DTE Social Studies Methods PACT Assessment Assignment Fall 2008 This document outlines the PACT portion of your social studies methods course. You will be looking at student work from a social studies pre-assessment that was administered to 20 fourth grade students during the first week of school this year. Its purpose was to find out what students know at the beginning of the year in preparation for lessons in world and California geography and American Indian history and culture. The assessment also covered some third grade material in order to assess what they remember to bridge connections between the years. Your assignment is to select and analyze three student work samples and to write 5 to 8 single-spaced pages in response to the prompts below. Detailed guidelines for the assignment are below. Background Information The Social Studies pre-assessment was administered to 20 fourth grade students at a public elementary school in mid-east Oakland in the “flatlands.” The school is in its third year as a public new small school, and with cohesive vision and action plan that focuses on student achievement through explicit instruction, data assessment, and parent involvement. All of the students in the class are English language learners and come from homes where Spanish is the primary language. Most are on the free or reduced lunch program. About the Assessment The assessment is based on California State Standards for the elementary grades. The specific standards covered by the assessment are as follows: Grade Three: Continuity and Change Students in grade three learn more about our connections to the past and the ways in which particularly local, but also regional and national, government and traditions have developed and left their marks on current society, providing common memories. Emphasis is on the physical and cultural landscape of California, including the study of American Indians, the subsequent arrival of immigrants, and the impact they have had in forming the character of our contemporary society. 3.1 Students describe the physical and human geography and use maps, tables, graphs, photographs, and charts to organize information about people, places, and environments in a spatial context. 3.1.1 Identify geographical features in their local region (e.g., deserts, mountains, valleys, hills, coastal areas, oceans, lakes). 3.2 Students describe the American Indian nations in their local region long ago and in the recent past. 3.1.2 Discuss the ways in which physical geography, including climate, influenced how the local Indian nations adapted to their natural environment (e.g., how they obtained food, clothing, tools). Grade Four: A Changing State Students learn the story of their home state, unique in American history in terms of its vast and varied Draft - History-Social Science Task PACT Implementation Conference Development Teacher Education, UC Berkeley UCSB, 11•14•08 geography, its many waves of immigration beginning with pre-Columbian societies, its continuous diversity, economic energy, and rapid growth. In addition to the specific treatment of milestones in California history, students examine the state in the context of the rest of the nation, with an emphasis on the U.S. Constitution and the relationship between state and federal government. 4.1 Students demonstrate an understanding of the physical and human geographic features that define places and regions in California. 4.1.4 Explain and use the coordinate grid system of latitude and longitude to determine the absolute locations of places in California and on Earth. 4.1.5 Distinguish between the North and South Poles; the equator and the prime meridian; the tropics; and the hemispheres, using coordinates to plot locations. 4.1.6 Identify the locations of the Pacific Ocean, rivers, valleys, and mountain passes and explain their effects on the growth of towns. 4.2 Students describe the social, political, cultural, and economic life and interactions among people of California from the pre-Columbian societies to the Spanish mission and Mexican rancho periods. 4.2.1 Discuss the major nations of California Indians, including their geographic distribution, economic activities, legends, and religious beliefs; and describe how they depended on, adapted to, and modified the physical environment by cultivation of land and use of sea resources. Kindergarten through Grade Five: Historical and Social Science Analysis Skills The intellectual skills noted below are to be learned through, and applied to, the content standards for kindergarten through grade five. They are to be assessed only in conjunction with the content standards in kindergarten through grade five. In addition to the standards for kindergarten through grade five, students demonstrate the following intellectual, reasoning, reflection, and research skills: Chronological and Spatial Thinking 1. Students place key events and people of the historical era they are studying in a chronological sequence and within a spatial context; they interpret time lines. 3. Students explain how the present is connected to the past, identifying both similarities and differences between the two, and how some things change over time and some things stay the same. 4. Students use map and globe skills to determine the absolute locations of places and interpret information available through a map or globe's legend, scale, and symbolic representations. Guidelines for Assessing Student Work and Responding to the Prompts To avoid confusion, in this document “candidates” refer to you, and “students” refers to the fourth graders who completed the assessment. We suggest you review the rubrics that will be used to analyze candidates’ work so you know what is expected. In this assignment you will be summarizing and analyzing meaningful patterns in whole class performance on selected individual student assessments. You will analyze further the performance of two assessments and diagnose individual learning needs. Draft - History-Social Science Task PACT Implementation Conference Development Teacher Education, UC Berkeley UCSB, 11•14•08 Before responding to the prompts: 1. Analyze the student work to identify patterns in understanding across the class. 2. Select three student work sample which together represents what students generally understood and what a number of students were struggling to understand. 3. Label these samples as “Work Sample 1”, “Work Sample 2”, and “Work Sample 3”. If your students use invented spelling, please write a translation directly on the work sample. Be sure reviewers can distinguish any written feedback to students from the students’ written work. 4. Document your feedback to these three students, either as individuals or as part of a larger group. If it is not written directly on the work sample, provide a copy of any written feedback or write a summary of oral feedback (summary may be included with Commentary Prompt #6). Assessment Commentary Prompts Write a commentary of 5-8 single-spaced pages (including the prompts) that addresses the following prompts. Respond to each prompt separately. 1. Identify the standards and any other evaluative criteria or rubric you are using to assess student work. (The California standards addressed by this assessment are included above. Be sure to explain if you are using other criteria or a rubric that you have created to assess student work. 2. How do the evaluative criteria measure student proficiency for these standards/objectives? Evaluative criteria are performance indicators that you use to assess student learning. Categories of evaluative criteria include correct identification of key historical facts or people, or appropriate application of specific concepts or skills. 3. Create a summary of student learning across the whole class relative to your evaluative criteria. Summarize the results in a graph. You may use the optional chart provided following the Assessment Commentary prompts to provide the evaluative criteria, including descriptions of student performance at different levels. 4. Discuss what most students appear to understand well, and if relevant, any misunderstandings, confusions, or needs (including a need for greater challenge) that were apparent for some or most students. Cite evidence to support your analysis from the three student work samples you selected. 5. Choose two of the three samples you collected. Describe the two students’ prior knowledge of the content and their individual learning strengths and challenges (e.g., academic development, language proficiency, special needs). What did you conclude about their learning based on specific evidence from the assessment? 6. Provide written feedback on the selected student work and attach to your commentary. How and why do your approaches to feedback support students’ further learning? In what ways does your feedback address individual students’ needs and learning goals? Draft - History-Social Science Task PACT Implementation Conference Development Teacher Education, UC Berkeley UCSB, 11•14•08 Cite specific examples and reference the three student work samples as evidence to support your explanation. 7. Based on the student performance on this assessment, describe the next steps for instruction for the students. If different, describe any individualized next steps for the two students whose individual learning you analyzed. These next steps may include a specific instructional activity or other forms of re-teaching to support or extend continued learning of objectives, standards and/or central focus/big ideas for the learning segment. In your description, be sure to explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of the student performances. Rubrics used to analyze candidates’ work ASSESSMENT: ANALYZING STUDENT WORK FROM AN ASSESSMENT EH6: How does the candidate demonstrate an understanding of student performance with respect to standards/objectives? (TPEs 1,3) Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 The criteria/rubric and analysis have little connection with the identified standards/objectives. OR Student work samples do not support the conclusions in the analysis. The criteria/rubric and analysis focus on what students did right or wrong in relationship to identified standards/objectives. The analysis of whole class performance describes some differences in levels of student learning for the content assessed. The criteria/rubric and analysis focus on patterns of student errors, skills, and understandings to analyze student learning in relation to standards/objectives. Specific patterns are identified for individuals or subgroup(s) in addition to the whole class. All components of Level 3 plus: The criteria/rubric and analysis focus on partial understandings as well. The analysis is clear and detailed. ASSESSMENT: USING ASSESSMENT TO INFORM TEACHING EH7: How does the candidate use the analysis of student learning to propose next steps in instruction? (TPEs 3,4) Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Next steps are vaguely related to or not aligned with the identified student needs. OR Next steps are not described in sufficient detail to understand them. OR Next steps are based on inaccurate conclusions about student learning from the assessment analysis. Next steps focus on improving student performance through general support that addresses some identified student needs. Next steps are based on accurate conclusions about student performance on the assessment and are described in sufficient detail to understand them. Draft - History-Social Science Task PACT Implementation Conference Next steps focus on improving student performance through targeted support to individuals and groups to address specific identified needs. Next steps are based on whole class patterns of performance and some patterns for individuals and/or subgroups and are described in sufficient detail to understand them. All components of Level 3 plus: Next steps demonstrate a strong understanding of both the identified content and language standards/objectives and of individual students and/or subgroups. Development Teacher Education, UC Berkeley UCSB, 11•14•08 ASSESSMENT: USING FEEDBACK TO PROMOTE STUDENT LEARNING EH8: What is the quality of feedback to students? (TPEs 3,4) Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Feedback is general and provides little guidance for improvement related to learning objectives. OR The feedback contains significant inaccuracies. The feedback identifies what was done well and areas for improvement related to specific learning objectives. Draft - History-Social Science Task PACT Implementation Conference Specific feedback helps the student understand what s/he has done well, and gives suggestions to guide improvement. Specific comments are supportive and prompt analysis by the student of his/her own performance. The feedback shows strong understanding of students as individuals in reference to the content and language objectives they are trying to meet. Development Teacher Education, UC Berkeley UCSB, 11•14•08