning based upon their comfort level. http://fai.tie.wikispaces.net/file/view/1a_WY+State+Conf+HOs.pdf
· Four Corners (Students are presented with a controversial statement where they need to select whether they agree, strongly agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. Students must be able to defend their position.
· Constructive Quizzes (Quick quizzes that provide immediate feedback to students.)
· Think-Pair-Share (Students are paired. They are then given a question or problem to ponder. This may take the form of thinking or writing. Then, the first partner shares his/her thoughts with the partner. Then, the other partner shares. Discussion follows. A full group discussion may follow as groups present out.)
· Appointment Clock (This is a strategy for pairing students with four different partners by scheduling times at each 15 minute interval on the clock.) http://www.teamstraus.com/SchoolDaysBorder_files/Teacher%20Farm/clockbuddies_Lower_El.pdf
· As I See It (Students are taught this skill. This is where the teacher designs a template to address the points they want the partner to review. Some suggestions of possible sentence stems include: When I read this, I imagine that… or I was most impacted by….)
· 3x Summarization – Ask kids to write three different summaries: One in 10-15 words, one in 30-50 words, and one in 75-100 words. The different lengths require different attention to details. Compare/contrast with peers/ look at teacher model (via document camera) http://www.edutopia.org/groups/assessment/250941
· Postcard – Have students write a postcard as a historical figure to another historical figure discussing and describing a historical event.
· 3 Things – List three things that a fellow student might misunderstand about the topic.
· My Favorite No (Good for Math, Possibly Grammar) – Assign students a warm up problem or two. Hand out index cards to students. Collect responses. Sort into correct answers (YES PILE) and incorrect answers (NO PILE). Choose your favorite NO response and analyze it as a class.
· Ideas for Extension Projects- Students brainstorm creative ideas to demonstrate additional understanding of a concept. http://www.litcircles.org/Extension/extension.html
· Text Rendering - Students read an informative text independently, highlighting or writing down a few sentences they find important, interesting, of note, or that gives them an “Ah ha!” moment. Then, group students and have each share a sentence from the text. Next, have each student pick and share a phrase from the sentence they shared. Finally, each student will pick one word from that sentence and share. Have students then discuss if the words, phrases, and sentences they chose sum up the main idea of the text. (Photos to Assess Learning – Chose two or three photos that represent a process. Have students write captions for each photo followed by a short summary.)
· Partner Quizzes – Kids work on the first question together and provide each other with feedback, then work independently on a new question covering the same concept.
· Rotate Groups - Have students work in stations and rotate through the stations. In small groups, supervise an activity or a discussion and assess students in small groups and provide everyone in the group with feedback relevant to the discussion (possible rubric). http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
· Jigsaw Groups - Groups work on a different section of a text and become experts on that section. Then, restructure the groups so each new group has a member who read a different section of the text. Each “expert” will share their work with the rest of the students. http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/jigsaw
· Answer the LEQ- Can the students answer the Essential Question from the lesson (either verbally or written)?
Technology Options:
· Google Forms https://www.google.com/forms/about/
· Survey Monkey https://www.surveymonkey.com/
· Clickers (Smart Response)
· Fubaroo (Create Self-Marking Quizzes for Formative Assessments) http://www.flubaroo.com/try-flubaroo-now
· Cold Call – Can Use Smart Board for random selection
· Text the Answer Wifitti (http://goo.gl/wrxOC) or Remind https://www.remind.com/
· ActivePrompt http://activeprompt.org
· Twitter Voting
· Back Channel (like Today’s Meet – online group https://todaysmeet.com/) http://backchannelchat.com/
· Cork Board – Parking Lot – Students post their closing thoughts, ideas, or questions on a digital cork board) * can be paper version with post-it notes http://www.spaaze.com/home
· Quizlet – Create quick review quizzes for formative assessment https://quizlet.com
· Socrative – This website provides a virtual Socrative classroom. http://socrative.com