Student Assessment

Prairie Rose School Division

Using Summative Assessment Data to Set Goals

Purpose and Audience of MYA

• Primary purpose: to enhance student learning and engagement through classroom-based assessment processes.– Audience = student / teacher / parent

• Second purpose: gather summative information about the levels of achievement in literacy, numeracy, and engagement– Audience = parents / school / division / department

Source: Middle Years Assessment Policy.

Assessment Reform in Manitoba

• Assessment for and as Learning– Setting criteria that define success– Giving and obtaining feedback– Planning next steps

• Assessment of learning– Provides feedback to the school,

division, and province so that appropriate supports for further learning are provided

– Communicates progress to stakeholders

Popham: Transformative Assessment

• Formative assessment is a planned process in which classroom assessment evidence of a student’s status is used – by the teacher to adjust their ongoing

instructional procedures – or by students to adjust their current learning

tactics.

Why Use MYA Data?

– To improve achievement in key areas for all learners

• Key areas = “Guaranteed and viable curriculum”

– To provide focus for school plans and professional development efforts

• Goal-oriented, professional learning culture

– To address issues of equity• Using data to close the achievement gap

ADOPT “SIMPLE PLANS” to create & sustain LEARNING COMMUNITIES

1. DATA - informed (academic!) priorities

2. GOALS: that are measurable / tied to an assessment

3. TEAMWORK that produces short-term assessment results

…Anchored by a GUARANTEED & VIABLE CURRICULUM

Source: Mike Schmoker www.nsdc.org

TEAMWORK

DATA GOALS

Looking at Data in PLCs

Simple Three Point Agenda:• identify strengths and needs evident in the data,

and suggest reasons for and give context to the results.

• priorize ideas for improvement, stating them as achievable goals.

• share ideas and resources for achieving the goal.

1. Identify Strengths and Needs Evident in the Data

– Ask clear questions:What does the data tell you…

– …about what students do well?– …about where students are weak?

• Make 3 – 4 observations about the data.– For example, “I notice that more than half (61%) of

Prairie Rose students do not meet expectations for responding critically.”

Grade 7 Student Engagement - Prairie Rose SD (2008 - 166 Students)

22.3

33.1

23.5

13.3

19.9

34.3

23.5

27.7

46.4

47.6

4.8

3

3.6

2.4

4.228.3

38.0

45.2

40.4

38.6

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Demonstrating an interest inhis/her learning.

Engaging in self-assessment.

Being aware of learning goalsof a unit of student and/orpersonal learning goals.

Participating in lessons.

Accepting responsibility forassignments.

Grade 7 Number Sense & Number Skills - Prairie Rose SD (2008 - 166 Students)

4.8

2.4

9.6

25.3

13.3

59.6

72.9

71.1

28.9

46.4

3

3

3

3.6

3.636.7

42.2

16.3

21.7

32.5

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Student orders fractions

Student orders decimals

Student uses number patterns tosolve mathematical problems.

Student understands that a givennumber may be represented in a

variety of ways.

Student solves mathematicalproblems using knowledge of

number patterns and mathstrategies.

Grade 8 Reading Comprehension - Prairie Rose SD (2008 - n=195)

1.5

1.5

1.5

6.2

9.7

29.7

35.4

49.7

62.1

56.9

39

6.7

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Student understands keyideas and messages in a

variety of texts.

Student interprets a variety oftexts.

Student responds critically toa variety of texts.

Grade 8 Expository Writing - Prairie Rose SD (2008 - n=195)

1.5

1.5

1.5

9.2

14.4

45.1

50.8

32.8

48.7

38.5

51.3

4.6

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Student generates, selects, andorganizes ideas to support the

reader’s understanding.

Student choose language (wordchoices and sentence patterns)

to make an impact on thereader.

Student uses conventions(spelling, grammar and/or

punctuation) and resources(spell checker, thesaurus,

dictionaries, etc.) to edit andproofread to make meaning.

Suggest Reasons for and Give Context to the Results

1. Has the assessment changed?

2. Has instructional practice changed?

3. What students factors are relevant to this data set?

4. What other factors may have affected results? Time? Staffing?

Advanced: Suggest Reasons for and Give Context to the Results

• Consider equity issues by blocking data– Are there patterns by ethnic group or gender?– How are groups doing? Who is behind? Who is on target? Who

is ahead?– Do the data surprise you, or do they confirm your perceptions?– How might some school or classroom practices contribute to the

successes and failures for particular groups of students?– How do we continue doing what is working and address what is

not working for students?

Source: Using Data to Close the Achievement Gap

Priorize Ideas for Improvement, Stating them as Achievable Goals

• Feed this process into – Department, school, division goals– Professional Development plans

• SMART goals: Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, timed.

What Data are Available?• Data available from Manitoba Education

– Enrollment data– Middle Years Assessment– Grade 12 Standards Tests (individual scores, means, pass

rates, feedback report)– Retention

• Data available at the school / division level– Male / female– Aboriginal, colony, EAL, or other subgroup status– Geographic or feeder school data– Risk factors: In care, single parent family, social assistance

Vygotsky

Zone of Actual Development

Zone of Potential Development

THE ZONE

What a student can do independently now

What a student can do independently in

future

zone of proximal development

What a student can do with scaffolded help from the teacher.

On track for proficient

Proficient

Advanced

2% Consistently low performing

1% Alt Assessment

Modify materials and

response formats

Additional scaffolding?

Many students here. Differs

for each kid by subject.

What can they extend?

Wiggins: “Inevitable Adjustments”

• Write curriculum backwards starting at the big ideas and transfer tasks, and creating cornerstone assessments, complete with task description and criteria

• Design spiralling, scaffolded opportunities for performance and opportunities for feedback

Wiggins “Inevitable Adjustments”

• Performance Analogies– Soccer coaches assess players at the beginning of the

season by watching them scrimmage and making notes about strengths and areas for development

– Marv Levi, football coach for the Buffalo Bills, doesn’t spend the first four weeks of the season on rules and skills. The Bills play football on Sunday, and every Monday the coaches watch game tape, noticing where adjustments need to be made to achieve the ultimate aim – a winning season.

Wiggins: “Inevitable Adjustments”• Coaches make priorities. If the content of the textbook IS

the course, then you are unable to priorize. Until you sort out what the curricular priorities are, you can’t coach.

• Most curricula identify critical thinking as a priority, but most assessment tasks are on the bottom end of Bloom’s taxonomy.

• Match BIG IDEAS (economic protectionism vs. free trade) with TRANSFER TASKS (think critically) in a CORNERSTONE ASSESSMENT

Wiggins: Inevitable Adjustments

• Develop a “troubleshooting guide” that will help all faculty deal with inevitable problems with performance. For example, students do not use the process writing structures when asked to write independently, instead only writing weak first drafts. What adjustment will you make?

Evidence of Achievement for Grade 8 Reading ComprehensionStudent ___________________________

Legend

Level 1 = Does not meet expectations Level 2 = Approaching expectations Level 3 = Meets expectations

Achievement Evidence for Sept-Oct

Poetry Reading

and Response

Short non-fiction

Independ- ent novel (Lit Circle

#1)

Shared novel

Group Inquiry

So far

Sept 9 Sept 19 Sept. 28 Oct 13 Oct. 17

Understanding 2General sense

1Fragment

ary

2 2 2

Interpretation 2 2 3Clear

interp + support

3 3+Comple

xity; variety

3

Critical response 1 1Undevelop

ed personal opinion

2 1Restates opinions;

no support

2Own

ideas, some

support

*

* Inconsistent

Adapted from O’Connor Warren Nickerson.

Cautions

• Consider where summative assessment data doesn’t yield a complete picture

• Example: contrast the standards test results when students who wrote the test are compared to who should have written the test (next two slides)

Brownnell, M et al. (2004). How Do Educational Outcomes Vary With Socioeconomic Status?: Key Findings from the Manitoba Child Health Atlas 2004. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. Accessed 12/-Oct.-2007 online at http://umanitoba.ca/centres/mchp/reports/pdfs/ch.atlas.pdf p.6

Brownnell, M et al. (2004). How Do Educational Outcomes Vary With Socioeconomic Status?: Key Findings from the Manitoba Child Health Atlas 2004. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy. Accessed 12/-Oct.-2007 online at http://umanitoba.ca/centres/mchp/reports/pdfs/ch.atlas.pdf p.6

Manitoba Kids at Risk

• Poverty - family receiving income assistance (14%)

• Having a teen mother (17%)• Child in care or protection (17%)

31% of Children have at least 1 riskSource: Noralou P Roos, Marni Brownell, Randy Fransoo. Investing in At-Risk Kids: the Path to Increased Productivity and Decreased Social Costs.

PowerPoint Presentation, January 31, 2008.

Children with High Risk Characteristics are Overwhelmingly Low Risk at Birth

Birthweight GE 2500 gr

94.40%91.70%

94.40%93.0%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0 1 2 3

Number of Risk Factors

Per

cen

t

Gestational Age GE 36 weeks

95.60%93.30% 94.40% 95.20%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0 1 2 3

Number of Risk Factors

Per

cen

t

Apgar Score GE 7

97.9%95.3%

97.1% 97.0%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0 1 2 3

Number of Risk Factors

Pe

rce

nt

Source: Roos, Noralou P, Marni Brownell, and Randy Fransoo. Investing in At-Risk Kids: the Path to Increased Productivity and Decreased Social Costs. PowerPoint Presentation, January 31, 2008.

Failure to Graduate within Six Years of Entering Grade 9

20.5%

44.5%

66.9%

48.9%

62.5%

88.5%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Number of Risk Factors

Per

cen

t F

ailin

g t

o G

rad

uat

e

Family/IA

In Care/Protection

Had teen mom

No risk

79.8%76.7%

0 1 2 3

Source: Roos, Noralou P Marni Brownell, Randy Fransoo. Investing in At-Risk Kids: the Path to Increased Productivity and Decreased Social Costs. PowerPoint Presentation, January 31, 2008.

Graduation Rates According to Number of Grade 9 Credits (by Risk Groups)

7.9

13.711.4

14.6

50

43.2

68

54.9

68.7

87.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

In Care Receivingservicesfrom CFS

Family IA Had teenmom

No risk

<8 credits

8 or more

Number of Grade 9 Credits

Source: Noralou P Roos, Marni Brownell, Randy Fransoo. Investing in At-Risk Kids: the Path to Increased Productivity and Decreased Social Costs. PowerPoint Presentation, January 31, 2008.

Distribution of average overall marks, 15 year-olds, by sex, 1999

Source: Statistics Canada. Youth in Transition Survey, Cohort A.