Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 MODULE 3: ASSESSMENT Adolescent Literacy – Professional Development Unit 1, Session 3

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3

MODULE 3: ASSESSMENT

Adolescent Literacy – Professional DevelopmentUnit 1, Session 3


Session 3 Questions & Objectives Session 3 Key Questions

Assessment stakeholders: Who needs what data? What are the critical foundations of useful assessment? What are the roles and responsibilities related to implementing an

assessment system?

Session 3 Objectives Participants will understand that different types of assessment

activities provide data for different purposes and different audiences. Participants will practice articulating a goal and breaking it down into

learning targets. Participants will become aware of who is responsible for what

assessment activities in their school or district.2


Opening Activity

Think

•Since last session, how have you worked at including students in the assessment process?

Talk

•Collect into groups of four, and share with each other what the activity was, what went well, and how you might revise it in the future.

Write

•Take five minutes to write your ideas about the next steps you would like to take to include your students in the assessment process.

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The Literacy Goals

There are three overarching goals:1. Increase overall language proficiency to prepare

students for the high-level literacy skills expected in college and the workplace.

2. Challenge students who are already language-proficient to meet increasingly difficult standards.

3. Assist students who are not language-proficient to acquire necessary skills and knowledge.

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And A Fourth Goal to Keep in Mind

4. An emphasis on what students can do with skills and knowledge is an essential part of teaching and assessing in the 21st century.

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Purposes of AssessmentInform instructional decisions at each level•Institutional•Program•Classroom

Encourage students to learn•Ownership of learning•Specific feedback•Progress builds confidence

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Shared Goals/Different Data NeedsStakeholder Questions/Decisions

Students How am I doing? What should I do next?

Teachers Have my students met my goals?How can I help those who didn’t?

Parents How is my child doing?How does his/her work compare to average?

Administrators at the school, district, and state levels?

How effective is the program in helping all students meet proficiency?How are our teachers doing?

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Data Needs: Institutional

Decisions• Are enough students meeting required standards?

Responsibility• Superintendents and district leadership, school

boards, ESE, legislators

Data Needed• Annual summaries of standards proficiency on

accountability tests such as MCAS (aggregate).8


Data Needs: Program Level Decisions• On which standards are our students proficient or not

proficient?

Responsibility• Teacher teams, teacher leaders, principals, and curriculum

leaders

Data Needed• Periodic, but frequent, evidence aggregated across

classrooms revealing standards not mastered (interim, benchmark, short-cycle, common assessments)

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Data Needs: Classroom Level

Decisions• What comes next in learning and teaching?

Responsibility• Teachers, students, sometimes parents

Data Needed• Continuous evidence of each student’s current location on the

scaffolding leading to each standard (questioning strategies, non-evaluative descriptive feedback to individual students, peer assessment, whiteboards, quizzes, exit questions). Individual, not aggregate.

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Activity

Look at the Goal boxes on the chart from the DESE, “Massachusetts Secondary Literacy Framework.” In small groups, discuss:How are the learning targets for each goal

articulated to students and teachers?How is progress toward achievement of each goal

measured (e.g., what type of assessment is used?)In what ways does each assessment answer (or not

answer) stakeholder questions?

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Assessment: Critical Foundation #1

Clearly Articulated ExpectationsThere must be a framework of achievement

expectations to be reflected in component assessments.

Whether framed as state standards, local standards, or a teacher’s classroom standards, certain criteria must be satisfied.

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Standards-Based SchoolsStandards-based instructionMission of maximizing success of each

student

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Quality assessment must:Be designed to serve a specific

predetermined purposeArise from a specific predetermined

definition of achievement successBe designed specifically to fit purpose and

context, and to communicate results to each stakeholder in a manner that makes the information useful for decision making

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A Comprehensive Assessment Program

In the end, all assessment data—whether from formative or summative assessment—is intended to measure how effectively instruction is closing the gap between what students know now, and what students need to know.

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Activity In order to measure progress and achievement, we

must articulate what counts as proficiency, and what are the learning targets along the way

Using the handouts provided, work in small groups to break overarching goals into learning targets that are articulated in measureable terms

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Easier Said Than Done

Creating a coherent system of assessment requires that educators at various levels (including district curriculum leaders, school literacy coaches, and classroom teachers) work together to ensure that they: have assessments to meet each of their specific

purposes can interpret the results of these assessments in

systematic ways that can inform instructional decisions

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State Role in Assessment Institutional level

Develop and administer MCAS Use results as part of accountability determinations

Program levelProgrammatic support (e.g., Reading First) Infrastructure and analysis tools (e.g., statewide data

warehouse, growth model) Initiatives (e.g., Galileo Pilot Project – see evaluation at

http://www.doe.mass.edu/omste/galileo/06-08eval.doc)Guidance documents (e.g., RtI/Tiered instructional systems)

Classroom levelProfessional development

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http://www.doe.mass.edu/omste/galileo/06-08eval.doc


District Role in Assessment Institutional level

Respond to accountability findingsProgrammatic level

Create a balanced system that serves all levels of decision making

Classroom levelEnsure that assessments are used to support

effective instruction to meet the learning needs of all students

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Educators Working Together (1)

1. Data CollectionWho will administer basic literacy

assessments?Who will administer disciplinary literacy

assessments?Who will collect, tabulate, and enter data

into a system so that the data may be interpreted and used?

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2. Data Interpretation and RecommendationsWho will interpret data and make

recommendations?ScreeningProgress MonitoringAchievementDiagnostic


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3. Data UseWho will make decisions about changes in

instruction?Who will make decisions about how data

are used?Communication to students, parents, and

teachersCurricular and instructional changes


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Activity

“Putting Assessment in the Driver’s Seat” Break into two groups.

Group 1 should underline/note the places that require school policy related to assessment.

Group 2 should underline/note the places that assume that personnel have the appropriate background/training to fulfill their responsibilities.

Discuss what is needed in terms of policy and professional development in your school/district. 23


ActivityUse the sheets provided to identify some of

the strengths and needs in the assessment system at your school/in your districtEducators working togetherAssessments that provide needed dataSystematic interpretation that informs

instructionCommunication of goals and progress

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Documents

Module 3: Unit 1, Session 3 MODULE 3: ASSESSMENT Adolescent Literacy – Professional Development Unit 1, Session 3