Chief Instructional Leaders
Title I Fall Conference
October 5, 2010
Waterfront Place
Morgantown, WV
Balanced Assessment:
What Is It? Do You Have It?
Monica Beane
Office of Instruction
Lisa Youell
Office of Title II, III and School System
Improvement
Assessment Literacy
We need to provide the
language and the tools to
administrators, teachers and
students so they can
communicate accurately
about assessment.
Assessment Literacy
Brooke Godbey
Second Grade Student
Poca Elementary School
Putnam County
In an Effective School System…
Continuous (Formative)
Classroom Assessment For
Learning
Classroom Level Users
Common Formative Assessments
Content Level Users
(Students, Teachers and
Parents)
Job-Alike Collaborative Teacher
Teams
Periodic Benchmark Assessments
Program Level Users
(Teacher Teams and School
Leaders)
Annual Accountability Testing
(State Summative Test)
Institutional/Policy
Users
(School, District and State
Leadership)
Page 11
Critical Questions
• What is the primary aim of
assessment?
• Who will use the
information gathered?
• What decisions will they
make?
Primary Aim of Assessment
The primary purpose of
assessment is not to rate,
rank and sort students,
but to provide meaningful
feedback that informs
decisions.
A Balanced Assessment System
Assessment of Learning
• Summative Assessment
– An event after learning
• Benchmark Assessment
– An event after learning
Assessment for Learning
• Formative Assessment
– A process during learning
• Classroom Assessment For Learning
– A process during learning
A Balanced Approach
“Teachers involve their students in
classroom assessment, record-keeping,
and communication during learning.
But, when it’s time for students to be
accountable for what they have
learned, the teacher takes the lead in
conducting assessments OF learning.”
-Richard J. Stiggins
Formative or
Summative
• It isn’t the method of assessment that tells us
whether it is an assessment of learning
(summative) or assessment for learning
(formative). Many assessment methods –
tests, quizzes, performance tasks, writing
essays and data gathered through observation
of skills and product - can be used either way.
How the results are used tells us if the
assessment is of or for learning.
Summative Assessment
(Assessment OF Learning)
• Summative assessment is the
attempt to summarize student
learning at some point in time.
• Summative assessments are not
designed to give feedback useful
to teachers and students during
the learning process.
News
Formative Assessment
(Assessment FOR Learning)
All those strategies undertaken by
teachers and by their students
[that] provide information to be
used as feedback to modify the
teaching and learning activities in
which they are engaged.
Black & Wiliam, 1998
Advice
Assessment
OF and FOR
Learning
Sort Activity:
• Assessment for Learning
• Assessment of Learning
• Not Sure
Authentic Request
Email:
“What do you recommend using for formative
assessment? We have STAR math in all of our
high schools, but am not sure that it has the
capabilities of doing what we want it to do.
We want a formative assessment for each 6
or 9 weeks. Do you know of a tool that other
counties are using that is effective. Or are they
all using Acuity?”
•
•
•
•
What is the core issue?
Where is the teacher looking for answers?
What questions would you ask?
What suggestions would you give?
Reflection
1. Can you explain the key differences in
summative, benchmark, formative
and classroom assessment for
learning?
2. Can you provide examples of each?
3. Can you explain how the results of
each type of assessment should be
used?
4. How will you use this information in
your work?
Formative Assessment
Strategy:
Laundry Day
Clean Up Any
Misunderstandings
Tide
Select this if you
believe the tidal
wave of
information might
drown you.
Gain
Select this if you
understand the
basics of the
concepts taught,
but are missing
some of the
nuances or finer
details.
Bold
Select this if you
are fairly
confident you
have mastered
the learning
targets but still
have a few
lingering
questions.
Cheer
Select this if
you are certain
you will be
successful on
the summative
assessment
Self-Assessment Tool
This self-assessment outlines significant
commonalities among the practices of
the leaders and professional staff in
high performing schools—collaborative
processes and assessment practices
that produce quality results for student
learning.
This self-assessment can help each school
gauge where it functions on the
continuum of implementation.
Ink Think
What is a Balanced Assessment
System?
Four Areas of Assessment
• Classroom Assessment for
Learning
• Common Formative Assessment
• Benchmark Assessment
• Summative Assessment
Individual Reflection:
Ink Think
• Focus your thinking on these 4
areas of assessment.
• Jot down preliminary responses for
what each means to you, and how
each is important in supporting
student learning to raise student
achievement.
• Work silently.
• Be prepared to record your
responses on wall charts when
directed.
Prepare for Ink Think
• Number off from 1-4.
• Re-group with others who have
your same number at the paper
that corresponds to your number.
Ink Think
• For your assigned
area, silently
create a mindmap
with others in your
group. Add to the
ideas that others
post as well as
creating your own.
Move in a Clockwise Direction
• Continue using your
group’s marker
color. Read through
the ideas generated
by the previous
group(s).
• Add to them;
provide examples;
continue to expand.
Ink Think:
Making Meaning
• Return to your original chart.
• Read through all of the ideas;
Identify 3-4 dominant ideas that
emerge
• Be prepared to share with the
large group
Questions?