Intro V2.0c

ELED 417aPractical Assessment in the

Elementary Classroom ISpring 2008

How Much Assessment Goes On?• 2nd Grade Reading• WASL• SAT Prep• NAEP• GED• Kindergarten Screen• Vision and Hearing• Scoliosis• Special Ed• 504• Title/LAP• WLPT-II• COE• Senior Projects• Advanced Placement

• Highly Capable• District Assessment• Textbook Selection• Budget Monitoring• Program Assessment• Free and Reduced Lunch• School Lunch Program• Healthy Youth Survey• Drug Assessment• Sports• Drivers Training• Staff Needs Assessment• Teacher Evaluations• School Bus Safety• Class Environment

Key Terms

• Alignment—curriculum, instruction and assessment cover same material

• Alternative assessment—non-traditional testing such as portfolios

• Anchor—base of student performance that all others are evaluated against, also called an exemplar

• Authentic assessment—assessment that could be observed in real world situations

• Benchmark—standard set on a scale, such as student development

Key Terms

• Benchmark assessment—testing that measure progress toward standards

• Content standard—things that students are expected to be able to do in content areas

• Distractors—items, usually in a paper-pencil test designed to determine student’s ability to select correct response

• Essay—student written response to a prompt, may be open-ended or restricted

Key Terms

• Formative assessment—assessment conducted during instruction, usually used as a feedback tool

• Goal—broad description of what students should do• Grade Equivalent—GE an achievement score in years

and months that compares a student to a norm group• Holistic score—a score based upon a number of learner

characteristics

• Objective—refined description of what students should do

Key terms

• Performance assessment—assessment based upon a student demonstrating a specific task

• Personal communication—assessment based upon a student sharing their knowledge

• Portfolio—collection of student works used as basis of assessment

• Reliability—stable results over time, same assessment will get same results

Key Terms

• Rubric—established criteria to determine varying levels of performance

• Standards—clear targets that lay out levels of student performance, seen as performance or content standards

• Summative assessment—assessment at the end of an instructional unit, evidence of learning

• Validity—the power of inferences made from assessment

Key Terms

• Aptitude-Achievement Tests—Aptitude is a prediction of performance, achievement is a measure of performance.

• Criterion-Norm Referenced—Criterion tests measure to a set of standards, norm referenced tests measure standards compared to a measured group.

• Assessment-Evaluation—gathering student data on any number of variables—the process of making a determination based on assessment data

Brief History of Assessment

• 200 BCE--Han Dynasty tests for civil servants

• Middle ages--city states developed guilds• Revolutionary War--schools started to

become available for academic skills but stressed classical-religious education

• Mid 1800s—European classification systems became accepted

Brief History of Assessment

• Industrial Revolution—move to cities and public education became more available

• Horace Mann—argued for public education, well received by workers

• Calls came for better sorting of students resulting in growth of classification

• WWI—mass assessment began with Army Alpha

Brief History of Assessment

• Out of Army Alpha, group tests began on limited scope in schools

• WWII—end of war saw the start of the baby boom and need for mass assessment in schools

• “Why Johnny Can’t Read”—Bill Bradley equated failure to read with foreign attacks

• Saw the use of high stakes tests

Brief History of Assessment

• Court challenges to assessment and educational practice began to increase

• Supreme Court—diploma is a property right so 14th Amendment due process applies

• Debra P. 644F.2d, 5th Cir. 1981 established a four-prong test for assessments

Brief History of Assessment

• Four core rights– Right to a fair test;– right to have teachers adequately prepare

them in the material on the test;– the right to expect the test itself, the way it is

being used, and the adequacy of the preparation will meet professional and academic standards;

– have a fair chance to pass the test.

Brief History of Assessment

• 1970-1980s courts became very involved

• Recently they are backing off

• 2000 Supreme Court refused to hear a case from parents that argued tests affect promotion. Promotion isn’t guaranteed under constitution.

• 2002—Owasso V. Falvo

Brief History of Assessment

• 1993 Washington State—ESHB 1209– Commission on Student Learning– EALRs– WASL

• No Child Left Behind– Assess Reading and Math in grades 3-8 and

high school

• What did Dr. Bergeson do?

Four Core Rights• Right to a fair test;• right to have teachers adequately prepare

them in the material on the test;• the right to expect the test itself, the way it

is being used, and the adequacy of the preparation will meet professional and academic standards;

• have a fair chance to pass the test.

• Let’s look at OSPI documents

Right to a Fair Test• “Classroom teachers and curriculum specialists

from across Washington were selected to assist with the development of the questions for the state-level assessments.”

• “A separate "fairness" committee, composed of individuals reflective of Washington's diversity, also reviewed all questions for words or content that might be offensive to students or parents, or might disadvantage some students for reasons unrelated to the skill or concept being assessed.”

Adequately Prepared

Test Meets Professional Standards

• 1-26-04 – “Based on these documents and other studies and reports presented to the National (TAC), we can make the following statements:– This committee concludes that the WASL

meets the relevant standards of validity as prescribed by the national Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (AERA, APA, and NCME 1999)…”

Fair Chance to Pass Test

• “An "Example Test" and "Assessment Sampler" for each of the operational assessments were created for teachers, students, and parents.”

• “Senate Bill 6475 authorizes the development and implementation of three alternative methods for obtaining a Certificate of Academic Achievement.”

Alternatives• “Comparing the student’s grades with the grades of

other students who took the same courses and who met the standard on the WASL.”

• “A collection of work samples created by the student (Collection of Evidence), which also is to include specific collections designed for students in programs leading to a national or state industry certificate.”

• “Obtaining a score on the mathematics components of the PSAT, ACT, or SAT that is equivalent to passing the WASL as determined by the State Board of Education.”

State assessment is at a turning point

• This year meeting WASL standards is required for graduation

• Alternatives have been added and various ways to demonstrate how standards were met may have weakened the case for state assessment

• Presidential election—NCLB may be called into question

What about classroom assessment?

The concept of alignment

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

What you know

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

What you know

What previous teachers taught

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

What you know

What previous teachers taught

What textbooks include

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

What you know

What previous teachers taught

What textbooks include

Developmentalappropriate

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

What you know

What previous teachers taught

What textbooks include

Developmentalappropriate

Standards

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

WHAT IS TAUGHT

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

WHAT IS TAUGHT

TESTED

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

WHAT IS TAUGHT

TESTED

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

WHAT IS TAUGHT

TESTED

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

WHAT IS TAUGHT

TESTED

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

WHAT IS TAUGHT

TESTED

MSP MOTH TEST

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

WHAT IS TAUGHT

TESTED

MSP MOTH TEST

Let’s look at page 7, Figure 1.1 in your text

General Learning Goals and Objectives

• Where do they come from?– EALRs/GLEs– Textbook

– Teacher made

• What purpose are we teaching to?– Academic

• Enrichment or corrective

– Other desirable goals

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

WHAT IS TAUGHT

Goals and objectives assure that what you select for here is actually what is appropriate for the grade level being taught.

Pre-instruction Assessment

• What is the purpose?

• Determine what skills students come with

• Determine what gaps students come with• Determine sequence of instruction

• Determine time allocation of instruction

• Identify future assessment needs

• Level instruction based on student need

EVERYTHING KNOWN ABOUT MOTHS

WHAT IS TAUGHT

TESTED

Pre-instruction assessment helps determine this

Specific Learning Targets

• What is it that we want students to know and be able to do

• GLEs?• Knowledge• Thinking• Behavior• Product• Affect

Determine Acceptable Evidence of Learning

• How do we know they know?– GLE mastery– Points

– Rubrics– Checklists– Other evidence

• Clear that it is determined prior to instruction

Instructional Plan

• WWU lesson plan– Includes section for assessment– Section is open format, now what

• What assess, how many questions, what type of assessment, level of items (Blooms)

• Table of Specifications– Provides a structure to follow

– Determine what type, how many based on instruction, what level items

Interactive Instruction• Includes ongoing assessment

– Checking for understanding– Short interviewing– Following instruction– Collecting work samples– Cooperation– Affective areas

• Formative Assessment– Short assessments during instruction– May be used to determine corrective-

enrichments

Post-instruction Assessment

• Summative• Drawn from Table of Specifications• More involved• Paper-Pencil, Authentic, Performance• Every student has equal opportunity• May be used for primary reporting/grades• Determine which students may require

remediation

Where to Find District Policy

• Every district has a policy manual that should address large scale assessment

• Usually under the curriculum section• Will reference state law• Some districts will have section on

classroom assessment, usually with grading

• Individual buildings may also have an assessment policy

Seattle School District C40.00It is the policy of the Seattle School Board to utilize a variety of Educational measurement and assessment processes and to provide for the administration of tests at the appropriate grade levels. The district's testing program shall provide an opportunity for students to be measured fairly and impartially. No school program shall be exempt from the District's testing program.

The purpose of diagnostic tests and/or periodic student assessments will be used tomeasure student mastery of the district's curriculum and local building effectiveness;standardized achievement tests will be used to measure the achievement of Seattlestudents against national norms. Parents, legal guardians and students may have access to all test scores, accompanied by appropriate interpretation.

It shall be district policy to explore testing methodologies with the goal of moving toward forms of student achievement evaluation which are criteria referenced in addition to norm-referenced test, wherever appropriate, and related to district learning objectives.

RCW 28A.230.190 Reference: Assessments, Achievement Tests, Scope,Purpose-Procedure

So what does this mean to me?

Text book page 22

Figure 1.4

Keys To Quality Assessment

• Clear Targets– Knowledge-Thinking-Behavior-Product-Affect

• Sample Material– Remember the circles

• Control for Interference– Validity and reliability

• Clear Purpose for Assessment– Decision making-Instruction-Control