Assessment of/for Learning Through Differentiation First District RESA October 2007

Assessment of/for Learning Through Differentiation

First District RESA

October 2007

Assessment for Motivation

• Clear, student friendly targets

• Accurate assessments

• Effective communication

Three Types of Needed Assessments

• Pre-assessments – Design this after summative assessment

• Formative – Identify these last

• Summative – Design this first

What do we think?

• For an assessment to be valid, it must…

• For an assessment to improve student learning, it must…

• For an assessment to engage learners and bring out their best, it must…

Assessments reflect long term

goals

Quizzes reflect short term

goals

Choose a theme or context to focus a unit

Africa – Its Land and Its People

–What must students learn? (Knows )–How will students demonstrate they can use what they learned in a meaningful way? (Dos)

Be Selective!

• Choose standards that have the greatest impact on proficiency and growth at any given level

• “Unwrap” or “Unpack” those standards to build the unit plan and final assessment– Which of the elements are being introduced?– Which of the elements are recurring and may

need to be assessed to a proficient level?

Grade 7 Social Studies StandardsSS7H1: The student will identify important African empires.

a. Describe the development of African empires including Ghana, Mali, Songhai, and Ethiopia.

b. Explain the importance of cities such as Timbuktu as a center of learning, Djenne as one of the oldest cities in Africa, and Zanzibar as a center of commerce

c. Describe the significance of Sundiata, Mansa Musa, and Zara Yakob.

SS7G1: The student will be able to describe and locate the important physical and human characteristics of Africa.a. Describe and locate major physical features; include Sahara,

Savannah, Sahel, Topic Rain Forest, Congo River, Nile River, Zambezi River, Niger River, East African Mountains (Ethiopian Highlands), Drakensberg Mountains, Atlas Mountains, Kalahari Desert, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Victoria.

b. Describe and locate the nations of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Kenya, and Chad.

SS7G3: The student will explain the impact of location, climate, physical characteristics, natural resources, and population size on African countries.

a. Describe the impact location has on countries such as Chad, Egypt, and South Africa, with regard to trade, migration, agriculture, and industry.

b. Explain the impact of physical features such as deserts, mountains, rivers, and proximity to the ocean have on countries such as Ethiopia, Sudan, and Morocco.

c. Explain the distribution of natural resources in Africa and how that has affected the development of countries such as Chad, Sudan, and South Africa.

d. Describe the effect the Sahara, Sahel, Savannah, and tropical rain forest have on where people live, the type of work they do, and transportation.

SS7G4: The student will describe the cultural characteristics of different people who live in Africa.

a. Describe the religions, customs, and traditions of the Arab, Ashanti, Bedouin, Khoikhoi and the San, Ibo, and Swahili ethnic groups.

d. Explain the major artistic and music forms of people in the region.

• Mark or star concepts on your overall list that must be reflected in the final assessment for the unit

• Remember that not all concepts are created equal














• Describe the religions, customs, and traditions of the Arab, Ashanti, Bedouin, Khoikhoi and the San, Ibo, and Swahili ethnic groups.


• Circle/ underline the verbs in the chosen standards and elements– Students must demonstrate the elements at

this level on the quizzes, chapter tests, performance tasks, academic prompts, and other assessments for this unit

– Students must demonstrate the standards at this level on the summative assessment














• Describe the religions, customs, and traditions of the Arab, Ashanti, Bedouin, Khoikhoi and the San, Ibo, and Swahili ethnic groups.


Cautions

• Scope-and-sequence approaches will not maximize student growth in a standards-based and data driven world

• Published materials are resources to use in a unit, but are not the unit

• A teacher who lists 15 elements/standards or a series of numbers/letters will not get the same results as those who are selective and focused

Segment the learning into key concepts and combinations of concepts that need to be taught by dividing a topic of study into logical portions of learning

“Chunking”

Chunk learning by critical thinking level and skill load.

• Historical development of African Empires• Importance/significance of their major cities• Major physical features of Africa• Description and location of nations in Africa• Impact of location, climate, physical

characteristics, natural resources, and population size on African countries

• Religions, customs, traditions, and major artistic and music forms of people in the region

Determine the optimal sequence of these concepts and layering of learning.

1. Major physical features of Africa

2. Historical development of African Empires

3. Importance/significance of their major cities

4. Description and location of nations in Africa

5. Impact of location, climate, physical characteristics, natural resources, and population size on African countries

6. Religions, customs, traditions, and major artistic and music forms of people in the region

• Performance and thinking can be verified through ongoing formative assessment.– formative assessment that tells us whether

the student has reached the desired level of critical thinking and use of the concept

– during and at the end of each chunk of learning in a unit

• Learning that may need to be differentiated does not occur quite as conveniently as daily lesson planning would lead us to believe. – Some chunks will take only one day– Most chunks of a unit will take multiple days

or even longer

• Unit Skills: How will students demonstrate they can use what they learned in a meaningful way?

• Skills are the demonstrations of student learning necessary to provide the rehearsal and learning for the final assessment.

• All of these skills will be needed for the final assessment in some form and to some degree.

• It is imperative that teachers think in terms of the unit plan before developing any lessons or activities.

• The challenging and thought-provoking concepts help us create the final assessment at the standard level.

• Simpler concepts may help build understanding throughout the chunks of learning within a unit (the element level).

• More difficult concepts may provide the framework and categories for the simpler concepts. Key Concepts: What must students remember and be able to use, even after this unit?

Pulling it together to design summative

When we are thinking of the summative assessment, we should

be considering the transfer and personal meaning-making of the

information.

Summative only assesses transfer if…

• Student is drawing from a repertoire for a complex task

• Teacher gives minimal cues, prompts, graphic organizers

• Learner is mindful of a particular context – the setting, audience, purpose, etc.

Effective Summative Assessments

“The tests must involve situations new to the student…Ideally we are seeking a problem which will test the extent to which the individual has learned to apply an abstraction in a practical way.”

Bruner, Process of Education

How do plants thrive?Develop a brochure for the local nursery…

Measuring Skills

Scientific Method

Plant parts

STANDARD/BIG IDEA

ELEMENTS

Learning and Cognition

“Students develop flexible understanding of when, where, why, and how to use their knowledge to solve new problems if they learn how to extract underlying principles and themes from their learning exercises.”

Bransford

• The final assessment will ask: What does the demonstration of learning for this unit look like?

• Create a simple description of the final assessment for your unit plan. This will guide and focus your work regardless of the method of performance assessment you choose.

Example of Assessment Description

• Students will use what they know about Africa, its land and its people, to convince others to settle in one of its nations. Students will be able to discuss concerns such as the impact of physical features, climate, natural resources, and location on daily living conditions, agriculture, economy, etc. and population size on the nation’s ability to prosper.

Unit Assessments: Authentic performance-based assessments are the best types for unit-level summative assessments.

• A well-written prompt and set of directions

• A rubric form and scoring

• Models or templates to assist the student in proficient performance

Warning

• It is not acceptable to modify and differentiate the standards unless the student has a special education or English as second language plan that legally allows us to differentiate and accommodate the standards for an individual learner.

• The rest of the class must be held accountable for the same standard, concepts, and demonstrations of final learning.

• How we get there, with what resources, at what rate, and with what guidance and tools is another matter.

Summative Assessments: Culminating Projects

• Complex challenges that mirror the issues and problems faced by adults

• Range in length from short-term tasks to long-term, multistaged projects

• Yield one or more tangible products• Yield one or more performances• The evaluative criteria and performance

standards are known in advance and guide student work

Critical Features of Culminating Projects

• At key junctures in a course or grade level• Demonstrate independent understanding

through explanation, application, interpretation, and self-knowledge

• Simulate real-world, adult tasks• Typically require extended time to complete• Require product and, usually presentation• Typically provide choice of products or

formats• May be individual or group effort

GRASPS• Goals from the real world• Roles that are authentic and based in reality• Audiences to whom students will present final

products and performances• Situations involving a real-world conflict to be

resolved, decision to be made, investigation to be completed, invention to be created, etc.

• Products and Performances which culminate from the study and provide appropriate evidence of understanding

• Standards for evaluating project-based products and performances

Culminating Project: 7th Grade Social Studies

Imagine that you are visiting Africa during the rise of such nations as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Rwanda, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, Kenya, and Chad. You like it so much that you decide to start a business – an agency – to help nomadic tribes settle in an ideal area for the development of a promising nation. Since you brought your expert knowledge on Africa’s land and people with you, you feel that you can help your first clients, Nellie and Norman Nomad (and their very extended family), become a part of one of the newly established nations. You must convince them, in a proposal, why they will benefit from becoming a part of a prosperous nation as opposed to remaining nomadic.

Your Proposal (include the following things in your proposal)1. Name of the nation you select for them2. Characteristics (physical, economical, and cultural) that make this nation great3. Historical development of the nation, stemming from the roots of African empires4. Impact that physical features, location, and distribution of natural resources of

the nation may have on their daily lives in this area5. How they will be contributing, as a part of that nation, to later African history6. Other nearby important cities that would be attractive vacationing spots,

explaining their significance to AfricaWrite your proposal and also include some pictures or drawings that will help

convince the Nomads to settle in your chosen nation (and therefore pay you!). You will give a 2 minute presentation to the Nomads (aka teacher) in class.

Goal: The goal is to relate enough information about the physical features, cultural characteristics, historical development, and other nearby significant cities to convince the nomads to settle in the African nation of your choosing.

Role: Somewhat like a real-estate agent

Audience: Nomads (teacher)

Situation: You are visiting Africa when nations were developing, so you see opportunity to make money acting as an agent by promoting nations based on their growth, development, features, and impact that location and distribution of resources may have on the nation.

Product and Performance: Proposal (with pictures or drawings) pitching your chosen African nation and 2 minute presentation in class

Standards: Rubric for content and presentation

Components of an Effective Culminating Project

Goals from the real worldRoles that are authentic and based in realityAudiences to whom students will present final

products and performancesSituations involving a real-world conflict to be

resolved, decision to be made, investigation to be completed, invention to be created, etc.

Products and Performances culminate from the study and provide appropriate evidence of understanding

Standards for evaluating project-based products and performances

A New BeginningYour school has just moved into a new school building. The principal, Mr. Johnson, had his first school-wide meeting this morning talking about a new beginning. He wants to focus on promoting unity among the teachers, the students, and the administrators. He is asking the 6th grade mathematics students to help with promoting positive school spirit by creating a new design for school t-shirts for sale to students and staff.

MR. JOHNSON WANTS YOU!!!!!He wants each 6th grader to be a member of a small group and for each group to create a design for a t-shirt that is representative of middle school students. Isn’t that cool!!!! You get to be a designer of your very own t-shirt shop.Where do you begin??? Your group must have a plan.First, you must choose an image to enlarge or shrink to fit on a t-shirt. The image must come from the existing images which are representative of the school. A lot of work goes into owning your own business. For production, you will need to prepare a design plan detailing what process you used to make your selected image fit on the shirt. Now, it is not good enough to have the best design if nobody will buy it. You will also need to design a way to market your t-shirt. Keep in mind, your group wants your design to be chosen for production and sale; therefore, it needs to be most appealing to other middle school students and staff.All t-shirt shop owners will present their designs in their own mathematics classes using their marketing plan. Each class will select one design to be presented for the principal and his administration. They will use a rubric to determine the most appealing t-shirt with the best marketing plan. It will be selected for production.

Goal: Promote positive school spirit by creating a new design for school t-shirts for sale to students and staff

Role: T-shirt designer and marketing representative

Audience: Fellow students in mathematics classes and possibly the principal and administration

Situation: You and your group are designing a new t-shirt for your middle school that you hope will be selected by first your fellow classmates and then your principal and administration to be the one that will be massed produced

Product and Performance: t-shirt design with scaled drawings, marketing plan, and presentation

Standards: See rubric

Analyzing GRASPS

– To what extent would the project provide meaningful assessment data about students’ level of understanding and independent application?

– Which, if any, of the GRASP elements might present challenges or problems?

2 Questions: A Practical Test of Your Ideas

• Could the performance be accomplished without in-depth understanding?

• Could the specific performance be poor, but the student still understand?

Writing a Culminating Project

• Use your standards and elements for your unit to write a culminating project.

• Share your culminating project with another teacher.

• Check one another’s projects for GRASPS components and for alignment with targeted standards and elements.

Rubrics and Scoring GuidesStudents improve their achievement on performance tasks when they have a clear understanding of how they will be evaluated. The more they apply the criteria articulated in rubrics and scoring guides, the more likely they are to internalize them and apply them independently.

• On the rubric, remember to base the left-hand column on concepts, not directions for the unit assessment or parts of the assessments.

• It is possible to differentiate the assessment without differentiating the rubric. This will help teachers stay aligned to grade-level or course expectations.

Resources

• http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

• http://landmark-project.com/rubricbuilder/index.php

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

http://landmark-project.com/rubricbuilder/index.php

http://landmark-project.com/rubricbuilder/index.php

Three Types of Needed Assessments

• Pre-assessments – Design this after summative assessment

• Formative – Identify these last

• Summative – Design this first

Pre-assessing the Gap

• Remember to focus your gap analysis on concepts, thinking skills, and the type of demonstration of learning students will need to be successful on the final assessment.

• You can use your analysis of this data to create differentiation opportunities in grouping, teaching methods, and learning methods.

2 Questions to Consider when Pre-assessing

• Part One: What do we already know about our students?

• Part Two: What do we need to know to get students to grow from where they are to the final assessment?

Example and Practice

• Part One: What do we already know about our social studies students?– I have information from a previous pre-assessment

which includes initial ability of reading maps, identifying continents, and labeling physical features of an area such as mountains, deserts, and rivers. I also know students can look up information based on an earlier internet search activity.

• Part Two: What do we need to know to get students to grow from where they are to the final assessment? – I need to know what informal understanding they have

about how physical features, climate, etc. impact daily living. I also need to know their familiarity with Africa: its physical features, countries and nations, history, and cultures.

Choose the Pre-Assessment Format

• In groups of 4, students will have a photocopied outline of Africa with its countries outlined. Given a short list of cities, countries, nations, and physical features, students will collectively label their maps. They will write a conclusion statement about the impact that location may have on a country’s economy, agriculture, supply of natural resources, job opportunities, trade, travel, or development.

• Conduct a gallery walk of student maps and draw conclusions based on what they see during a teacher-led discussion.

• For a possible homework assignment, students will complete a K-W-L chart on African culture

What are the Gaps?

• What do students know based on the pre-assessment data?

• What can students do based on the pre-assessment data?

• What else do students need to know and be able to do (based on the elements) to meet proficiency for each “chunk”?

Pre-assessment Analysis

Standards-Based Content:

Pre-assessment method or tool:

B

A

High Degree Approaching Beginning

Filling in the Gap: Filling in the Gap: Filling in the Gap:

Concepts or skills in place:



Standards-Based Content: The student will identify important African empires. The student will be able to describe and locate the important physical and human characteristics of Africa. The student will explain the impact of location, climate, physical characteristics, natural resources, and population size on African countries. The student will describe the cultural characteristics of different people who live in Africa.

Pre-assessment method or tool: KWL chart, map activity, gallery walk, discussion

B

A

High Degree Approaching Beginning

Locates and describes major physical features in Africa

Impact of location and climate

Some cultural characteristics of Africa

Cannot name empires in

Africa, needs historical knowledge, more cause and effect links

Can make inferences based on geography

Some cultural knowledge

Locates some physical features with reference to resources

Needs historical knowledge

cause and effect of characteristics of Africa

more exposure to African culture

Empires and nations

Describes physical features in greater detail

Basic map skills and recognizes African continent

Needs exposure to African culture

Needs historical knowledge

Cause and effect characteristics of Africa

Major empires and nations

Describing physical and human characteristics of Africa

Acquire Information

• Read the relevant textbook chapter on the relation between geography and population settlement.

• Quiz on possible elements of chapter.

Thinking Slide• To assess students’ ability to transfer what

they have learned to new tasks, the assessment must _______________

• To prepare students for assessments involving transfer, instruction should give them opportunities to _________________

Rules for learning that makes sense for adult and child learners (Kuzmich, 2002)

• What teachers ask is what they get.

• What teachers choose to model is what they get.

• What teachers spend time doing in class gets done.

• What dialogue and discourse occurs in a classroom directly influences learning.

Transfer

PerformanceTask

Valid

Authentic

Standards

Summative

Assessment

Documents

Assessment of/for Learning Through Differentiation First District RESA October 2007