How can we collect relevant evidence of student understanding?

“An assessment functions formatively to the extent that evidence about student achievement is elicited, interpreted, and used by teachers, learners, or their peers, to make decisions about the next steps in instruction that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the decisions they would have taken in the absence of the evidence that was elicited.”

3

Drilling Down To Deeper Understanding

Collecting information about student thinking / understanding in relation to specific learning goals

Interpreting information that helps to hone in on essential learning needs to address

Acting with purpose based on what was learned from the information collected and actively involving students in the process.

Unpacking classroom formative assessment

Where the learner is

going

Where the learner isHow to get

there

Teacher

Peer

Learner

Clarifying, sharing and

understanding learning

intentions

Engineering effective discussions, tasks, and

activities that elicit evidence of learning

Providing feedback that

moves learners forward

Activating students as learningresources for one another

Activating students as ownersof their own learning

Unpacking classroom formative assessment

Where the learner is

going

Where the learner isHow to get

there

Teacher

Peer

Learner

Clarifying, sharing and

understanding learning

intentions

Engineering effective discussions, tasks, and

activities that elicit evidence of learning

Providing feedback that

moves learners forward

Activating students as learningresources for one another

Activating students as ownersof their own learning

Using evidence of achievement to adapt

what happens in classrooms to meet

learner needs

Read the first two of the Five Key strategies. (Clarifying, sharing and understanding goals for learning and criteria for success with learners and Engineering effective classroom discussions, questions, activities, and tasks that elicit evidence of students’ understanding)

•What connections to the learning cycle do you see?

•What ideas might be important when constructing tasks to assess student understanding?

• How can we collect relevant evidence of student understanding?

8

Drilling Down To Deeper Understanding

Collecting information about student thinking / understanding in relation to specific learning goals

Interpreting information that helps to hone in on essential learning needs to address

Acting with purpose based on what was learned from the information collected and actively involving students in the process.

9

Gather

How much have my students learned of what I have taught?

Evaluate

How many have “got it”? Did enough of them get it so I can move on or do I need to slow down?

React

Do I re-teach to the entire class or assign a review to a few? How can I teach more effectively next time?

Typical Cycle

10

Collect

What and how are my students learning in relation to the learning goal?

Interpret

What are the strengths & problematic aspects of their thinking? What do they need next to deepen their learning?

Act

What learning experience, or feedback will address the needs I just identified?

Rare but effective cycle

11

Gather

How much have my students learned of what I have taught?

Evaluate

How many have “got it”? Did enough of them get it so I can move on or do I need to slow down?

React

Do I re-teach to the entire class or assign a review to a few? How can I teach more effectively next time?

Teaching Focused Learning Focused Collect

What and how are my students learning in relation to the learning goal?

Interpret

What are the strengths & problematic aspects of their thinking? What do they need next to deepen their learning?

Act

What learning experience, or feedback will address the needs I just identified?

12

Collecting with Intention

What are the relevant learning goals? What specific knowledge am I targeting?What student responses do I anticipate?

13

What makes a good assessment task?

For each task consider:•What evidence about student understanding of the topic did the assessment elicit?

• Can you tell from the task whether student understood the topic?

• Did the evidence give you actionable information, did it tell you WHY and What they didn’t understand?

What did you notice about what makes a good assessment task?

16

Bookmark for Friday

• How can your PLC help you generate better evidence of student learning?

• How can you deepen your discussions around generating evidence of student learning in your PLC?

• What messages do you need to share with your principal?

16

Generate Artifacts/ Evidence of Learning (Assessment)Students demonstrate their current thinking or skill level by participating in small group and large group discussions, creating a concept sketch, lab report, class presentation, written report, solved problems, performance, or other artifacts.Teachers and students provide useful feedback based on clear success criteria.

• How can we more deliberately and effectively collect relevant evidence of student understanding?