formative assessments in professional learning …...argument. select response quiz rubric for...

Formative Assessmentsin Professional Learning Communities

Douglas Reeves

& Jennifer L. Sparrow

Formative Assessments in Professional Learning CommunitiesDouglas Reeves& Jennifer L. Sparrow

Learning Objectives1. Apply criteria to identify and improve

effective common formative assessments.2. Use a tool, modified for the needs of each

participant, to improve assessments.3. Improve collaboration among students

and teachers through a focus on results.

Birthday (e.g., September 11)

© Reeves & Sparrow 2015. solution-tree.comDo not duplicate. 1

What are some commitments that brought you into this room?

What are some of the celebrations you havehad with assessments?

What are some of the crossroads you are facing with assessments?

Be prepared to share a “most important point” with the larger group.

Effective Assessment

“Even though teachers can spend as much as a third to a half of their professional time involved in assessment–related activities, study after study shows that K–12 teachers lack skill in assessing their students and feel unprepared and uncomfortable in their own knowledge of assessment practices.”

—Northwest Regional Educational Lab, Addendum to Improving Classroom Assessment:

A Toolkit for Professional Developers (2000), p. 3

© Reeves & Sparrow 2015. solution-tree.comDo not duplicate.2

The Hinge Point;Average Effect Size 0.4

Desired (>.4)

• Direct instruction (.59)• Study skills (.59)• Teaching strategies (.6)• Prior achievement (.67)• Meta-cognitive

strategies (.69)• Feedback (.73)• Teaching clarity (.75)

Top 3

3. Providing formativeevaluation (.9)

2. Piagetian programs (1.28)

1. Self-reported grades (1.44)


“The evidence that what we are doing systematically isn’t working, coupled with the research on best practices in assessment design and use, fosters the overwhelmingly convincing argument that we must develop our assessment literacy.”

—Erkens, in Guskey, The Teacheras Assessment Leader (2009), p. 13

“Exactly what is assessment literacy? It is the ability to understand the different purposes and types of assessment in order to select the most appropriate type of assessment to meet a specific purpose.”

—Ainsworth & Viegut, Common Formative Assessments: How to Connect Standards-Based

Instruction and Assessment (2006), p. 53

Assessment Literacy Standards

http://www.measuredprogress.org/c/document_library/


Teachers must be able to create or select and effectively use classroom assessments for a variety of purposes.



Teachers and administrators must be able to select and effectively interpret and use results from external interim and summative assessments designed for a variety of purposes.



Assessment

Gathering evidence on student behavior and performance which provides feedback to modify teaching and learning activities


Assessment

Gathering evidence on student behavior and performance which provides feedback to modify teaching and learning activities

Judging the degree to which evidence demonstrates the desired level of achievement

Evaluation

Pre-test Teach Teach Teach Teach Post-

testAssign grades

Pre-assess

Analyze results

Plan for differen-tiation

TeachMonitor, reflect,adjust

Teach Post-assess


Formative

Subtitle• Occurs during the course of a unit of study

• Determines a student’s knowledge and skills, including learning gaps

• Informs instruction and guides learning

• Includes assessment as and for learning

Summative

• Occurs at the end of a unit of study

• Determines the degree to which a student has met a learning target

• Evaluates or judges student achievement

• Includes assessment of learning

When given

How used

Formative or

Summative+ =


Re-affirmationThis is something I already knew …

RevelationThis is something newto me …

Re-evaluationMmm … This is something about which I needto learn more …

What Makes “Common” Common?


Research has shown that when teachers develop common formative assessments, examine the results of these assessments in collaborative scoring sessions, and adjust instruction in light of the results of those common assessments, we can improve student achievement.

(Marzano, Classroom Assessmentand Grading That Work, 2006)

“[Not doing common assessments] allows, and even encourages, individual teachers to include, at their own discretion, different non-achievement factors in the assignment of grades; it allows individual teachers to differentially weight assessment; and it mixes different types of knowledge and skills into single scores on assessments. All these then will have a profound impact on the accuracy of student achievement scores and the resulting decisions.”

—Marzano, Transforming ClassroomGrading (2000), p. 13

Components Designed by PLC to assess student

understanding of expected learner outcomes

Collaboratively scored Results collaboratively analyzed and used


Step 1: Identify Essential Learning (Unpack Curriculum)

Benchmark Content CognitiveBehavior= +

The student will explain the

associative property.

= associative property + explain


The student will list the

elements of narrative structure.

=elements of

narrative structure

+ list



Step 2: Assemble and Review Assessment ItemsKnowledge Comprehen-

sion Application Analysis Synthesis Evaluations

Claim Introduce.Distinguish from

opposingclaim.

Reasons,Evidence

Organize logically.

Sources

Use accurate

andcredible.

Topic Demonstrate understanding.

Words, Phrases, Clauses

Create cohesion and

clarify relationships.

Formal Style Establish and maintain.

Concluding Statement

Support argument.

Select Response QuizRubric for Performance Assessment

Step 3: Design Scoring ToolCollaborative teams need to agree on the evaluation criteria to determine proficiency, quality of response, and result or impact of the response.

(Ainsworth)

Step 4: “Anchor” the Work“When teachers work together to consider the work students have produced, or listen to their presentations or analyze their electronic projects and so on, they bring the collective wisdom of all the people in the group to the exercise. More eyes (and consequently more brains) result in more reliable determinations of what students understand.”

—Earl, “Collecting the Evidence,” Networkof Performance–Based Schools, 2(2), p. 41


Step 5: Use the Results“One of the most overlooked and understated aspects of the common formative assessment process and the role these assessments play in a professional learning community has to be the degree to which the results of high-quality assessments inform teachers about the need to change instructional practice …”

—Rose, “Teaching vs. Learning:How Assessment Informs Instruction,”

www.allthingsplc.info (2011)

What is most important to remember about the concept of “common assessments”?

To what degree have you identified “common assessments” for each unit of study?

How might you take this concept back to your team?

Put Into Practice


The Meta-Assessment Eight dimensions Four levels for each dimension Please read the meta-assessment,

highlighting or underlining phrases about which you have questions.

Directions for Using Tool Start by working alone. Evaluate the

sample assessment on each of the eight dimensions. You can score each dimension zero through four, for a total score of zero through thirty-two.

As soon as you are finished, please report your total rating to the facilitators.

Thank you!

Improving Collaboration


“Unless the goals of collaboration were explicitly focused on achievement, the dynamics of team meetings would prevent any meaningful critique of current practice that would lead to improvement. Instead typical teamwork tended to …”

—DuFour, Eaker, & DuFour, On Common Ground:The Power of Professional Learning Communities

(2005), p. 142

“… confirm present practice without evaluating its worth.”

—Little, “The Persistence of Privacy: Autonomy and Initiative in Teachers’ Professional Relations,”

Teachers’ College Record, 91, p. 517

Common Roadblocks Not seeing the need to analyze data Viewing data analysis as more work

added by administrators Feeling intimidated by data and analysis Not knowing strategies to guide the use

of data Not having school systems that facilitate

and support teacher use of data


Impact of Common Formative Assessment DataWhether a learning target or outcome

has been achievedWhich students require additional time

and supportWhich areas require additional teachingWhether students will be ready for the

summative assessment at the end of the unit or course

Impact of Common Formative Assessment DataWhether curriculum is aligned across the

grade or subjectWhether teachers can employ effective

strategies in their instruction in the event that one or more teachers are not obtaining satisfactory results


Step 1: Find the data—

“treasure hunt.”

Step 2: Analyze

the data.

Step 3:Prioritize needs.

Step 4:Set or refine goals.

Step 5: Select

strategies.

Step 6: Determine

results indicators.

Meeting 1: Getting Started

Meeting 2: Determining Pre-

Assessment

Meeting 3: Data-Driven Decision-Making

Process

Alternate Meetings: Monitoring Results

Meeting 4: Reviewing Post-Assessment and

Determining Next Steps

Pre-assess

Analyze results

Plan for differen-tiation

TeachMonitor, reflect,adjust

Teach Post-assess


To what degree do your PLCs use common formative data?

What might be some roadblocks you need to overcome in the area of data analysis?

How might the bedrock principles or data-driven, decision-making processes help your PLCs?

Here’s What

SoWhat

NowWhat

Here’s something important for me to

remember about …

So what impact will this

have if I put it in place?

Now what do I need to

do to make it

happen?

Thank You!

To schedule professional development

at your site, [email protected].


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RE

PR

OD

UC

IBL

E

Insp

irin

g Cr

eativ

ity

and

Inno

vatio

n in

K–1

2 ©

201

5 So

lutio

n Tr

ee P

ress

• so

lutio

n-tr

ee.c

om •

Visi

t go.

solu

tion-

tree

.com

/tec

hnol

ogy

to d

ownl

oad

this

pag

e.

Dim

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ge 2

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formative assessments in professional learning …...argument. select response quiz rubric for...

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