Looking at Assessment
Through an H.E.T. Lens
Sue Pearson, Associate
susanpiti@aol.com
WELCOME
NEXT STEPS
H.E.T.
ASSESSMENT
LENS
ASSESSMENT:
What & Why?
ASSESSMENT
TOOLS
The lasting measure of
good teaching is what
the individual student
learns and carries
away.
-- Stanford Erickson
-- Alan Blinder (Princeton),
Assessment: Definition
• Assessment is the process of gathering and
documenting information about the
achievement, skills, and abilities of an
individual.
Why Do We Assess Students?
• Assessment is used in
an educational setting by
teachers to accomplish a
range of objectives
including to:
• Learn more about the competencies and
deficiencies of the individual being tested
• Identify specific problem areas and/or needs
• Evaluate the individual's performance in
relation to a set of standards or goals
• Provide feedback on effectiveness of
instruction
• Predict an individual's aptitudes or future
capabilities
• Provide for differentiated instruction
Assessment Tools
The choice of an assessment tool depends on
the purpose or goal of an assignment.
Assessment Tools
 Traditional
Alternative
TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENTS
These tests:
rely on specific, structured procedures and
instructions given to all test-takers by the test
administrator (or to be read by the test-takers
themselves).
are either norm-referenced or criterion-referenced
tests.
allow researchers to compare data from large
numbers of students or subgroups of students.
ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENTS
These assessments:
provide differentiation
may be individual, partners, Learning
Club, or whole class projects/products
can offer choice (in task, product and MI)
allow for more individual reflection and
the steps needed for improvement
Balanced Assessment
Balanced assessment should
provide BOTH formative and
summative for information
gathering in regard to students’
growth and understanding.
Learning is a Two-Step Process
STEP ONE:
Input Stage: Pattern seeking & meaning making
 First, the brain must detect/identify a pattern
 Second, the brain must make meaning of the
pattern, including its relationship to other
patterns
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
• Part of the instructional process
• Provides information needed to adjust teaching
and learning while they are happening
• Informs teachers and students about student
understanding at a point when timely
adjustments can be made
• Adjustments help to ensure students achieve
targeted learning goals within a specific
time frame
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
• Given periodically at a particular time to
assess what students know and don’t know
• Means to gauge where students are at a
particular point in time in relation to content
standards
• Can only help in certain aspects of the
learning process
• Taken after instruction
STUDENTS
Must be involved as:
Assessors of their own learning
Resources to other students
Owners of their own workmotivating!
Think of formative assessment
as “practice”.
Students
are not held
accountable this is
practice.
Formative assessment helps teachers
determine next steps during the learning
process (as the instruction approaches the
summative assessment of student learning).
Driver’s License
What if you received a grade every time you sat
behind the wheel?
What if your final grade for the driver’s license
test was the average of all the grades you
received while practicing?
In the beginning of learning to drive, how
confident or motivated to learn would you feel?
Would any of the grades you received provide
you with guidance on what you needed
to do next to improve your driving skills?
Learning is a Two-Step Process
STEP TWO:
Output Stage: Building programs to use what we
understand
 Begins with conscious effort (often with
guidance)
and then
 With practice, becomes almost automatic and
wired into long-term memory.
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
Tools that help evaluate:
Effectiveness of program
School improvement goals
Alignment of curriculum
Student placement in specific programs
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
EXAMPLES INCLUDE:
 State assessments
 District benchmark or interim assessments
 End-of-unit or chapter tests
 End-of-term or semester exams
 Scores that are used for accountability for
schools (AYP) and students (report card
grades).
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
REMEMBER TO:
 Determine/Create BEFORE teaching
unit/component
 Base on “have-to-knows” rather than “niceto-knows” (State standards/skills/objectives)
Sam
Grade 3: 99th %
Grade 4: 91st %C
Sam
CC
4/17 Took Test 1-went home sick
4/18-4/22 Absent-strep throat
4/23 Took tests 2-3-4
4/24-4/27 Absent: ST relapse
Class Card: 10 minute spelling test
Class average: 55th %
Approx. 1 minute after test started,
fire engines, ambulances,
emergency vehicles came to
apartment house kitty-corner fromactive fire-kids attention drawn from
test
Amanda
Grade 3: ELA TEST-77th%
Subset-reading comprehension: 75th%
Grade 4: reading comp. 45th%
Got to the end of the test and had
one row of “circles” left overobviously left one out along the way
which through off all the other
answers
“The directions said
to find the word
that best ‘fits’ in
the box!”
10.
a.
b.
c.
ASSESSMENT: H.E.T. MODEL
Assessment is done:
 As extension of instruction
During each phase of the two-step
learning process
For immediate adjustment
ASSESSMENT: H.E.T. MODEL
At any moment during a lesson, the teacher
must be able to answer 2 questions:
“Where in the two-step learning process
is this student?”
“Are there any clues in his/her
performance that will help me ensure that
the student learns the first time?”
ASSESSMENT: H.E.T. MODEL
What we want students to
UNDERSTAND is clearly stated in the key
points:
 concepts
 significant knowledge
 skills
ASSESSMENT: H.E.T. MODEL
What we want students to DO
with what they understand is
specifically described in the
inquiries.
ASSESSMENT: H.E.T. MODEL
Curriculum for the
HET Model contains the
assessment tools for both
formative and summative
assessment.
ROLE OF KEY POINTS
Conceptual Key Points have GUTScapture BIG ideas that apply
worldwide
G=generalizable
U=understandable
T=transferable
S=succinct; clear
ROLE OF KEY POINTS
Significant Knowledge Key Points
 Provide information necessary to
understand the concept where it can be
directly experienced through the being
there location (have-to-knows of
curriculum)
ROLE OF KEY POINTS
Skill Key Points
 Describe those basic skills needed to
explore, utilize and understand those big
ideas (concepts)
ROLE OF INQUIRIES
Formative Assessment:
 Any inquiry that meets the
ABC+D2 rule is a good candidate
for formative assessment.
How will students APPLY
what they are learning?
ABC+D2 Rules for Writing Inquiries
Always start with the action in mind (verb).
Be specific with your directions-what is the inquiry
asking students to do? What is the application?
Connect to the key point.
 Require DEEP thinking and real world application.
Don’t stop writing until you have enough inquiries
for each key point to take students through mastery
to long-term memory.
3 C’s of Assessment
Correct
Complete
Comprehensive
3 C’s of Assessment
Correct-conforming to fact or truth;
free from error; accurate
Complete-having all parts/elements
Comprehensive-of large scope;
inclusive; extensive mental range or
grasp; often reflective of multiple points
of view
3 C’s of Assessment
When washing a car:
CORRECT – The outside of the car has been washed and
rinsed
COMPLETE – The outside has been washed and rinsed;
the windows have been wiped inside and out
COMPREHENSIVE – The outside of the car has been
washed and rinsed; the windows have been wiped
inside and out; mats have been washed and the floor
has been vacuumed; “stuff” has been cleared, the trunk
has been organized, and receipts have been collected.
HET Summative Assessment
Reserved for assessing completion
of the last (2nd) phase of the TwoStep Learning Process
Should require the same content
(need-to-know) of all students but
the format may vary
Authentic Assessment: HET Model
Norm-referenced criteria are drawn from:
“Real life” rubrics
What one needs to understand and be
able to do as an employee, business
owner or visitor at the being there
location
TWO-STEP LEARNING vs. TYPES OF TEST ITEMS
STEP 1: PATTERN SEEKING
STEP TWO: PROGRAM BUILDING
Making meaning; Understanding (INPUT)
Detecting
Understanding
patterns
the patterns
Able to use what is understood (OUTPUT)
Use with conscious Use automatically
effort & guidance
and “wired” into
long-term memory
Q: What do you want them to do with
what they understand?
Assessment
Questions:
TEST T/F Items
ITEM
TYPE
Q: What do you want
students to understand?
Essay Questions
Multiple Choice
Demonstrations with Demonstrations over
Real-world situations time in
Different settings
Transforming Inquiries into
Assessment Tools
 First, select an inquiry that asks for the
most authentic real-world application of
the content or skill you wish to assess.
 Second, tweak that inquiry so it can
provide a definitive yes-no determination.
Let’s try one!
Conceptual Key Point
A system is a collection of parts and
processes that interact to perform some
function. Many things can be looked at as a
system or as part of a system.
To study a system, one must define its
boundaries and parts.
3-5th grade-MTW-Deb Meyer and Sue Pearson
INQUIRY #1
1) In your Learning Club, analyze a bicycle. Experiment
with drawing boundaries which would define at least
three systems within that bicycle. Draw the boundaries
for each of those systems. Record your findings and
explain why you chose the boundaries you did for each
system. When might you have to apply this knowledge
in “real” life? Share your findings with at least one
other Learning Club. In your science journal, record
what you learned from this Learning Club. (BK, S, V,
ML)
Elements of a Measurable Test Item
Who – All students (not just the advanced students)
What students should know and be able to apply
(the concept/skill described in the key point and the
application as described in the inquiry)
How well – Framed by the inquiries and judged
against the rubric(s) of the being there location and
the “3C’s” of mastery
When – As described in the inquiry (e.g., within the
next 10 minutes, by the end of the day, by
tomorrow morning, by the end of the week.
INQUIRY #1
1) In your Learning Club, analyze a bicycle. Experiment
with drawing boundaries which would define at least
three systems within that bicycle. Draw the boundaries
for each of those systems. Record your findings and
explain why you chose the boundaries you did for each
system. Explain when you might need this knowledge in
“real” life. Share your findings with at least one other
Learning Club. In your science journal, record what you
learned from this Learning Club. (BK, S, V, ML)
ASK YOURSELF. . .
Q1: Is the action required observable and
specific?
Answer-Mostly yes but the action required needs
tweaking. For example, the “what” is
incomplete. Add “Describe the parts and
processes of each of these systems and the
functions these parts and processes create.”
ASK YOURSELF. . .
Q2: Would this inquiry as written tell you if each
member of the Learning Club understood and
could apply it?
Answer: Probably not. Tweak it to make it an
individual task. Change it to read “Working
alone, analyze one of the bicycles in the
classroom.”
ASK YOURSELF. . .
Q3: Does this inquiry provide a time frame
for completion?
Answer: No it does not. Add “Complete your
work by Friday afternoon (1PM).”
ASSESSMENT INQUIRY
Working alone, analyze one of the bicycles in the
classroom. Then:
a. Sketch the bicycle.
b. Draw the boundaries for three systems: one which
would help you analyze a customer’s complaints about
brake failure, a second, that would help you analyze a
customer’s propulsion problem, and a third system of
your choice.
ASSESSMENT INQUIRY
c. Diagram the parts and processes of each system.
Describe on the diagram the functions that these
parts and processes perform together. Check your
work by physically moving the bicycle and
comparing its movement to the boundaries that
you have drawn for each system.
d. Identify what you believe to be the part/processes
that is the most common cause of failure of that
system. Include this information on your sketch.
Add your work to your science journal.
ASSESSMENT INQUIRY
e. Explain a time when this knowledge might help you
in the “real” world.
f. Complete your work by Friday (1PM). Before
submitting your science journal to the teacher for
review, check your work against the 3C’s of
Assessment. Make any changes to improve your work.
Make sure it represents your personal best efforts.
TWEAKED ASSESSMENT INQUIRY
Who – a student working alone
What the learner will do/know and be able to apply
– define boundaries of three or more systems
How – by analyzing and identifying three systems of
a bicycle and describing the parts and processes of
each of those systems and the function the parts and
processes create
How well – framed by the inquiries and judged
according to the “3Cs” of mastery
When – by Friday at 1PM
FINAL QUESTION
• Has the student truly mastered this concept
(systems) and wired it into his/her long-term
memory?
• If in doubt, ask the student to select a favorite
toy with moving parts. Have the student redo
the inquiry but substitute the toy for the
bicycle.
NEXT STEPS
Using the HET assessment lens:
Review the state standards/skills-the “needto-knows”
Revisit your Conceptual Key Points for clarity
and “big picture” focus
Rewrite/Tweak your inquiries so they meet
the needs for both formative and
summative assessment and application in the
“real” world.
“... life is not a
multiple choice test,
it's an open-book
essay exam.”
-- Alan Blinder (Princeton),
Alan Blinder, Princeton
WELCOME
NEXT STEPS
H.E.T.
ASSESSMENT
LENS
ASSESSMENT:
What & Why?
ASSESSMENT
TOOLS
B4E Assessment Resources
Exceeding Expectations: Chapters 16-19
www.books4educ.com
Other Assessment Resources
Rubistar-create rubrics for your inquiries
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/
TeAchnology
http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/
Project-Based Rubrics
http://pblchecklist.4teachers.org/index.shtml
Schools Exceeding Expectations
“From Ordinary to Extraordinary”
Excellence in Education
April 27-30, 2010
Site: Columbia, SC
On-Site District: Richland School District Two
•
•
•
•
•
Classroom visitations demonstrating Highly Effective Teaching (HET) in action
Breakout sessions and focus strands with HET master associates
Interactive presentations on instructional practices and leadership approaches
Networking opportunities with other schools and districts
Developing Effective First Teaching curriculum and instruction
Visit: http://www.thecenter4learning.com/html/events/2011/see.htm
For additional CFEL information
and support contact:
• Sue Pearson
• susanpiti@aol.com