1. CHAPTER 2
CLEAR PURPOSE:
ASSESSMENT FOR
AND OF LEARNING
Emily Spira
Michelle Renn
IF we can do something with assessment information
beyond using it to figure grades, we can improve learning.
2. Formative assessment has gained great attention over its impact
on achievement, how to create, etc.
Reality – most assessments used in schools remain summative –
most “count” towards the grade.
3. A BALANCED ASSESSMENT
SYSTEM
Who uses assessment
information?
Teachers
Parents
Students
Administrators
The public
No one assessment can fill
everyone’s informational
needs.
Key forms of assessment are
formative and summative.
A balanced assessment
system used in districts
promote student success.
5. IMPACT OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
ON ACHIEVEMENT
British researchers Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam have found that
use if formative assessment practices increased achievement if
low performing students on standardized tests.
Black and Wiliam make the following observations:
Opportunities for students to express their understanding should be designed into any piece of
teaching, for this will initiate the interaction through which formative assessment aids learning.
The dialogue between pupils and teachers should be thoughtful, reflective, focused to evoke
and explore understanding, and conduction so that all pupils have an opportunity to think and
express their ideas.
Feedback to any pupil should be about the particular qualities of his or her work, with advice
on what they can do to improve, and should avoid comparisons to other pupils.
If formative assessment is to be productive, pupils should be trained in self-assessment so that
they can understand the main purpose of their learning and thereby grasp what they need to
do to achieve.
6. IMPACT OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
ON ACHIEVEMENT
Suggested practices necessary to achieve the gains
by formative assessment.
Use of classroom discussions, classroom tasks, and homework to
determine the current state of student learning/understanding, with action
taken to improve learning/correct misunderstanding.
Provision of descriptive feedback, with guidance on how to improve,
during the learning.
Development of student self- and peer-assessment skills.
These are all practices, not instruments. There is no magic test or tool. Unfortunately, because of
the accountability-saturated environment, we may have left a few good teaching and assessment
practices behind along with some children.
7. IMPACT OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
ON ACHIEVEMENT
Distinguishing Between
Formative and Summative
Assessment
Why the distinction Is Important
Formative Assessment: Formal
and informal processes teachers
and students use to gather
evidence for the purpose of
improving learning.
Assessment for learning
Summative Assessment:
Assessment information used to
provide evidence of student
achievement for the purpose of
making a judgment about student
competence or program
effectiveness.
Assessment of learning.
Pivotal to realizing gains in student
achievement.
Following conditions need to be met
for gains to be made:
The assessment instrument is designed so
that it aligns directly with the content
standards learned.
All instruments match what has been or will
be taught.
The instrument provides information to
pinpoint specific problems, such as
misunderstandings, so teachers can make
good decisions on what tasks to take.
The results are available in time to take
action with the students who generate
them.
Teachers and students do indeed take
action based on the results.
8. IMPACT OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
ON ACHIEVEMENT
What This Has To Do with Clear
Purpose
What Clear Purpose Has To Do
With Achievement
Establishing the purpose for
an assessment is the first
key assessment quality.
To ensure high quality
assessment practices, ask
these 3 questions:
Who is going to use the
information?
How will they use it?
What information, in what detail,
do they need?
“Until we acknowledge the
student’s crucial role-if they
would only show up/try/do
their work-we will continue to
change everything but the
student.” (p.27)
Formative assessment
practices works because it
changes the students’
interaction with assessment.
9. SEVEN STRATEGIES OF ASSESSMENT
FOR LEARNING
Formative assessment is essentially feedback.
The 7 strategies are structured around around 3 formative
assessment questions.
Where am I going?
Where am I now?
Where can I close the gab?
10. SEVEN STRATEGIES OF ASSESSMENT
FOR LEARNING – WHERE AM I GOING?
Strategy 1: Provide students with a clear and understandable vision of the
learning target.
Share learning targets, objectives, or goals, either at the outset of instruction or before
they begin an independent practice activity.
Use student-friendly language by defining key words in terms students understand.
Strategy 2: Use examples and models of strong and weak work.
Use to demonstrate strengths and weaknesses related to problems students commonly
experience.
Ask students to analyze these examples for quality and justify their judgments.
Model the creating process.
11. SEVEN STRATEGIES OF ASSESSMENT
FOR LEARNING – WHERE AM I NOW?
Strategy 3: Offer regular descriptive feedback.
Grades do not function as effective feedback.
5 Characteristics of effective feedback:
Directs attention to the intended learning, pointing out strengths and offering specific
information to guide improvement.
Occurs during learning, while there is still time act on it.
Addresses partial understanding.
Does not do the thinking for the student
Limits corrective information to amount of advice the student can act on.
12. SEVEN STRATEGIES OF ASSESSMENT
FOR LEARNING – WHERE AM I NOW?
Strategy 4: Teach students to self-assess and set goals.
Self-assessment is a necessary part of learning. .
Self assessment includes having the students do the following:
Identifying their own strengths and areas of improvements
Write in a response log at the end of class, recording key points they have learned
and questions they still have.
Using established criteria, select a work sample for their portfolio that proves a
certain level of proficiency, explaining why the piece qualifies.
Offer descriptive feedback to classmates.
Use your feedback, feedback from other students, or their own self-assessment to
identify what they need to work on and set goals for the future.
13. SEVEN STRATEGIES OF ASSESSMENT
FOR LEARNING – HOW CAN I CLOSE
THE GAP?
Strategy 5: Design lessons to focus on one learning target or
aspect of quality at a time.
When assessment information identifies a need, adjust instruction to target
that need.
Strategy 6: Teach students focused revisions.
Some ways to help students practice revision include the following:
Have students work in pairs to critique an anonymous sample and revise it using
their own advice.
Ask students to write a letter to the creator of an anonymous sample they have just
critiqued, suggesting how to make it stronger for the aspect of quality discussed.
Ask students to analyze your won work for quality and make suggestions for
improvements. Revise your work using their advice. Ask them again to review it for
quality.
14. SEVEN STRATEGIES OF ASSESSMENT
FOR LEARNING – HOW CAN I CLOSE
THE GAP?
Strategy 7: Engage students in self-reflection, and let them keep
track of and share their learning.
This reinforces the learning and helps them develop insights into themselves
as learners.
Some examples:
Students write a process paper, detailing how they solved a problem or
created a product or performance. This encourages them to think like
professionals.
Students write a letter to their parents about a piece of work, explaining where
they are now with it and what they are trying to do next.
Students track their own progress toward mastery of learning targets.
Students help plan and participate in conferences with parents and/or teachers
to share their learning.
15. THE SEVEN STRATEGIES AS A
PROGRESSION.
“It enables students to take control of their own learning by providing
a clear vision of the learning targets they are to attain, teaching them
to assess where they are with respect to the target, and offering
strategies they can use to close the gap between where they are
and where they need to be.” (p.35)
16. ACTIVITY
Activity 2.4
After reading through the Seven Strategies of Assessment for
learning, think about the extent to which each of the characteristics
of effective feedback is part of your regular classroom practice.
Complete this personal inventory. If you are working with a partner
or a team, discuss your results.
17. CHAPTER 3
CLEAR TARGETS
Emily Spira
Michelle Renn
“Students can hit any target they see and
that holds still for them.”
18. LEARNING TARGETS
Learning targets are statements of intended learning
Curriculum documents are the roadmap and assessment is the
GPS
Effective formative and summative assessments depend on a
good curriculum and clear learning targets
If the curriculum side is in disarray, the assessment side will be
equally messy
19. TYPES OF LEARNING TARGETS
You must understand the
type of learning target in
order to:
1. Examine the target in your
own curriculum and
determine if it is clear
enough
2. Understand if you need to
break a target into smaller
teachable parts
3. Select the appropriate
assessment method
Learning Target Types:
1. Knowledge Targets
2. Reasoning Targets
3. Skill Targets
4. Product Targets
5. Disposition Targets
20. KNOWLEDGE TARGETS
Knowledge targets include factual information, procedural
knowledge, and conceptual understandings.
Knowledge targets form the foundation for each other type of
target.
Factual: knows, lists, names, recalls,
identifies
Procedural: knows how to, uses
Conceptual: understands, explain the
concept
Knowing via Reference: Not everything
we know needs to be learned “by heart”.
21. REASONING TARGETS
Mastering content knowledge is not the sole aim of education
today; we want students to develop the ability to apply knowledge.
All subject area curriculum includes reasoning processes, such as
predict, infer, classify, hypothesize, compare, draw conclusions,
summarize, estimate, analyze, justify.
23. SKILL TARGETS
Skill Targets refer to learning targets where a real demonstration
or physical performance is at the heart of the learning.
Examples:
Performing Arts
P.E.
Word Languages
Oral fluency in reading
Giving an oral presentation
24. PRODUCT TARGETS
Some content standards specify the creation of a project. For
product targets, the specifications for qualities of a good product
are the focus of teaching and learning.
Product examples include:
Create tables, graphs, scatter plots
Lab reports
Create a personal wellness plan
Research report
Assessment Unit plan
25. DISPOSITION TARGETS
Disposition targets may not be written in the curriculum; however,
they represent the byproducts of students’ educational experience
Sometimes they are overarching goals of schools, often found in
mission statements
Examples:
“I look forward to coming to school each day!”
“I like reading.”
Wants to participate in reading club, community
theatre, sports
Views themselves as capable of doing math
26. THE FOLLOWING
EXAMPLE IS WHICH TYPE
OF LEARNING TARGET?
Knowledge
Reasoning
Skill
Product
Disposition
Compares and contrasts points of view from a
historical event.
28. THE FOLLOWING
EXAMPLE IS WHICH TYPE
OF LEARNING TARGET?
Knowledge
Reasoning
Skill
Product
Disposition
Capitalizes appropriate words in titles.
30. THE FOLLOWING
EXAMPLE IS WHICH TYPE
OF LEARNING TARGET?
Knowledge
Reasoning
Skill
Product
Disposition
Measures properties of objects using balances and
thermometers.
32. THE FOLLOWING
EXAMPLE IS WHICH TYPE
OF LEARNING TARGET?
Knowledge
Reasoning
Skill
Product
Disposition
Creates a timeline to show the order of early
explorations and settlements.
34. GOOD CURRICULUM GUIDES
All teachers should have assess to a practical curriculum guide
that provides a clear vision of intended learning.
A good curriculum map will link each year’s learning targets to the
previous and following year’s targets.
A good curriculum will also link to whatever standards form the
basis for your accountability testing.
Learning targets in the curriculum should be stated so that
everyone who teaches a subject interprets them the same way.
35. PROCESS FOR DECONSTRUCTING
STANDARDS
Check your work for accuracy and reasonableness.
Identify the prerequisite or underlying knowledge,
reasoning, and/or skills.
Determine the ultimate target type represented in the
standard.
36. COMMUNICATING LEARNING TARGETS
TO STUDENTS
Once the learning target is clear to you, you need to make sure it
is clear to your students!
Without an understanding of the learning targets, students lack
the information they need to self-assess, set goals, and act on
descriptive feedback.
37. CONVERTING KNOWLEDGE AND
REASONING LEARNING TARGETS TO
STUDENT-FRIENDLY LANGUAGE
1. Define the word or words representing
the pattern of reasoning.
2. Convert the definition into language your
students will understand.
3. Rewrite the definition as an “I” or “We”
statement.
4. Try the definition out with students. Note
their response and refine if needed.
5. Let students try this process
occasionally.
38. WHEN THE WRITTEN CURRICULUM IS
NOT THE TAUGHT CURRICULUM
Your curriculum is your first assessment guide.
Without an easily understood curriculum, many teachers rely on
the textbook, a list of activities or projects to fill its role.
Many problems arise:
1. Textbooks contain too much content to teach in one year
2. Textbooks don’t provide guidance on which information is most important
3. If activities are not carefully designed, we may not be teaching what is most
important to learn
39. THE BENEFITS OF CLEAR LEARNING
TARGETS TO TEACHERS
1. Knowing what to teach
2. Knowing what to assess
3. Knowing what instructional activities to plan
4. Avoiding “coverage” at the expense of learning
5. Ability to interpret and use assessment results
6. System for tracking and reporting information.
7. Common ground for working collaboratively with other
teachers.
40. THE BENEFITS OF CLEAR LEARNING
TARGETS TO STUDENTS
1. Understanding what they are
responsible for learning.
2. Understanding and acting on
feedback.
3. Being prepared to self-assess
and set goals.
4. Being able to track, reflect on,
and share their own progress.
41. THE BENEFITS OF CLEAR LEARNING
TARGETS TO PARENTS
1. Helping children at home.
2. Understanding grades.
3. Focusing discussions at
conferences.
42. WITHOUT CLEAR LEARNING
TARGETS…
We can’t
Know if the assessment adequately covers what we taught
Correctly identify what students know and don’t know and their level of
achievment
Plan next steps in instruction
Give detailed descriptive feedback to students
Have students self-assess or set goals
Keep track of student learning
Complete a standards based report card
43. ACTIVITY 1- CLASSIFYING
LEARNING TARGETS
In partners look at the third grade content
standards (or you can look your grade level
up online).
Classify standards by their learning target-
knowledge, reasoning, skill or product.
44. ACTIVITY 2- IDENTIFY
CLEAR LEARNING
TARGETS
Using the third grade standards, find learning
targets that are clearly written.
Find learning targets that need clarification. These
are targets that are too vague or don’t make
sense.
Find learning targets that need to be
deconstructed. There may be several learning
targets in one standard.
45. ACTIVITY 3- CREATE
STUDENT FRIENDLY
LEARNING TARGETS
Select a learning target that could benefit
from being rephrased for students.
In partners, rephrase the standard using kid-
friendly language.
