Communicating Student Learning K-12

Handbook for Assessment, Evaluation,

and Reporting

Board of Education January 21 2014

Purpose of the Handbook • To link to and reinforce Provincial and Local

Board policies (Ministerial Orders; Policies 203 and 209)

• To provide clarity and consistency for assessment, grading, and reporting

• To improve student learning through the implementation of Ten Principles for Quality Assessment

• To define the expectations for “best” and “next” assessment practices

History of Professional Development Initiatives

• Instructional Institute - (2004-2012) – Use of Skills, Tactics, and Strategies – Assessment as one of Four

• Assessment In-Service – Assessment for Learning and Reporting 2008-2009 – Summer Institute with B. Bennett (2009)

• Focus on Curriculum Design (Designs series) – Universal Design for Learning (UDL) – diversity – Understanding by Design (UbD) – authenticity/transfer

Focus on Assessment 2012-2014

• Writing Team 2012 – initial draft of Handbook • Consultation and Feedback – fall 2012-2013 • District Assessment Team (NVTA/Admin)

– Further review/revisions to the Handbook – Coast Metro Series with R. Stiggins/J. Chappuis – Planning/Facilitation of District In-Service

• Curriculum Implementation Day – January 17 • Leadership for Learning January 23-24 • Designs Series 2014 (Jan. 28, February)

“We need to avoid assessment environments steeped in mystery and illusion, intimidation and vulnerability, stress and anxiety. They are unhealthy because they are built on a motivational model fueled by uncertainty and fear of failure. Maximum anxiety does not lead to maximum learning. Rather, confidence in one’s self as a learner leads to student success and school effectiveness.”

(Rick Stiggins, 2001)

“If we can do something with assessment information beyond using it to figure grades, we can improve learning.” Chappuis

Big Ideas

•What are the best assessment practices?

•How do we put these into practice in our classrooms?

Are we … • using a range of formative and summative

assessment tasks?

• providing students the opportunity to co construct the assessment criteria?

• showing student examples of the expected outcomes?

• assessing learning along the way with effective feedback to support growth?

• assessing to gather information that will help us plan the next stages of learning?

Cycle of instruction

Planning for Assessment

Formative Assessments

Summative Assessments

Evaluation/ Grading

Communicating Student Progress

Cycle of Instruction

PLANNING FOR ASSESSMENT

1. Assessment and evaluation practices must be aligned with essential curricular concepts, content, expectations and learning goals. (Connecting Instruction to Assessment; Principles of Backward Design, Authentic Assessment tasks, Core Competencies from new curriculum framework; clear communication of goals with students/parents )

2. Assessment methods must be appropriate for and compatible with the purpose and context of the assessment. (Formative and Summative; Criterion vs. Norm-based; NVSD Assessments)

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

3. Formative assessment (for learning) must be ongoing, varied, and central to the instructional-learning cycle. (Diagnostic assessment; Key elements of formative assessment; use of rubrics, core competency continua, and BC Performance Standards)

4. Formative assessment (as learning) must involve students in setting personal goals for learning and monitoring their progress through peer and self-assessment practices. (Goal-setting/Peer/Self Assessment; portfolios)

5. Students must be provided with ongoing feedback that is clear, specific, and timely to support their progress towards achieving learning goals. (Principles of effective feedback)

The Importance of Formative Assessment

• "Effective assessment is revelatory; it reveals the students' story. Students need a safe place to tell that story and receive helpful feedback on its unfolding. For that feedback to be useful, we limit judgment and evaluation....If we grade (or score) the formative assessment steps that students take as they wrestle with new learning, every formative assessment becomes a final judgment...feedback is diminished and learning wanes.“

(O'Connor and Wormeli, 2011)

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

6. Summative assessments must be based on clear criteria (aligned to core competencies and curricular outcomes) and include a variety of opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning. (Varied assignments, differentiated assessments , authentic performance tasks, tests, exams.)

7. Assessment methods must be differentiated to meet students’ diverse needs, interests, and learning styles. (UDL, Differentiated approaches to assessment)

What Constitutes Fair Summative Assessment ?

Summative Assessment

Is: • Used after the learning takes place • Used to determine the level of student achievement

at a given point in time • Used to determine report card marks and comments • Used to verify learning • Done in a short period of time • Based upon the big ideas of the unit

EVALUATION/GRADING

8. Evaluation and grading must reflect achievement and progress over time in relation to specific learning outcomes or student goals; evaluation is tied to learning not behavior and attitude .

(Weighting marks, calculating letter grades, professional judgment, adapted grades )

Problematic Grading Practices • Grading homework • Marks off for late work • Zero for missed work • Not allowing students to re do work • Group work marks • Bonus marks • Academic dishonesty = zero = no more chances • Marks for Participation • Averaging of grades

De-privatizing Grading Practices..

“…the freedom long enjoyed by private practitioners must take place within boundaries of fairness, mathematical accuracy, and effectiveness.”

Current issues: – Conflating proficiency with behaviour – Errors in grading practices

COMMUNICATING STUDENT LEARNING

9. Communicating student learning must be clear, transparent, and ongoing, with a focus on performance standards-based language and meaningful descriptions, collections, and demonstrations of student learning. (Communication of learning goals at the beginning of the year, report card protocols, Ministerial orders, policies, report card comments, primary/intermediate tables, parent-teacher conferences etc.)

10. Assessment and reporting practices and procedures support all students, including those with special needs and those who are learning a second or additional language. (Specific guidelines for SPED and ELL)

Implementation Process

1. Curriculum Implementation Day – Jan. 17 Introduction to the Assessment Handbook

2. Leadership for Learning – Jan. 23 & 24 Assessment Literacy for School Leaders

3. Designs 2014 Building the capacity of school teams

4. In-Service 2014-2015 District/FOS

Design Series 2014

• Mountainside 4:00-5:30

• January 28 • February 11 • February 25

What Does the Future Hold?

• BC Ed Plan • Exploring Curriculum Design: Transforming

Curriculum and Assessment (January 2012) • website: https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca • Potential changes to grading and reporting

policies, practices and systems? • NVSD’s Assessment Handbook – electronic

version for easy updates/revisions