Building
Assessments
with
Differentiation
in Mind
Fonda Vadnais
Fonda.Vadnais@sapdc.ca
Assessment
vs
Evaluation
When we assess we gather information
about student learning that informs our
teaching and helps our students learn
more.
When we evaluate, we decide whether
or not students have learned what they
need to learn and how well they have
learned it.
Parachute Packing
Michael Burger
Three students are taking a course in
how to pack a parachute. They are evaluated
often and their evaluation results are tracked
and recorded.
Parachute Packing
Michael Burger
Student #1 initially scored very high, but his
scores have dropped as the end of the course
approaches.
Parachute Packing
Michael Burger
Student #2’s evaluations are erratic.
Parachute Packing
Michael Burger
Student #3 did very poorly in relation to the
class for the first two thirds of the course, but
has lately figured out how to successfully pack
a parachute.
Parachute Packing
Michael Burger
When students are acquiring new skills,
knowledge and understanding, they need
a chance to practice, a chance to find out
what they know and what they still need to
learn. They need feedback that informs
them what the next step in this learning is.
This is Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment
• “Formative assessment is a valuable tool
because learning involves taking risks and
making mistakes” (Davies, 2000, p. 11).
Mistakes become learning moments,
providing valuable opportunities for students
to receive feedback about what is working in
their learning, and what they need to do
differently.
Formative Assessment
• Formative assessment should be frequent
and ongoing for all outcomes throughout
the learning period.
• “Feedback from classroom assessment
should give students a clear picture of
their progress on learning goals and how
they might improve…[it] should encourage
students to improve…[it] should be
formative in nature… [and] should be
frequent” (Marzano, 2006, p. 3)
Even Alice Needed to Know....
Alice in Wonderland is reminded of the fact
that she needs to know where she wants to
go before directions of any sort will be of any
help. “Would you tell me, please, which way
I ought to go from here?” Alice asked
Cheshire Cat. “That depends a good deal on
where you want to get to,” said the Cat
(Carroll, 1966, p.75).
Assessment
The function of classroom assessment is
twofold: to inform instruction and to
communicate information about
achievement.
• “Assessment should improve
performance, not just audit it (Stiggins,
2001, p. 5).
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom’s taxonomy divides the way
people learn into three domains. One of these
domains is the cognitive domain. This domain
is further divided into categories which are
arranged progressively from the lowest level of
thinking, simple knowledge and recall, to the
highest, evaluating information.
Bloom’s Taxonomy
know
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Bloom’s Taxonomy According to Seinfeld
Formative Assessments
We can chunk Bloom’s levels of
understanding to make them more
manageable and use assessment tools
targeted at three different levels of
understanding:
Level I - Know and Understand
Level II – Apply and Analyze
Level III – Evaluate and Create
Level I Questions
Knowledge and Understanding
• address basic details and processes that are relatively
easy
• vocabulary terms (surface level understanding)
• time sequences
• facts (address details/characteristics about people,
places, things, events, etc.)
• algorithms (that do not vary much once they are learned)
• single rules
• tactics
What are we Asking Students to
do in Level I Questions?
Choose
Name
Match
Select
Demonstrate
Which
Define
Label
Omit
Show
Name
Identify
Find
List
Recall
Tell
What
Level II Questions
Application and Analysis
• address more complex ideas and processes
• generalizations and principles (demonstrate cause and effect
relationships)
• generate examples
• generate predictions
• typically open-ended in format
• involve embedded procedures
• problem solving (process of overcoming constraints)
• decision making (generating and applying criteria to make a
selection)
• experimental inquiry (generating and testing explanations)
• investigation (identifying and resolving issues)
• invention (developing unique products or processes)
What are we Asking Students to
do in Level II Questions?
Apply
Build
Construct
Develop
Make use of
Model
Select
Solve
Categorize
Compare
Contrast
Distinguish
Find the Relationship
Choose
Organize
Simplify
Analyse
Classify
Plan
Level III Questions
Evaluation and Creation
• require students to make inferences or applications that go
beyond what was taught in class
• comparing and contrasting (identifying similarities and
differences)
• classifying (grouping things into categories based on similar
characteristics)
• creating metaphors (identifying patterns that connect
information)
• creating analogies (identifying relationships between
two sets of information)
• identifying and analyzing errors
• task is NEW to students
What are we Asking Students to
do in Level III Questions?
Adapt
Compose
Elaborate
Improve
Maximize
Solve
Change
Create
Formulate
Modify
Minimize
Theorize
Combine
Design
Invent
Predict
Conclude
Defend
Appraise
Assess
Criticize
Evaluate
Dispute
Judge
Plan
Prove
Pre/Post Formative Assessment
• A type of formative assessment that can
be very useful for that teacher as a
planning tool and to the student as a piece
of reflective assessment.
Outcome Specific
Formative Assessment
• A one page assessment used to give student
immediate feedback, the same day or the
next day.
• Students will get at least one more chance to
write a very similar one page assessment
after going over this one, reviewing the
outcome and having a chance to use the
knowledge either in following lessons or
on a performance task.
Multi-Outcome Performance
Task
• We can take performance tasks that are
already made and alter them into a similar
three leveled approach.
Assessment
vs
Evaluation
 When we formatively assess during the
learning and evaluate at the end of the learning,
we give student time to practice and improve
before we judge the evidence…
Evaluation is Summative Assessment
Summative Assessment
• Any summative assessment, assessment
of learning, should only be used at the end
of the year with the formative assessments
for learning used to reinforce that final
assessment.
Summative
Assessments
If we are going to continue with the idea
that a student who can answer level I
questions is at grade level, be it with only the
most basic level of understanding, then we
need to ensure that 50% of our summative
assessments are level I questions.
Questions?
Fonda Vadnais
fonda.vadnais@sapdc.ca