Theme 2: Expanding Assessment and Evaluation for FNMI Students

Goal #1: First Nations, Métis and Inuit student achievement is increased as measured by Provincial Achievement Tests and Diploma Exams.

Activity: Introducing your Neighbour

1. Pair up with the person to your left. If there is an odd number, create one trio.

2. Take turns telling each other your names, places of residence, places of birth and one thing you do in your spare time.

3. Listen carefully because you will introduce your partner to the group. Try not to take notes -- use your listening and memory skills.

Expanding Assessment and Evaluation for FNMI Students

Purpose of workshop• To increase the academic success of all students through the use of valid

and reliable assessment practices

Outcomes• To gain a deeper understanding of the purposes of assessment• To explore a variety of assessment tools• To design an assessment plan that is valid and reliable

The purposes of assessment are:• To improve student learning• To inform teacher practice• To prepare students for adult life• To report students’ progress to parents

Every learner is unique and therefore one size does not fit all. Assessment must reflect the uniqueness of learners.

Fair assessment needs be valid, reliable, and diverse, and attainable for all students in the classroom.

Validity is the appropriateness, adequacy and truthfulness of interpretations made from assessment information based on learner outcomes.

Reliability is the consistency of assessment results.

“Think of a time” when you got a mark that you believed did not represent what you knew or how you had performed.

Think about how you felt. Share your thoughts and feelings with a partner and then share your thoughts and feelings with the group.

Activity: Think of a Time …

Activity: Final Word

1. Working in groups of four, number yourselves 1 through 4.

2. Read the article “A Framework for Student Assessment” from the Alberta Assessment Consortium website. Highlight 2-4 passages that capture your attention:

• A new connection• A question• Affirmation• Disagreement

3. Take turns reading your highlighted passages and responding, and then explain why you highlighted your chosen passages.

Excerpt from “A Framework for Student Assessment” from the Alberta Assessment Consortium website.

Assessment, evaluation, and communication of student achievement and growth are integral parts of schooling. Each part of the process should be a positive experience for students and promote growth. Practices should be carried out in such a way that they support continuous learning and development, and be congruent with the following principles:

• Assessment, evaluation, and communication of student growth are based on the curriculum and are in line with the school's philosophy and programming principles.

2. Information about methods of assessment and results of evaluation is available to students, parents, and the community.

3. Student growth is assessed, evaluated, and communicated for all outcomes.

Principles of Assessment, Evaluation & Communication

Principles of Assessment, Evaluation & Communication

4. Evaluation and communication of student growth are ongoing and are used to plan effective programming.

5. Student growth is demonstrated through a variety of performances evaluated by the teacher.

6. Student growth is enhanced when students participate in the assessment, evaluation, and communication processes.

7. Student growth is enhanced when assessment, evaluation and communication are viewed positively by the student.

8. Methods of communicating student growth vary depending on audience and purpose.

9. Methods of assessment and evaluation of student growth are developmentally appropriate and vary depending on student learning patterns.

Benefits of Using Performance Assessment Excerpt from “A Framework for Communicating Student Learning” from the Alberta Assessment Consortium website.

Performance assessment provides teachers with a tool that will help:

• identify a focus for instruction • involve students in setting criteria, resulting in increased student

motivation and understanding • increase the level of consistency in evaluating student performance • clarify what students know and can do • generate specific and informative comments for students and

parents • identify outcomes to be reviewed or taught again (that is, highlight

student strengths and weaknesses)

Benefits of Using Performance Assessment (continued)

Performance assessment provides students with:• an opportunity to increase their learning • clear performance targets and the opportunity to achieve excellence • an opportunity to be involved in setting the criteria • an assessment that motivates and should have a real-world context • an assessment that enables them to demonstrate what they know

and can do – in more than one way – with more than one possible solution

• a way to reflect on their learning and set goals for improved performance

Performance assessment provides parents and the community with:• information about what is important in a subject area • a basis for working with students and the school to help improve

performance

Assessment Framework Model

Changing Views of Learning, Teaching, and Assessing

The turmoil around assessment is not surprising. We are in the midst of an important shift in our thinking about learning and teaching. The traditional view of the learner as a passive recipient of information has given way to an emerging view of the learner as an active participant. This places new demands on teachers to:

• plan instructional activities that will engage learners who bring different kinds of background knowledge and experience to the learning situation

• design assessment strategies that will provide information about how learners are learning as well as information about what they have learned

• use assessment information to plan further learning activities that build on student strengths and meet their needs for further growth

Share what assessment tools you currently use and why you use them by writing the information on file cards. Also include on the cards the type of assessment the tool is used for and the learning style(s) it might match. Share your files cards with others.

Divide into table groups and each group write a newsletter to the parents in your school explaining the purposes of assessment. Must be kept to 250 words. You have approx. 20 minutes.

Activity: Assessment File Cards

Activity: Write a Newsletter

Consider how your experience with unfair assessment would have been different if your teacher had applied the concepts of ‘valid’ and ‘reliable’ to their practice.

Think about your own assessment tools and plans in your unit and consider whether or not your assessment plan is both valid and reliable.

Redesign the sample assessment tools you brought to the session using the knowledge and information learned. If comfortable, share your work with someone across the room.

Activity: Valid and Reliable?

Activity: Revising Your Assessment Tools

Think about and jot down: • 1 thing I will stop doing in my assessment practice• 1 thing I will start doing in my assessment practice• 1 think I will keep in my assessment practice

Create a poem by writing:• one thing you LEARNED today• one thing that HELPED you learn today• one thing the you CONTRIBUTED to the learning today• one thing you feel you can TRY• how you FEEL

Activity: Stop, Start and Keep

Activity: Reflection Poem