Overview
(Initial Thoughts)
What is assessment?
Although there is a formal definition of assessment, an assessment is any means used to discover what students have learned or what they understand.
What is its purpose?
The purpose of assessing students is not just to determine what students know/understand, but to inform teacher practice. There are three main purposes for using assessment:
1. to support learning
2. to report achievement of individuals for certification, progress, and transfer
3. to satisfy the demands for public accountability.
(Earl, 2013, p. 19)
"Using one assessment for a multitude of purposes is like using a hammer for everything from brain-surgery to pile driving" (Haney,1991)
(TLMS 3a, 3d, 4c)
Although there is a formal definition of assessment, an assessment is any means used to discover what students have learned or what they understand.
What is its purpose?
The purpose of assessing students is not just to determine what students know/understand, but to inform teacher practice. There are three main purposes for using assessment:
1. to support learning
2. to report achievement of individuals for certification, progress, and transfer
3. to satisfy the demands for public accountability.
(Earl, 2013, p. 19)
"Using one assessment for a multitude of purposes is like using a hammer for everything from brain-surgery to pile driving" (Haney,1991)
(TLMS 3a, 3d, 4c)
Key Terms:
1. Assessment - is a form of evaluation usually focused on students; it may be based on conventional test scores or include other ways of attempting to discover what students have learned (Marsh and Willis, p. 375).
2. Authentic assessment - examines student learning in the broadest sense, eliciting multiple data on both what the student has learned and what the student can do (Marsh and Willis, p. 375).
3. Formative assessment - informs teaching and learning by starting with clear goals for student learning and may involve strategies for assessing student status and progress (AERA, p. 184)
4. Progress Monitoring Checks - short, frequent, informal, non-graded assessments - aligned to the end-of-unit post assessment - that help educators accurately infer student understanding during a unit of study and change instruction accordingly (Ainsworth, p. 323).
5. Summative assessment - the final test, product, presentation that summarizes the work of the course/subject (Balls, Eury, and King, p. 173)
1. Assessment - is a form of evaluation usually focused on students; it may be based on conventional test scores or include other ways of attempting to discover what students have learned (Marsh and Willis, p. 375).
2. Authentic assessment - examines student learning in the broadest sense, eliciting multiple data on both what the student has learned and what the student can do (Marsh and Willis, p. 375).
3. Formative assessment - informs teaching and learning by starting with clear goals for student learning and may involve strategies for assessing student status and progress (AERA, p. 184)
4. Progress Monitoring Checks - short, frequent, informal, non-graded assessments - aligned to the end-of-unit post assessment - that help educators accurately infer student understanding during a unit of study and change instruction accordingly (Ainsworth, p. 323).
5. Summative assessment - the final test, product, presentation that summarizes the work of the course/subject (Balls, Eury, and King, p. 173)
Agenda
This professional learning module will be divided into four components followed by reflection:
Follow-up tasks will be discussed during PLC's prior to moving to the next component.
- Formative Assessment
- Summative Assessment
- Common Assessments
- Rubric
- Reflection
Follow-up tasks will be discussed during PLC's prior to moving to the next component.
Challenge
A variety of data sources show that there are learning gaps within the student population of your school. Your administrators as well as members of your PLC realize that misunderstandings exist among the staff as to the types of assessment, purposes for the types of assessment, and how to use the results effectively to improve student learning outcomes. Your grade level team has been charged with improving your use of assessment. However, due to budget cuts, there are no resources provided for professional development other than this professional learning module. How will you use this information to inform your practice as professionals in order to positively student achievement for all subgroups of students?
(TLMS 3a, 3b, 3h)
(TLMS 3a, 3b, 3h)