Essential Learnings Assessing Guide ESSENTIAL LEARNINGS DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION
Essential Learnings Assessing Guide
Essential Learnings Assessing Guide Department of Education, Tasmania 2005 Department of Education GPO Box 169 Hobart Tasmania 7001 This booklet is Department of Education copyright. It may be reproduced for educational purposes, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgment of the source and that it is not used for commercial purposes or sale. It is assumed that such copying is undertaken in compliance with the Copyright Act. Reproduction in any form for purposes other than those indicated requires written permission from the Department of Education, Tasmania. Inquiries concerning reproduction and copyright should be addressed to: sed@education.tas.gov.au ISBN 1 920865 18 7 Design and desktop production ACYS, University of Tasmania.
Essential Learnings Assessing Guide Contents 1. Why this resource? 2. What do we mean by assessment? 3. What should be assessed? 4. How can we assess student learning? 5. How can we collect and record evidence and build shared judgements about student learning? 6. What are useful strategies and tools for assessing? 7. What is the place of monitoring and reporting? 8. Further support material 9. Glossary, recommended further reading and additional references. Materials to support this guide can be found online on the Department of Education Learning, Teaching and Assessment Guide website: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/default.htm. 3
1. Why this resource? The Essential Learnings Assessing Guide is a ready reference to help teachers in planning and conducting effective assessment. Implementing the Essential Learnings curriculum involves new ways of thinking about assessing, with a greater emphasis on ongoing assessing that informs teaching and assists student learning. This guide is designed to support teachers in understanding these changes. It also provides information about recommended assessing practices and current requirements. Definitions, principles and explanations are provided on the left-hand side of each page and illustrative examples on the right. For more information, including expanded classroom examples, teachers are referred to the online Learning, Teaching and Assessment Guide (LTAG) http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/ The Essential Learnings Assessing Guide should be read in conjunction with the Department of Education s Assessment, Monitoring and Reporting Policy and the Assessment, Monitoring and Reporting Strategic Plan. The Office for Educational Review web site provides information on policy and system requirements related to assessment, monitoring and reporting: http://www.education.tas.gov.au/oer/ The Essential Learnings Assessing Guide is a companion volume to the Planning Learning Sequences and Guiding Learning Communities publications. This collection works together to inform teachers about current issues and directions. To use the guide and to assess student learning in relation to the Essential Learnings requires a thorough understanding of the Essential Learnings Framework. Schools reporting on the Essential Learnings advise that they first spent significant time building understanding about the framework, so that they could explain it to others with confidence. Explaining student achievement in terms of the Essential Learnings has also enriched their understanding of the curriculum and what it looks like in action. The Essential Learnings Framework and associated documents are available online at: http://www.education.tas.gov.au/ocll/publications/default.htm 5
2. What do we mean by assessment? Assessment is the process of acquiring information and making judgements about student learning (Assessment, Monitoring and Reporting Policy, p.3). We assess student learning for a range of different purposes including to: assist student learning in relation to outcomes make judgements about student achievements evaluate the effectiveness of teaching programs inform decisions about students future learning enable accountability requirements to be met at student, school, Department and government levels. Assessment is most effective when linked to a teaching and learning program that provides contextual tasks in a supportive environment so that the learner can be given feedback about their progress. The term assessment is often interpreted as a final, summary judgement about student achievement, whereas much of what occurs in the daily life of the classroom and the school aims to describe student progress towards learning outcomes. This guide, therefore, uses the term assessing where appropriate to emphasise the active, ongoing nature of the process rather than an end point. Some current views about assessing The Essential Learnings Framework has been designed as a concept-based, inquiry-driven and world-related curriculum. The curriculum emphasises learning and teaching for understanding, rather than re-presenting pieces of discrete knowledge. Understanding involves students being able to transfer and apply knowledge appropriately and accurately in new situations. This suggests the need to monitor how understanding is developing during a study or inquiry, with teachers and students reflecting together on what has been learned so far in order to plan for improvement and further learning. Assessing, therefore, is built into the teaching and learning process and occurs both formally and incidentally at various points in a learning sequence. Lorna Earl describes three different approaches to classroom assessment: Assessment of learning; Assessment for learning; and Assessment as learning (Earl, 2003). Assessment of learning is summative. Its purposes are to certify learning and report to parents and students about students progress in school Assessment of learning is typically done at the end of something (e.g. a unit, course, grade, key stage, a program) 6
Definitions of commonly used terms Formative assessment Summative assessment Formal assessment Informal assessment Peer-assessment Self-assessment Formative assessment is used to monitor learning progress during a learning sequence. It provides continuous feedback to teachers and students, which enables them to monitor progress and identify and address errors and gaps in learning. Formative assessment is primarily directed towards improving learning. Summative assessment seeks to establish the level of achievement attained by a student, and typically occurs at the end of a learning sequence, course or unit. Although the main purpose of summative assessment is to establish levels of achievement for reporting and certification, it also provides information for judging the effectiveness of teaching. In practice, then, summative and formative assessments are not always easily separated. Formal assessment is structured and recorded assessment. Teachers and students use informal assessment opportunities to make incidental and immediate judgements and provide feedback about student learning. Informal assessment is frequently used for formative assessment purposes. Peer-assessment occurs when students provide feedback to other learners about their learning. The feedback could be about the content or process or presentation of the work. To be effective, peerassessment should be structured, planned for and take place in an environment of trust. Peer-assessors should be trained in the process, and protocols for constructive feedback established. Self-assessment occurs when the learner assesses her or his own work. For further assessing definitions go to http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/terms/unpack.doc or glossary (p.52). 7
As Lorna Earl says: There will always be milestones and junctures where summative assessment is called for and Assessment of Learning is essential (Earl 2003, p.23). Assessing for learning on the other hand, is formative. It shifts the emphasis from making judgements to creating descriptions that can be used in the next stage of learning. With this purpose in mind, teachers collect a wide range of data so that they can modify the learning programs of their students. The teacher is still central to this process, but in interactive ways. It helps teachers to identify students current understandings and move them on to higher level concepts and skills. Assessing for learning also indicates the effectiveness of the teaching program and suggests where new strategies and approaches might be needed. Assessing as learning emphasises the role of the student. Students personally monitor what they are learning and use feedback from this monitoring to make adjustments, adaptations and even major changes in what they understand. Assessing as learning is the focus of attention in sections of this guide addressing self-assessment and peer-assessment. Summative forms of assessment are important for reporting, monitoring and accountability purposes and system planning, but assessing is integral to the total learning process, not something which only occurs at the end. The method of assessing needs to match the purpose. For example, self-assessment will be appropriate if the purpose is to inform the student about how they are going with learning and help them to set goals for revision and new learning. On the other hand, if the purpose is to determine how student achievement compares with their age peers, a different form of assessing is called for. Some assessing strategies are designed to meet a wider range of purposes than others and might be used for assessing for, as and of learning concurrently. The main purpose of assessing is to improve learning. Assessing for learning as learning of learning on-going to inform the students actively participating for reporting to parents teaching program in assessing processes and accountability For expansion of this table refer to Lorna Earl s Chapter 3: Assessment of Learning, for Learning, and as Learning online at: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/practice/assessforlearning.doc 8
Linking the Assessment principles from the Essential Learnings Framework 1 to assessing for, as and of learning Essential Learnings Assessment principles Ref: Essential Learnings Framework 1, (pp.42 49) The primary purpose for assessment is to improve learning Assessment provides all learners with the capacity to demonstrate what they know, value and are able to do Assessment focuses on demonstrations of understanding moving beyond gathering and recalling information Assessment judgements are moderated through professional collaboration to enhance fairness, reliability and validity Learners self-assess and develop their capacity to monitor their own learning Learners negotiate assessment criteria and assessment tasks A range of valid and inclusive assessment and monitoring processes are used to gather information about what learners know, value and are able to do Assessment about what learners know, value and are able to do is used to plan teaching sequences and to diagnose areas for challenge and intervention Assessment respects and includes different ways of knowing and works towards equitable outcomes for all learners Assessment is fair, free from bias and inclusive of all learners Assessment incorporates judgements from a range of sources, including learners, peers, educators, parents and others Assessment includes monitoring of the learners emotional wellbeing Learners monitor the extent to which emotions affect and influence their learning Assessment provides timely, precise, genuine and constructive feedback Learners are clear about what is being assessed Assessment encourages learners to exhibit their actual understandings Assessment is in itself a central learning experience Assessment tasks are based on real-world contexts and embedded in recurrent learning Assessment recognises the implications of different contexts Assessment encourages learners to question and reflect on their learning and their use of thinking and learning strategies Assessment opportunities are designed to explicitly test learners ability to apply their learning in new and unfamiliar situations Assessment encourages learners to reflect and question and to continuously plan for future learning Learners note and use errors as a means of improving their own learning Assessment products may vary widely to reflect different ways of demonstrating understanding Assessing Assessing Assessing for learning as learning of learning 9
Assessing principles Assessment practice should be underpinned by the Learning, Teaching and Assessment Principles. Whether formative or summative in nature, assessing practice should be valid, reliable and fair. Valid To be valid, an assessment task should clearly relate to its purpose and genuinely test the particular knowledge, understanding or skills that are the focus of judgement. For example, validly assessing whether a student: Understands how to explore, refine and communicate more effective ways of thinking and acting mathematically (Communicating Being numerate, Standard 3) will involve students solving problems using a range of approaches and representing and interpreting data, including in graphical forms, rather than simply completing a number of algorithms. Most importantly, validity applies to the interpretation of a student s performance. It would not be valid, for example, to evaluate a student s reading performance if the assessment was focused on mathematical understandings. Reliable Reliability refers to the results obtained from a task. A student performance should obtain consistent results across a range of circumstances. For example, a piece of writing deemed to be at Standard 2 Being literate, should be rated similarly by different teachers, and the student should be able to produce writing of a similar standard on other occasions. Wiggins (1998, p.32) suggests a simple way to analyse an assessment activity to test for validity and reliability: Could the student do well at the task for reasons that have little to do with the desired understanding or skill being assessed? (e.g. by guessing in a multiple choice test) Could the student do poorly at the task for reasons that have little to do with the desired understanding or skill? (e.g. by having limited English language skills) Fair To be fair, an assessment task should be designed to be accessible by all students, irrespective of their gender, race or cultural background and should require only knowledge or skills that students have been given the opportunity to learn. For example: an assessment is designed to assess a student s capacity to use a range of democratic processes and participate responsibly in school and community groups (Social responsibility Acting democratically, Standard 3). It would not be fair to assess a student who was a new arrival from a non-democratic system, if the class program had not provided either opportunities to practise requisite skills or to develop understandings of what is meant by democratic or responsible. 10
Assessing to support learning Developing a culture of learning and teaching for success Less emphasis on Assessing what is easily measured Assessing discrete knowledge Assessing knowledge Assessing what students do not know End or unit/term assessments by teachers Focusing on pen and paper assessments Developing external assessments by measurement experts alone More emphasis on Assessing what is most highly valued Assessing rich, well structured knowledge Assessing understanding Assessing to learn what students understand Engaging students in ongoing assess ment of their own work and that of others Engaging students in a range of contextual, performance-based assessment tasks Involving teachers in the development of external assessments (Adapted from the National Research Council, 2001, US.) 11
The Learning, Teaching and Assessment Principles (LTAP) described in Essential Learnings Framework 1 (pp.41 49) are a set of beliefs that inform our thinking and actions as educators. The LTAP principles include 25 key assessing statements. These statements underpin all assessing practices and provide a tool for reflecting on and auditing practice. The Assessment principles should be read in conjunction with the principles for Learning and Teaching as they are interrelated. A primary school based their assessment practices on these principles and the snapshot opposite shows how they put them into action. View in full online: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/principles/assessprincaction.htm 12
Examples of the way a Tasmanian school based assessment practices on the Learning, Teaching and Assessment Principles outlined in the Essential Learnings Framework 1 Assessment principle Principle in action Therefore assessment is continuous. This gives students the information they need in order to improve their learning. The primary purpose of assessment is to improve learning An example: During a recent integrated unit about energy, students were asked to create a concept map about energy. At different times throughout the unit students were asked to revisit and add to or change their concept map. This work and the discussion students engage in when explaining it to others provides evidence of their thinking. This information was then used by the teacher to plan further experiences that would address misconceptions, areas that needed clarification or further examination. Assessment principle Principle in action Therefore assessment tasks are open-ended, providing all students with opportunities to truly demonstrate the extent of their learning. Assessment provides all learners with the capacity to demonstrate what they know, value and are able to do. An example: Before beginning a unit of work involving the exploration of Australian identity, students were asked to draw a map of Australia, including places and landmarks of importance. By asking students to draw a map, rather than providing a photocopied outline, teachers were able to assess student knowledge about Australia and, in fact, the world (several students, included places like East Timor and England on their map of Australia!). After a series of teaching and learning experiences, students were again asked to draw a map of Australia. By comparing the two maps, the learning that had taken place was obvious to the students and teacher. View in full online: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/principles/assessprincaction.htm 13
3. What should be assessed? Outcomes and standards The Culminating Outcomes outlined in Essential Learnings Framework 1 (p.40) represent the teaching and learning goals of the education we provide. The Essential Learnings Framework provides a comprehensive curriculum for all learners so that they can become citizens and lifelong learners who are: inquiring and reflective thinkers effective communicators self-directed and ethical people responsible citizens world contributors. To describe student learning during the years of compulsory schooling, outcomes have been identified across the 18 key elements of the Essential Learnings. These key element outcomes describe expectations for student achievement by the end of Year 10. Foundations for the Essential Learnings provide a set of markers to describe children s learning prior to Standard 1. View online at: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/references.htm#elsresources The Essential Learnings outcomes and standards are what all teachers K 10 use to assess student progress. They are based on the view that students should be given opportunities to apply, develop and demonstrate their learning through performances or exhibitions across a range of contexts. A learner can only be said to understand if they are able to demonstrate learning by carrying out various actions or performances to show their grasp of ideas and are able to use this learning in ways that are new to them (Introduction to the Outcomes and Standards, p.7). Standards have been written for each key element at five points along a continuum. The standards provide a clear, concise and sequential description of student learning. Each standard describes what students should know, understand and be able to do at different stages. The standards form the basis of cluster, school and individual teacher planning, assessment, monitoring and reporting (Essential Learnings Framework 2). Standards are being calibrated. Calibration involves assessing the standards to ensure that they accurately describe an appropriately sequenced continuum of student achievement across five standards. Details about the calibration process are included on the Learning, Teaching and Assessment Guide (LTAG). http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/outcomes/calibration.htm 14
Essential Culminating Learnings Outcomes Key Element Outcomes We want out students to be: Thinking Communicating Personal futures Social responsibility World futures Inquiring and reflective thinkers able to reason, question, make decisions and solve complex problems. As reflective thinkers, they will be empathetic and able to make ethical decisions about issues, events and actions. Effective communicators able to create, communicate and convey ideas clearly and confidently, using the full range of symbolic systems. They will interact critically communications created by others, interpreting linguistic, numerical and graphic information with judgement and discernment. Self-directed and ethical people having a positive vision for themselves and their future, acting with moral autonomy and contributing to constructive futures for themselves and others. Responsible citizens prepared to participate actively in a democratic community, valuing diversity and acting for a just and equitable society. World contributors willing to consider the consequences of scientific and technological innovations, make thoughtful decisions about their application, and to act to maintain, protect and enhance local and global environments. Inquiry Understands the process of inquiry and uses appropriate techniques for posing questions, defining problems, processing and evaluating data, drawing conclusions and flexibly applying findings to further learning and to creating new solutions. Reflective thinking Understands that reflective thinking is a deliberate process, affected by emotions and motivations, and that it is used to develop and refine ideas and beliefs and to explore different and new perceptions. Being literaate Understands, uses and critically evaluates non-verbal, spoken, visual and print communication practices of the world in which they live. Being numerate Understands and has the confidence and disposition to use the mathematical concepts and skill s to meet the demands of life. Being information literate Understands how to effectively access, interpret, transform, create, communicate, evaluate and manage information in ethical ways using a range of sources. Being arts literate Understands the purposes and uses of a range of arts forms visual arts, media, dance, music, drama and literature, and how to make and share meaning from and through them. Uses with confidence and skill the codes and conventions of the art form best suited to their expressive needs. Building and maintaining identity and relationships Understands the ways in which heredity, culture, community and personal choice shape identity and relationships and is able to build and maintain resilient, productive relationships. Maintaining wellbeing Understands the interdependence of the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual dimensions of well-being and knows how to make wise choices and contribute positively to the overall wellbeing of self and others. Being ethical Understands that to be ethical requires caring about the consequences of actions of self and others and that the quality of ethical judgements is based upon reasoning and application of ethical principles. Creating and pursuing goals Understands how to create, set and review goals for life and how to work with others to achieve own and shared goals. Building social capital Understands the interdependence of individuals, groups and social organisations and participates positively in the building of good and just communities. Valuing diversity Understands the interdependence of our world, values its diversity and acts for a more inclusive society. Acting democratically Understands and participates effectively in democratic decision-making processes and civic life. Understanding the past and creating preferred futures Understands that investigating the past and reflecting on the present are essential to understanding self and others and creating preferred futures. Investigating the natural and constructed world Understands how to scientifically investigate the natural and constructed world, appreciating the tentative nature of knowledge and the value of creative, imaginative and speculative thinking. Understanding systems Understands that the social, natural and constructed world is made up of a complex web of relationships or systems. Designing and evaluating technological solutions Understands how to design, make and critically evaluate products and processes in response to human needs and challenges. Creating sustainable futures Understands the environmental principles and ethical issues involved in creating and working towards sustainable futures. 15
4. How can we assess student learning? Assessing is integral to the achievement of high quality learning outcomes for students and is part of the continuously interacting processes of teaching and learning (Assessment, Monitoring and Reporting Policy, p.1). Plan with outcomes and standards in mind Use the planning guide outlined in the Planning Learning Sequences document. The backward planning model is particularly useful when thinking about planning with the outcomes in mind. Determine the outcomes and standards the students will be working towards. Design tasks that will allow students the opportunity to reach the highest standard possible: tasks that are open-ended; have multiple entry points; support student learning through completing the task and allow for demonstrations of understanding against the stated understanding goals for the sequence. Build in ongoing assessing and feedback, i.e. assessing, as and for learning at various points throughout the learning sequence. Some assessing will occur as the teacher observes that students need more instruction in a particular skill to undertake a learning task. For example, they may need to understand how a genre works in order to interpret a text, or require new ICT skills to undertake research. This is part of ongoing assessing. This assessing can also provide specific feedback to students on a task in progress. Decide from the beginning: how students will understand what is required what constitutes evidence of student learning how it will be gathered and recorded to determine at which standard a key element outcome will be achieved how students will demonstrate their understanding across a range of contexts how students may be involved. Use the Performance Guidelines The Performance Guidelines on the left side of the Outcomes and Standards statement for each key element identify significant aspects of student learning. They also describe the context that should be provided so that students can learn about and practise these kinds of understandings, skills and dispositions. They provide a planning tool for teachers to use individually, in groups, or as a whole school when designing and auditing curriculum and teaching plans. Their use will assist in building continuity and coherence in learning programs. An example is shown opposite. 16
Example: Using the Performance Guidelines to guide assessing Understanding the past and creating preferred futures Standard 5 segment of a rubric to assess aspects derived from the Performance Guidelines Criteria from the performance guidelines for the key element outcome Understands how to make predictions and take actions for preferred futures based on historical investigations, recognising the influence of evidence, perspective and context. Criteria from the rubric Uses concepts and languages of time and causal relationships Uses the methodologies of the discipline of history Reflects on the values of the past in understanding the present Makes predictions based on understanding of the past and present contexts Makes choices and takes actions that contribute to preferred futures Consistently and systematically: employs terminology that reflects alternate cultural concepts, e.g. linear, cyclic and continuous concepts of time examines and analyses dimensions of continuity and change with respect to causal relationships. Reliably: uses a comprehensive range of discipline methodologies to ensure clear and coherent interpretations of evidence evaluates multiple sources, including primary and secondary sources to reach reasoned conclusions recognises the influence of diverse viewpoints and personal interpretations of witnesses and writers. Routinely: demonstrates understanding of issues of identity at different times and how these might have changed presents multiple perspectives, values their origins and understands the contestable nature of truth deconstructs texts to interpret and evaluate what different groups have valued from the past at different times, including changed ideas and attitudes appreciates that enduring elements of belief and practice can give stability to a society comprehends impacts on their own personal and cultural identity. Persistently: incorporates historical and future perspectives in investigations analyses and evaluates how and why changes have occurred over time formulates questions for inquiry and interprets and explains significant events, issues and patterns of change hypothesises and investigates roles, interactions and motives recognises that consequences of change can be unpredictable, unintended, constructive or destructive. Purposefully: plans for both short-term and long-term futures making reasoned choices based on the experiences of others over time comprehends the importance of past individuals, communities and societies in shaping our world incorporates historical and futures perspectives in the investigation of national and global issues. 17
Consider the illustrative examples of performance The illustrative examples of performance that accompany each standard describe aspects of learning only. They neither represent a full description of learning, nor do they outline every way in which a student could demonstrate achievement at that standard. They are not criteria or markers that have to be audited. The examples are designed to assist teachers to begin to visualise what is meant by a standard description. Further explanation of the terms in the Outcomes and Standards package is contained in Introduction to the Outcomes and Standards in Essential Learnings Framework 2. Decide on the understanding goals There is a need for clear understanding goals linked to selected key element outcomes to be established when planning a sequence of learning. Understanding goals state explicitly what students are expected to come to understand they define specifically, the ideas, processes, relationships or questions that students will understand better through their inquiry (Wiske 1997, Ch.3). Examples of understanding goals for an ecological study based in World futures are detailed in Planning Learning Sequences (p.11). Understanding goals provide both students and teachers with a clear description of what is to be learned. When identifying these goals, consider: whether they represent reasonable learning expectations for each student how they will assist in building continuity and coherence in students learning how they link to the Essential Learnings outcomes and standards what kind of learning/assessment tasks (performances of understanding) will enable students to achieve these goals what specific criteria need to be described so that learning experiences (performances of understanding) can be explicitly assessed against the understanding goals. To enable students to achieve the understanding goals and be assessed at the highest standard possible, consideration about ongoing assessing needs to be built into the planning process. The planned tasks and activities can then build towards the student achieving the understanding goals. This means that the tasks and activities selected both support student learning and provide contexts for teacher judgement about that learning. 18
Example: Deciding on the understanding goals Context: A learning sequence for Standards 1 and 2 World futures Designing and evaluating technological solutions The tool for the job Unit-long Understanding Goals 1. Students will understand how to develop a definition of what a tool is, and use it to explain whether something is or isn t a tool. What things can we call tools? 2. Students will understand that some common tools are designed for different needs and purposes. What kinds of things are tools used for? 3. Students will understand why a tool has a particular design and how it relates to the purpose it will be put to. In what ways are tools designed to suit a particular purpose? Assessing for and of learning Assess students ability to classify different tools according to their contexts and uses. Assess students ability to make judgements and explain reasons on functional and aesthetic grounds. Assess students understanding of particular attributes, features, value of specific tools. View the learning sequence online http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/planning/unitsamples/tool/default.htm 19
Select performances of understanding Performances of understanding that can be assessed occur throughout a learning sequence. Each of these should connect to one or more understanding goals and enable students to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do. Those against which concluding judgements are made about student achievement of the understanding goals are culminating performances. Culminating performances are substantial products or presentations, which can be complex public performances showcasing student learning and competence. They may be judged by an expert panel and can incorporate judgements from a range of sources including learners, peers, educators, parents and others. (http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/terms/default.htm) When planning performances of understanding, consider how they will be assessed. When planning a culminating performance, for example, questions arise such as: What criteria will be applied to determine levels of achievement against the understanding goals? What will students need to know about the criteria on which they will be assessed? How will I assess individual understanding in a group performance? Examples of culminating performances are provided on the LTAG and in Planning Learning Sequences, including: varied ways in which students could communicate their findings and take action criteria teachers might use to assess each student s progress towards the relevant standard/s. 20
Example: Selecting performances of understanding and building in ongoing assessing Context: A Being numerate learning sequence for Standard 3 Understanding Goals: Value 4 Money 1. How do we use mathematics every day? Students will understand that all members of the community need and use mathematics for different purposes in their everyday lives. 2. Why can the supermarket be considered a mathematical world? Students will understand that the supermarket is a mathematical world where decisions are made on the basis of mathematical thinking and ideas. 3. Why do we have advertising? Students will understand that advertising is constructed for a purpose and aims to persuade us. 4. Why is data collected? Students will understand that data is collected for different purposes and often helps us make decisions. Performances of understanding Guiding Question: Who does mathematics? Have students use think, pair, share to brainstorm who does mathematics and record ideas on individual mind maps. Ask students to share their mind maps by conducting a gallery walk. Then suggest students reflect on and refine their own maps as necessary, adding new ideas in a different colour. In numbered groups have students discuss their group s allotted statement, and following each group s presentation, ask for warm and then cool feedback from the class. 1. Mathematicians are usually men. 2. Mathematicians are people who sit in offices and work at computers all day. 3. Mathematicians are brainy. 4. Mathematicians have discovered all the mathematics there is to know. Ongoing assessment Assess students understanding of who does mathematics in our society. Students will: use a mind map to organise their ideas about who does mathematics recognise that others may have different ideas to theirs and they need to honour each others ideas refine their ideas after reflecting on the ideas of others. Assess students understanding about what it is to be a mathematician: Students will: identify what a mathematician is and does recognise stereotypes associated with people working as mathematicians show awareness that we are all mathematicians understand mathematics is an ongoing inquiry explore different and new perceptions about mathematics and have an opinion about those perceptions understand that dialogue is essential in developing fair-minded positions. View the learning sequence online http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/planning/numerate/value/default.htm 21
Build in ongoing assessing and feedback Ongoing assessing is the process of providing students with clear responses to their performances of understanding in a way that will help to improve their next demonstrations of learning. The three components of ongoing assessing are establishing criteria, giving feedback and intervening. Establishing criteria Criteria for each performance of understanding need to be: clear developed and made explicit at the beginning of each performance of understanding though they may well evolve over the course of the performance, and involve students in the process relevant closely related to the understanding goals for the learning sequence public understood by everyone in the group. Criteria should be clearly articulated and displayed and their relationship to the understanding goals made clear. Giving feedback Feedback needs to: be given consistently and made clear and accessible to all students occur frequently, from the beginning of a learning sequence to its conclusion, in conjunction with performances of understanding, some occasions for feedback may be formal and planned (such as those related to presentations); some may be more casual and informal (such as responding to a student s comment in a class discussion) provide students with information not only about how well they have demonstrated their learning but how they might improve their demonstrations of that learning inform subsequent planning be given from a variety of perspectives from students reflection on their own work, from feedback on each others work and from comment by the teacher. Ensure that feedback is motivating, non-threatening and supportive by: engaging in a dialogue with students about their learning. This can be done with individuals, groups and the whole class and can be formal and informal ensuring that the dialogue is focused on student learning and specific to the criteria that are being assessed making feedback an integral part of the teaching process, including providing timely feedback while learning is in progress allowing time for students to discuss their learning and respond to the feedback providing opportunities for students to practise the required skills explaining the criteria providing models, demonstrations and exemplars matching feedback to differing student learning needs. Adapted from ALPS: Teaching for Understanding: Ongoing Assessment http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/tfu/info3f.cfm 22
Intervening Teachers intervene by analysing student work, diagnosing learning needs, and then undertaking focused and explicit teaching to address the needs which have been identified. This may, for example, include: teaching a specific skill clarifying misconceptions teaching vocabulary introducing a strategy or process framing effective questions. http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/effectteach/pedagogy/questioning.htm Concept map As an indication of current understanding, have students construct a concept map. Keeping instructions open will allow all students to make a personally meaningful attempt i.e. Construct a concept map which shows what you know and think about immigration. Assessing for learning Assess student understanding of immigration issues in Australia in order that misconceptions and lack of understanding can be addressed through planned Tuning in and Guided inquiry processes. At intervals throughout the unit students revisit this concept map, revising, adding, and making connections. When revisiting the maps at a later date, have students work in a different colour and date each revision. This provides a highly visual and meaningful form of selfassessment. These activities provide opportunities for teachers to determine general understandings around the topic. They encourage students to become engaged and to make an emotional attachment to issues and ideas in the unit. If required, give examples of concept maps to show possibilities. Students might use Inspiration or the drawing elements of Microsoft Word to construct their concept map. Assessment of prior knowledge The above sections of the learning experience can only be undertaken if students have some experience of the topic. If concept maps show that students have absolutely no experience of the topic, use websites or news articles listed in the right hand column and in Resources to give students some readings to introduce the topic. They can then undertake this learning experience. View the complete learning sequence online http://ltag.education.tas.gov.au/planning/units7_10/sose/default.htm 23
Using ongoing assessing as learning Ongoing assessing also involves students assessing their own learning. To become assessors of their own learning students: set personal learning goals and monitor their progress keep records of their learning keep evidence of their learning, e.g. a folio use collaboratively developed rubrics reflect on their learning either in a journal or in discussion with their teacher or peers or parents need examples of what is expected. To establish ongoing assessing as learning teachers: support learners by displaying and discussing models and exemplars teach students reflective thinking processes and how to act on their thinking: such as planning, predicting, organising and checking provide a safe environment where students celebrate success and take risks and learn from their mistakes. Use effective assessment tasks The quality of the learning that students are able to demonstrate is strongly influenced by the quality of the assessment tasks they are asked to complete. Assessment tasks should be as realistic, contextual and rigorous as possible. Wiggins (1998) proposes that assessment is authentic if it: is realistic requires judgement and innovation; asks the student to do something with their learning replicates or simulates the contexts in which learning is tested in the workplace, civic life and personal life assesses the student s ability to efficiently and effectively use a repertoire of knowledge and skills to negotiate a complex task allows appropriate opportunities to rehearse, practise, consult resources and get feedback on and refine performances and products. An assessment task in itself, however, is not authentic. To be so, it must match the interacting processes of learning and teaching in which the students have been engaged and should be designed in such a way that it is fair and equitable to all students being assessed. 24
Example: Designing assessing tasks that are purposeful, have intellectual quality and differentiate Social responsibility learning sequence for Standard 5 Neighbours working together UGs Performances of understanding Ongoing assessment evidences 1 Distribute strips of paper and ask students to write a sentence completing the phrase: Australia is a lucky country because we have access to Ask students to share their responses and place them on the wall for future reference. Note to the teacher Teachers should ensure that students are aware of the teacher s expectations with regard to each assessable activity. Teachers may work with students to refine, add to or delete criteria to fit their local context. Referring to the students responses pose the questions: Is this the same in other countries? How are the world s natural and human resources distributed? 1 Organise the students to work in groups to brainstorm factors that may contribute to the distribution of natural and human resources. Using their lists, ask them to write the factors onto sticky labels and then to bundle them into categories (e.g, mines, arable land, water, fish stocks, energy resources, easily accessed education, debt, hunger, government, legal system, civil rights, industries, health services). Reconvene as a class and ask groups to share their categories of factors and establish a class classification. Invite students to work back in their groups to consider whether the categories could be further bundled (e.g. natural factors, resource factors, human factors). Using these bundles, have students transfer this information to a Venn Diagram graphic organiser. 1 Distribute highlighter pens and ask students to highlight those factors that could be addressed by greater international cooperation. Ask each group to share their Venn Diagrams and place them on the wall for future reference. Discuss ways in which the distribution of resources pattern could be made more equitable. Ask students to consider problems of world hunger, poverty, debt and inequalities in areas such as quality health and education services and the treatment of women and children. Assess students cooperative and group processing skills and Venn Diagram when considering factors that may require international cooperation and intervention by countries acting as good global citizens. Students will: analyse the task contribute appropriate suggestions acknowledge others contributions support group members articulate their processes including difficulties and successes produce a Venn Diagram that - depicts key ideas - clarifies understandings - is easily interpreted - can be described to an audience Assess students research skills when considering how organisations and countries work to be worthy global citizens Students will: make connections with the task access and refer to authoritative sources summarise information from other sources extract key aspects report their findings clearly and concisely to the class show an understanding of how countries play their role as global citizen View the learning sequence online http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/planning/unitsamples/neighbours/default.htm 25
Assessment that is rigorous involves evidence of learning that is reliable and valid and that involves demonstrations of student understanding that are purposeful, accessible to all students and intellectually challenging. Assessment is rigorous if it: indicates clearly what will be assessed provides opportunities for feedback that motivate students and inform their learning helps students to understand connections between pieces of knowledge and their significance in real-world applications reveals students understandings requires students to transform and manipulate information and communicate it to others suggests changes to the teaching program or instructional methods to assist students acquire core understandings. Designing assessing tasks When designing effective assessing tasks teachers need to have a clear understanding about the purpose of the task and to ensure that it is clearly linked to the understanding goals. The tasks need to have the intellectual quality to challenge students to use high-order thinking. Tasks also need to consider the learning needs of all students and be designed to allow all students to demonstrate their understanding. Questions to ask when designing tasks: Purpose What is the principal purpose of the task? Does the learner understand its purpose? Is the task engaging and significant for the learner? Does it allow for demonstration of conceptual understanding? Will it provide evidence relevant to understanding goals and the outcomes and standards? Intellectual quality Does the task involve higher order thinking, deep conceptual understanding and transfer of knowledge? Is the task open-ended enough to challenge students to demonstrate understanding at their highest level? Will the task allow students to go further than they have in the past? Will the task be accessible to all students? Does the task involve knowledge that is problematic and open to multiple perspectives? 26
Example: Designing effective assessment tasks Designing and evaluating technological solutions learning sequence for Standard 5 What s in a package? Generative Topic Unit-long Understanding Goals What s in a package? In this learning sequence, students investigate different forms of packaging and then design, produce and evaluate a value-added package for a particular purpose. 1. Students will understand why it is important to examine the features and purposes of packaging. Why is it important we investigate the features and purposes of packaging? 2. Students will understand that packaging has functional, aesthetic, social, environmental and ethical purposes and impacts. What are the purposes and impacts of packaging? 3. Students will understand how to develop and apply criteria for evaluating packaging. How will we develop and apply criteria for evaluating packaging? 4. Students will understand how to design, prepare, evaluate and modify a design proposal for a value-added package. How will we design, prepare, evaluate and modify our design proposal and then evaluate and modify it? UGs Culminating performances Ongoing assessment for learning, as learning and of and of learning 1, 2, Tell students that they will be making some packaging 3, 4 for a small, inexpensive item and that they will be working to a design brief. (a) Give groups a sample design brief (Appendix) and ask them to develop a design brief for packaging that they or another group in the class might develop. The design brief should: identify the item to be packaged (this must fit within an agreed budget and, at this stage, can be a general description such as a $5 toy or a corporate gift ) identify a target for the packaged item (e.g. a birthday present, The Giving Tree, school fair, younger class) give direction relating to the impact of the packaging (e.g. environmental, ethical) identify any requirements (e.g. packaging must include a hinged component) identify any constraints (e.g. must be safe for a particular age group) Teacher note: The following sites might help students to consolidate their understanding of package design. Assessment for learning: During the teacher student interview, assess individual student s understanding of the process of developing the design brief and give feedback. Assessment of learning: Assess the degree to which students incorporated the requirements of the task into the design brief. Assessment of learning: Assess the degree to which students understand: the features and purposes of packaging that packaging has functional, aesthetic, social, environmental and ethical purposes and impacts how to develop and apply criteria for evaluating packaging View online: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/planning/units7_10/technol/wherekeepit/default.htm 27
Differentiation Does the task allow all students to demonstrate their understandings at the highest possible standard? Does it require students to make connections with other contexts? Are there various ways of representing understanding? Can the task be scaffolded to maximise learning for all students? Example of a culminating performance and assessing as, of and for learning How fair are representations of families? Context: Communicating Being literate learning sequence at Standard 4 Culminating 1, 2, performances 3, 4 1, 2 3, 4 h) Ask students to work in pairs to construct a new type of family structure to be used in a print advertising campaign, television program or feature film which hasn t been seen before. Have students develop criteria to self-assess the new family structure and negotiate how they will present their representation in a mode and medium of their choice. Invite students to introduce the new family structure to the class. These culminating performances involve students being able to access all four resources. i) Ask students to use a journal or graphic organiser to highlight what they have learned about the concepts of family, diversity and representation through print advertisements, television and feature film. These culminating performances involve students being able to participate in making of texts, use texts and critically analyse texts. Assessment as learning: Invite students to work in pairs to develop a rubric for these culminating performances. Assessment for learning: Use students collaboratively developed rubric to assess their developing understanding of family representation in texts. Assessment of learning: Assess students ability to: construct a family representation present their representation in an appropriate mode and medium explain the main elements of their representation to others demonstrate their understanding of the concepts of family, diversity and representation in reflective writing or through a graphic organiser. Assessment as learning: Have students reflect on what and how they have learned about family representations in texts. View the learning sequence online: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/planning/units7_10/english/howfairfamilies/default.htm 28
Example: Increasing complexity in assessing Marine sequences increasing complexity in assessing the culminating performances Focus essential: World futures Investigating the natural and constructed world Understands how to scientifically investigate the natural and constructed world, appreciating the tentative nature of knowledge and the value of creative, imaginative and speculative thinking. Understanding systems Understands that the social, natural and constructed world is made up of a complex web of relationships or systems. Creating sustainable futures Understands the environmental principles and ethical issues involved in creating and working towards sustainable future. Standard 2 Standard 3 Standard 4 Standard 5 Assessment of learning Assessment of learning Assessment of learning Assessment of learning Assess students ability to: explain the principle of cause and effect in the context of the Tasmanian marine environment. Students will: suggest what might happen through their understandings of the Tasmanian marine environment make predictions based on an understanding of past and present contexts Assess students understanding of: the different ways humans can affect parts of the Tasmanian marine environment. the impacts that they have some control over. Students will: suggest the different ways humans can impact on the Tasmanian marine environment recognise that there is a relationship between human actions and impacts on the Tasmanian marine environment understand that they can contribute to the deterioration and to the improvement of the Tasmanian marine environment. Assess students ability to: evaluate benefits of guidelines or rules uncover underlying common assumptions about fishing assess the risks and limitations of not complying with the guidelines or rules. Students will: evaluate and assess information about the guidelines or rules identify common assumptions about fishing use critical thinking strategies to examine the guidelines and rules and identify consequences, strengths and weaknesses, and possibilities generate and articulate points of view. Assess student ability to: accurately describe decision-making processes determine where in the process community voices can be heard and make a difference critique the decisionmaking processes in play on real issues in their community identify power structures in place identify the range of outcomes possible, including those that may not support their position predict different outcomes according to: - when they take action (in the decision-making process) - the nature of their action (what they do and how well they do it) - the groups or individuals that they target. View the learning sequence overview online: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/planning/unitsamples/marine_overview/overview.htm 29
5. How can we collect and record evidence and build shared judgements about student learning? Document teaching programs Individual teachers plans should reflect the whole school curriculum design plan. It is also important for teachers to keep records of the scope and sequence of their curriculum plans and how these might be developed over time into studies that build cumulative understanding about a significant concept. From teachers records, schools can plan for a balanced and sequenced program from year to year, ensuring that students learn about the key concepts over the period of their schooling. Keep track of student progress Monitoring involves teachers in keeping records of each student s performance and progress, providing feedback to students on their achievements and working collaboratively with colleagues to share knowledge about monitoring processes and results. Monitoring what students are learning, what they appear to have learned so far and how far they have progressed towards desirable outcomes, has always presented challenges for teachers. In an outcomes-based curriculum which involves multiple demonstrations of student understanding over time and contexts, the need to keep precise and useful records is more important than ever. Recording needs to be focused on evidence of student understanding over time. The formative component of the Student Assessment and Reporting Information System (SARIS) will enable teachers to track student achievement in ways that can both inform future learning and support reporting requirements. Additional ideas for recording will be progressively published on the LTAG. The example opposite illustrates a form some teachers have developed to facilitate recordkeeping to enable student progress to be entered on Departmental systems and to be communicated to students and their families. With the advent of the teacher lap-top program, other record-keeping processes using ICT will be developed and shared. 30
Essential Assessment Record Name of student PERSONAL SOCIAL WORLD FUTURES RESPONSIBILITY FUTURES THINKING COMMUNICATING Creating sustainable futures Designing and evaluating technological solutions Understanding systems Investigating the natural and constructed world Understanding the past, creating the future Acting democratically Valuing diversity Building social capital Creating and pursuing goals Being ethical Maintaining wellbeing Building and maintaining identity and relationships Being arts literate Being information literate Being numerate Being literate Reflective thinking Inquiry Date Task 31
Ongoing assessing, which was described on page 22, is strongly emphasised in an Essential Learnings curriculum and involves creating opportunities for students to give feedback to one another and to receive feedback from the teacher. The Harvard Education web site (http://learnweb.harvard.edu/alps/tfu/info3f.cfm) offers several techniques to make keeping records of this kind of assessment more manageable. Not every performance needs to be assessed formally. Feedback can be given verbally and informally as students work in small groups or in class discussion. Keep criteria lists to the few items that are stated in the understanding goals and that really matter. Take time to explain the criteria and to teach students how to give supportive critiques for each others work. Many of the strategies and tools described in this document in relation to assessing are also relevant to record keeping. For example, checklists, anecdotal records and portfolios serve both purposes. Teachers should select appropriate tools and strategies for particular purposes. Ensure consistency of teacher judgement Consistency of teacher judgement is important to ensure that all students receive fair and reliable information about progress in their learning. Although judgement of a student s performance should be based on evidence, sometimes judgement can be subjective and unintentionally biased. Bias occurs when, for example, criteria not intended to be judged in assessing the performance such as attractive presentation or correct grammar in a written mathematics assignment are included in awarding credit. Rubrics can improve the reliability of judgement by making the criteria for evaluating performance explicit. There are a number of other means of improving the reliability of collaborative assessments about a student s performance and building consistency of teacher judgement. Moderating assessments, and using protocols to guide the process, enables teachers to compare their judgement with colleagues within and across year groups. The findings of the Queensland School Curriculum Council research project to identify and describe strategies that support consistency of teacher judgement about student demonstration of core learning outcomes (page vi) are listed on page 34. 32
The following questions are provided to guide teachers decisions about record keeping: What is the purpose of this record? In terms of efficiency of time and effort, records that can serve a number of purposes are particularly useful. How can I keep a record of this information about a student s progress in a way that will enable the information to be used in a variety of contexts? Try to aim at recording things only once! When should different types of records be used? For example, checklists help to keep track of steps undertaken, what essential information/skills have been mastered, etc., but they do not assist in judging quality or progress against standards. In what ways can rubrics be used to assist in keeping a record of progress? Rubrics can provide detailed information about the quality of progress against indicators which can be linked to the standards. However, rubrics which simply specify quantity can recite one, two or three poems, for example seldom mirror the complexity of learning goals. Is this the right kind of evidence to keep, and is there a logical jump from this particular task to a more general statement of understanding? How many samples of student performance do we need before we can make generalisations about their achievement? Based on this task, how accurate is my decision about a student s work and how many tasks similar to this one must a student perform in order for me to make a decision with any assurance of reliability? Do I need to keep a record of an individual s progress when they are part of a group? Wiggins and McTighe (1998) suggest that a task should yield appropriate evidence to judge the understanding of every student and assessments should reflect individual contributions and achievements. If a task does not do this, it should be re-designed. Why is it useful to keep samples of student work, and what kinds of samples should I keep? How much should students be involved in selecting the work to be kept? Is the work included in a portfolio representative of what students can do? What role should students play in the selection? Wiggins (1998, p.191) suggests that far fewer samples are needed than people typically imagine and that careful pruning of the portfolio based on specific rubrics will likely result in a far smaller, but more telling, collection of artefacts than many teachers commonly deal with. What should be kept from descriptive records taken over the year, such as notes from observations and conferences? What is my school s policy about retaining assessment records that meets the Assessment, Monitoring and Assessment Policy guidelines? 33
Most teachers in the project found the following strategies useful in promoting consistency. Planning collaboratively this involved two or more teachers either planning the same activities to address the same learning outcomes, or planning different activities to address the same outcomes. Teachers found that this strategy promoted understanding about how to design experiences that enable students to achieve and to demonstrate achievement against particular outcomes. Using a common assessment task this involved teachers collaboratively planning and then individually using an assessment task. Some teachers found this strategy useful in reaching a common understanding of the task requirements; others found that differences in their contexts made consistent implementation challenging. Developing common criteria this involved teachers in a group designing assessment criteria, not a task, for each of the outcomes. They found that the criteria enabled them to make observations across time, therefore getting a truer picture of what a child is capable of achieving. Collaboratively developed rubrics fulfil this function of establishing common criteria. Comparing student work (moderation) this involved teachers meeting to compare samples of student work and to discuss and compare the judgements they had made about the level at which students had demonstrated achievement of outcomes. They found that the strategy highlighted the wide range of evidence that could demonstrate achievement of outcomes. Sharing understandings about the learning outcomes this involved teachers discussing the meaning of each outcome and identifying what student demonstration of these outcomes might look like. The process developed shared understanding and common expectations and provided professional support in reaching understandings. Sharing understandings about assessment this involved sharing understandings about the process of assessment and about specific assessment tasks and criteria for judgement. The strategy increased teacher confidence in their judgement and caused them to rethink some tasks and criteria. In addition, these strategies also provide a framework for a systematic approach to school-based professional learning around the core business of teaching improving student learning outcomes (Queensland School Curriculum Council, 2004). Make on-balance judgements The final decision about assigning a progression level within a standard when assessing student work for reporting purposes should be an on-balance judgement. 34
Questions to consider in reaching on-balance judgements are: Over what time period did these assessments occur? Which are early attempts and do later attempts show progress achieved? Do the assessments indicate achievement of the standard in a range of contexts? Are some of the assessments more significant in terms of progress than others? Are all assessment tasks equally valid? Are some more reliable or useful? Is each assessment recorded more a reflection of the quality of the assessment task or the capacity of the individual student? Can frequency of assessment provide enough evidence of a valid allocation of a standard? What other factors need to be considered in making a fair and valid on-balance judgement? Teachers develop common understandings of the outcomes and standards and the evidences needed to make valid judgements through discussion with colleagues in their school and around the state. Understanding about assessing checklist The following questions might: help teachers check their understanding prior to professional learning sessions be revisited at intervals for reflection with colleagues be used as a planning tool for individual or team professional learning. DO I know what is meant by a performance view of understanding? understand concept-based teaching and learning? understand the performance guidelines and continuum of learning described by the standards for the focus key element? discuss with colleagues the characteristics of learners in terms of the continuum? know how to use the Tasmanian Essential Learnings Assessment Protocol to work with others to examine student work and work towards consistency of judgement about student achievement? appreciate the significance of task design in enabling students to adequately demonstrate their understanding? understand how to link assessing with understanding goals and how to build ongoing assessment and feedback into each part of a learning sequence? organise criteria for assessing understanding into rubrics? understand the use of varied entry points to accommodate different learners and know how to modify the conceptual complexity of understanding goals to support inclusive practice? know how to involve learners in assessing processes? 35
6. What are useful strategies and tools for assessing? Since the primary purpose of assessing is to improve learning, teachers use a range of strategies and tools to enable students to demonstrate understanding and to assess their own and others learning. Tools can be as informal as teacher checklists which are used to note what students can do, or not yet do. They can be more formal or structured and inform teachers about where intervention is required to help students to develop particular skills. The Kindergarten Development Check is an example of such a checklist. Similarly, the Outcomes and Standards of the Essential Learnings and other benchmarks are used to certify that students have achieved particular levels of competence The strategies and tools listed alphabetically below show ways of: using descriptions of learning to assess student performance collaboratively assessing performances recording student learning including different perspectives. Assessments of skills and processes these usually occur within a sequence of learning and reveal to the teacher the level of relevant skills students have in order to undertake tasks and where they need further instruction. Assessment tasks are designed by the teacher to enable students to demonstrate achievement against specific outcomes and standards of the Essential Learnings. Such tasks should be integrated with teaching and learning and require knowledge to be applied in ways similar to real-world. Benchmarks a benchmark is a designated standard of performance. The Department, for example, uses Literacy and Numeracy monitoring test results to report to the Australian Government about the percentage of students achieving National Benchmarks in Years 3, 5 and 7. The national literacy and numeracy benchmarks represent a minimum standard believed necessary for students to be able to continue their learning. Checklists these list attributes, qualities or skills that teachers expect of students. They are often used in conjunction with learning stories or anecdotal records that describe the context in which the learning took place. While limited in the amount of information they can contain and convey, checklists enable a quick record to be made of students demonstrations of particular skills or qualities. Used together with a teacher s description of the learning context the task set, the materials being used or the role the student took in a group activity, for example, they become more informative. Some aspects of literacy learning lend themselves to checking off as students demonstrate alphabet knowledge, concepts of print and recognition that written symbols carry consistent meaning, for example. Collaborative assessment processes these involve teachers using student work as a starting point for discussion about learning, teaching and student achievement. Talking with colleagues in an open spirit of inquiry deepens participants understanding about what they are assessing and the evidence on which they are making a judgement. Having an agreed set of protocols structures the teacher conversations so they are productive, inclusive and positive. Protocols and their uses are detailed on the LTAG: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/proflearn/commlearn/protocols.htm 36
An example of a learning journal peer-assessment response sheet Assessment criteria: Group participation My peers 1. described what locality was to be investigated. 2. identified the kind of information required to complete the task. 3. identified sources of information. 4. identified what she/he could contribute to the investigation. Code Met this criterion well Met this criterion in part Did not meet this criterion 5. identified ways other group members could help. 6. framed questions for the group to use.. 7. suggested ways to present the group information Names Assessment criteria Comments Name: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Topic: Name: Topic: Name: Topic: 37
Exemplars these are samples of work that demonstrate the essential characteristics of performance to meet particular standards or criteria. When teachers and students examine an exemplar to reveal its key features, it helps to make explicit the criteria for judging quality and the connections between the task and the understanding goals. Annotated work resulting from the calibrated tasks can be viewed at: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/calibration/tasks.htm Journals or learning logs provide students with specific and ongoing documentation of processes, ideas, feelings, thoughts, questions and comments about their work. A journal can be private or shared. Keeping a journal provides evidence of insights and changes in thinking and understanding and enables reflection on the learning so far, identifies instructional needs and helps set future learning goals. Learning markers these highlight students increasing competence as they engage with the five areas of the Essential Learnings. The markers for young children are detailed in Essential Connections and derive from practitioner observation and research. They suggest interim steps in learning as students progress towards various standards. Observations teachers are constantly observing students while they are learning, noting what they can do well and where they need help to do better. Observations may be of an individual, a group or the whole class; they may be planned or incidental. Sometimes, observations are recorded as anecdotal records, teacher notes or on checklists for discussion with students and families and to inform teacher planning. Outcomes these describe goals for student achievement in relation to each Key Element of the Essential Learnings. They guide teacher planning. Peer-assessment Peer-assessment occurs when students provide feedback to other learners about their learning. The feedback could be about the content or process or presentation of the work. To be effective, peer-assessment should be structured, planned for and take place in an environment of trust. Peer-assessors should be trained in the process, and protocols for constructive feedback established. Performance assessments provide opportunities for students to show how their understanding is developing and what they have come to understand by the end of a study or inquiry. They are assessed against clear, public criteria linked to understanding goals and consistent expectations. Portfolios these are focused, methodical collections of student work, built up over time by the teacher, in collaboration with the student. They demonstrate growth in student learning by documenting key examples of success and are frequently used in three-way conversations between students, parents and teachers to highlight progress. When portfolios are used for assessing and reporting, teachers need to supervise and validate what is included. 38
Example of a learning journal page: throwing and catching (Year 2) Name: Partner: Day/Date: Colour in the face that expresses your feelings about the activity: Looked Did you work well with your partner? Circle yes or no Yes No Why? easy or hard Sounded easy or hard Felt easy or hard Other comments 39
Digital portfolios Digital portfolios (or eportfolios) are selective and purposeful collections of student work or achievements that are stored electronically. They are records of learning, growth and change and can provide information to students, parents, teachers, and members of the community about what students have learned or are able to do. Digital portfolios can include varied media such as text, graphics, video and sound. The Department of Education Student Digital Portfolio (SDP) will enable strong links between a student s planning, learning and the curriculum. This will facilitate the collection of evidence of learning for assessment against the curriculum outcomes and standards. Access by parents is a goal for the future. Examples of digital portfolios are available on the LTAG: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/strategies/clarence.htm http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/strategies/edith.htm Protocols provide a structure for managing a conversation about student work. Protocol discussions can provide rich material for future reference. Protocols specify the roles different people in a group will play, usually including a facilitator, a presenter, a recorder and participants. The Collaborative Assessment Conference is focused on assessing as and assessing for, rather than assessing of student learning. Teachers interpret evidence of student learning without evaluation or judgement. The Collaborative Assessment Conference is a question raising/problem finding mechanism. (Seidel 1998, pp.21 39) The Tuning Protocol is designed to develop common standards for students work and to support teachers instructional practice through focusing on student performances. The Tuning Protocol operates as a question answering/problem solving mechanism. (National Schools Network: http://www.nsn.net.au/) Tasmanian Essential Learnings Assessment Protocol enables teachers to make judgements about student learning in clear, manageable and consistent ways against the Essential Learnings Outcomes and Standards. Its purpose is to determine a standard against an outcome. Participants summarise their on-balance judgements and describe what other evidence they would need to see to decide that this student s work is of a particular standard. Detail about protocols and a guide for facilitators are provided on the LTAG: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/proflearn/commlearn/protocols.htm Rubric a rubric is a key that describes increasing levels of performance for an assessment task, or an aspect of an assessment task, such as a specific assignment, skill, project, essay, research paper or performance. Its purposes are to give informative feedback about work in progress and to give detailed evaluation of final products. All rubrics have two features in common: a list of criteria and gradations of achievement. (http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/strategies/default.htm). Rubrics make teacher expectations clear and they can support learning especially if students are involved in the development of the rubric. Rubrics work well in conjunction with exemplars. Examples of rubrics can be found at: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/assessment/strategies/examples.htm. 40
My unique ecosystem rubric Context: World futures Creating sustainable futures at Standard 4 1. Students will understand the impact of themselves and others on their environment and plan ways to minimise that impact. 2. Students will understand ethical concerns which should govern the way we use the environment. 3. Students will understand how organisms interact within ecosystems. 4. Students will understand the ways we can sustain ecosystems. UG Performance Criteria 1 2 3 4 4 Poses a good openended question and introduces their topic, which provides background information and context Teacher provides the question With teacher assistance, student has developed a question that allows for limited research In negotiation with teacher, student has developed an open question that allows for further research Independently developed an open question that allows for detailed exploration of identified issues 1 Understands the impact of humans on the ecosystem Observes and records a list of impacts humans have on the ecosystem Identifies causes for observed impacts humans have on the ecosystem Discusses the overall effects humans have had on the ecosystem over time Draws on understanding gained through studying various ecosystems to interpret present and predict future possible impacts on the ecosystem studied 1 Discusses how human can preserve the ecosystem Lists ways humans can sustain their ecosystem Describes some ways humans can sustain their ecosystem Discusses an overall plan humans can implement to sustain their ecosystem Uses understandings gleaned from studying other ecosystems to develop an overall management plan to sustain their ecosystem 2 Discusses ethical issues Lists ethical issues relating to their ecosystem Describes how ethical concerns impact on their ecosystem Discusses their management options in ethical terms Uses knowledge of ethical issues from another ecosystem to plan for ethical concerns in their ecosystem 3 Demonstrates understanding of the links within the ecosystem Lists relationships between organisms in the ecosystem Describes simple relationships between organisms in the ecosystem Discusses complex relationships between organisms in the ecosystem Uses knowledge of other ecosystems to discus possibilities for relationships which may develop in their ecosystem 4 Makes a reasoned conclusion Draws a conclusion Draws a conclusion with some reasons Draws a conclusion with well constructed supporting argument Uses knowledge of other ecosystems to support a well justified conclusion View the learning sequence online: http://ltag.education.tas.gov.au/planning/units7_10/science/ecosystems/default.htm 41
Tasmanian Essential Learnings Assessment Protocol 1. Introduction [5 minutes] Facilitator introduces the protocol: goals; norms; and agenda. Presenter and participants briefly introduce themselves. 2. Teacher Presentation [10 minutes] Presenter describes the context for the student work, including: key element(s); guiding question; understanding goals; description of the task; scoring rubric etc. Participants read or view the student work. 3. Clarifying questions [5 minutes] Participants ask clarifying questions of the Presenter. Facilitator judges if questions are appropriately clarifying. 4. Pause for Reflection [5 minutes] Participants make notes of evidence that student work meets a certain standard and note what kind of evidence is not apparent. 5. Clarifying questions Reprise [5 minutes] Participants have an opportunity to ask further clarifying questions that may arise from their reflection. 6. Evidence(s) that the student s work meets (or does not meet) a particular standard [15 minutes] Participants share evidence that the student work meets a particular standard and note significant gaps in the evidence, given that certain judgement against a standard would not be made on one work sample. Presenting teacher is silent. 7. Summarising on-balance judgements. [5 minutes] Participants summarise their onbalance judgements and describe what other evidence they would need to see to decide that this student s work is at a particular standard. 8. Reflection/Response [10 minutes] Presenter reflects on and responds to those comments or questions he or she chooses to. Participants are silent. Facilitator may clarify or lend focus. 9. Debrief [5 minutes] Beginning with the Presenter and the question How did the protocol experience compare with what you expected? the group discusses any positive reactions, frustrations, or misunderstandings participants have experienced. More general discussion of the protocol may develop. 10. Close The session concludes with acknowledgement of and thanks to the presenting teacher. Acknowledgement: This protocol has been designed with reference to the Tuning Protocol, developed by Joseph McDonald and David Allen for the Coalition of Essential Schools (1992) http://www.essentialschools.org/cs/resources/view/ces_res/54 42
Tasmanian Essential Learnings Assessment Protocol Participants reflection notes Please use this sheet in conjunction with the Protocol to record notes to assist your reflection and discussion. Introduction Teacher Presentation Clarifying Questions Pause for reflection/evidence Note evidence that student work meets / does not meet a standard Summarising on-balance judgements Note key points that arise What other evidence would I need to see? Reflection/Response Note any issues raised by the Presenting Teacher Debrief Reflect on the process For more information visit: http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au/proflearn/commlearn/protocols.htm 43
Student self-assessment through becoming skilled in self-assessment, students take more responsibility for their own learning, come to recognise the next steps in their learning and understand their best ways of learning and how to get maximum value from their strengths. As students will not automatically have the skills to undertake self-assessment, it is important to: provide models and demonstrations of learning a good essay, report or multimedia presentation, for example and unpack their features with students teach students reflective thinking processes and how to plan their learning and check their thinking and understanding decide with students how they will gather, organise and record evidence of their learning help students to reflect critically and constructively on their progress and set new targets for their learning ensure that the classroom climate values error as a platform for improving learning. Standards these specify the level at which a student demonstrates understanding. They cover the period from around age four (Standard 1) to approximately end of year 10 (Standard 5) and form the basis of planning, assessing, monitoring and reporting. Teacher-student assessment conferences enable assessment data to be shared and explicit feedback provided. These conferences can be quite brief and may be individual or undertaken with a group of students, with the teacher providing information on how well students are meeting curriculum goals. Actions to be taken as a result of the conference should be recorded. Teacher-teacher assessment conferences are a form of collaborative assessing. In such conferences teachers use student work as a starting point for deepening their own understanding about what they are assessing and the evidence needed to make a judgement about the standard of the work. Collaboration leads to more fair, valid and reliable assessing. Collaborative assessing is greatly enhanced by the use of protocols. 44
7. What is the place of monitoring and reporting? Monitoring refers to a series of assessments done over a period of time. At the classroom and school level, the purpose of monitoring is to keep track of and analyse developments in students learning, assess their progress towards goals, and facilitate program evaluation to inform future planning and accountability (Assessment, Monitoring & Reporting Policy, 2002 p.5). Reporting is communication to stakeholders about the information obtained from assessing and monitoring (AM&R Policy, p.7). Reporting gives parents and carers a chance to participate in decisions about a child s education. Reporting is most valuable therefore when the communication is clear, open and respectful. Research indicates that parents and carers are quite specific about the information they want about their children s learning. Parents and carers want to be: kept well informed about their children s progress; given information about achievement and progress in both academic and non-academic areas of learning; informed about both the strengths and weaknesses of their children; provided with pertinent and constructive advice about how they can support their children s learning (Cuttance & Stokes 2001). The DoE Assessment, Monitoring and Reporting Policy and Strategic Plan provide teachers with up-to-date information about reporting requirements. View online: http://www.education.tas.gov.au/oer/amrpolicy/default.htm The Student Assessment and Reporting Information System SARIS (see p.47) will be used as the mechanism for entering the summative assessments for all students against those key element outcomes that have been calibrated. SARIS is a flexible, electronic recording, storage and reporting system that will integrate schoolbased assessment with reporting to parents. There will also be a formative component of SARIS for those teachers who wish to use it to manage assessment information. Formative SARIS permits teachers to enter comments and formative ratings against student activities and share those activities, comments and ratings with others who also teach those students. It includes a dialogue tool to allow on-line conversations with colleagues and students in a collaborative, documented way. 45
System monitoring and reporting requirements At the system level, monitoring is used to keep track of student achievements in relation to agreed standards and, thereby, to evaluate the impact of system-level initiatives and to provide advice to the system concerning areas requiring additional support (AM&R Policy, p.7). The statewide monitoring tests are designed to assess aspects of literacy and numeracy. The items (or questions and tasks) are designed to assess a wide range of student ability within the domain assessed: some items can be answered correctly by nearly all of the target population; others can only be answered correctly by a very small percentage of the target population. All items are written by classroom teachers or trained item writers, and are first trialled to ensure they are suitable. Then, all suitable items are subjected to final review and selection by classroom teachers, principals, curriculum experts and others. The tests are designed to ensure proper fit of items, a range of item difficulties, and high validity and reliability. Results are analysed using the most up-to-date measurement models. Australia leads the world in developing and using these models. The main purpose of the monitoring tests is to inform policy decisions by providing the Department with information at a system level, and to answer questions such as: Has the performance in reading in Year 5 increased, decreased or remained roughly the same over the past decade? Has the gap between boys and girls in literacy remained the same, increased or decreased over the past three years? What proportion of Year 3 students has achieved the National Year 3 Reading Benchmark standard? What is the effect of socioeconomic status on numeracy performance? None of these questions can be answered by classroom-designed tests or assessments. The way in which monitoring-test results are used in Tasmania and other parts of Australia is different from other systems. Monitoring test results are not used to assign students grades or awards in literacy or numeracy. The Department has always taken the view that monitoring test results like those from any other one-off assessment, whatever its nature give only part of the whole picture of a student s performance and are therefore not appropriate to use as a summative assessment of student performance. Schools are provided with individual, class and school reports from the statewide monitoring program so that parents can be informed and teachers and the school can work towards improved learning outcomes. 46
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Teachers need to be familiar with all aspects of the Assessment, Monitoring and Reporting Policy (2002) which clearly outlines requirements for assessment, monitoring and reporting. Responsibilities for students, teachers, parents/carers, principals, School Councils (Associations) and other areas of the Department of Education are also described. For details about timelines for reporting refer to the Office for Educational Review website at http://www.education.tas.gov.au/oer/ Schools are required to negotiate a reporting agreement with parents and teachers stating: the number of reports to be offered during the year when reporting will take place how student results from all monitoring programs will be shared with parents. National monitoring and reporting In addition to statewide reporting and monitoring under the National Literacy and Numeracy Plan, all states and territories have agreed to report student achievement data against national benchmarks to the community through the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) Annual National Report on Schooling in Australia. Part of the reporting arrangements to MCEETYA is the presentation of an update of A Measurement Framework for National Key Performance Measures: http://www.mceetya.edu.au/taskfrce/task224.htm. Most current national activity is focusing on key performance measures associated with: literacy and numeracy science literacy civics and citizenship education information and communication technologies. Australia also participates in a number of international studies of student achievement. While the emphasis in these areas is assessment of learning at a point in time, systems, schools and teachers can use the data collected to develop teachers understanding and assessing practice and to improve student learning outcomes. The Quality Moderation of Assessments Process The Quality Moderation of Assessments Process (Qmap) is being implemented from 2005 to support teachers in developing consistency of judgement. Qmap has two purposes: Improvement to provide professional learning so that teachers can work together to understand the standards and assess student work. Accountability to assure the community that there is consistency in applying the standards. 48
Qmap is based on a two-year cycle for each calibrated key element outcome and has four components: cluster-based professional learning focused on tasks from calibrated key elements Guiding Assessment Tasks developed collaboratively by teachers, School Education Division and Office for Educational Review staff, focused on Years 6 and 10 for all students Guiding Assessment Tasks that involve schools submitting work produced by a sample of students against designated common tasks school level moderation to enable teacher conferences about teaching, learning and assessment and to assist teachers to align their assessment work with the established standards. 49
8. Further support material A range of other materials and programs have been produced and are accessible to support teachers to continue to implement the Essential Learning Frameworks and associated assessing, monitoring and reporting practices. These resources include: The Essential Learnings community CD: A Curriculum for the C21 contains key messages about the new curriculum and is valuable in opening discussion with parents and the community. The Learning, Teaching and Assessment Guide (LTAG): http://www.ltag.education.tas.gov.au is a practical collection of models for effective teaching and assessing, professional learning processes and ways to work with parents and communities. New materials are continually being added to the Guide. Planning Learning Sequences, a book linked to the LTAG, which outlines a clear and useful process for constructing learning sequences for students based on the Teaching for Understanding Framework. Guiding Learning Communities, a print and online package developed to provide school leaders and project officers with materials and processes to support professional learning in schools. Essential Connections: A guide to young children s learning assists early childhood teachers and child care professionals to implement the curriculum with young children. Users have found that it is a valuable tool for planning programs, assessing and tracking children s learning and recording learning to report to parents. ecentre for Teachers: The Assess Plan Teach area (shown opposite) of the ecentre for Teachers gives teachers access to all the assessing and planning support materials as well as the online tools. 50
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