Part of intro to OAME LEADERSHIP Fall 2011 (draft of ideas)

Chris Suurtamm & Connie Quadrini

New assessment ideas

Revolution or evolution?

Research and thinking inform new practices

Moving from a 20th century thinking and research to a 21st century view that recognizes new thinking and research about learning and the purposes of assessment

20th Century Paradigm

•Behaviorist Learning Theories

•Test-teach-test

•Knowledge as bits

•Intelligence as innate, unitary, and fixed

PsychologyEducation Measureme

nt

•Schools as

factories

•Educational

objectives = jobs

•Achievement is the accumulation of bits of knowledge

•Objective tests to measure achievement

Adapted from Shepard (2000)

Emergent Paradigm

•Intellect is socially and culturally developed

•Learners construct knowledge and understanding

•New learning shaped by prior knowledge

Cognitive and Constructivist Learning Theories

Reformed Vision of Curriculum

Assessment

•All students can

learn

•Encourage critical

thinking & problem

solving

•Fostering habits of

mind

•A process rather than an event

•Students active in evaluation process

•Provides feedback for both teaching and learning

Adapted from Shepard (2000)

Some basic premises

All students can learn All students need opportunities to show what they

know and can do Learning is complex

Assessing learning is equally complex Assessment can inform learning

Assessment is ongoing and embedded in instruction

These views appear in many places: Principles for Fair Student Assessment

Practices for Education in Canada(1993)

NCTM Assessment Standards (1995) The Student Evaluation Standards:

How to Improve Evaluations of Students(2003)

Curriculum documents, etc.

NCTM Assessment standards

Shifts in mathematics assessmenttowards

Ontario policy statements

What does this mean to

you?

“The purpose of assessment is to improve student

learning.”

Ontario Ministry of Education

Growing success

List of principles from beginning of document

But where else is there evidence of the evolution of these ideas?

What do these ideas look like?

Discuss with your table partners how you have seen the evolution of assessment ideas in your own context: In classrooms In professional development

Facing dilemmas in practice

Discussion of a 2 – 3 dilemma scenarios of teachers/leaders at different places in their understanding/use of assessment

(perhaps have 1 connected to alignment, another to formative, another to summative)

Moving forward

Connie introduces why we’re using the PRIME framework (this will connect to the dilemmas as well as some of the important ideas in the previous messages)

Introduction of NCSM’s PRIME Leadership Framework Background Overview, including: Cycle of Action and

Leading (page 7), including stages of leadership development

Assessment Leadership

Principle 4 Leadership Actions:

matching activity OR leader profile and ID Assessment leadership actions (examples from PRIME Leadership book study)

Self and Group Assessment

PRIME Assessment: leadership actions self-assessment for where am I? clicker / sticker dots for where are we as a

collective? (keep in mind anonymity)

Mathematics Assessment Leadership Planning Cycle Sharing of thinking / progress

Participants pose clarifying / probing questions to support participant reflection of cycle