Classroom Assessment Study Question Answers Book: Classroom Assessment & Grading that Work by Marzano. Chapter One The Case for Classroom Assessment 3. Why do you think classroom assessment is important? Can feedback both positively and negatively affect student learning? How can you assess your students work and give feedback so that it positively affects their learning? Consider what you know about drive and attribution theory. I believe assessment is critical because it provides both information about the extent to which a student understands the material under study and guidance about where the student can improve. Without assessment students would be left to their own interpretations, devoid of objective feedback. Even in the case of a self-study situation students need assessment to measure competence. Feedback, as Marzano argues, clearly affects student performance since both the quality of the feedback, as measured by how actionable it is in generating the potential for student improvement, as well as the emotions the feedback engenders affect student self-perception and subsequent response. Drive theory suggests that student motivation is largely derived by either success-orientation or the avoidance of failure. It is analogous to the propensity for people to classify the proverbial glass as either half-full or half-empty. These are deep-rooted human paradigms. Attribute theory argues that people assign the causes for success and failure differently, some being in their control and others not. Importantly, student achievement increases when they take accountability and ascribe their own effort as causal in their success or failure. Feedback, then, are stimuli that trigger strong emotional feelings that can serve to motivate or deflate student action. Therefore, teachers must provide students with feedback that encourages positive responses, such as giving specific ideas for improvement and not attacking the student s self-esteem as a learner. This means that where teachers mark student work as less than exemplary they need to point out specifically where the student needs to devote effort toward improvement, and where possible, teachers need to provide rubrics and exemplars so students can visualize and feel empowered to generate success. 4. Do you use both formative and summative assessments in your classroom? Why or why not? Give examples of when you use each to your students best advantage? I regularly use both formative and summative assessments, some of which are graded and some are not. Success in mathematics fundamentally involves the simultaneous building of conceptual understanding, problem solving skills, practice and the scaffolding of authentic applications problems. It is vital that students receive ongoing feedback as they develop success across the increasingly challenging continuum of mathematics learning.
I currently employ many strategies that benefit formative student understanding including unit preassessments, sample problems when I teach, assigning problems for students to work at their collaborative table clusters, directed questioning to students, open response questioning of the class, providing time at the end of class for students to begin homework during which I check in on student understanding, assigning homework problems including odd-numbered questions which students can check the answers against in the book, and asking for homework questions students want help with at the beginning of class. I typically do not assign a grade for these except in the case of homework where I typically assign a completion grade, looking for earnest student effort in solving problems. I also employ graded formative assessments generally in the form of quizzes that are included in the class grade as a component of quantifying student understanding. As I grade these quizzes in the color green, I grade from 100% down, give a check for correct work, point out specific incorrect solution steps and frequently write a love note next to the grade, providing encouragement and specific improvement advice where needed. The class day immediately preceding unit summative assessments I give a review session on key concepts including practice problems. I also offer individual tutoring sessions, have students create authentic projects and administer semester examinations. Chapter Three A Scale That Measures Learning over Time 1. Make a list of a few assessment systems. Consider the differences among them and the problems you have, if any, with each one. What do you like best about each type of assessment? For example, do they measure growth of each student s knowledge individually? Do they measure this year s group of students against last year s group? Do they measure what a particular student has learned in the course of the unit, semester, and year? System Plusses Minuses Growth/Time Point current teacher, administrator and parent familiarity simplicity potential for inaccurate measurement devoid of descriptors requires strong collaboration and alignment to be meaningful Simplified IRT Complete IRT deeper evaluation of understanding statistical accuracy deeper evaluation of understanding greater statistical accuracy perceived complexity requires extensive transition plan perceived complexity requires extensive transition plan identifies specific areas of strength and weakness lends itself to trend analysis identifies specific areas of strength and weakness lends itself to trend analysis
2. Consider the scores for students in figures 3.1 and 3.2 (pp. 31-32) and the overall discussion. Do point assignments and assessments that rely on them seem appropriate? Should the assessments that you administer overcome these sorts of inter-rater differences? Is that possible? I found the ten student, 8 th Grade science test discussion quite interesting and an excellent example of why collaborative teaching practices are critical. The study stated that the five experienced teachers independently assigned question weights and grading scales thereby practically guaranteeing disparate, inappropriate and, from a student perspective, unfair grading. Figure 3.3 speaks for itself. Schools must work to minimize this situation. My subject partner and I develop every graded assessment together, agree to question weights, include the weighting information on the assessment, and when grading we frequently check with each other on awarding partial credit in an attempt to minimize differences and maximize fairness. In my teaching experience, few issues create student furor more than perceived unfairness teacher practices. I have seen student motivation plummet in some classes as a result. From my perspective, the point system is not the issue, the lack of teacher alignment is. I have generally found the point system can work well in assigning a meaningful measure of student understanding, particularly in the study of mathematics where objective grading is not as difficult. No system will be perfect but it is possible to create sound grading systems when teachers make it a priority to do so. Chapter Four Designing Classroom Assessments 3. Consider your next classroom assessment. If it s not already drafted, does it include the three types of ideal assessment tasks and items? (Use the information on pp. 62-64 to evaluate it). If it s not already written, use the questions and information on pp. 62-64 to help you devise the assessment. We just began our Polynomials unit and have an upcoming formative assessment. My subject partner and I typically look at the prior year s assessment and make appropriate changes especially considering that this year we are using a new textbook, MacBooks, mathematics software such as Maths 300 and more web-based virtual manipulatives such as Gizmos. I evaluated last year s Polynomials Quiz and determined the first section represented Type I tasks, the second section contained Type II tasks and that there were no Type III questions. Per the separate file (Polynomials Ch 9 Quiz 0910 three items.doc) I added questions 16 and 17 to include all three types. 4. Think about the next few weeks of assessments in your classroom. Will there be opportunities for your students to show you what they know as in the form of forced choice items and tasks? Short, written responses? Essays? Oral responses and oral reports? Demonstrations and performances? Reconsider your assessments, if necessary, to incorporate as many of these assessments as possible. Help colleagues investigate ways to use these assessments. During the Polynomials unit I will be using Maths300 formative assessments that incorporate forced choice tasks. The Maths300 Algebra charts require students to mentally add, subtract and determine factors of polynomials by filling in two-
dimensional grids. There are two levels of difficulty and a timer option that the students love because they spontaneously initiate competitive exchanges with classmates to determine who can solve the grids most quickly. I will also search Gizmos Polynomials library for appropriate formative assessments. Gizmos allow students to dynamically model mathematic relationships and include a section of forced choice items, many of which are quite challenging, that are scored and reported back to the student. Again, students enjoy the challenge of achieving perfect scores. In the past we have sporadically included some short, written response items but I will add more in the current unit to assess students ability to construct logic and demonstrate their understanding of key principles. Chapter Five Assessments That Encourage Learning 2. What self-assessment practices can you use in your classroom? Is it practical to include an opportunity for students to use journals as vehicles for reflection? Can you provide a basic chart for students to record their scores on assessments? Can you include a column on the chart for students to assign their own scores? Marzano argues that these three assessment techniques encourage learning: students tracking their own progress, encouraging self-reflection and focusing on learning at the end of the grading period. As mentioned in my response to Chapter One- Question 4 above, my students have many self-assessment opportunities both in the classroom and independently. In the past students kept mental track of formative and summative assessment grades and frequently checked with me to find out their averages. With PowerSchool this year they can log-on and see every detail. As an extension, it would not be difficult to have students create an Excel spreadsheet and track the PowerSchool data as well as their individual non-graded formative assessment results. As mentioned in my response to Chapter Four- Question 1 of Fisher and Frey s book, I will have students start a reflection journal using their MacBooks. I have not determined the exact strategy but I envision a combination of Marzano s thoughts on journals, minute papers and muddy points. My initial thoughts are to have students create a running Word document and make daily entries the last five minutes of class where they reflect on the key concepts covered that day, what they understand well and what they would like further explained. I envision a template organized in three sections (Concepts, What I Understand Well and What I Would Like Clarification On) so as I do homework checks at the beginning of class students can open their Reflection Word document and I can quickly capture what they have shared in the three sections. Students might find they need to alter some of their reflections after completing homework and solidifying their understanding, which would certainly be acceptable. 4. Is averaging a student s scores on multiple assessments a true picture of his learning? Doesn t a low score on an early quiz and a high score on a final test for example, indicate that the student has learned and has mastery of the content? Why would the early quiz lower his final score or overall class grade? Is that appropriate? Does a low score on an early quiz and high score on a final assessment mean that he should have a lower score than the student who walked
into the class already having mastered the content? Consider the possibility that each student had identical scores on the final assessment. This is a complex question and not one that individual teachers should answer. To me, this is a philosophical question of what the school wants grades to reflect and there needs to be alignment and consistency at divisional, departmental and subject levels. There appears to be a growing trend of thought that all work prior to a unit summative assessment, or semester exam, is to be non-graded formative effort as students develop competency. The formative work may be assessed and measures applied but those measures are purely for feedback and improvement purposes, not to be used for grading outcome. This argument can be made but there are some important considerations. One issue is students are conditioned to and heavily influenced by extrinsic motivators, the most prominent one being grades that count. Many subjects use a weighted scale of grading such as homework completion counts 10%, quizzes and projects count 35% and tests count 55%. If a school moves to a grading system where effectively only one summative grade counts, wherein retests can be repeatedly taken, will students responsibly embrace the solely intrinsically motivated learning process steps of homework and formative assessments to yield maximum learning benefit? In other words, it we do not include homework completion and formative assessment results in grades might students give less than their best effort on formative work and focus seriousness of intent on summative assessments? Even if separate behavioral feedback is communicated to students and parents will it be sufficiently motivating or will grades that count continue to be the focus. If indeed retests are freely offered, will students apply the same serious preparation or perhaps not be so concerned since they know there will be another testing opportunity later after which they will have had what amounts to a practice session and can benefit from the additional time and look at the assessment? Is this cycle an efficient use of student and teacher time and does it promote the values the school stands for? If schools are preparatory institutions for college and the real world to what extent is the school s grading philosophy beneficial to what will be expected of its students in the future? A tandem issue is developmental appropriateness, success habit formation and the role grading needs play to promote maximum student learning. At the middle school level, where students understand quite well that grades do not count relative to college admissions since they are not recorded on transcripts, do the same motivators apply as for high school students? The same can be said for the developmental needs of elementary school students. These are but a few considerations and I repeat that this is a complex issue and one that warrants serious contemplation by school leaders. Chapter Six Final Scores and Grades 1. Is it feasible to expect individual teachers or groups of teachers to set up master grade books to track specific measurement topics? Or is it more realistic for the school or district to purchase software to take on that task? Consider the implications that will affect the use of the assessment system, including reliability
factors and availability of resources (including financial and personnel time and training.) Schools can require teachers to set up master grade books to measure student achievement on specific topics but perhaps school leaders should consider what is in students best interest, having teachers spend hours managing a spreadsheet or devote that time toward directly benefiting student learning and employ software to data manage. This is a matter of cost/benefit analysis and school leaders must focus on what it values most. If the school chooses to employ a software application it must determine the key design parameters such as the measures it wants to track, what attendant standards need to be imported, how it wants the data organized, what data analysis and reporting it wants to produce, what format options it wants and identify exporting needs. Teachers from multiple subject areas and divisions should be involved in the design phase to help ensure software package success and help generate ownership. The school can increase implementation effectiveness by frequently and transparently communicating throughout the project. Training will certainly need to be conducted and it would be helpful to solicit departmental or team members willing to act as ongoing local resources. 2. Consider the traditional use of letter grades and how that affects the performance of your students. Contrast that with the necessity of translating assessment outcomes to parents, other schools, colleges, and the community. Letter grades are a traditional construct used to classify a range in which student performance is deemed to fall. Without a plus/minus subset students scoring 80% receive the same score, a B, as students scoring 89%. This is hardly a true measure of individual understanding. Even with the addition of plus/minus subsets students are lumped into three or four point ranges, each receiving the same score. The letter grading system was devised prior to the wide availability of computational aids such as computer software, and they could still be used today as an overall singular measure for reporting simplicity and constituent use, such as by colleges, but they should be derived from a sufficient number of formative and summative assessments, each supplying students with actionable information on both demonstrated competence and ideas for further improvement. Percentage grades, used in my division, generate the perception of greater accuracy even if the scoring methodology used in a letter grade system is identical. The lumping of student achievement in multipoint letter grade bands appears arbitrary.