Assessment Literacy
Sheboygan Area School District
Staff Development
2010-11
Thought for the Day…
A good teacher makes you
think even when you
don’t want to.
Agenda for Tonight’s
Inservice
• Purpose of inservice: overview of assessments for
and of learning – 10 minutes
• Stiggins’ video presentation – 10 minutes
• PowerPoint presentation and discussion – 45
minutes
• Break – 15 minutes
• ‘Jigsaw’ an article – 25 minutes
• Assessment rubric – 15 minutes
• Samples of quality assessments/discussion – 30
minutes
• Your own assessment activity – 30 minutes
Current practices
in classrooms…
• Many students are engaged only in lower-order thinking; i.e. they
receive, or recite, or participate in routine practice. In no activities
during the lesson do students go beyond simple reproduction of
knowledge.
• Or…many students are primarily engaged in routine lower-order
thinking for a good share of the lesson. There is at least one
significant question or activity in which some students perform some
higher-order thinking.
• Or,…almost all students, almost all of the time are engaged in
higher-order thinking.
Why is good assessment
essential?
To gather evidence of student learning
that will inform instructional decisions in
ways that maximize learning…
Wisconsin’s Balanced
Assessment System
http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/oea/pdf/bal
system.pdf
What are assessments for
and of learning?
FOR LEARNING
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Question to ask: What do my
students need to know and
understand to be ready to show
mastery of the standards?
Assessments diagnose student
needs
Assessment is an ongoing
process for student achievement
Assessments help teachers and
students watch things get better
over time
Used by students and teachers
during the learning process
Student motivation: success
becomes its own reward
OF LEARNING
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Question to ask: What have my
students learned and to what
degree of proficiency?
Assessments measure student
knowledge
State or district standardized
assessments are used to determine
what has been learned
Classroom assessments are used
for report card grades or other high
stakes grading
Used by students and teachers
after the learning process
Motivation is a result of a high
stakes situation
The Balanced
Assessment Model
Formative Assessment
Process: Assessment for
learning
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Informal teacher questions
Conversation with student
Informal observation
Rough drafts of written work
Learning log ( in progress)
Reflective journals (multiple
drafts)
• Mathematics problem-solving
sets
• Practice science experiment
Summative Assessment
Process: Assessment of
Learning
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Formal oral interview
Conference with student
Formal observation
Final copy of written work
Final learning log entries
Final journal entries
• Mathematics final solution
• Final science experiment
The Balanced
Assessment Model
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Formative Assessment
Process: Assessment for
learning
Summative Assessment
Process: Assessment of
Learning
Rehearsal of presentation
Working portfolio
Practice checklist of do-overs
Practice rubrics (analytical)
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• Homework, quizzes
• Benchmark/interim tests
Final presentation
Showcase portfolio
Final checklist
Final rubrics
(analytical/holistic)
• Teacher made tests
• High stakes standardized tests
Seven strategies of
Assessment for learning
Where am I going?
1. Provide students with a
clear and understandable
vision of the learning target
2. Use examples and models
of strong and weak work
Where am I now?
3. Offer regular descriptive
feedback.
4. Teach students to selfassess and set goals
How can I close the
gap?
5. Design lessons to focus on
one learning target at a time
6. Teach students focused
revision
7. Engage students in selfreflection, and let them keep
track of and share their
learning.
Remember…
• Quality questioning is essential for
quality lessons….
» and
• Quality lessons demand quality
assessments…
• How can ‘questioning’ inform
assessment? What can we use from
what we already know that will help us
build quality assessments for and of
learning?
Let’s use some of what we already
know to help us in our discussion of
assessment…
Remember Bloom
And his Taxonomy…??
• In 1956, Benjamin Bloom found that over 95 % of the
test questions students encounter require them
to think only at the lowest possible level...the
recall of information.
• Bloom identified six levels within the cognitive
domain, from the simple recall or recognition of facts,
as the lowest level, through increasingly more
complex and abstract mental levels, to the highest
order which is classified as evaluation.
1956-2001…
Bloom’s
original
taxonomy…
•Evaluation
•Synthesis
•Analysis
•Application
•Comprehension
•Knowledge
The ‘New’ Bloom’s
TaxonomyA Worthwhile Revision
In 1996 a revision was led by David Krathwohl, a
cognitive psychologist who worked with Bloom
on the original taxonomy. The revision was
completed in 2001.
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The use of verbs in the new taxonomy,
rather than nouns, is critical since the
verbs represent the cognitive processes
that students use on or with the content
so that learning occurs.
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Bloom’s Taxonomy
Original Terms
New Terms
•Evaluation
•Creating
•Synthesis
•Evaluating
•Analysis
•Analyzing
•Application
•Applying
•Comprehension
•Understanding
•Knowledge
•Remembering
BLOOM’S REVISED TAXONOMY
Creating
Generating new ideas, products, or ways of viewing things
Designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing.
Evaluating
Justifying a decision or course of action
Checking, hypothesizing, critiquing, experimenting, judging
Analyzing
Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and
relationships
Comparing, organizing, deconstructing, interrogating, finding
Applying
Using information in another familiar situation
Implementing, carrying out, using, executing
Understanding
Explaining ideas or concepts
Interpreting, summarizing, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining
Remembering
Recalling information
Recognizing, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding
Cognitive Processes
• Remembering
• Understanding
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Recognizing
Listing
Naming
Finding
Recalling
Retrieving
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Classifying
Summarizing
Inferring
Comparing
Explaining
Interpreting
Cognitive Processes
• Applying
• Analyzing
• Evaluating
• Creating
• Executing/Using
• Implementing
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Comparing
Differentiating
Organizing
Attributing
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Checking
Critiquing
Generating
Planning
• Producing
Questioning…
If you want a wise answer,
ask a reasonable
question.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, novelist and
dramatist.
Assessment questions
to check for Remembering
(lowest level)
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What happened after...?
How many...?
What is...?
Who was it that...?
Can you name ...?
Find the definition of…
Describe what happened
after…
• Who spoke to...?
• Which is true or false...?
(Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p.
12
Remembering, cont’
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List
Memorize
Relate
Show
Locate
Distinguish
Give example
Reproduce
Quote
Repeat
Label
Recall
Know
Group
Read
Write
Outline
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Listen
Group
Choose
Recite
Review
Quote
Record
Match
Select
Underline
Cite
Sort
Recall or
recognition
of specific
information
Assessments include:
• Quizzes
• Label diagrams
• Definitions
• List facts
• Facts: true/false • Workbook
pages
• Worksheets
•Vocabulary quizzes
• Reproductions
Assessment questions
to check for Understanding
• Can you explain why…?
• Can you write in your
own words?
• How would you
explain…?
• Can you write a brief
outline...?
• What do you think could
have happened next...?
• Who do you think...?
• What was the main
idea...?
• Can you clarify…?
• Can you illustrate…?
• Does everyone act in the
way that …….. does?
(Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p.
12
Understanding, cont.
• Restate
• Identify
• Discuss
• Retell
• Research
• Annotate
• Translate
• Give examples of
• Paraphrase
• Reorganize
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Describe
Report
Recognize
Review
Observe
Outline
Account for
Interpret
Give main
idea
• Estimate
• Define
Understanding of
given information
Assessments include:
• Recitation
• Examples
• Summaries
• Quizzes
• Collections
• Lists
• Explanations
• Labels
• Outlines
Assessment questions
to check for Applying
• Do you know of another
instance where…?
• Can you group by
characteristics such as…?
• Which factors would you
change if…?
• What questions would
you ask of…?
• From the information
given, can you develop a
set of instructions
about…?
(Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, P 13)
Applying, cont’
• Translate
• Paint
• Manipulate
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• Exhibit
• Illustrate
• Calculate
• Interpret
• Make
• Practice
• Apply
• Operate
• Interview
Change
Compute
Sequence
Show
Solve
Collect
Demonstrate
Dramatize
Construct
Use
Adapt
Draw
Using strategies,
concepts, principles
and theories in new
situations
Assessments include:
• Photographs
• Presentations
• Illustrations
• Interviews
• Simulations
• Performances
•Demonstrations • Diary entries
• Journal entries
Assessment questions
to check for Analyzing
• Which events could not have
happened?
• If. ..happened, what might the
ending have been?
• How is...similar to...?
• What do you see as other
possible outcomes?
• Why did...changes occur?
• Can you explain what must
have happened when...?
• What are some or the
problems of...?
• Can you distinguish
between...?
• What were some of the
motives behind..?
• What was the turning point?
• What was the problem with...?
(Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p.
13)
Analyzing cont’
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Distinguish
Question
Appraise
Experiment
Inspect
Examine
Probe
Separate
Inquire
Arrange
Investigate
Sift
Research
Calculate
Criticize
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Compare
Contrast
Survey
Detect
Group
Order
Sequence
Test
Debate
Analyze
Diagram
Relate
Dissect
Categorize
Discriminate
Breaking
information
down into its
component
elements
Assessments include:
• Graph
• Survey
• Spreadsheet
• Database
• Checklist
• Mobile
• Chart
• Abstract
• Outline
• Report
Assessment questions
to check for Evaluating
• Is there a better solution to...?
• Judge the value of... What do
you think about...?
• Can you defend your position
about...?
• Do you think...is a good or
bad thing?
• How would you have
handled...?
• What changes to.. would you
recommend?
• Do you believe...? How would
you feel if. ..?
• How effective are. ..?
• What are the consequences..?
• What influence will....have on
our lives?
• What are the pros and cons
of....?
• Why is ....of value?
• What are the alternatives?
• Who will gain & who will loose?
(Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to
Learn, p. 14)
Evaluating, cont’
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Judge
Rate
Validate
Predict
Assess
Score
Revise
Infer
Determine
Prioritize
Tell why
Compare
Evaluate
Defend
Select
Measure
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Choose
Judging the value of
Conclude
ideas, materials and
Deduce
methods by developing
Debate
and applying standards
Justify
and criteria.
Recommend
Discriminate
Appraise
Value
Assessments include:
Probe
• Investigations
• Debates
Argue
• Verdicts
Decide
• Panels
Criticize
•Persuasive
• Reports
Rank
speeches
• Evaluation
Reject
Assessment questions
to check for Creating
(highest level)
• Can you design a...to...?
• Can you see a possible
solution to...?
• If you had access to all
resources, how would you
deal with...?
• Why don't you devise
your own way to...?
• What would happen if ...?
• How many ways can
you...?
• Can you create new and
unusual uses for...?
• Can you develop a
proposal which would...?
(Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 14)
Creating, cont’
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Compose
Assemble
Organize
Invent
Compile
Forecast
Devise
Propose
Construct
Plan
Prepare
Develop
Originate
Imagine
Generate
• Formulate
• Improve
Putting together
ideas or elements to
develop a original
idea or engage in
creative thinking.
• Act
• Predict
• Produce
• Blend
• Set up
Assessments include:
• Devise
• Film
• Song
•Projects
• Newspaper
• Plan
• Advertisements
•Media products
• Paintings
• Concoct
• Compile
Questions to think about when
developing assessments…
• Did I decide on the purpose(s) of my questions?
• Did I choose important--rather than trivial--material to
emphasize students' in-depth exploration of essential/key
questions?
• Did I differentiate my questions to ensure that all my students
reached my targets?
• Did I encourage discussion in my classroom by using openended questions?
• Did I avoid "yes" and "no" questions?
• Did I use "probe" questions to encourage students to elaborate
and support assertions and claims?
Questions to think about when
developing assessments…
• Did I ensure that students clearly understood my questions--and
avoided a "guessing game?”
• Did I avoid questions that "contain the answer"?
• Did I anticipate students' responses to my questions, yet allow
for divergent thinking and original responses?
• Did I use purposeful strategies for helping students deal with
incorrect responses?
References
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Bloom's(1956) Revised Taxonomy
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Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
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http://rite.ed.qut.edu.au/oz-teachernet/training/bloom.html
http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/bloomrev/index.htm
http://www.fno.org/nov97/toolkit.html
http://rite.ed.qut.edu.au/oz-teachernet/training/bloom.html
http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/socratic/guiding.html
http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/socratic/third.html
http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/questioning.html
http://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/socratic/second.html
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Questioning&um=1&ie=UTF8&sa=N&tab=wi
Duncan, D. (2008). Blooms’ Taxonomy in relation to Social Studies. Powerpoint
Presentation.
Pohl, Michael. (2000). Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn: Models and
Strategies to Develop a Classroom Culture of Thinking . Cheltenham, Vic.:
Hawker Brownlow.
References
• Stiggins, R. et al. (2006), Classroom assessment for student learning:
Doing it right. Portland, OR: Pearson Assessment Training Institute.
• Tarlinton, D. (2003) Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.
bloomspres.ppt.Powerpoint Presentation.
• Balanced assessment (2010). Solution Tree Press. Go.solutiontree.com/assessment