Dorie Hall, AFL CoordinatorEileen Hartwell, AFL Coach

Tammy Tomlinson, AFL Coach

June 15-16, 2011Chewning Middle School

Summer 2011 AFL Academy

Welcome

Purpose• To explore the research and rationale for a

formative assessment approach

• To examine the Assessment for Learning Framework

• To collaborate among and across school teams

Expected Outcomes• To deepen the understanding of formative assessment

and the AFL framework

• To understand the purpose and characteristics of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)

• To establish AFL Champion Team roles and responsibilities

• To draft a 2011-2012 AFL Implementation Plan for Early Release Days

AFL Team Vision• To create an assessment-literate culture that is research and evidence based where staff, students, and parents feel informed, supported, empowered, and successful in every community, at every school and in every classroom.

AFL Team Mission• To enhance the understanding of AFL for ALL stakeholders in an effort to

answer questions, address concerns, and demystify myths

• To support schools with AFL implementation so each and every student will know what they are supposed to be learning, whether or not they are learning it, and what they can do if they are not

• To provide quality assessments teachers will look forward to giving because they are aligned, rigorous, just the right length, and really prepare students for EOGs/EOCs and beyond

• To provide useful and accurate local assessment results quick, fast, and in a hurry

NORMS• Begin and end on time• Turn off cell phones/laptops• Participate and collaborate• Be open-minded

Academy OverviewDay 1 Day 2

AM9-12

AFL Overview Team Roles/ Responsibilities,

Planning LUNCH

12-1PM1-4

Effective PLCs Team Planning

Team Materials• Table Tent • Team Response Cards • White Boards• Stickies

LET’S EXPLORE ASSESSMENT FOR

LEARNING

AFL CONTINUUM

AFL…What’s that? Certified AFL Expert

Heard of it, but need more info

Why the need for change?

We have reached a tipping point: We either change our assessment beliefs and act accordingly, or we

doom struggling learners to inevitable failure.

Rick Stiggins

Why AFL? • Strong research base supports effectiveness of

formative assessment• Ongoing process to close gap between

student’s current state and desired goals• Includes feedback to students

Assessment for Learning Defined• a formative assessment approach which uses

various methods to provide students, teachers, and parents with consistent evidence of student progress towards mastery of curriculum standards.

Strategic Plan: Goal I Academic Acceleration • I.6 DPS will implement an assessment for

learning model to improve student achievement outcomes as measured by school, district, and state assessments

Assessment for Learning“…focuses on day-to-day progress in learning as

students climb the curricular scaffolding leading up to state standards. It tells users if and when students are attaining the foundations of knowledge, the reasoning, the performance skills, and the product development capabilities that underpin the mastery of essential standards.”

Stiggins

Research Says…

The Best Value in Formative AssessmentStephen Chappuis and Jan Chappuis

Assessment of Learning

Assessment for Learning

REASON Check status of student learning Improve Learning

To Inform Others about students Students about themselves

Focus Standards Student Learning Targets

Example

High stakes external

assessments,Classroom tests used for grades

Assessments that diagnose needs or help students monitor improvement

Place in time

An event after learning A process during learning

Assessment for Learning StrategiesWhere am I going?

1. Provide a clear statement of the learning target2. Use examples and models

Where am I now?3. Offer regular descriptive feedback4. Teach students to self-assess and set goals

How can I close the gap?5. Design focused lessons on one learning target or aspect of

quality at a time.6. Teach students focused revision7. Engage students in self-reflection; let them keep track of

and share their learning

Assessment for LearningBENEFITS

• Data to modify instruction and learning• Common planning among content areas• Collaboration with colleagues

• Clear criteria for student achievement and quality instruction

• Ability to identify specific areas of weaknesses in student mastery

• Collective ownership of results

We assess for two reasons:

To gather evidence to inform instructionTo encourage students to learn

Assessment Manifesto: A Call for Balanced Assessment System

Rick Stiggins

Classroom Assessment

Common Assessments

Interim Assessments

(Formative assessment provides descriptive feedback)

Unit or Goal Tests

End-of-Grade Exams

End-of-Course Exams

(Summative assessment provides evaluative feedback)

Balanced Assessment System

Where We’ve Been…TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTION STANDARDS-BASED INSTRUCTION

Identify a topic/section in textbook Identify a standard/objective

Plan Instruction Create Assessment

Create Assessment/Give Ready-Made Assessment

Plan Instruction

Give Grade Give Assessment

Move On Analyze Data

Provide Feedback, Corrective Instruction/Enrichment

Move On

WHERE WE WERE: 2010-2011 FRAMEWORK

Where We Were(2010-2011)

Where We’re Headed (2011-2012)

AFL Framework Misconceptions and Myths

Develop a common understanding of AFL and alignment to Strategic

PlanCurriculum and

InstructionUnit/Textbook-Driven Standards-Based

Quarterly Local Assessments

Math SGAs: Tier I and Select Tier II Schools,

Benchmarks: district-wide

Math and Reading SGAs: Participation determined by DAP

model, CAs: district-wide

Professional Development

Lead by AFL Team and Curriculum Directors

Primarily School-based, Lead by AFL Champions and CIA2 Teams,

AFL Team and Curriculum Director Support, AFL “Bucket”

PLCs Some School and District Lead Sessions on Early

Release Days

School AFL Implementation on PLC Early Release Days and during

weekly PLCs

Formative assessment is a planned process in which assessment-elicited evidence of students' status is used by teachers to adjust their ongoing instructional procedures or by students to adjust their current learning tactics.

James Popham2008

WHERE WE’RE GOING: 2011-2012 AFL Framework

2011-2012 FRAMEWORK REVISIONS

• More Concise…5 Steps– Previous steps have been combined

• UNPACKING proceeds DESIGN ASSESSMENT

• CALIBRATE RIGOR and COMMUNICATE RESULTS have been added

“…when it's properly implemented, formative assessment will improve how well students learn.”

“…formative assessment constitutes the key cornerstone of clearheaded instructional thinking. Formative assessment represents evidence-based instructional decision making.”

TransFormative Assessment Popham, 2008

How will these changes affect DPS?Students

(ESL, AIG, EC, etc.)Teachers Administrators Parents

GALLERY WALK• Post your work– Designate a team spokesperson to summarize your ideas

• Peruse other teams’ work

Let’s Break!

“Any change, even a change for the better, is always

accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.”

Arnold Bennett

AFL GlossaryWhat are the 5 most essential concepts?

LET’S EXAMINE THE

FRAMEWORK

By carefully developing and applying power standards, leaders recognize that the question to be asked at the end of every year is not merely what teachers covered, but rather what students learned.

Reeves, Douglas, (2006). Power Standards: How Leaders Add Value to State and National Standards. Jossey –Bass (p. 240) .

Curriculum

Overview

Instruction and

Assessment Calendar

New Curriculum DocumentsPurpose Primary Audience

Curriculum Overview To provide a snapshot of the curriculum standards to be

taught each quarter throughout the school year

Administrators, District Support Personnel, Parents,

Community Members, Partnering Organizations

Instruction and Assessment Calendar

To provide a standards-based pacing document to align

curriculum, instruction, and assessment

Teachers, Coaches, Curriculum Directors,

Parents, Tutors

Frequently Asked Questions To address Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

(CIA) questions/concerns

All Stakeholders

New Curriculum Documents…Implications and Considerations

Factors Changes/Adjustments/Improvements

Resources

Planning

Teaching

Assessing

Learning Targets and

Progressions

Clear academic standards or learning goals form an

essential structural foundation for a balanced

assessment system.Stiggins (2008)

Marzano reports that when students know

what they are supposed to be

learning student achievement

increases from 16 to 41 percentile points

(average of 21 percentile points).

(2007)

Assessment experts agree that numerous short assessments given

over time provide a better indication of a student’s learning than one or two large assessments given at the

middle and end of the grading period. (Marzano, Stiggins, Black, Wiliam, Pophan, and Reeves)

Local

Assessments

Common Formative Assessments

In a classroom that uses assessment to support learning, the divide between instruction and

assessment blurs. As teachers use information from student responses (answering & asking questions,

exit slips, group discussion, traffic light cards, etc. ), they can make instructional decisions to

address the understandings and misunderstandings that these assessments reveal.

Leahy, Lyon, Thompson, Wiliam

Minute by Minute Assessments

• Think more deeply about problems and situations

• Ask deeper, more frequent questions to ensure clarity

• Feel responsibility for their thoughts and ownership of their methods

• Learn ways to identify the places they need help

• Look less to the teacher for clues of how to solve problems NCTM, 2002

Student Ownership

and Engagement

• Simply telling students that their answer is right or wrong leads to a 3% loss in achievement

• Telling students the correct answer on items missed leads to a 9% gain in achievement

• Explaining to students why they missed an answer leads to a 20% gain in achievement

Lysakowski, Walberg, Kumar

Descriptive

Feedback

“Success is achieved by accumulating, summarizing, analyzing, and reporting

assessment results with maximum efficiency. The more data-based the instructional decisions… the more effective will be

instruction.”

Stiggins (2005)

Standards, Item

Analysis, Student

Responses

Looking at student work has the potential to expand teachers’ opportunity to learn, to cultivate a professional community that is both willing and able to inquire into practice, and to focus school-based teacher conversations directly on the improvement of teaching and learning.

(Phi Delta Kappan, November 2003)

Looking at

Student Work

“Formative assessments alone do little to improve student learning or teaching quality, what really counts

is what happens after the assessments.”

Thomas GuskeyCorrective

Instruction

Enrichment

Focused Revision

“…if students' assessment data indicate that current instruction isn't getting the job done, then almost any reasonable instructional adjustment has the potential to improve the situation, including changes in the way the teacher presents the material, represents its core ideas, articulates day-to-day objectives, groups students, and designs guided and independent practice activities. ”

Popham, 2008

Corrective InstructionEnrichment

Focused

Revision

True-False

TELLING STUDENTS THE CORRECT ANSWER TO A MISSED ITEM HELPS THEM MAKE THE MOST GAINS

TEACHERS SHOULD COLLABORATE ON HOW TO GET STUDENTS INVOLVED WITH THEIR OWN LEARNING

IF YOU AREN’T GOING TO DO ANYTHING WITH THE DATA, YOU MIGHT AS WELL NOT GIVE THE

ASSESSMENT!

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS SHOULD BE PLANNED AFTER A LESSON IS TAUGHT

STUDENTS GAIN THE MOST WHEN TEACHERS EXPLAIN MISCONCEPTIONS AND NEXT STEPS.

The effect of assessment for learning is that students keep learning and

remain confident that they can learn if they just keep trying. In

other words, students don’t give up in frustration or hopelessness.

Rick Stiggins

4 Box SynecticsSeason Pencil

Animal Car

Assessment for Learning is a lot like ______ because …....

LUNCH TIME!

SEE YOU BACK AT 1:00!