A NEW VISION OF LOCAL EXCELLENCE IN ASSESSMENT Rick

A NEW VISION OF
LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
EXCELLENCE IN
ASSESSMENT
Rick Stiggins
Seattle School Board
October 21, 2015
Here’s why this is important:
As society evolves, so must its schools
and the role of assessment…
We need a new vision of
excellence in assessment that
uses it as part of teaching and
learning
Society’s new directives:
•
•
•
•
Narrow achievement gaps
Reduce dropout rates
Universal high school graduation
All students ready for college or
workplace training;
• In other words, produce
LIFELONG LEARNERS
Our society has changed the
social mission of its schools:
Old mission
Weed out the unwilling or
unable; rank the rest
Problem
Dropouts & low ranks don’t
master lifelong learner skills
New mission
All become readers, writers,
math problem solvers, prepared
for college and workplace
training
Keys to student
learning success:
• Balanced assessment systems
• Quality assessments
• Productive assessment
dynamics
Assessment is the process of
gathering information to inform
instructional decisions, but…
• What decisions?
• Who’s making them?
• What information will be
helpful to them?
Balanced Assessment Systems
meet the info needs of all users:
• In the classroom
• With interim/benchmark
assessments
• With annual testing
Balanced Assessment System
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
• How can assessment help teachers diagnose and
respond to student needs?
ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING
• How can we help students self-assess, remain
confident, work productively, and learn more?
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
• How much have students learned as of a
particular point in time?
Expected achievement gain with
careful classroom assessment:
.4 to .7 standard deviation gain with
largest gains for
struggling learners
Black & Wiliam, 1998
Hattie & Timperely, 2007
If assessment isn’t working
productively day-to-day in the
classroom during the learning—if
bad decisions are made based on
inaccurate evidence due to inept
assessment—the other levels
can’t overcome the dire
consequences for the learner…
Key elements of success:
• Balanced assessment systems
• Quality assessments
• Productive assessment
dynamics
ACCURACY
PURPOSE
EFFECTIVE USE
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
DESIGN
STUDENT
INVOLVEMENT
TARGET
12
ACCURACY
EFFECTIVE USE
PURPOSE
TARGET
13
ACCURACY
EFFECTIVE USE
PURPOSE
DESIGN
TARGET
14
Sound Assessment Design
• Select a proper assessment method
given the learning target
• Frame an appropriate sample
• Build quality items, tasks, and
scoring schemes
• Anticipate and control relevant
sources of bias that can distort
results
15
Reality Check:
The vast majority of your
teachers and school leaders
have not been given the
opportunity to master the
basic principles of sound
assessment practice
Key elements of success:
• Balanced assessment systems
• Quality assessments
• Productive assessment
dynamics
Emotional Dynamics of
Assessment from the
Student’s Point of View
ACCURACY
PURPOSE
EFFECTIVE USE
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
DESIGN
STUDENT
INVOLVEMENT
TARGET
19
Revolutionary Reality:
The student’s emotional
reaction to results will
determine what that
student does in response
PRODUCTIVE RESPONSE TO
ASSESSMENT RESULTS:
• I understand these results
• I know what I need to do next
• I’m OK
• I choose to keep trying
THE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE
HOPELESS RESPONSE:
• I don’t understand
• I have no idea what to do next
• I’m no good at this stuff anyway
• I give up
A REVOLUTION IN
ASSESSMENT DYNAMICS:
What STUDENTS think about
and do with assessment
results is as important as
what adults think about and
do with them…
Students get to make their databased instructional decisions
FIRST…
Students CONTINUOUSLY decide:
• Can I learn this or am I just too slow,
dense…stupid?
• Is the learning worth the energy I must
expend to attain it?
• Is trying to learn worth the risk that I
might fail…again…in public?
How can we help our
students make the right
decisions—the decisions
that will lead to productive
learning for them?
ASSESSMENT FOR
LEARNING:
Creating a Culture of
Confidence
Why Assessment for Learning…
Where am I going?
1. Provide a clear statement of the learning target
2. Use examples and models
Where am I now?
3. Offer regular descriptive feedback
4. Teach students to self-assess and set goals
How can I close the gap?
5. Design focused lessons
6. Teach students focused revision
7. Engage students in self-reflection; let them keep
track of and share their learning
Potential achievement gains
possible with sound
classroom assessment:
½ to ¾ standard deviation gains
with largest gains for
struggling learners
Black & Wiliam, 1998;
Hattie & Temperley,2007
The key to achieving
universal lifelong learner
competence is a local
system of classroom
assessments that manages
these dynamics effectively.
Potential Resources:
• Revolutionize Assessment: Empower
Students, Inspire Learning (Corwin, 2014)—a
new assessment vision statement
• Classroom Assessment FOR Student Learning:
Doing it right; Using it well (Pearson, 2012)—
in-service training program
rickstiggins.com