Middle Years
Assessment Policy
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ••
Student Engagement
Advance Organizer:
Why Engagement?
• How has the role of school changed?
• What about the Middle Years Learner?
• What does the Research tell us about Student
Engagement?
• What does the Research tell us about Assessment?
• What are some of the Instructional and Assessment
Strategies that make a Difference?
Purpose of School has Changed
from
Ranking/sorting
to
Learning for all
Goal: Independent, self-directed learners
The Mountain
y
0
Mean
Ranking and Sorting
x
Moving the Mountain
Higher Learning for All
The Middle Years
Learner
Research – Based Human
Developmental Continuum
School
Level
Key Focus
Brain Basis
Curriculum
Emphasis
Most Appropriate
Assessment
Approaches
Student
Teacher
Relationship
Pedagogical
Tools
Examples of How A Subject
Could be Taught (e.g.
Reading)
Early
childhood
(3–6 yrs)
Play
Rich dendritic
connections,
effects of
environmental
stimulation on
synaptic
development
Rich,
sensorimotor
experiences,
open-ended
imaginative
play
Observation and
documentation of
spontaneous
play experiences
Student as
player, teacher
as facilitator
Play house,
play-ground,
hands on
sensoryexploration,
dress-up,
drama, blocks
Not taught at all, only
exposure to words, books,
etc. , as part of the play
space
Early
Years
(7-10 yrs)
Learning how
the world
works
Pruning of
synaptic growth
Learning
about symbol
systems,
customs,
rules, the
natural world
& Institutions
Performancebased;
assessments of
project-based
learning (criterion
- based, ipsative
measures)
Student as
worker/learner,
teacher as
coach
Activity centers,
field trips,
theme-based
instruction,
project-based
learning,
simulations
Rich literature-based,
language-based literacy
program (with phonemic
awareness as an integral
part)
Middle
Years
(11-14
yrs)
Social,
Emotional, &
Metacognitive
learning
Limbic system
maturity, lack of
frontal lobe
maturity
Emotional
Intelligence
Development
& small group
work
Self-assessment
(journals,
projects),
student-teacher
review of work,,
peer review
Student as
explorer,
teacher as
guide
Active learning,
community of
learners,
affective/social
learning,
metacognitive
strategies
Reading for self-discovery,
peer reading groups,
metacognitive reading
strategies
Senior
Years
(14-18
yrs)
Preparing to
live
independently
in the real
world
Progressive
development of
frontal lobes
Career
preparation
and
development
Portfolios,
certification tests,
college prep
exams
Student as
apprentice,
teacher as
mentor
Apprenticeship,
internship,
cooperative
education,
career
counseling
Reading for pleasure, for
work roles, and college
preparation
Adapted from Thomas
Armstrong, 2006
Circle of Needs
Belonging
Fun
Power
Freedom
Purposes of Behaviour
• All human behaviour is purposeful.
• Meeting basic needs is behind all behaviour..
• Trouble ensues when needs are not being met
or when needs are in conflict.
–
–
–
–
–
Survival (Safety)
Belonging (Love)
Power (Efficacy)
Fun (Sense of Accomplishment)
Freedom (Choice)
(Gossen, Glasser)
Mindsets make a big difference!
• The Fixed Mindset
• Don’t make mistakes
• Don’t work hard
• If you make mistakes, don’t try and repair them
• The Growth Mindset
• Take on challenges
• Work hard
• Confront your deficiencies and correct them
adapted from Carol Dweck
What Influences Mindsets? The
Kind of Feedback Students
Receive.
• Praising intelligence
Praising the student who quickly finished and got the right
answer for being smart is actually contributing to the Fixed
Mindset and is detrimental to long term achievement.
• Recognizing effort, effective strategies employed,
and perseverance through descriptive feedback
Praising the student for working hard, applying what they learned
in the past and persevering even when a task is difficult
contributes to the Growth Mindset. (Descriptive feedback what the teacher has seen and heard the student do or say.)
adapted from Carol Dweck
Beliefs
• Mission of School is to Promote Maximum
Success – Learning for All, Not Ranking and
Sorting
• All Students Can Learn - But they don’t all
start at the same place, learn at the same rate or
reach the same level
• Learning Doesn’t Happen Because Adults
Demand It – Learners must want and feel able
to learn, see learning as worth the effort
Activity
• Turn to your neighbor(s)
• Share three ideas that have been
presented, so far
• What are the implications of what we have
talked about, so far, for
– Teacher
– Students
– Schools
• Be prepared to share you thoughts
Levers for Learning
Assessment
Engagement
Engagement
What does brain research tell us
is necessary for engagement?
• Novelty
brains are wired to pay
attention to new things
• Challenge
proximal zone
• Feedback
descriptive,
within thirty minutes
• Coherence
fits with what is known
• Sufficient Time
to go deep, construct new
knowledge
Eric Jensen
Engaging Work
• Differences in engagement affects effort
that students are prepared to apply to their
school work
• Effort affects achievement at least as
much as ability
• Teachers can affect engagement by
creating work that has engaging qualities
Philip Schlechty , 2002
Working on the Work
Design of Engaging Work
Clear
Criteria
Clear
Criteria
Affirmation &
Affiliation
Affirmation
&
Affiliation
Choice
Choice
Product
Focus
Product
Focus
Organization
of
Knowledge
Organization
of
Knowledge
Novelty
&Variety
Novelty
&Variety
No Fault
Practice
No Fault
Practice
Relevant
Content Relevant
Content
Authenticity
Authenticity
Design Elements of Engaging Work
Affirmation
Affiliation
Recognition of work and worth
Working with others towards a
common goal
Safe
No fault practice
Clear Criteria
Clear description of quality
Choice
Sharing decision making
(empowerment)
Authenticity
Real life expectations–
meaningful, valuable
Relevant Content
Enduring, necessary for
future learning, important
in real life
Organization of Learning
How/Where learning fits
Novelty & Variety
Brain is hard-wired to pay
attention to anything new
Remember that the person
doing the work
is growing the dendrites.
Pat Wolfe, 2001
Assessment
Assessment is Changing
because we know more about
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
how students learn (constructivism)
brain research
supporting learning through feedback
importance of engagement/motivation
impact of classroom assessment on learning
The Research
Black and Wiliam (1998), synthesized
results from 250 international studies on
classroom assessment, and concluded that
• involving students in assessment, and
• increasing the amount of descriptive
feedback while decreasing evaluative
feedback
has a more powerful impact on learning
than any educational innovation ever
documented.
The Research
Effect Size
• .5 – 1.0 standard deviation score gain
• 1.0 S.D. equals
– 35 percentile points
– 2 to 4 grade equivalents
• Largest gains for low achievers, but all
do better
Rethinking Classroom Assessment
with Purpose in Mind
• WNCP developed
• Manitoba lead province in development
• Endorsed and released January 2006
• Applies K-12
FOR
FOR
OF
AS
OF
Essentials of Classroom Based
Assessment
Research shows increases in student
achievement and motivation when students
Are
Involved
Understand
Learning Goals
Know Criteria
for Success
Receive and
Use Descriptive
Feedback
Activity
• Create a small of group of 3 or 4
• Discuss the benefits and the challenges
that teachers face when putting the puzzle
pieces into action in their classrooms
• Be prepared to share some of your
thoughts
Shifting the Balance
Do more
• Explain purpose and relevance of learning
• Provide choice and scaffolding toward
responsibility
• Provide opportunities to learn with others
• Specific, descriptive feedback
• Self-assessment related to criteria
Do less
•
•
•
•
•
Testing
Drill and practice for test taking
Self-evaluation (grading own work)
Comparison of students re: test results
Competition for marks
Levers for Learning
Assessment
for and as
learning
Achievement
Engaging
work
Intrinsic
Motivation
Synthesis of the Research
Factors Influencing Achievement
1. Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum
3. Parent and Community Involvement
School
4. Safe and Orderly Environment
5. Collegiality and Professionalism
6. Instructional & Assessment Strategies
7. Classroom Management
Teacher
8. Classroom Curriculum Design
9. Home Environment
10. Learning Intelligence/ Background Knowledge
Student
11. Motivation
Synthesis of the Research
On Learning
Bob Marzano’s
2. Challenging Goals and Effective Feedback
Strategies that Work
1. Identifying similarities & differences
2. Summarizing & note-making
3. Re-enforcing effort & recognition of progress
4. Creating and using non-linguistic
representations like graphic organizers
5. Using the elements of cooperative learning
Strategies that Work
6. Establishing clear goals for students
7. Providing, timely, descriptive feedback
8. Generating, testing, hypothesizing ideas
9. Using questions, cues, and other
advance organizers
Marzano
Elements of Effective Middle Years
Programming
Appropriate
Role
Models &
Positive
Relationships
Social Emotional
Development
Student
Voice
Developmentally
Appropriate
Curriculum
Developmentally
Appropriate
Assessment
Physical &
Emotional Safety
Engaging
Work
Health
& Wellness
Metacognitive
Development
Adapted from Thomas
Armstrong, 2006
Motivation
and Achievement
• Students may hit the target today or they
may not.
• What is crucial is that they remain willing
to return and try again tomorrow.
Stiggins
References
• Armstrong, Thomas. The Best Schools. Alexandria, VA:
ASCD, 2006.
• Dweck, Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
New York, NY: Random House, 2006.
• Gossen, Diane, and Judy Anderson. Creating the
Conditions. Chapel Hill, NC: New View, 1995.
• Jensen, Eric. Teaching with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria,
VA: ASCD, 1998
• Marzano, Robert. Classroom Instruction that Works.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, 2001.
• Schlechty, Phillip C. Working on the Work. San Francisco:
Josse-Bass, 2002.
• Stiggins, Rick, Judith A. Arter, Jan Chappuis, and Stephen
Chappuis. Classroom Assessment for Student Learning:
Doing It Right—Using It Well. Portland, OR: Assessment
Training Institute, 2004.