PD Initiative Assessment and Evaluation

PD Session– Assessment and Evaluation

PD Initiative – Assessment and Evaluation

By: Hanan Soliman, Darryl Striukas, and Kate Whyte

Audience: Each department in the school
Context: The school has taken on a process based initiative to reduce the range of achievement between low and high achievers. Each department head is to initiate this change by employing classroom assessment techniques by focusing on peer and self evaluations. Department heads complete this phase in order to put the theory in place and work out any initial issues with methods, thereby creating a more accepting audience. Phase two will involve a few more staff in the process followed by the third phase with all department members working on the initiative. All department staff will be informed of the initiative and included in discussion.
Staff/School Climate: The school is committed to improving achievement levels and recognizes that students need to be an essential part of the process. Through self and peer assessments student accountability will increase as will self-confidence. By engaging the students not only in the learning process but in the assessment process, a more complete learning community will be created. The initiative will also foster teacher collaboration thus decreasing the unconscious institutionalized isolationism practiced by some teachers.
Time: 3 Phases
1- Only involves department heads implementing the process and they meet every 2 to 3 weeks.
2- In each department, the department head and a few teachers (a minority group) are involved in implementing the process. Meetings take place every 2 weeks and ideas are recorded. Other department members are encouraged to participate in the meetings, but are not involved in implementing the assessment techniques. Department heads continue to meet.
3- Every person in every department has implemented the assessment techniques. Departments meet separately every 2 to 3 weeks to discuss issues and successes. Department heads continue to meet.
* This particular PD session takes place during the second or third phase.

Rationale

Assessment for learning not just of learning
Using classroom assessment to build students’ self-confidence in themselves as learners and increase student accountability
The need to reduce institutionalized isolationism unconsciously practiced by teachers
Limit the subjectivity of teacher marking

Desired Outcomes

Improved student self-confidence in regards to education and assessment
Regular self-assessment and peer assessment
Instructional strategies geared to formative assessment
Department-(then school) wide self-assessment checklists

Indicators of Success

For students: the range of achievement between low-achievers and high-achievers reduced (while raising the overall achievement) as low –achievers improve their performance on summative assessments
For teachers: students become more motivated learners and teachers end up with more time to devote to instructional design and assessment
For administrators: student success will be reflected in meeting some achievement targets.

Assessment and Evaluation Professional Development

Brainstorm definitions and differences between assessment and evaluation – 5 minutes
Teachers are to make brief jot notes
Overview: The Advantages of Self Assessment and the Problems (on the overhead)
Activity #1 – Timeline of Fair, Equitable Assessment – 15 minutes
The purpose of the activity is for teachers to realize that assessment has three phases, before, during and after and that each phase has its requirements. It is also a good ice-breaker among the teachers, where they basically come up with what they have been doing so far.
To be completed in groups for 2 or 3.
Debriefing – 10 minutes
Summarize what teachers do now and what areas need improvement using the Timeline of Fair, Equitable Assessment
Activity #2 – Flow Chart of Assessment Process – 15 minutes
Teachers will be given this chart and in pairs or small groups depending on the number of staff and will be asked to elaborate on two of the topics. Teachers will be asked to record their ideas on chart paper or on overhead transparencies.
There will be four groups: 1. Instructional pre-requisites for assessment and Role of students during instruction; 2. Clarity of communication about assessment tool and Qualities of ‘fair’ assessment; 3. Conditions of administering assessment and Assessing the assessment activity; and 4. Consequences of assessment activity and Purpose of Assessment.
After pairs or groups have recorded their ideas, teachers will be given articles and books on assessment, which they will then use to elaborate on their ideas.
Debriefing – 10 minutes
Teachers will be asked to present their initial thoughts and their findings in light of the reading and comment on differences between their initial thoughts and findings.
Teachers will then be shown the overhead, How to Teach Students to Self and Peer Assess, and will discuss the ideas by referencing benefits, drawbacks, and other options.
Activity #3 – Design of Assignments – 20 minutes
In groups, teachers will respond to the activity’s questions and will modify the question by elaborating on its tasks. As they are doing so, and in the margin, they are to write how each part of their modifications responds to one or more of the concerns noted in the activity.
Groups will present their modifications and marking schemes.
Debriefing – When to Use Self and Peer Assessment – 10 minutes
Teachers will then be shown the overhead, When to Use Self and Peer Assessment, and will discuss the ideas by referencing benefits, drawbacks, and other options.
Activity #4 – Performance Assessment – 20 minutes
In threegroups teachers will place different performance assessments on the Assessment Tools Continuum.
The groups will then create performance assessment tools to form a bank of tools.
Debriefing – Instructional Strategies that Lead to Self and Peer Assessment – 10 minutes
Teachers will then be shown the overhead, Instructional Strategies that Lead to Self and Peer Assessment, and will discuss the ideas by referencing benefits, drawbacks, and other options.
Activity #5 – Creating an ‘Understandable” Rubric – 25 minutes
Teachers will read a brief synopsis, Creating an “Understandable” Rubric.
Teachers will examine the structure of rubrics by studying a journal assignment and its rubric. Jot notes about problems with the rubric will be recorded on the rubric itself.
In a group, teachers will then revise and prepare a new rubric that covers specific tasks. Information on the four learning categories (e.g. KICA) will be given for reference material. A rubric template is also provided for the creation of the new rubric.
Debriefing – 10 minutes
Resources and Links – handout with valuable resources
Examples – various examples of self and peer assessments
Activity #6 – Timeline of a Fair, Equitable Assessment (re-visited)
Teachers re-do the timeline in light of their findings during the session. It is hoped that teachers would be inspired and motivated to implement frequent assessments and instil mechanisms (for example, collaboration among teachers) that make assessment for learning a second-hand nature for teachers.
Activity #7 – Before-During-After Assessment PD Session– 10 minutes
The purpose of this activity is to wrap up the session by encouraging the teachers to do self-reflection about their perceptions of assessment before, during and after the session. It is hoped that teachers will come up with strategies and mechanisms to implement what they learned and follow up on it by constant group work.
Wrapping up Session – 5 minutes
General question and answer time
Set next meeting time to discuss what was implemented and how it worked

* Teachers were reminded to bring their preparation binders and course textbooks to consult for the activities.

Activity # 1

Timeline of a Fair, Equitable Assessment Process

Before Assessment Activity
Classroom environment
Instructional methods
Role of students in their own assessment
Selection of assessment tool
During Assessment Activity
Role of students
Role of teacher
After Assessment Activity
Impact upon students’ learning
Impact upon teachers’ instructional methods
Impact upon teachers’ assessment methods
Impact upon the school

Activity # 2

Flow Chart of Assessment for Learning

Activity # 3

Design of Assignments Activity

“In which area did Canada change more between 1945 and 1967: socially, politically or economically?”

(A) For the above question, respond to the following questions:

How would you assess the answers to the question? Which assessment tool(s) would you use? What categories from the achievement chart would you use and how would you allocate the marks?

What questions might the students come up with regarding the assignment?

How long would the assignment take to mark?

(B) What are the factors that teachers put on in consideration when designing an assignment?

( C ) How would you modify the assignment to:

make its instructions clear for the students,
guide the students throughout its various phases,
ensure necessary knowledge has been acquired by the students,
assess students’ skills and learning,
enable the students to assess themselves,
facilitate the process of marking,
use the assignment as a model for other assignments.

Please design a marking scheme in light of your modifications.

Activity # 4

Performance Assessment

Performance assessment is any assessment activity that provides opportunities for students to demonstrate directly their ability to combine and use their knowledge, skills and habits of mind. “A major benefit for teachers using performance assessment is that, while the design of the assessment tasks and criteria is often difficult and time-consuming, the time necessary to score/grade performance assessments is usually much less than for traditional paper and pencil assessments. The difficulty and time problems of designing performance assessment can be reduced dramatically if teachers work collaboratively” (Quality Assessment: Fitting the pieces together. Toronto: OSSTF, 1999, p. 165).

Performance assessment may involve:

Performance: debates, skills, seminar presentations and skill demonstrations.
Products: models, collages, art work, and term papers.
Processes: safety skills, individual work skills and cooperative group skills.

In three groups, place each of the assessments on the Assessment Tools continuum. Then, design the assessment tool bearing in mind that it could be used by other teachers in your department. It should be specific enough to the discipline and task yet not too specific to an actual assignment. The purpose here is to create a bank of performance assessment tools which will do the following:

Assess the students’ ability to combine and use knowledge and skills;
Provide the students with feedback ,
Save the teachers’ time and resources for design of curriculum and assessment.

Page 1

PD Session– Assessment and Evaluation

Assessment Tools Continuum

Just do it

Checklists Marking Schemes Rubrics

------

X XXXX XX X

No marks MainDetailed Main Detailed Evaluative Some Fully

Categories Categories Criteria (Titles description developed

only only and scale only of evaluative

criteria

Page 1

PD Session– Assessment and Evaluation

Activity # 5

Creating an ‘Understandable’ Rubric

Task 1) Examining a Rubric

Read the following journal assignment. Then, read over the rubric that has been provided as an evaluation tool, which will be used to grade the overall product, once it has been completed. You must record any problems that you find with this rubric. For example, are the values for each category sufficient, are the marking guidelines clear (if not, why?), etc.

Journal Assignment

(Again, you do not have to write the journal; your actual task is to use the breakdown of this journal assignment to scrutinize the already given rubric)

You have been asked to write a journal to reflect on your experiences in today’s professional development session. You may want to consider some of the following ideas when writing your journal:

-The things you learned

-How good your instructor’s were

-How enjoyable the experience was

-How beneficial or limited the experience was to you professional development

-Your attitude prior to attending the session and how that has changed throughout (if at all),

-Things that you can take with you from this session

-Repetitiveness of ideas

-Etc.

Task 2) CREATING A JOURNAL RUBRIC

The rubric that you have already been given (made for a previous journal activity) is not “task specific! On the other hand, it may give you an idea of how a rubric for such an assignment may be structured.

In your group, you must revise and prepare a new rubric so that it covers some SPECIFIC tasks that you think should be evaluated in your assignment. Consider what specific skills that you feel are essential in the evaluation process, for this assignment. Read through the journal assignment to gather some ideas of what you think an evaluator would want to look for when grading this activity. Ensure that you have reread through the analysis of the four (4) learning categories, i.e., KICA. The current rubric has also divided the total marks evenly among all four learning categories (5 marks for each). You can change this if you feel it is necessary.

Further information on these categories (KICA)

The categories of knowledge and skills (KICA) are described as follows:

Knowledge and Understanding. Subject-specific content acquired in each grade (knowledge), and the comprehension of its meaning and significance (understanding).

Inquiry / Thinking. The use of critical and creative thinking skills and/or processes, as follows:

planning skills (e.g., focusing research, gathering information, organizing an inquiry)
processing skills (e.g., analysing, evaluating, synthesizing)
critical/creative thinking processes (e.g., inquiry, problem solving, decision making, research)

Communication. The conveying of meaning through various forms, as follows:

oral (e.g., presentation, role play, debate)
written (e.g., report, journal, opinion piece)
visual (e.g., chart, model, movement, video, computer graphics)

* (Application Category is on the next page)

The hts.StevenWood.com Site. Steven Wood. July 18, 2006.

Application. The use of knowledge and skills to make connections within and between various contexts.

Teachers will ensure that student work is assessed and/or evaluated in a balanced manner with respect to the four categories, and that achievement of particular expectations is considered within the appropriate categories.

Criteria. Within each category ... [f]or example, in Knowledge and Understanding, the criteria are "knowledge of content" and "understanding of content". The criteria identify the aspects of student performance that are assessed and/or evaluated, and serve as guides to what to look for.

Descriptors. A "descriptor" indicates the characteristic of the student’s performance, with respect to a particular criterion, on which assessment or evaluation is focused. In the achievement charts, effectiveness is the descriptor used for the criteria in the Thinking, Communication, and Application categories. What constitutes effectiveness in any given performance task will vary with the particular criterion being considered. Assessment of effectiveness may therefore focus on a quality such as appropriateness, clarity, accuracy, precision, logic, relevance, significance, fluency, flexibility, depth, or breadth, as appropriate for the particular criterion. For example, in the Thinking category, assessment of effectiveness might focus on the degree of relevance or depth apparent in an analysis; in the Communication category, on clarity of expression or logical organization of information and ideas; or in the Application category, on appropriateness or breadth in the making of connections. Similarly, in the Knowledge and Understanding category, assessment of knowledge might focus on accuracy, and assessment of understanding might focus on the depth of an explanation. Descriptors help teachers to focus their assessment and evaluation on specific knowledge and skills for each category and criterion, and help students to better understand exactly what is being assessed and evaluated.

Qualifiers. A specific "qualifier" is [generally] used to define each of the four levels of achievement – that is, limited for level 1, some for level 2, considerable for level 3, and a high degree or thorough for level 4. A qualifier is used along with a descriptor to produce a description of performance at a particular level.

The hts.StevenWood.com Site. Steven Wood. July 18, 2006.

Activity # 6

Timeline of a Fair, Equitable Assessment (re-visited)

Before Assessment Activity
Classroom environment
Instructional methods
Role of students in their own assessment
Selection of assessment tool
During Assessment Activity
Role of students
Role of teacher
After Assessment Activity
Impact upon students’ learning
Impact upon teachers’ instructional methods
Impact upon teachers’ assessment methods
Impact upon the school

Activity # 7

Before-During-After the Assessment PD Session

Now that our session is coming to an end, let us work our way through the chart below, which we know when we use with our students. It is the Before-During-After Chart

Below are some points that you might consider for the chart:

Before:

What did you expect this PD session was going to cover about assessment?
How did you practice assessment up to now?
What are the strengths of your current practices of assessment? What are the weaknesses of your current practices?
What areas of improvement did you want to tackle about assessment before coming to the session?

During:

What new concepts were you introduced to in the activity?
What were the most challenging parts of the activity?
How did you overcome the challenges?

After:

Briefly, what are your resolutions in light of this session?
Do you plan to modify your instruction? If so, please explain how.
Do you plan to modify your assessment? If so, please explain how.
What aspects about assessment and evaluation would you like to cover in future PD sessions?
What mechanism is needed to ensure that your resolutions will be implemented?

Before / During / After

Sample Listening Self-assessment

Student's Name: ______ / Date: ______
__ I paid attention to the speaker.
__ I listened carefully.
__ I asked about anything I did not understand.
__ I can retell what I heard.
__ I wrote down parts that I thought I might forget.
Other strategies I used:
I have difficulty with:
I want to improve:

Sample Co-operative Group Learning Self-assessment

Date: ______
Group Task: ______
Group Members:
______
______
______
______

Was your group successful in working together? What co-operative skills did the group use to make working together enjoyable?

What co-operative skills improved as the group project progressed?

What co-operative skills need to be further developed?

What was the most important thing your group learned about working together during this project?

Sample Class or Small Group Discussion Checklist

Date: ______

Student Names