oame 2011-12 leadership conference creating communities of assessment inquiry and practice: a vision...
TRANSCRIPT
OAME 2011-12 Leadership Conference
Creating Communities of Assessment Inquiry and Practice:
A Vision for Leadership in Mathematics
Pre-Adobe Connect Virtual Session
October 2011
Chris Suurtamm & Connie Quadrini
+Overview of this session
How the conference is organized
Why focus on dilemmas?
What learning might occur
PRIME leadership framework
Professional learning cycle
+Organization of the conference
Evolution of new thinking in assessment – what and why?
Alignment of curriculum, instruction, and assessment
Formative assessment (Assessment for and as learning)
Summative assessment (Assessment of learning)
Next steps – moving into post-conference
+Drawing on
NCTM Assessment Standards for School Mathematics
NCSM PRIME Leadership Framework
Growing Success
Ontario Ministry Mathematics Curricula
Current assessment literature
Current research in assessment
+Focus on dilemmas
When teachers grapple with new ideas and enact them in their classroom, they run into dilemmas that they work at dealing with
Enacting change is a complex process and focusing on dilemmas in practice helps to value that complex practice
+Alignment
Alignment dilemmas
“I have the students investigate during instructional tasks but what does it mean to assess investigation?”
“Should I be assessing the overall or the specific expectations?”
The mathematics that is taught, the way it is taught, and how it is assessed are deliberately and coherently aligned (NCSM)
+Formative assessment
“I know observation is important but I have no good way of getting around to everyone. AND how do I record it all?”
“My students won’t take anything seriously unless there’s a mark on it!”
Formative assessment is an essential learning process teachers engage in with their students to gather information during the learning process to improve achievement(Moss & Brookhart, 2009)
+Summative Assessment
“I have always used portfolios as a way of seeing what students have learned over the year. It’s been my summative assessment. But I’m not sure how this relates to the Achievement Chart and the curriculum expectation.”
“The way I would like to write my report cards and the way I’m expected to write my report cards by the board are two very different things.”
“Assessment of learning is the assessment that becomes public and results in statements or symbols about how well students are learning.” (Western and Northern Canadian Protocol, p. 55 as cited in Growing Success p. 31)
+
Looking at dilemmas another way
Conceptual dilemmas
Pedagogical dilemmas
Cultural dilemmas
Political dilemmas
Windschitl’s framework (2002))
+Conceptual dilemmas
Examples include discussions about:
different purposes of assessment
the role of formative assessment
the value of aligning instruction and assessment
what consistency really means
what it means to understand mathematics.
arise as teachers attempt to understand the conceptual underpinnings of inquiry-oriented views of mathematics teaching and learning, and current views of assessment
“I have the students investigate during instructional tasks but what does it mean to assess investigation?”
+
Pedagogical dilemmas
Examples include:
Finding ways to record observations
Finding time for problem solving activities
Designing a meaningful rubric that provides students with information but not constraints
Developing students’ ability to peer- and self-asses
Creating time to conference with students and provide feedback
arise as teachers create and enact new assessment opportunities.
“I know observation is important but I have no good way of getting around to everyone. AND how do I record it all?”
+
Cultural dilemmas
Examples include discussions about:
student expectations with respect to marks
grappling with colleagues’ concerns about new approaches to assessment
the role of consistency in assessment practices among department members
parents’ and administrator’s understanding of assessment
focus on changes in classroom and school culture with regard to assessment practice
Cultural dilemmas often arise when new assessment practices threatened existing cultural practices
“My students won’t take anything seriously unless there’s a mark on it!”
+
Political dilemmas
Examples include discussions about grading and reporting such as :
matching assessment levels used on rubrics with required report card percentage grades
being restricted to pre-made report card comments
having to organize marks into four categories of knowledge and skills (that seem to overlap)
arise when teachers try to align their thinking and practice with provincial, district and school policies around assessment, particularly with regard to accountability
“The way I would like to write my report cards and the way I’m expected to write my report cards by the board are two very different things. “
+
Why look at dilemmas this way?
Conceptual dilemmas – dialogue, reading, research, etc.
Pedagogical dilemmas – workshops, dialogue with colleagues, resource development, etc.
Cultural dilemmas - communication with colleagues, administrators, parents, students
Political dilemmas – explanations and discussions of policies, challenging policies, rethinking policies
They are addressed in different ways
Note that dilemmas are interconnected
+Thinking about your dilemmas and what new learning you hope to achieve
Is it new learning connected to:
Alignment
Formative Assessment
Summative Assessment
Are they:
Conceptual dilemmas – developing a better understanding of assessment
Pedagogical dilemmas – how to do it
Cultural dilemmas – views that differ from students, colleagues, admin
Political dilemmas – grappling with policies