ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING

“FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT”By Jane Leaker DECD

READING COMPREHENSION

My four-year old  is learning to read.Yesterday he pointed at a picture in a zoo book and said, 'Look Grandpa! It's a frickin' elephant!'I took a deep breath, and then asked...'What did you call it?'

'It's a frickin' Elephant, Grandpa! It says so on the picture!' and so it does...

 ’A .f .r. i. c. a. n Elephant’

 So much said about phonetics 

ASSESSMENTImproving student performance…

“If our aim is to improve student performance, not just measure it, we must

ensure that students know the performances expected of them, the standards against which they will be

judged, and have opportunities to learn from the assessment in future

assessments.”(Grant Wiggins, 2002)

Assessment

Pause, ponder…wander down memory lane…

Remember when you were a student yourself…

Step 1:

What are your earliest, or most vivid memories of assessment?

Step 2:What was pleasing (positive), or

frustrating (negative) for you?For others?How have these experiences affected

the way YOU assess, now? Assessment is always “the product of the

interaction of people, time and place, with all that this implies in terms of a complex web of understandings, motivations, anxieties, expectations, traditions and choices.” (Patricia Broadfoot 2002, p 157).

WHAT DO YOUR STUDENTS THINK ABOUT THE ASSESSMENTS YOU USE?

John Hattie – The Garden Analogy

If we think of our children as plants…

Summative assessment of the plants is the process of simply measuring them. It might be interesting to compare and analyse measurements but, in themselves, these do not affect the growth of the plants.

http://www.tki.org.nz/

Assessment of Learning

John Hattie – The Garden Analogy

Formative assessment, on the other hand is the equivalent of feeding and watering the plants appropriate to their needs – directly affecting their growth.

Assessment for Learning

The Garden Analogy

Self evaluation by the plants enables them to monitor their own growth and decide what adjustments, adaptations and even major changes they need to achieve better results.

Assessment as Learning

Dylan Wiliam:

“When implemented well, formative assessment can double the speed of students’ learning”.(Educational Leadership. Vol 65. No. 4. Page 36.)

Wiliam has come to this conclusion based on 5 reviews which synthesise more that 4,000 studies done during the last 40 years.

Insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and

over and expecting different results.

Albert Einstein

Rebeka

Year 3

New idea…

Blogging used for assessment purposes:

Peers and families are able to provide feedback on student work. Passwords can be set so that only invited participants can add to the blog.

http://edublogs.org/ is a safe educational blog.

Read the article, “The Facebook generation: homework as social networking”“The emails and blogging have proved popular with students and successful in giving them a sense of recognition for their work. Students have appreciated having additional opportunities for discussion, as well as having time to think about and formulate clear and reasoned responses. The quality and consistency of the homework has generally been higher than conventional homework seen and marked only by the teacher.”

Effective Assessment for Learning

There are 5 key strategies united by one big idea:(Wiliam, Leahy,Lyon, Thompson, 2005).

Using Evidence of Learning to adapt instruction in real time to meet students’ immediate learning needs.

Sharing Learning Expectations

Clarifying and sharing learning intentions and criteria for success.

Questioning Engineering effective classroom discussions, questions and learning tasks that elicit evidence of learning.

Feedback Providing feedback that moves learners forward.

Self Assessment Activating students as the owners of their own learning.

Peer Assessment Activating students as instructional resources for one another.

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU DO IN THE CLASSROOM NOW FOR EACH OF

THESE STRATEGIES IN YOUR CLASS.

• Which are working really well?

• What is one thing that you would find easy to change? What difference do you think it will make to your practice?

• What is one thing that you would like to change that will require support? What help would you need?

• What other changes would you like to make later in the year. What help might you need?

• What will you do differently or stop doing to implement these changes?

The 5 Strategies

Wiliam and his associates think of these 5 strategies as non-negotiable but the way in which teachers might implement these strategies can vary because of the differences in the teachers and the students.

Therefore it is important to look at different techniques for these 5 strategies and decide which ones suit you best, try them and allow time to customise them to meet your needs and those of your students.

Making a boat

Techniques - ExamplesSTRATEGY: Clarifying learning intentions and sharing

criteria for success:

Example Technique 1: Showing students how to read different texts.

Use examples of different texts and show your students how they need to read them - different texts are read differently. There are three different levels of reading texts:

1. Word

2. Sentence

3. Whole text

There are always two sets of demands when reading texts

For example, reading an information text such as “What are oceans?”

CONTENT LITERACY

Comprehension Questions – To answer these questions what do the children need to be able to do?

Literal:

1.What is the average depth of the ocean?

2.What is an ecosystem made up of?

3.What percent of the Earth’s water is contained in the ocean?Uses vocab directly from the text. (HERE) – It is here in one sentence in the text

Inferential:

4.What is a sea?

5.Which is the saltiest ocean?

6.Which is the largest ocean?

7.Name two continents in the world?

The answer is implicit in the text (HIDDEN) – It is found by joining together information from two or more places in the text, or from the text and what the student already knows.

Response:

8.Why do you think oceans are important?

9.What do you think what happen if the oceans dried up?

The answer is in the student’s background knowledge (HEAD)

Example Technique 2: Thirty-Second Share.

At the end of a lesson, several students take a turn to report something they just learned in the that lesson. When this is a well-established and valued routine for the class, what students usually share is on target, connected to the learning intentions stated at the start of the lesson. If the sharing is off-target, that is a signal that the main point of the lesson hasn’t been learned yet or it has been obscured by lesson activities, and needs further work. In classrooms where this technique has become part of the classroom culture, if a student misstates something during the thirty-second share, other students will correct him/her in a non-threatening way.

STRATEGY: Clarifying learning intentions

and sharing criteria for success:

Example Technique 3: Rubrics

An example of a rubric for reading comprehension – retelling a text

www.mrsmcgowan.com/reading/rubrics.htm

Very little comprehension

Some comprehension Adequate comprehension

Very good comprehension

Tells 1 or 2 events or key facts

Tells some of the events or key facts

Tells many events, in sequence for the most part, or tells many key facts

Tells most events in sequence or tells most key facts

Includes few or no important details from the text

Includes some important details from the text

Includes many important details from the text

Includes most important details and key language or vocabulary from the text

Refers to 1 or 2 characters or topics using pronouns (he, she, it, they)

Refers to 1 or 2 characters or topics by generic name or label (boy, girl, dog)

Refers to many characters or topics by name in text (Ben, Giant, Monkey, Otter)

Refers to all characters or topics by specific name (Old Ben Bailey, green turtle, Indian Ocean)

Responds with incorrect information

Responds with some misinterpretation

Responds with literal interpretation

Responds with interpretation that shows higher level thinking

Provides limited or no response to teacher questions and prompts

Provides some response to teacher questions and prompts

Provides adequate response to teacher questions and prompts

Provides insightful response to teacher questions and prompts

Requires many questions or prompts

Requires 4-5 questions or prompts

Requires 2-3 questions or prompts

Requires 1 or no questions or prompts

STRATEGY: Clarifying learning intentions and

sharing criteria for success:

Techniques - Examples

Example Technique 4: Sharing Exemplars

E.g. A Reading Activity – Change the form from Goldilocks and the Three bears – checking out understanding of sequence

Let’s go for a walk while our porridge cools.

I wonder who lives here.

This bed is too hard!

Techniques - Examples

STRATEGY: Questioning

Example Technique 1: Bloom’s TaxonomyBloom’s Taxonomy provides a structured questioning method that allows for students to engage in higher order thinking processes. The Six Levels of Questioning based on Bloom’s Taxonomy provides an excellent starting point for teachers wanting to move beyond the basic question and answer techniques.

Level 1 – KnowledgeExhibit memory of previously-learned materials by recalling facts, terms, basic concepts, and answers.

Sample QuestionsWhat is…?Who was…?Can you list…?

   

Level 6 – EvaluationPresent and defend opinions by making judgements about information, validity of ideas, or quality of work based on a set of criteria.

Sample QuestionsWhat is your opinion of…?What choice would you have made…?Why did the character choose…?

 

Peanuts by Charles Schultz – The real reason why we have rubrics and ask students to show their work…AND WHY WE ASK QUESTIONS!

Techniques - ExamplesSTRATEGY: Questioning

Example Technique 2: Question MatrixProceeding through the matrix, the questions become more complex and open – ended.

Event Situation Choice Person Reason Means

Present What is? Where/When is?

Which did? Who is? Why is? How is?

Past What did? Where/when did?

Which did? Who did? Why did? How did?

Possibility What can? Where/When can?

Which can? Who can? Why can? How can?

Probability What would? Where/When would?

Which would?

Who would? Why would? How would?

Prediction What will? Where/When will?

Which will? Who will? Why will? How will?

Imagination What might? Where/When might?

Which might?

Who might? Why might? How might?

Techniques - Examples

STRATEGY: Questioning

Example Technique 3: Preview Questions for reading a text

1. What type of text is it?

2. What is the layout of the text?

3. How will we read the text?

4. How is the text structured?

5. Is there any visual literacy? How do we read it?

6. Who wrote the text?

7. Why was the text written?

Tony Ryan developed Thinker’s Keys which are a very useful strategy to get students to develop their questioning techniques, for teachers to get an understanding of a students’ knowledge base on particular topics and to make their writing more interesting eg. when doing a Daily Dash.A topic is put on the board every morning:

10 -15 minutesTopics can be chosen by the students or teacher – make a collection and have a drawForm of writing chosen by the students (guidelines)FEEDBACK is most important

Add to it eg choose a word from the dictionary from random and see if they can incorporate it into what they writeHave a challenge about using one of the Thinker’s Keys for the structure of their writing (Tony Ryan) http://www.thinkerskeys.com/cms/pages/!/display.html 

 

Techniques - ExamplesSTRATEGY: Questioning Example Technique 4: Thinker’s Keys

What kinds of questions would you ask in this instance?

Ma and Pa Kettle

Techniques - Examples

STRATEGY: Feedback “Learners need information and guidance in order to plan the next steps in their learning. Teachers should pinpoint the learner’s strengths and advise on how to develop them; be clear and constructive about any weaknesses and how they might be addressed; provide opportunities for learners to improve upon their work”. (Assessment Reform Group, 2002).

Example Technique 1: SWN

• Strengths (S)

• Areas needing improvement (W)

• Where to next (N)

Techniques - Examples

STRATEGY: Feedback

Example Technique 2: Comments

“You made some very interesting comments about the language in the book ….Do you think you would have liked to have lived in England at the time the story was set?”

“A good description ….”

“Well done…You have done an excellent job on this whole activity”

‘This sounds like an interesting book…Lovely, bright presentation’

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Teachers may wish to respond to what the students have written orally, verbally, have a conference with the child etc. The important thing to remember is the quality of the feedback that you provide back to the student.

Techniques - Examples

STRATEGY: Feedback

Example Technique 3: Plus, Minus, Equals

The teacher marks the student work with a plus, minus, or equals sign to indicate how this performance compares with previous assignments/tasks etc. If the latest assignment is the same quality as the last, the teacher gives it an = ; if the assignment is better than the last one, she gives it a + ; and if the assignment is not as good as the last one, she gives it a - .

This technique can be modified for younger students by using up and down arrows.

There should be well established routines around this kind of marking, so that students can use it formatively to think about and improve their progress.

Example Technique 4: “Closing the Gap’, Feedback PromptsThis strategy involves the teacher identifying where improvements can be made in student work and then providing the support needed to individual students to enable them to make these improvements.There are three main Closing the Gap prompts:Reminder PromptDraws the learners’ attention back to the learning intention.e.g. Say more about…e.g. Explain why you think this… Scaffolded Prompt

Gives more help by focussing on specifics, helping learners to extend their present understandings and improve their work.e.g. A Question - Can you explain why?e.g. A Directive - Please check your answers by…e.g. An Unfinished Sentence - The colours in the flag are… Example Prompt Make suggestions, offer information, give a range of possible answers to choose from.e.g. Choose one of these statements and/or create one of your own: George was unlucky because he tipped over Grandma’s medicine before she drank it all. OR George had a lot of bad luck particularly when he tipped over Grandma’s medicine before she had finished it.

     

Techniques - ExamplesSTRATEGY: Feedback

Techniques - ExamplesSTRATEGY: Self AssessmentExample Technique 1 – Journal Writing

Response Journal Guidelines for students:

• Take time to write down anything in relation to the text. If you’re intrigued by certain statements or if you’re attracted to certain characters or issues or problems, write your response.

• Make connections with your own experience. What does the reading make you think of? Does it remind you of anyone or anything?

• Make connections with other texts or concepts or events. Do you see any similarities between this text and other texts?

• Ask yourself questions about the text: What perplexes you about a particular passage? Try beginning, “I wonder why…” or “I’m having trouble understanding how…” or “It perplexes me that…” or “I was surprised when…”

Techniques - ExamplesSTRATEGY: Self AssessmentExample Technique 2: Capacity Matrixe.g. Word Meaning Checklist – Write a list of key words from a text that are probably unfamiliar to many of the students. The students rate the words by ticking in the appropriate column. Students decide which words will need special attention and the strategy they will use to gain meaning. Read the text. Have the students re-rate after reading the text.

Text: ………………………………….. Name: ……………………………………Read each word. Put a tick in the column that states how well you know this word.

WORDS I know it well.I use it.

I know it a bit. I’ve seen it or heard of it.

I’ve never heard of it.

combustion

cylinders

ignites

piston

motion

converting

fuel

Techniques - ExamplesSTRATEGY: Self AssessmentExample Technique 3: Self-Assessment Sheets

What do you know about yourself as a reader?

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How are you feeling about your reading at the moment?

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What do you do well as a reader?

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What are your goals for reading next term and what might you do to achieve them?

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If you could learn something new in reading next week what would it be? Explain.

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What would you like help with in your reading?

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Techniques - Examples

Self Assessment

Example Technique 4: E Portfolio or PortfolioYou can have Portfolios which cover all Learning Areas or areas such as Literacy. In developing portfolios talk with students about what they are for etc. In “Assessing the Whole Child”, By Gavin Grift and Jane Satchwell, it is suggested that discussions should focus on these four areas:

1. What is the purpose of our portfolio?

2. What should be in the portfolio?

3. What should work in our portfolios look like?

4. When will we work on our portfolios?

Suggested questions for discussion are provided for each section. (Pages 20 and 21).

The aim is for the students to take ownership of the portfolios and determine what they want to include in them. The idea of using an additions or deletions sheet is a powerful idea. (Page 25)

 

  

   

Date Item deleted Why? Item added Why?

Techniques - Examples

STRATEGY: Self Assessment – Goal Setting

This is a powerful way to have students take responsibility for own their learning and social behaviour.

Goals set for the student can be included in their portfolios.

Reflecting on the goals can also be an excellent starting point for student led conferences. This can also be added to the portfolios. The ‘Car Battery’ (+, -) could be used for this:

POSITIVEWhat worked well?

NEGATIVEWhat needed improving?

BACK ON THE ROADHow can we make those

improvements?

Techniques - Examples

STRATEGY: Peer AssessmentExample Technique 1: Pre-Flight Checklist

Students trade papers and check each others’ work against a “pre-flight checklist” or rubric to improve the quality of work before they submit it to the teacher. To close the feedback loop, there should be clear structures for when and how students are to take this feedback on board to improve their work.

A pre-flight checklist is a list of the required, basic components of the task, such as “title page, introduction, 5-paragragh explanation, conclusion.”

The pre-flight checklist differs from a full-fledged rubric in that it is used primarily to check that all the required components are present, whereas a rubric is more likely to get into the quality of those components.

Techniques - Examples

STRATEGY: Peer AssessmentExample Technique 2: PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting)

A PMI can be used to talk about the pluses, minuses and interesting/intriguing points about a student’s work, oral presentation e.g. retelling a story etc.

What I likedPluses ( + )

What I didn’t likeMinuses ( - )

What I thought was interesting/intriguingQuestions or thoughts

Techniques - Examples

STRATEGY: Peer AssessmentExample Technique 3: Icecream Bowl This technique could easily be adapted to use for both self and peer assessment on different tasks and activities. 

Use the following scale to evaluate a peer’s performance of reading a story to younger children.

Empty Bowl - You did not meet the requirements of reading to younger children.

1 Scoop - You met some, but not all of the requirements of reading to younger children.

2 Scoops - You met the requirements of reading to younger children.

Extra Toppings - You went beyond the requirements of reading to younger children by giving your best effort and adding something extra.

Example Technique 4: Class Discussion with Guiding Questions

 A Year 3-7 class at Kingston-on-Murray is involved in an ongoing project between the school and Banrock Station with students developing a greater awareness of human impact on the environment and the part they can play in working towards a sustainable future for their local environment.

The students each produced a photostory about Banrock Station. As part of the process they shared their work with the rest of the class who provided feedback on what would improve the presentation eg in the following example the student added detail about the context of the work with Banrock Station so that viewers would have a much better understanding of what was happening. The planning for the photostory was done on a storyboard.

Techniques - ExamplesSTRATEGY: Peer Assessment

After feedback on this first Photostory presentation the student redid it.

Sarah-Jane’s first Photostory

The second version contains a lot more detail and information.

Sarah – Jane’s second Photostory

Resources

Assessment Website

http://www.decs.sa.gov.au/assessment/

“Improving Student Achievement” by Toni Glasson. Curriculum Corporation.

www.curriculumpress.edu.au

“Assessing the Whole Child”, By Gavin Gift and Jane Satchwell.

Hawker Brownlow.

www.hbe.com.au

Assessment of, for and as Learning – Useful Links

John Hattie: http://www.tki.org.nz

Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in MindAssessment for, as, of LearningWestern and Northern Canadian Protocol www.wncp.ca/assessment/rethink.pdf

Lorna Earl: Assessment of, for, as Learninghttp://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au

Curriculum Corporation- Assessment for learning

www.assessmentforlearning.edu.au/default.asp