Standards Based Assessment
Systems
Dana Anderson
ESD 113
Danderson@esd113.k12.wa.us
Purpose of Today
• Engage in a dialog
regarding grading
practices
• Explore and reflect upon
aspects of a Standards
Based Assessment System
• Begin to build consensus
about grading
• Chart a course for next
steps
Topical Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Why change grading?
What are grades for?
What makes a grade?
What are standards based grades?
How do you manage it?
What is a standards based report card?
What are our next steps?
Concerns Based Adoption Model
Level of Concern
Expression of Concern
0. Awareness
I am not concerned (yet)
1. Informational
I’d like to know more…
2. Personal
How is this going to effect me?
3. Management
What materials/resources will I need?
4. Consequence
How is this going to effect my students?
5. Collaboration
How can I relate what I am doing to what
others are dong?
6. Refocusing
How can I make this work even better?
CBAM- Standards Based Report
Cards
• Where are you with
regard to this change?
• Where do you think
the staff is?
• Discuss and Share Out
A Brief History of Time…
• Prior to mid 1700’s students did not get grades,
they received written narrative feedback
• 1780- Yale University quantified feedback on a 4
point scale (4.0 system)
• 1877- Harvard created “Divisions”
–
–
–
–
–
–
Division 1: 90 to 100
Division 2: 75 to 90
Division 3: 60 to 74
Division 4: 50 to 59
Division 5: 40 to 49
Division 6: below 40
Why Change the Current Grading System?
1. We Consider Factors Other Than Academic
Achievement when Assigning Grades
2. We Weight Assessments Differently
3. We Misrepresent Single Scores on Classroom
Assessments
4. We compare students against each other
instead of what they need to learn
(standards)
(Source: Transforming Classroom Grading
by Robert Marzano)
Factors Other Than Academic Achievement
Student 1
Same Teacher
Student 2
Same Course
Same Homework Scores
Same Tests Scores
Same Quiz Scores
Same Project Scores
Same Presentation Scores
Grade “A”
Grade “B-”
Factors Other Than Academic Achievement
Percentage of Teachers Reporting Use of Effort, Behavior,
Cooperation, and Attendance in Determining Grades
Grade Level
Effort
Behavior
Cooperation
Attendance
K
31%
7%
4%
8%
1-3
29%
8%
4%
8%
4-6
30%
8%
8%
10%
7-0
36%
10%
8%
18%
10-12
36%
14%
9%
24%
Teachers Weight Assessments Differently
Team Teaching Same Class
Teacher 1
Teacher 2
Same Students
Same Homework Scores
Same Quiz Scores
Same Test Scores
Grading Based on Achievement
Factors (No effort, behavior, etc)
Exactly the same Assessment
Information to Construct Grades
Agreement 57.7% of the Time
Misrepresentation of Single Scores
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
All 3 students do the same class assignment
Assignment has two parts
Part I – Multiplication
Part II – Deductive Reasoning,
Problem solving, Communicating
Mathematically
Each part is worth 10 points
Mathematics Assignment
Part 1 Directions: Fill in the answer for each multiplication problem.
1.
7x6=
2. 12 x 11 =
3.
9x7=
4. 7 x 32 =
5.
6x6=
6. 13 x 5 =
7.
42 x 7 =
8. 5 x 5 =
9.
14 x 3 =
10. 6 x 9 =
Part II
Directions: Write your answer and show all your work on a separate piece of paper.
Treena won a seven-day scholarship worth $1,000 to the Pro Shot Basketball
Camp. Round-trip travel expenses to the camp are $335 by air or $125 by train.
At the camp she must choose between a week of individual instruction at $60
per day or a week of group instruction at $40 per day. Treena’s food and other
expenses are fixed at $45 per day. If she does not plan to spend any money
other than the scholarship, what are all the choices of travel and instruction
plans that she could afford to make? Explain your reasoning.
Misinterpretation of Single Scores
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
All 3 students do the same class assignment
All 3 students receive the same percent score
All 3 students receive the same grade
All 3 students have demonstrated different understandings
Misrepresentation of Single Score –
Single Score represents a wide array of Skills and
Abilities
Computation
Problem
Solving
Score
Karen
10
4
14
Mike
4
10
14
Sue
7
7
14
Students
Think Time
• What do you think
about the four
problems with
grading?
• Are there other issues
related to grading
practices that concern
you?
At What Price?
• Have you ever received a grade that was
a flagrantly inaccurate representation of
your achievement in a course of study?
• How many of you believe that grades you
received in school were not an accurate
representation of your achievement?
What Are Grades For?
• On at least 3 Post-it
Notes write what you
think is the purpose of
grades.
• Place them on
butcher paper at your
table and discuss
your thoughts.
• Group purpose
statements into
themes.
In the assessment literature…
• Administrative Purposes
– Retention
– Placement
– College entrance
What is the most
important purpose?
• Feedback about achievement
• Guidance
– Courses of study
– Career planning
• Instructional Planning
• Motivation
How do you determine grades?
• Not digging too deeply yet, but what
method do you use to determine student
grades?
– Percentage of points (“Modified” Norm
Referenced)
– Attainment of learning goals (Criterion
Referenced)
– Knowledge Gain (Individual Referenced)
A tale of two scenarios
Scenario #1:
In your 7th grade social studies
class, report card grades were based
on quizzes, tests and an out-of-class
project, which counted as 25% of
the grade. Terry obtained an
average of an A on his quizzes and
tests, but has not turned in his
project despite frequent reminders.
In this situation, you would…
Brookhart, 1993)
Scenario #2:
You teach English to a class of 8th
graders with varying ability levels.
During this grading period, the
student’s grades are based on
quizzes, tests and homework
assignments that involve working
out exercises. Kelly has not turned
in any homework despite your
frequent reminders. Her grade on
quizzes have ranged from 65 to
75%, and she received a D on each
of the tests. In this situation, you
would…
Grades are often based upon
• Academic
Achievement
• Effort
• Behavior
• Attendance
Academic Achievement
• Subject-Specific Content
– Information-Based Topics (Standards)
– Process or Skill-Based Topics (Standards)
• Thinking and Reasoning Skills
– Information Processing Skills (Comparing, Analyzing,
Classifying)
– Logic (Argumentation, Induction, Deduction)
– Knowledge Utilization (Inquiry, Investigation, Problem Solving,
Decision Making)
• Communication Skills
– Writing
– Speaking
– Other Media
Non-Academic Achievement
• Effort
– Participation
– Work Completion
• Behavior
– Following Rules
– Teamwork
• Attendance
– Tardiness
– Absenteeism
Feedback Time…
• What would you like
to see included on
your report cards?
– Academic
Achievement
– Non-Academic
Achievement
• Discuss at your tables
and share out.
Cycle of Assessment
Reporting
Standards
Standards
Reporting
Rubrics &
Anchors
Feedback
Self-Assessment
Reflection
Against Rubrics
Learning
Opportunities
Assessment
System
Student
Teacher
How do you track achievement?
• Most of us assign
points to assignments,
quizzes and tests.
• Grades are based on
points earned ÷
points possible.
• What might be wrong
with this practice?
What’s Wrong With Points?
Multiple Topics in Various Assessments
Assessment
Topic
#1
Topic
#2
Homework #1 (10 points)
5
Homework # 2 (10 points)
5
5
Quiz #1 (15 points)
5
5
Homework #3 (15 points)
5
Quiz #2 (20 points)
5
5
Performance Task (40 points)
10
10
Topic
#3
Topic
#4
5
Homework #4 (10 points)
5
10
20
5
Final Exam (100 points)
20
20
20
40
Total: 220 points
55
45
55
65
So where did points come from?
• 1917- US Army develops Alpha test, multiple choice and true false to
determine training placement of recruits. (Evolves into ASVAB)
• 1941- College Entrance Examination Board commissions SAT,
multiple choice format
• 1942- Essay portion is dropped from SAT
• 1950s- Textbook publishers begin to adopt correct/incorrect model of
assessment
• Test results begin to be reported as percentages, and single scores
become indications of general achievement in content areas.
• Items that could not be scored as correct or incorrect are given points
(essay, oral presentations, etc.)
So how can it be managed?
•
•
•
•
Use a Standards Based Grade Book
Assess students topically (standard)
Use rubrics to score student work
Report results by topic (standard)
Standards Based Grade Books
• Moving from Columns to Rows and from Points
to Rubrics
• Look at sample grade book
– How is it different from a traditional grade book?
– Why is it organized by student rather than class?
– How are differently weighted assignments handled in
this model of tracking progress?
Rubrics
• It is assumed that rubrics are well understood by staff,
but…
– Rubrics can be holistic, item specific, qualitative, and/or
quantitative
– Rubrics can be designed to assess Information-Based as well as
Skill/Process-Based Tasks
– Rubrics should have between 3 to 5 levels of quality (odd
numbered scales tend to regress toward the middle when used for
scoring)
• Appropriate use of rubrics has been shown to increase
student achievement
• Rubric scores have been shown to be more accurate than
grades when correlated with standardized tests
Moving from the abstract to the
concrete
• A quiz has been designed to
assess student’s knowledge and
skill in the topics of
Precipitation and Reading
Tables.
• Take a moment to take the quiz
yourself.
– Which items are assessing the
two topics?
• Now read the rubrics provided
and determine (as a table) the
rubric scores for students A and
B in both topics.
Still want points?
• Use the table provided to
determine the point value
and score you would give
to each student’s response
and determine the overall
percentage score for
students A and B.
• How do your results
compare with the rubric
scores?
• What does this mean in
terms of assessing
learning?
Think Time
• How does this
example illustrate the
differences between
points and rubrics?
• What would you need
in order to
systematically assess
students in the
manner we’ve been
discussing?
Okay, but what about time?
• Recording multiple
standard scores takes more
time than single
percentage scores.
– Average: 7 minutes longer
for a class of 30 (3
standards)
• Scoring student work
using rubrics takes less
time than assigning points
and calculating
percentages
– Average: 14 minutes less
for a class of 30
Assigning Final Grades
• Check for understanding:
– Pretend you “buy” everything that we have
been talking about so far, why would averaging
be a less than desirable method for determining
end of term grades?
– What is “lost” when grades are reported as A,
B, C, or D?
True Score Based on Averaging
Rubric Score
3.5
3
2.5
Avg Score = 1.64
2
1.5
True Score = 1.5
1
0.5
0
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
Assessments Displayed Chronologically
#7
One pesky problem…
• Averaging makes up for over or under scoring
students’ work (when compared to “true” score.
• However, the average over time method assumes
that the true score, or learning is constant over
time.
• This is not supported by research on learners and
learning.
• The “Power Law of Learning” indicates that true
scores increase over time as a result of multiple
opportunities to practice new skills or apply new
knowledge.
1
22.9%
2
11.7%
3
7.7%
4
5.6%
5
4.3%
6
3.5%
7
2.9%
8
2.5%
9
2.2%
…
20
.85%
Power Law of Learning
True Score Based on the Power
Law
3.5
3
3
2.5
2
2.08
Avg Score = 1.64
1.94
1.5
1.55
1.5
1
2.21
2
1
1
1.78
1.5
1.5
True Score = 1.5
1.24
0.71
0.5
0
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
Final Standard Scores
• Are best determined using
the Power Law of
learning.
• Can be closely estimated
using .25 point intervals
over time.
• Should be based upon
multiple small
assessments evenly spaced
over time.
Now you try…What Final Power Score
would you assign?
Topic Scores for a Grading Period
Assessment
Topic #1
Topic #2
Topic #3
#1
2.0
3.0
2.0
#2
1.5
2.0
1.0
#3
2.0
2.0
1.5
#4
3.0
2.5
2.0
#5
2.5
3.0
2.0
#6
3.0
2.0
2.5
#7
3.0
3.0
3.0
#8
2.5
2.5
3.0
#9
3.0
3.0
3.5
#10
3.0
3.0
3.0
3.00
2.71
3.00
Final Power Score
Think Time
• What are some
“issues” with regard to
final grading?
• How could technology
make this process
simpler?
Assessment Items
• There are 7 types of assessment items that
are used in classrooms to assess student
achievement.
• The role of the classroom teacher is to
purposefully select the appropriate item
type and to construct assessments that
determine topic proficiency.
Types of Assessment Items and Formats
Aspects of Grading
Assessments
Forced
Choice
Essay
Short
Response
Oral
Reports
Performance
Tasks
Teacher
Observation
Student
SelfAssessment
Informational
Topics
M
H
H
H
H
M
H
Process Topics
L
M
L
M
H
H
H
Thinking and
Reasoning
M
H
M
H
H
L
H
Communication
L
H
L
H
H
L
H
Non-achievement
Factors
L
L
L
L
M
H
H
Your task if you choose to accept
it Mr. and Mrs. Phelps…
• Jigsaw reading and
cooperative group
teaching activity.
• You need to get into
groups of 5.
• Each group member
needs a set of the
reading materials (one
color per individual)
• Read your section and
share:
– What is your item type
appropriately used to
assess?
– How is it best scored?
– What are some key
points or guidelines for
using your item type?
Report Cards (Finally)
• Look at the sample report cards provided
and discuss:
– What do you like from each sample?
– What would you change?
– What would you like your report cards to look
like?
• Share out…
Next Steps
• Determine leadership and organizational structure of
building report card team
• Gather survey and perception information to determine
where folks are on the change continuum.
• Determine what you will include in grades
• Determine weights you will apply to your grading
categories
• Create draft report cards
• Craft topic assessments
• Select a management system
• At each step
– Communication plans
– Professional development and staff support