Jason HarborGeoff Haacke

Assessment is a teacher’s toolkit to determine students’ level of outcome achievement (Popham, 2005)

Another defn: When we assess, we are gathering information about student learning that informs our teaching and helps students learn more. We may teach differently, based upon what we find when we assess (NESD, 2009) Assessment can be formal or informal

Evaluation is the use of assessments to formulate a grade.

When we evaluate, we decide whether or not students have learned what they needed to learn and how well they have learned it.

Evaluation is a process of reviewing the evidence and determining the value.

(NESD, 2009)

We’re all familiar with the more “traditional” forms of assessment: assignments, quizzes, tests, etc.

There are many other types of assessment including anecdotal records, contracts, projects, rating scales, rubrics, student profiles, student self-assessment, etc.

All assessments should be tied to one (or more) curriculum outcome(s).

Any work that a student does should be assessed.

Sometimes the work should be given back untouched, or with only a few notes.

Assessment should be frequent in order to accurately gauge a student’s progress and, if necessary, adjust instructional plans to match the results of the assessment

Frequent assessment should not create mounds of extra work for the teacher, in fact, most of us assess more frequently When you walk around the class to see how they are doing, this is informal assessment. I do it all the time to gauge whether or not I can move on! It takes little time, and creates NO… I repeat NO extra work outside of the classroom!

I frequently use something called an exit slip. It is a small piece of paper with one question relating to the content covered during that class. For a class of 25, it takes me less than 10 minutes to look over the slips and determine very quickly whether of not I need to go back and spend more time on a concept or whether I can move on right away.

Assessment should be done for the students’ benefit.

Assessment should be used to shape further instruction.

Effective instruction depends on high quality assessment

The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning

Assessment can serve as a powerful form of instruction

Achievement and behaviour should both be assessed, but should be reported separately

Assessment should be continuous

(NESD, 2009)

Assessments should be for the students, as they will use them to inform their learning

Clear and appropriate targets are essential

Assessment must be accurate and free of bias

Assessments must be accompanied by effective communication

(Stiggins, 2001)

WHY ASSESS?What’s the purpose?Who will use the results? How?

ASSESS WHAT?What are the learning targets?Are they clear? Appropriate?

ASSESS HOW?What method?Built of quality ingredients?

COMMUNICATE HOW?Report to whom?In what form? How?

(Stiggins, 2008)

Administrative purposes To give students feedback about their achievement

To provide guidance to students about future course work

To provide guidance to teachers for instructional planning

To motivate students To rank students

(Marzano, 2000)

Many people would suggest that the grading system that we have is broken.

Ken O’Connor has written a book, called A Repair Kit for Broken Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades, in which he suggests that our current grading system is broken and is in dire need of repair.

1) Don’t include student behaviours in grades; include only achievement.

2) Don’t reduce marks on work submitted late, provide support for the learner.

3) Don’t use points for extra credit or use bonus points; seek only evidence that more work has resulted in higher achievement.

4) Don’t punish academic dishonesty with reduced grades; apply other consequences and re-assess to determine actual level of achievement.

5) Don’t include attendance in grade determination; report attendance separately.

6) Don’t include group scores in grades; use only individual achievement evidence.

7) Don’t organize information in grading records by assessment methods or simply summarize into a single grade; organize and report evidence by standards/learning goals.

8) Don’t assign grades using inappropriate or unclear standards; provide clear descriptions of expectations.

9) Don’t assign grades based on student’s achievement compared to other students; compare each student’s performance to preset standards.

10) Don’t rely on evidence from assessments that fail to meet standards of quality; rely only on quality assessments.

11) Don’t rely only on the mean; consider other measures of central tendency and use professional judgment.

12) Don’t include zeros in grade determination when evidence is missing or as punishment; use alternatives, such as reassessing to determine real achievement or use “I” for Incomplete or Insufficient Evidence.

13) Don’t use information from formative assessments and practice to determine grades; use only summative evidence.

14) Don’t summarize evidence accumulated over time when learning is developmental and will grow with time and repeated opportunities; in those instances, emphasize more recent achievement.

15) Don’t leave students out of the grading process. Involve students; they can - and should - play key roles in assessment and grading that promote achievement.

Not everything that we assess needs to be included in a student’s evaluation; that is, not everything should have a mark attached to it. I know, I know, students will be less likely to do the work if there’s no mark attached!

The testing environment should be consistent with the learning environment.

Achievement of curriculum outcomes should be the only basis for grades.

No single piece of evaluation should count for more than 20% of a student’s overall grade.

(NESD, 2009)

Since learning is an ongoing process, is it right for us to include ALL marks in calculating an overall mark, or should the highest level of achievement be emphasized? Timmy is taking Math A30, and he starts the trigonometry until poorly with a 5/40 on his first assignment, improves to a 15/40 on his second assignment, and then gets 65% on his comprehensive test. What should his mark for this unit be?

Most of us organize our gradebooks in one of two ways: either a total points add-up, or separated by assessment category (tests, quizzes, etc.)

What if we recorded our grades by outcome (objective)? This could show us concretely where our students are struggling or succeeding, giving us data to work with instead of relying on instinct.

Robert J. Marzano, Transforming Classroom Grading, 2000.

North East School Division Guiding Document for Assessment and Evaluation, 2009.

Ken O’Connor, A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades, 2007.

W. James Popham, Classroom Assessment: What Teachers Need to Know. 4th ed., 2005.

Richard J. Stiggins, Student-Involved Classroom Assessment. 3rd ed., 2001.

Rick Stiggins, An Introduction to Student-Involved Assessment FOR Learning. 5th ed., 2008.

Critical thinking...the awakening of the intellect to the study of itself. (http://www.criticalthinking.org/aboutCT/define_critical_thinking.cfm )

Critical and Creative Thinking can be described as qualities of good thinking processes and as types of thinking. (http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/policy/cels/el4.html)

How Old Are You Now?

Eight years ago, Mary was half as old as Jane will be when Jane is one year older than Tim will be at the time when Mary will be five times as old as Tim will be two years from now. Ten years from now Tim will be twice as old as Jane was when Mary was nine times as old as Tim. When Tim was one year old, Mary was three years older than Tim will be when Jane is three times as old as Mary was six years before the time when Jane was half as old as Tim will be when Mary will be ten years older than Mary was when Jane was one-third as old as Tim will be when Mary will be three times as old as she was when Jane was born. How Old Are They Now?

http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/critical_thinking/logic/5/

Which level(s) contain critical thinking?

Image from: http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/slatta/hi216/images/gifs/blm.gif

Why do I want to emphasize Critical Thinking in class?

Of course, our goal is to help people learn to think!

As a teacher who gives departmental Exams, I never know what type of questions will be asked. So, how do I help my students prepare?“You should not lose your self-sufficient state of

mind. This does not mean a closed mind, but actually an empty mind and a ready mind. If your

mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner's mind

there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few."

Shunryu SuzukiZen Mind, Beginner's Mind

What would critical thinkers think of these news stories?

•“Birther” Movement

•Climate Change Myth

•American Border Fence

•Mortgage Crisis

•Debate on Socialized Medicare

•Professor “Skip” GatesCan these controversies be avoided?

(in Math)

Critical thinking can be seen as having two components: a set of information and belief generating and processing skills, and the habit, based on intellectual commitment, of using those skills to guide

behavior. It is thus to be contrasted with:

the mere acquisition and retention of information alone, because it involves a particular way in which information is sought and treated;

the mere possession of a set of skills, because it involves the continual use of them; and

the mere use of those skills ("as an exercise") without acceptance of their results.

http://www.criticalthinking.org/aboutCT/define_critical_thinking.cfm

Logic Puzzles“Ancient Egyptian pyramids were built as royal tombs. Within

these massive stone structures were rooms, halls, and connecting passageways. Look at the figure below. Can you draw four paths that connect the matching symbols? The paths may not cross, they may not enter a non-matching pyramid, nor may they go outside the larger pyramid

boundary. “

Four Fours“Challenge: Using four 4's and any

operations, try to write equations that have the numbers from 0 to 100 as the answer. “

(4 4) (4 4) 1

Sudoku are great examples of problem solving!

As you now doubt learned in school, choosing questions that fit different levels will promote critical thinking.

Solve the following systems of equations

The sum of two numbers is 12. Three times the larger minus 4 is equal to 5 times the smaller. What are the numbers?

The total number of people attending a concert was 1200. If adult tickets cost $15.00 and student tickets cost $10.00 and the total receipts were $16,500, how many adults attended the concert?

The perimeter of a rectangular playing field was 400 m. The length of the rectangle exceeds three times the width by 10 meters. Find the dimensions of the rectangle.

3 4 17

5 7 1

x y

x y

3 2 10

4 3 13

x y

x y

2 4 14

3 14

x y

x y

Adapted from: http://www.saskschools.ca/curr_content/matha30/index.html

Model Problem Solving Teach how you learn Put the responsibility back onto the

student Have the students compare their answers

with the “expert” opinion Be the Devil’s Advocate Debate and Discuss Give detailed feedback Model Thinking

Michael Scriven, and Richard Paul. "Defining Critical Thinking." The Critical Thinking Community - Foundation for Critical Thinking. Summer 1987. Foundation for Critical Thinking. 11 Aug 2009 <http://www.criticalthinking.org/aboutCT/define_critical_thinking.cfm>.

Saskatchewan Education, Understanding the Common Essential Learnings - A Handbook for Teachers. Regina, SK: The names of authoring organizations, e.g., a research foundation, government agency, school district, or university responsible for the intellectual content of the document. Saskatchewan Dept. of Education, 1988. Digital.

Rusbult, Craig. "Critical Thinking Skills in Education and Life." Critical Thinking in Education. 5 Dec 2008. American Scientific Affiliation. 11 Aug 2009 <http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/think/critical.htm>.

Elder, Linda. "I think critically, therefore I am." Times Higher education. 6 Aug 2009. Times Higher Learning. 11 Aug 2009 <http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=407700&c=1>.

Searls, J. Matt. "Applying Critical Thinking to Teaching and Learning." PEN International. 13 July 2006. PEN International - Rochester Institute of Technology. 11 Aug 2009 <http://www.pen.ntid.rit.edu/newdownloads/workshop/philippines/2006/Critical_Thinking/powerpoint.pdf>.