Branksome Final report Carol and Oksana.pages

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS INQUIRY PROJECT
“RETHINKING ASSESSMENT WITH PURPOSE IN MIND”
FINAL SCHOOL REPORT 2010
SCHOOL:Branksome Hall Senior School
INQUIRY TEAM MEMBERS, INTERESTS AND GRADES TAUGHT:
Oksana Jajecznyk: Head of Science, 25 years experience teaching chemistry
and general science in the UK and Canada. Interested in promoting contextbased teaching in chemistry and hence promoting student engagement
through the relevancy of concepts with focus on developing key skills needed
in science. I am currently teaching G11 and G12 chemistry and am a senior IB
Diploma chemistry examiner.
•
Carol Van Wagner: Head of Mathematics, 18 years’ experience teaching math
and chemistry at the senior level. Interested in helping students learn to
understand concepts rather than just memorizing them, and in helping
students develop strategies for learning that will help at university and beyond.
Quote from Administrator:
Rosemary Evans, Head of
Academics
“I believe that student selfassessment is a critical
component of our school
assessment policy. It is
SCHOOL BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT FOR THE PROJECT: through student selfassessment that students
Branksome Hall is an independent IB school for girls in downtown Toronto
internalize and understand
with an enrolment of 860 students (JK -12). All of our graduates go to
assessment criteria,
university. There is a strong emphasis on professional development here.
promoting goal-setting
Faculty have been trained in TC2 (Roland Case), Schools Attuned (Mel Levine),
and articulation of next
Differentiated Instruction (Cindy Strickland), and implementation of a 1:1
steps. This is a critical
laptop program. Our Head of Academics, Rosemary Evans, helps to maintain
component of student
a strong emphasis on assessment and evaluation in the school, so that all
learning and motivation.
courses include both formative and summative assessment and a most
The significant point is to
have students begin to
recent, most consistent strategy for evaluation. As teachers of universitythink about what they have
bound senior students, we have an interest in encouraging students from Gr.
done which has worked
7 up to take responsibility for their own learning. Rosemary encouraged us to
(and the evidence that it is
participate in this action research project to formalize our interest in helping
working) and what they
students to become more active in the learning process.
have done which has not
worked and hence what
OUR ESSENTIAL QUESTION:
they can do differently.
If students conduct structured self-evaluations of their progress towards
proficiency in a course, to what extent can they develop effective personalized
learning plans to move their progress forward on the learning continuum?
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OUR ACTION RESEARCH STORY
involving students
directly inOF
monitoring
their progress
on the
learning
continuum and in filling in gaps in
1.By PURPOSE
AND SCOPE
THE RESEARCH
AND
HOW
IT CHANGED:
their learning, we hope to promote meta-cognition and help students take ownership of their learning.
“Students, as active, engaged, and critical assessors, can make sense of information, relate it to prior
knowledge, and master the skills involved. This is the regulatory process in metacognition. It occurs when
students personally monitor what they are leaning and use the feedback from this monitoring to make
adjustments, adaptations, and even major changes in what they understand” (Earl 2003, p. 25).
Our teaching involves the frequent use of formative assessment tools such as daily quizzes. Students receive
regular feedback on their progress as well as opportunities to improve their understanding and skills before
being assessed for marks. This is assessment for learning.
We also use a variety of summative assessment tools including end-of-unit tests, reports, and problem sets.
This is assessment of learning.
In the past we have found that students tend to be somewhat resistant to making an effort to improve their
understanding of material after being assessed for marks. By helping students to direct their own learning, we
hope to increase the level of ownership that students feel they have in the learning process; we hope that this
will increase all three of the following: motivation, confidence, and proficiency. “When students feel ownership
and have choice in their learning, they are more likely to invest time and energy in it” (Rethinking Classroom
Assessment with Purpose In Mind, 2006, p. 7).
In this project, we wished to explore the role of tests in assessment as learning. We hypothesized that students
who: 1. complete a thorough self-evaluation of their progress in learning after tests; 2. design a personalized
plan for filling in gaps in learning; and 3. follow through on their plan, will improve their grades more than
students who do not participate in such a self-analysis.
Our original research idea centred on a gap analysis conducted by Grade 12 students based on their own
achievement on a set of preparatory exams. The gap analysis provided a detailed template for each student to:
analyze her marked preparatory exam, measure her progress on the learning continuum from emergent to
proficient, identify specific areas of strength and specific areas for improvement, and plan an effective strategy
to fill in gaps in learning before final exams. We intended to analyze the correlation between: the level of
improvement in learning (i.e., grade achieved on the final IB exams in May – grade achieved on the preparatory
exams in March) and the extent to which a student had followed through on her individualized learning plan.
To determine a measure of the latter (i.e., the independent) variable, we asked each student to complete a
follow-up to the gap analysis. We asked students to report their progress on the learning continuum
immediately prior to writing final exams, and to explain how much of their plan to improve had indeed been
fulfilled. However, we discovered that students were generally reluctant to complete the follow-up—classes
were over and exams had begun—and that many students had actually misplaced the original gap analysis
containing their plan for improvement. This meant that we could not obtain a reliable measure of the extent to
which each student had followed through on her plan.
Our revised plan is described below in Part 3: Project Process.
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We2.thank
the administration
team at Branksome for funding our participation in this project. This
FUNDING
AND SUPPORT:
included the fees for this course and the costs of supply teachers to cover our absences from class. We
are also grateful to our colleagues in Science and Math (Deepa Raj, Steve Casterton, Edith Louie, Andrew
Schroter) for helping to test-run the various versions of the gap analyses we created. We enjoyed our
“OISE days” collaborating with the Junior School team at our school—Jennifer Colleran and Anna-Marie
McAleer. Thanks also to our technical support, especially Joe Smith.
We3.each
led a class
of Grade 11s or 12s through a series of gap analyses conducted after marked tests
PROJECT
PROCESS:
were returned. We explicitly discussed with our students the role meta-cognition plays in the learning
process. Each gap analysis included the following components:
• Where am I now? Self-evaluation of progress-to-date on the learning continuum from emergent
to proficient
• Where are the gaps? For each skill assessed on the test, the numbers of associated questions
were listed, with room for students to record whether their understanding was fine for this skill,
or what specifically needed to be improved
• What can I do to close the gaps? A list of strategies for students to choose in developing their
personalized learning plan
• What specifically do I need to remember next time? A prompt for students to list specific
reminders on their study sheet for that unit
• Have I followed through on my plan? A checklist system for students to record completed steps
in the learning plan
At various stages in the study, we collected feedback from the students—both informally and formally—
on their response to the gap analysis process, its effectiveness, and suggestions for improvement.
Finding the time to share ideas and observations was a challenge for our team, but we managed to
collaborate on-line and face-to-face during the class time available at OISE.
Quote from Math Student
“I find the analysis very helpful because it allows me to reflect and make
improvements on my studying methods. It is also helpful because it allows me to
easily see where I have gone wrong and where exactly I need to do the most
amount of practice.”
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4. 4. ASSESSMENT STRATEGY:
a) DESCRIPTION OF THE DATA COLLECTION:
Our main source of data was the students themselves, and their responses to the process proved to
be most helpful to us. In the first phase involving approximately 25 Grade 12 students in each
subject, we collected quantitative baseline data (achievement on preparatory tests, self-evaluation of
progress on the learning continuum) and quantitative culminating data (achievement on final exams,
self-evaluation of progress on the learning continuum, measure of following up on learning plan).
The second phase, involved 18 Grade 11 math students and 22 Grade 12 chemistry students; we
collected feedback about the process mid-way through the project and also at the end.
Data included:
•
Completed gap analyses, paper and on-line
•
Post-its with feedback on gap analysis process
•
Video of students carrying out the gap analysis, and of parents, teachers, and administrators
discussing the process and how useful it is
•
Written survey of student responses at the end of the action research , completed in class
•
Marks of students over the action research period
b) MAKING SENSE OF THE DATA:
Over the course of the research period we periodically used the student feedback to revise our gap
analysis template. We categorized informal responses (on post-its) into those representing positive
responses and those that were negative. We created a bar graph to illustrate the results of our
culminating survey.
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Quote from the parent of a chemistry student
“It is the strategies which students employ which is the nub of metacognition and students do require the prompts and structures to facilitate
this. As a parent of a GY student, I was able to see how she was able to
articulate where to put in her time. In chemistry, she knew which were the
c)areas
FINDINGS:
of strength and which areas need more focus.”
Most students felt that the gap analysis activities either help them quite a lot or help them somewhat
to:
•
Figure out where they are so far, and what they need to do next
•
Make their learning strategies more effective in the subject
•
Solidify their understanding in the course
These findings are supported by informal feedback from post-its and by the bar graph illustrating
the results of the culminating survey.
Bar Graph: Results of culminating survey
Our results suggest that giving students this type of structured opportunity to evaluate their progress
towards proficiency in a course is an effective strategy for helping them develop personalized
learning plans designed to move their progress forward on the learning continuum. To determine
whether or not student achievement is actually improved by this process would require us to also
measure: 1. final level of achievement in the course; and 2. the extent to which each student followed
through on her plan.
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1. Example of Grade 12 gap analysis
2. Completed Grade 11 Math gap analysis
3. Completed Grade 12 Chemistry gap analysis
ARTIFACTS, IMAGES:
Quote from Chemistry
Student
“It allows you to figure out
your strengths and
weaknesses. For example, I
know that the explanations
in the bonding topic need to
be more specific.”
4. Photographs of post-it feedback
5. Comments from students and teachers
6. Videos of interviews with students, teachers, and
administrators
Items 1-4 are attached as appendices to this report.
CONCLUSION AND HIGHLIGHTS:
What we found:
•
•
Most students:
o
Appreciated having the gap analysis process as a structured opportunity to analyze their progress
in the course
o
Followed through on their personalized plan to improve, and thus became more active in their own
learning.
We were successful in our aims to:
o
Build on the strong emphasis on assessment and evaluation in our school
o
Enhance and develop strategies for helping students take more responsibility for their learning.
The future:
•
Continue to incorporate the gap analysis process in our course delivery as a follow-up to summative
assessments—a new strategy of assessment as learning.
•
Share our findings within our departments and encourage our colleagues to develop their own gap analysis
protocols, involve younger students in younger grades and get all teachers within our department “on
board,” make this an integral part of course delivery within departments.
•
Extend to other departments in the school.
The challenge:
•
As always, finding the time—time for teachers to prepare these templates, time in class for students to fill
them out, and time for students to follow through outside of class time.
The bonus:
•
Parents appreciate this effort, so reporting to parents is made an easy task for teachers:
discussing the results of a test, explaining how you helped each student to analyze the test and
identify gaps in learning, and describing how each student has designed a personalized plan to
fill her own learning gaps provides a feasible response to test results—all parties are involved
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but the student is central in taking responsibility for her learning.
RESOURCES WE RECOMMEND FOR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING TEAMS:
Earl, L. 2003. Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximize Student Learning.
Thousand Oaks: Corwin.
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1. Completed Grade 12 Math Gap Analysis
2. Completed Grade 11 Math Gap Analysis
Follow-up to Test 3A—Quadratics Minitest Name_Student B
Within 48 h of receiving your graded test back:
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1. Use the posted solutions to correct your test.
2. Complete this form.
3. Print this form and staple to your corrected test.
4. Write me an email briefly telling me if and how this gap analysis could help
you move along the learning continuum.
5. Attach the completed form to your email.
___________________________________________________________________________
1. Where are you on the learning continuum for this material? Copy the green
checkmark and paste it on the arrow where it best indicates your progress
in this material so far.

Emerging
 (after follow-up)
Developing
Proficient
2. Which specific skills are progressing well, and which need work?
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Skill/Topic
Solving quadratic
equations
1, 2,10
Describing
3
transformations using
correct terminology
Stating domain and range 5ab
Graphing quadratic
functions
I’m OK.
Questions
I’m improving
I’m ok
I’m ok
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Converting to vertex form 8, 9
Interpreting and working 4, 6, 11
with an equation in vertex
form
What specifically
needs work?
Ensuring I have the
correct format and
carry though all work
until the question is
completely answered
I need to review
stretches and
compressions
I need to make sure to
pay attention to signs
Working on the shape
of my parabolas and
using all my space
effectively
Pay attention to proper
process
I’m ok
3. Closing the gap: Highlight each strategy that you will use to improve skills
before Test 3B. Check the box when you have completed the item.
Strategy
Correct your Test 3A in pen from the solutions posted on BB.
Done

Include specific reminders to yourself on your Unit 3 study sheet.
Retry selected Test 3A questions.

Use the Unit 3 Outline to do more practice on skills that need work.

Attend math clinic.
4.
What specific reminders to yourself can you include on your Unit 3 Study
Sheet that will help you succeed on the quadratics questions on Test 3B?
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-
3
Pay attention to signs
Read over test carefully
Review vertex form
Compressions and stretches
Completed Grade 12 Chemistry Gap Analysis
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12
4 Post-it Feedback from Grade 11 Math
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