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Formative and Summative Assessments in the Classroom (Catherine Garrison and Michael Ehringhaus, Ph. D.)

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Formative and Summative Assessments in the Classroom (Catherine Garrison and Michael Ehringhaus, Ph. D.)

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Bringing Student Choice to Assessment in Science Classes

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Bringing Student Choice to Assessment in Science Classes

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/bringing-student-choice-assessment-science-classes

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What happens when students can opt to skip tests and instead give oral presentations or create art to show what they know?

Art Directors & TRIP / Alamy Stock Photo

One day while I was giving a lecture on the life cycle of ferns in a Biology I class, I noticed several students doodling rather than taking notes. Having learned to pick my battles, I ignored this rather than making a big deal about it.

When class was over, I asked one of the doodlers if I could see his notebook. I was flabbergasted to see that he'd made a series of spot-on sketches on the life cycle of ferns.

He explained that he was experimenting with a new note-taking technique using art. He'd been sketching his way through several other classes and was fairly certain that he was understanding and remembering the content better. I told him to continue doing whatever helped and to keep me posted.

Throughout the semester I noticed ways that other students excelled. One enjoyed giving oral reports that incorporated video clips and digital pieces of supporting evidence. Another crafted beautifully written essays, and another was an encourager in her small group, leading her group through some rather sophisticated problem-solving.

How Students Show What They Know

I made a list of all of the ways in which I evaluated my students throughout the semester. There were seven: journaling, lab work, oral reports, a writing cluster (drama, fiction, poetry, and essays), small group work, artwork, and written tests.

When the spring semester began, I told my students that I would be evaluating them using a new approach what would bring student choice to assessment.

Here's the system I set up: Each student would choose at least three modes from the list above for the nine-week grading period. If they didn't want to take tests, they wouldn't have to-they would use other modes to demonstrate the learning that I would previously have tested. Once they made their choices, they had to stick with them for the whole grading period.

It's important to note that students were evaluated only with the modes that they selected. Let's say that a student didn't chose lab work. When we went into the lab, that student went with us-and could participate-but would not receive a grade. I never left any students unattended, and they always had the option to participate.

To evaluate their art and writing-not a common practice in science-I developed Fact Sheets, one for art and one for writing, that were a relatively easy way to do this objectively. If a student created a poster to show their learning, they had to attach an Art Fact Sheet that included 10 facts from the content for that objective that were evident in the poster. On a poster of a typical animal cell, for example, they might write, "Animal cells have mitochondria that are involved in energy production." They would prepare a legend that allowed me to easily identify their facts.

I used the same approach for writing. If a student wrote a short play based on bioengineering principles, for example, they would attach a Writing Fact Sheet and underline the facts from the content for that objective, numbering each one for easy identification.

Writing in science journals can be very subjective: How would I assign a grade to a student's thoughts? Sometimes I used specific questions that had to be addressed. If the student did address the questions, credit was given. At other times I asked that they write a half-page on a given topic. If they did, I gave them full credit.

To make sure their parents and guardians understood this system, I held three open houses and invited several of our local business partners to participate by bringing snacks and a few cool door prizes-I really wanted to encourage participation because it was important that parents understand how my system would work. About 75 percent of my students' homes were represented.

What Students Chose

It was no surprise that very few students signed up to take tests. For the two or three students in each class who chose traditional testing as one of their modes, I made sure they had a comfortable space in the breezeway between the classroom and the lab. Other students worked on their projects while test-takers were busy. It worked out quite well.

Although the student choices were all over the board, the overall percentages that first semester looked like this:

lab work: 95 percent of students

small group work: 93 percent

journaling: 90 percent

oral reports: 40 percent

writing cluster: 15 percent

artwork: 12 percent

written tests: 6 percent

The most common choice combination was lab work, small group work, and journaling-a combination that seems naturally tailored for an active science classroom and lab. Students did not have to participate in the activities of the modes they didn't choose, so 5 percent of my students didn't do the lab work, 7 percent of them didn't participate in small group work, and so on.

Students often forgot what choices they made, so I posted their choices in lists on the back of the classroom door. I also posted the protocols, guidelines, and deadlines on large poster boards.

In order to prevent deadline overload, I staggered deadlines so that no student had more than one project due on any single day-the products in each mode were due on different days.

Reality Check: My Principal's Input

My principal was curious about my new system-and concerned about whether my students were meeting all of the standards and objectives. He asked me to administer one written test at the end of each grading period. Although I didn't think this was necessary, he was the principal.

As it turned out, most of my students performed well on those tests, and after a year my principal seemed convinced that the new system worked well without them.

My original goals in giving students a choice in how I would evaluate them were to provide ownership in the process, to put the burden of responsibility of learning on the students' shoulders, and to help each student be as successful as possible. I also wanted them to discover on their own which modes worked best for them. Most found it refreshing to know that if they made poor choices, they could change them in the next grading period.

An unexpected side effect was that I was never bored-the students constantly surprised me with their creations and apparent understanding of content. And switching from orthodox methods of evaluating student progress-written tests, canned lab activities, and the occasional report-to a choice system created an environment that fostered authentic understanding of scientific principles and concepts. Students began to see themselves thinking and behaving like scientists.

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Bringing Student Choice to Assessment in Science Classes

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What happens when students can opt to skip tests and instead give oral presentations or create art to show what they know? Art Directors & TRIP / Alamy Stock Photo One day while I was giving a lecture on the life cycle of ferns in a Biology I class, I noticed several students doodling rather than taking notes.

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https://www.teacher.org/blog/designing-student-assessments/

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Jon Konen
District Superintendent

One of the most controversial educational topics in the past two decades... a four-letter word... is "TEST!" If you ask an educator, they may have more four-letter words to accompany it! Many of us do not shirk our responsibilities to assess our students....we know it needs to be done. What many of us are upset about is the amount of testing we do as compared to instruction. There has been an increase of accountability at every level, which has required more and more testing. We have state tests, district tests, unit tests, and other tests. In fact, students may be tested over 100 hours of their roughly 1,080 hours of school each year. A recent article, titled "Confirmed: Standardized testing has taken over our schools. But who's to blame?" listed a study that tallied the average yearly amount of time for standardized testing for a student in the United States is 25 hours (that does not include district testing, school assessments, teacher created testing, etc.). Here is a brief history of standardized assessments as I see it!

Many of us who grew up in the 1980s were required to take standardized tests when we were kids. Many of us took the either the Iowa Test of Basic Skills or ITBS each year. These were a series of multiple-choice questions in several different subject areas. A majority of these questions were low-level "knowledge" based questions according to Bloom's Taxonomy. Then, starting in the early 2000s, criterion-referenced tests were developed during the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Era. This raised the bar for what standardized testing looked like. I believe NCLB created a billionaire testing industry...like we had never seen before. The questions were more difficult, yet still mostly multiple-choice with one or two short answer questions (or structured responses). All questions were built around criterion designed by testing companies whom used each states standards. What we learned more about a decade into NCLB was that what was proficient in some states did not equate to other states. These tests pitted state proficiency processes against each other. For example, what was proficient in Arkansas was not proficient in Massachusetts. Accountability and sanctions increased for schools that were found insufficient. In fact, one such sanction for a school that was failing for seven straight years was to fire its teachers and administrators. A cry for nationalized standards to compare data, compare schools, and be held accountable similarly across the nation arose. Common core standards were devised by the National Governor's Association. Though they did not involve all the major education organizations, these standards gave educators a common playing field across the nation. Forty-two states currently use these standards. Though there is much controversy with the implementation of the Common Core, a majority of teachers interviewed accept and are even thankful for the detailed and rigorousness of these standards (What teachers really think of Common Core math: Lessons from a new Fordham study. June 19, 2016).

The new Smarter assessment is computer-based with several different types of question formats... including a lot of writing on most questions. Students have to explain their thinking, be analytical, and detailed in their structured responses. The tests are built from the Common Core standards. Though results in many states are not received for several months after the testing date, the information can be used to develop curriculum, instruction, and further assessments.

Master teachers understand this dilemma and make sure they are doing what is best for students, as well as meeting their school district's requirements. They know that formative assessments drive the day-to-day, hour-by-hour instruction in their classrooms. They understand that multiple data points including both quantitative and qualitative data, tell the best picture of a student. One test on one day only gives you a small snapshot of each learner. Even when the emphasis is on growth, one test only gives a small portion of each student's story. We must dig deeper and learn more about our students to create a Monet art masterpiece, a distinguishing dashboard of discourse, and a vital informational vitae.

Here are eight questions to tackle in order to design effective student assessments:

1 - What Criteria Do You Chose When Creating an Assessment?

Strong assessments are in the eye of the beholder. What one educator believes, as compared to an administrator, or even a student can all be different. The more we can argue why an assessment is strong and can back it up with evidence and rationale, the stronger the assessment. This is the most difficult task an educator will be challenged with...creating an assessment that gives the teacher, student, parent, and administrator information about the students' progress towards proficiency of a learning objective. Textbook companies, states, school districts, and educators are all tasked with designing assessments that give the best possible data on student progress; data that can drive instructional decisions. Much of these assessments are based on research, but we have to remember that they are also only a snapshot of a student at one point in time. What master teachers look for and use most regularly is formative data over time; it can illustrate trends, patterns, and effectiveness. Master teachers put more relevance in their instructional decisions by focusing on growth over time. They understand that they can affect a student's growth by the decisions they make with curriculum, instruction, assessment, and engagement.

A master teacher starts with the end in mind; what they assess drives the subsequent lessons that lead up to that assessment. They chose learning objectives based on educational standards. Designing effective assessments contain these two main components, knowledge of content and reasoning skills. A master teacher not only designs such assessments, but they include the students in its creation. Though many assessments are created by textbook companies and school districts, educators can also create assessments that take into account the individual students in their classrooms. These assessments can be required by school districts to report student progress. Please understand that this data can be powerful, but it cannot be the only way we assess students. Most of those assessments are paper and pencil, multiple-choice and short answer tests. Some of the newer assessments taken online can adapt to how the student answers the question. After the student answers a question, the proceeding question may be more difficult if the student answers correctly and vice versa if the answer is incorrect. These adaptive tests over time will narrow in on a proficiency level of the student. Yet, overall, they are not much different from a paper-pencil test. Master teachers get outside of this box to create assessments that are tailored specially to an individual students learning style.

RELATED - Master's in Curriculum and Instruction

Here is an example of a learning objective based on a 5 th grade standard for English Language Arts, as well as a multiple choice test question the student may see on a textbook company's assessment.
Common Core Standard: English Language Arts: Reading: Literacy: Standard 5 Component 6 CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described. Read each group of sentences in the paragraph above. Decide if it is written in first person or third person point of view. Here is an example of the same learning objective assessed that includes choice and can be tailored to an individual student. TASK: Please circle how you would like to be assessed on ELA 5.6. (*This is just an example and would need to be tailored towards the standard more effectively; this meets the purpose as a possible example)
A possible test question a student may see for this question is the following...

Here is alternative way to assess the same standard that can be tailored to each student's learning style, and give valuable information into the student's progress. By letting a student choose the learning the style, the final product, and process, the educator can get valuable information towards that student's progress towards proficiency of the standard. By setting up an easy chart based on Howard Garner's Learning Styles, a student can be empowered to complete an assessment with more ownership at their differentiated level.

(from an article by Linda Campbell in Educational Leadership, 9/97)

Formative assessments, or assessments for learning, can be designed that lead to the above assessment, and will give the teacher information that he or she can use to drive instructional decisions. A teacher can modify, or allow a student to modify and self-assess. Here is a great list of formative assessments from an Edutopia resource titled, 53 Ways to Check Understanding.

2 - Do Your Assessments Provide for Student Choice?

A freshman history course at the University of Montana in 1994 required me to take a mid-term and a final...both of which contained one question each. We were to bring as many Blue Books as we could fill in the timed 120 minutes slotted for each assessment. We were basically asked to write as much as we remembered about the history covered in the course. I did not fair well! I wished I had more choice.

In the above examples of assessments, summative and formative, there are fabulous opportunities to provide students with choice. Assessment should drive instruction and master teachers know they can tailor learning experiences to individual students or groups of students with the harvested data.

1. Create good choices - Choices should align with learning goals and what you want to learn from the assessment. They should resonate with students-matching their varied interests, needs, and abilities. They should also make sense logistically-involving light prep on your part and about the same amount of time for students to complete.

2. Help students choose well - Give students some guidance about which choice might be best without overly directing them. Aaron might say, "Think about which of these similes will best help you highlight your understanding of the human body. For example, if you're into sports or music, you might choose one that matches those interests." Chris might say, "If one of these problems seems to match up with how you're doing on division, you might pick that one. If you think making one up will best help show your level of understanding, that might be a good choice for you."

3. Practice, practice, practice - The first few times you offer choices like this, students may struggle. They might not know where to start, or they might pick options that aren't great fits. That's OK! The more often you try simple choices like this with students, the better they will get at the skills of self-assessment and effective decision-making.

4. Don't force it - If there really is one assessment that is the best way to check in on students' learning, don't give a choice. When choices are forced and aren't appropriate, they feel inauthentic and aren't effective.

Master teachers develop assessments with standards and student involvement. Here are four great tips from another Edutopia article titled, " Using Quick Check-Ins to Measure Student Understanding:

Tips for building student choice into your formative assessments," by Mike Anderson (March 29, 2017).

3 - Are the Assessments You Create Authentic and Applicable to Real-World Applications?

When a student asks, "When will I ever have to use this?" A teacher should be ready to give rationale and how it applies to real-world situations. Without rationale for learning the information, students cannot connect it to something for further retention. Master teachers create assessments that makes the content relatable and relevant to their lives. Sadly, many assessments that teachers are required to give do not meet this criteria, making it difficult for teachers to create buy-in, as well as applicable to their lives.

Some tips and tricks that master teachers use when the information is difficult is to provide rationale, choice, matching a student's learning style ( Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences), and do some more research. By providing choice, students take ownership of their learning as they are the one that gets to choose how they are assessed. Students can be assessed in multiple learning styles (See above); they chose to be assessed in one of their strengths or chose to challenge themselves in a deficit area. Lastly, master teachers do the research to find rationale. When something does not seem easy to connect, they spend time researching to connect the learning objectives and assessment to a student's personal life.

4 - Do Your Assessments Adapt to Individual Students in Your Classroom as Needs Arise?

Many schools use district-created tests that give teachers summative data about their students and their instructional effectiveness. Many students have required testing accommodations through either an Individual Education Plan or a 504 Plan. In addition, master teachers find ways to individualize assessments through customized learning plans or tiered learning supports (Response to Intervention, RtI). Tiered learning supports can be as simple as providing testing accommodations from a paper-pencil assessment to a verbal assessment. The goal of individualizing assessments is to score the student against proficiency levels for any given learning objective, or score them for growth versus their prior assessment data.

Deciding on what adaptions to make to an assessment is both an art and a science. The teacher must study and pin point what the student is struggling with, and then know what types of accommodations to implement. As previously mentioned, adapting to students can be done through choice and learning style. Here is a list of other possible testing accommodations that can support the teacher in individualizing an assessment.

5 - Are Students Involved in Designing Assessments and Rubrics for Their Own Work?

Control of creating assessments is large factor between a proficient and exemplary levels of a teacher according to Charlotte Danielson's evaluation model. An exemplary teacher gives up control by teaching his or her students how to create a strong assessment, summative or formative. These teachers are able to specify the learning objectives required to meet standards when students are developing the assessments. The teacher and student then works together to develop an assessment that meets desired requirements and expectations.

By sharing and giving up the ownership of assessments, teachers can empower students learning. A bonus for this learning strategy is that students also know exactly what to do and how to get the score they want when they develop the assessment or rubric. The idea of agency, where students take on their own learning, is strengthened with such strategies.

Here is an example of assessment that was create by students and teacher in a fifth grade science and social studies project:

5 Points = 100 % on task, all required work completed, supported other student's learning

4 Points = 100% on task, all required work completed, 0 teacher reminders

3 Points = 80% on task, all required work completed, and/or teacher supported behavior once

2 Points = 80% on task, almost all work completed, and/or teacher supported behavior 1-2X

1 Point = <80% on task, most of work incomplete, and/or teacher supported behavior 3+X

0 Points = no evidence of participation, no work completed, a behavior disruption

6 - Do You Have Students Complete Self-Assessments on a Rubric (Rate Their Understanding of a Concept, Participation, Etc.)?

3 Points = able to identify 3 causes for the Revolutionary War and can communicate them clearly with detail

2 Points = able to identify at least 1 cause and can communicate it clearly with detail

1 Point = able to identify 1-3 causes, but can communicate them clearly

0 Points = unable to identify at least 1 cause, nor communicate it

Formative assessments, rubrics and checklists, can be used for students to self-reflect about their learning. When students self-assess, they score themselves against specific expectations. Using a simple rating system with points from 0-5 give a numerical value for the rubric. For example, a rubric for a 45-minute learning period might include the following criteria:

Another example is a 3-point rubric that is criterion-based on content from a fifth grade social studies lesson:

These types of assessments are powerful as students are asked to reflect on the work they accomplished in a given time period. Setting these expectations prior to instruction is also a strong component of classroom management. The better a teacher sets these expectations, the better the students will do. Then, when students score low on the devised rating scale, one-on-one conferences and goal setting can occur. This type of feedback and data tracking is useful for students, teachers, and even parent communication when discussing progress or looking for patterns.

7 - Do Your Formative Assessments Drive Small Group Instruction Or "Workshop Time?"

Small group instruction is a researched-based strategy that John Hattie states in his book, Visible Learning has a d. = 0.44 effect size. When master teachers use it effectively, it is a highly valuable instructional strategy. The ability to group students is also an art and a science. A teacher must use data to decide what needs to be addressed with students. Teachers can teach more efficiently and effectively when they find students with some of the same learning difficulties. Teachers can group by skill, concept, ability, modality, or even learning style to name a few.

The art of grouping students by master teachers is deciding what student needs should be differentiated with instruction. Using data, teachers change content, alter instructional strategies, or provide alternative assessment opportunities. They have set goals for the group and for each individual within that group. The teacher and students know what they are working on during the small group or workshop time and the both can communicate their progress towards the specified goals.

Teachers and students both know the expectations of the small group time. Master teachers understand that time is limited and what is completed in group time is vital. Setting expectations through the use of a rubric during will give the teacher valuable data to use to set further goals. The teacher can set a learning target, then develop a 1-4 scoring rubric like the ones listed below. This data can be used to drive instruction.

Here are two examples of small group learning rubrics from a blog by Adam Socket titled, " Formative Assessment for Writing."

8 - Are Your Designed Summative Assessments Based on Learning Outcomes That Assess Reasoning Skills, as Well as Factual Knowledge?

State and district assessments should be assessing both reasoning skills and factual knowledge. When a teacher designs the assessment, Bloom's Taxonomy can play a role in determining what types of questions will be on the assessment. Knowledge-based multiple choice or true/false questions are usually the quickest to grade, but do not give you as much information as an open-ended question that requires the student to evaluate and analyze.

Assessing reasoning skills from a student may be problematic. If they can explain why they are making the decisions they are, it automatically raises the level of difficulty of the assessment. Scoring student thinking becomes gray. As educators, we must delineate the criteria to score the student against as we grade their thinking. This criteria is based on how a student would respond in order to show proficiency in a given area.

In the assessment rubric on Christopher Columbus below, the assessment asks for students to create a product that contains ten events that tell his journey to the New World. Students must evaluate and reason why they chose those ten events, as well as deciding what events to not put in the final product. With this open-ended nature of the assignment, getting students to discuss their rationale will give you the strongest feedback on whether they met the learning objective. In the assessment below, students must have a grasp on the factual knowledge of Christopher Columbus; both assessment types as listed by Charlotte Danielson are covered.

MORE ROCK MY EVALUATION RELATED READINGS:

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Designing Student Assessments | Teacher.org

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Jon Konen District Superintendent One of the most controversial educational topics in the past two decades... a four-letter word... is "TEST!" If you ask an educator, they may have more four-letter words to accompany it! Many of us do not shirk our responsibilities to assess our students....we know it needs to be done.

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https://www.ocmboces.org/tfiles/folder1608/unitplanningartifacts.pdf

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The Role of Contextual Framing: Assessments, Classroom

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The Role of Contextual Framing: Assessments, Classroom

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https://www.colorado.edu/per/sites/default/files/attached-files/fout2009.pdf

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https://www.fluentu.com/blog/educator-english/assessing-english-language-learners/

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Seeing growth and improvement can be a huge motivator for ELL students.

But you can't see growth if you don't measure it.

That's why no great class is complete without some way of assessing students.

Not only is it a fantastic way for both you and your students to see what they've learned, but you can also use the results to help you plan future lessons.

However, don't rely solely on tests to assess your students!

They're not always an accurate way to measure their skill levels. Instead, I have five alternative ways you can assess your ELL students, and examples of what each might look like. But first, let's take a closer look at the issue with tests.

Contents

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Why Tests Aren't an Accurate Way to Measure Performance

One of the most common reasons why teachers shouldn't only use tests is because students may have test anxiety. What tends to happen is that students are so nervous when presented with a test that they don't do as well. You then aren't able to see what the student is really capable of. For ELL students, they can be extra nervous because not only do they have to recall information they've learned, but they may have to decipher what the test question is asking in the first place.

Also, tests really only measure what students can memorize or recall, not necessarily what work they can produce. For example, if you give a multiple choice test about vocabulary they learned, it really only tests if they understand one meaning of the word, and not necessarily whether they understand how to apply the same word in different contexts.

Another example would be oral skills. If students understand certain phrases you've taught them, they may not understand if another person outside the classroom says it, especially if that person has an accent.

If an ELL student is a little slower to read or decipher material (especially if they've had lots of support in their class), a time constraint on a test won't give them sufficient time to complete the test. Just because a student didn't finish a test, doesn't mean they don't understand the material. You then are left guessing as to whether or not your student actually understood what you were testing them on.

So how can you start assessing English language learners without tests?

5 Alternative Ways to Assess English Language Learners

1. Rubrics and Performance Criteria

Using rubrics and performance criteria is a great way to assess a variety of student work. It's usually based on language proficiency and academic progression through work such as presentations, written assignments and reading activities. You can not only use these to grade your students, but to chart their growth over a set period of time.

Both tools feature a list of criteria or standards that students know you're assessing. Rubrics show what is considered below level, at level and above level. A performance criteria can simply be a checklist of what to assess for each student. With either of these assessment tools, it's important to develop your own, as assessments are based on the teacher's judgment.

A tool like RubiStar is helpful, as it can show you sample rubrics other teachers have developed, and anyone can modify them for their own use.

When creating rubrics or performance criteria, make sure that what you're assessing is clear and fair from the beginning. As well, don't assess too much at once, as it'll not only overwhelm you but your students as well. If it helps, ask other teachers how they created their rubrics, or simply have someone look over yours to see if it looks okay.

You can even take it a step further by bringing FluentU into the classroom.

Using authentic content in the target language is a great way to let your students see the language used in context-and FluentU has a wide array of videos to choose from. From music videos and movie trailers to interesting talks, you can use these videos in your English lessons to help immerse your students in the language. You can even assign homework for your students to complete outside of the classroom and monitor their progress.

2. Oral Presentations or Performances

Many students who have test anxiety might get nervous because their reading or writing skills aren't very good. That doesn't mean, however, that they aren't proficient in oral skills.

Assessing oral presentations or performances typically include role-plays, interviews, oral reports and summarizing/paraphrasing pieces of text. When used on an ongoing basis, it's a great way to monitor a student's comprehension through a longer period of time.

Here are some ideas to incorporate oral presentations or performances as part of your assessments:

Role-plays: Role-plays can be used to assess students individually or as a group. Some ideas include having students write a play and performing it or even having the students teach the teacher as part of a review class.

Interviews: This type of assessment is very helpful if you have students that are early English learners. To help test students on content knowledge, try to use a lot of visual cues. For example, have students pick from a pile of pictures, and ask questions to elicit responses from them. You can assess the student based on vocabulary used or comparing concepts.

Describing/explaining/retelling/paraphrasing/summarizing texts: Instead of a written book report or summary of a piece of text, you can have your students retell the plot in front of the class or just to you. Other ideas can include asking the students to pick a character in the book and tell a story from their point of view, or even to describe their favorite part of the text.

When assessing oral work, it's helpful to use a checklist of things to look for, such as pronunciation, volume, pace and content. Use the same checklist for the same types of oral presentations to see the progression over time.

3. Non-verbal Assessments

For students who are shy or aren't as proficient in English, using non-verbal assessments is a great way to see a student's academic progress. What you're looking for in this type of assessment is their understanding of vocabulary.

Examples include:

Charades: Give a student vocabulary words you've taught, and have them act it out to see if they understand what the word or concept is. You could even have them summarize a text by miming it.

Pictures: You can ask students to draw or collect pictures to show their knowledge on a topic. For example, if you're assessing a student on their knowledge of nouns, ask students to pick out pictures of nouns in a magazine. Pictures can also be used to assess reading comprehension. Students can read a paragraph and then draw a picture to show their understanding of the text. If the picture is mostly accurate except for a few details, it could be a vocabulary issue.

4. Written Assessments

Written assessments are a nice way to see how students can apply their knowledge of English over a wide variety of concepts. For example, you can use assignments to see just how well they understand a text, or even different forms of writing.

Some different ways to incorporate written assessments in your class include:

Creative and structured writing assignments: Ask students to write a creative story, or even give them a writing prompt-where students read the beginning of a story and are asked to write the ending.

Editing writing: Give students a piece of text with grammatical mistakes and ask them to correct it, to test their knowledge of grammar.

Reading response logs: Give students a list of questions, such as how do they know a character is evil, or how would they change the ending of a story. When students are finished reading a book or article, have them write down the answers to these questions. Make sure to only assess for content, and not spelling or grammar, unless you specify to your students that you're doing so.

Content logs: Have students write down facts they learned about a text. You can also have them write what parts they didn't understand. This is helpful for you to see if there are concepts you may need to reteach or review, particularly if a lot of students are confused about similar parts of the same text.

With writing, don't assess too much at once. For a writing piece, you could assess just spelling, complete sentences or unity in paragraphs. Build it up to assess more than a few criteria once you see that your students have mastered what you have taught them.

5. Portfolios

Portfolios are powerful assessments and are used to gather various samples of student work to track their development over a period of time. In order to maximize the potential of using a portfolio as an assessment tool, you should regularly curate student work to include in them, and have scheduled conferences with students about their work.

You should also have a checklist of qualities that are important to showcase student achievement. Not only do you critique and assess the work, but so should the students. That way, they're responsible for their learning and take more ownership of making sure they improve.

Material you can include in a portfolio can include the following:

performance criteria or rubrics

recording of oral presentations

tests

writing samples, drafts and final copies

book reports

interview checklists

In order to best assess a student, you should include more than one kind of student work in the portfolio. The work does not have to be the best work they've done, rather a wide variety is best. Based on your judgment, you can even ask students for their opinion as to what types of work they should include.

In a portfolio, you are looking for any type of improvement in their work. For example, if you keep a couple of a student's writing pieces, look to see if their sentence or paragraph structure gets better. When looking at tests, see if their spelling tests, for example, have gotten higher scores over time. If you notice that they continually lack in certain skills, this would be the time to address it. You can either give the student extra support in class or find ways for them to practice with extra work at home.

Tests aren't bad, but they're not the only way to assess student achievement.

If you use a wide variety of assessments, you'll be able to portray an accurate picture of your student's English abilities.

In turn, you, your students and their parents will be able to see their progress, which can greatly motivate students!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

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Measuring Growth: 5 Ways to Start Assessing English Language Learners Without Tests | FluentU English Educator Blog

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Assessing English language learners with a range of assessments will help demonstrate your students' abilities. From written assessments and portfolios to speaking assessments and activities, there are so many options available! Click here to see 5 simple alternatives to tests for assessing English language learners!

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https://offices.depaul.edu/center-teaching-learning/assessment/assessing-learning/Pages/analysis-and-interpretation.aspx

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↓ Jump down for:

Presenting Results

Results are a summary of statistical and analytical data that was collected to determine how well students achieved a particular learning outcome. Results summarize how successful students are in achieving goals and outcomes that are set by instructors, programs, colleges, and/or the university. Since results are a succinct explanation of data, individual scores or raw data should be reported in appendices, rather than in the results section, unless used as an illustration. All relevant results should be discussed in the results section. When reporting results, it's important to discuss findings in detail in order to justify conclusions. When presenting results in assessment reports, choose the medium to display results that presents the results the most clearly to a variety of audiences.

Tables & Figures

Tables and figures, which include graphs, pictures, and drawings, are used to further support findings. Tables and figures display the most important findings. When using tables and figures in reports, mention them within the text of the report, and tell readers what information to they should look for in the tables/figures. Using tables and figures can enhance and simplify how you communicate findings in your assessment report.

Tables are useful in providing exact values and presenting complex results and an analysis of your findings.

Figures, which include, bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, pictures, and drawings, are visual interpretations of the results. Figures help when comparing data and illustrating relationships in data.

Types of Data and Analyses

Nominal Data

This type of data is named-only, or categorical, data. Nominal data is not associated with numbers and there is no concept of degree or order (e.g., one category being higher or lower than another). Nominal data simply separates information into different categories.

Analysis: It is not appropriate to perform any arithmetic operations on nominal data (such as calculating or comparing means). Frequencies and Percentages of the number of cases that fall into each category may be the most appropriate type of analysis for nominal data.

Example: Certain demographic information, such as race/ethnicity/national origin, is nominal. For this type of data, you might report the number and percentage of people that fell within each category:

Nominal Data Example 1: Frequences and Percentages Reported in a Table

Nominal Data Example 2: Frequencies and Percentages Reported in a Graph

Ordinal Data

Ordinal data specifies an order to the information. However, the amount of space or distance between data points are not fixed or known. Scale points from a survey instrument are an example of ordinal data. For example, strongly agree is known to be "higher" than agree, but the distance between agree and strongly agree is not known.

Analysis - Like categorical data, ordinal data does not meet the assumptions necessary to perform arithmetic calculations on it (such as calculating or comparing means) and the most appropriate type of data analysis may be calculating frequencies and percentages for the data points. If you do choose to calculate means for ordinal data, it is important to understand how violation of the assumptions affects interpretation. For example, a mean of 4 cannot be interpreted as twice the mean of 2, since the distance between data points is neither equal nor known.

Ordinal Data Example 1: Frequencies and Percentages Reported in a Table

Ordinal Data Example 2: Frequencies and Percentages Reported in a Graph

Interval Data

Interval data specifies an order to data with equal, fixed, and measurable distances between data points. An example of interval data is temperature. The difference between 20 degrees Fahrenheit and 30 degrees Fahrenheit is the same as the difference between 30 degrees and 40 degrees. However, interval data does not have an absolute zero (or zero indicating a complete lack of something). In the case of temperatures on the Fahrenheit scale, zero does not indicate a lack of temperature.

Analysis - Interval data meets the assumptions necessary to conduct certain arithmetic operations, such as addition and subtraction, on it, but still violates assumptions to perform multiplication or division. As in the example for ordinal data, this is because without a meaningful (or absolute) zero, a score of 4 will not necessarily mean double a score of 2. However, if you are careful in not interpreting data in this way, use of any arithmetic operation may be justifiable. Possible analyses may include measures of central tendency (such as calculating mean, median, and mode), measures of distribution spread (such as variance or standard deviation), measures of relationship (such as correlations or regressions), or mean comparisons (such as t-tests or one way analysis of variance).

Examples - Scores on a test may be interval data if the difference between a 90 and 95 is the same as the difference between 95 and 100 or between 80 and 85. However, scores on a test would not be considered ratio data (see below) because a 0 on the test would not necessarily indicate a complete lack of knowledge on the subject matter or learning outcome.

Interval Data Example 1: Mean Test Scores Reported in a Table

Average Test Scores:

Interval Data Example 2: Mean Test Scores Reported in a Graph

Ratio Data

Like interval data, ratio data specifies an order and fixed interval between data points. However, ratio data has a meaningful (absolute) zero, or a zero point that indicates a complete lack of whatever is being measured.

Analysis - Ratio data meets the assumptions necessary to conduct any arithmetic operation on it. Possible analyses may include measures of central tendency (such as calculating mean, median, and mode), measures of distribution spread (such as variance or standard deviation), measures of relationship (such as correlations or regressions), or mean comparisons (such as t-tests or one way analysis of variance).

Examples - Assessment of student learning rarely, if ever, includes the collection of ratio-level data. Some examples of ratio data include height, length, and time.

Scoring Guides

An important consideration in planning an assessment project is determining how you will measure students' achievement of the learning outcome you are measuring. Scoring guides provide a shared structure for and definition of how student work will be judged. It is critical that a scoring guide is tied directly to the student learning outcome it is measuring.

Examples of Common Scoring Guides

Structured Observation Guides
Structured observation guides are a more qualitative type of scoring guide.
Advantages

They allow for richer descriptions of student performances or work.

They may be useful for the assessment of qualities that are difficult to operationally define, like attitudes or values

Disadvantages

This is a more subjective approach to scoring.

It is more difficult to analyze results than quantitative methods of scoring.

Example of a structured observation guide for student presentations

Communicating purpose of presentation

Organizing the presentation

Demonstrating knowledge of topic(s)

Speaking with clarity

Responding appropriately to participants' questions

Adhering to time constraints

Accomplishing the stated objective

R​eferences

APA Style Handbook, 2001 p. 20-21

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↓ Jump down for: Results are a summary of statistical and analytical data that was collected to determine how well students achieved a particular learning outcome. Results summarize how successful students are in achieving goals and outcomes that are set by instructors, programs, colleges, and/or the university.

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279714536_How_assessment_frames_student_learning

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Download Citation | On Jan 1, 2006, G. Gibbs published How assessment frames student learning | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

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https://www2.ed.gov/teachers/assess/resources/toolkit/index.html

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https://www.idra.org/resource-center/backward-planning-assessment-impacts-teaching-learning/

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Assessments are a critical step in the education process as they determine whether the learning objectives of a lesson have been met. By showing students' understanding of concepts taught, assessments enable teachers to see if their teaching has been effective. Assessment affects students' grades, placement, curriculum progress and enrichment, instructional needs, and even school resources and funding.

Assessments must address teaching for understanding through authentic activities that promote higher order thinking and construction of knowledge. Using a backward planning approach to enhance teaching and learning is a renewed approach that challenges the traditional methods of curriculum planning.

In traditional lesson planning, teachers begin with looking at what needs to be taught. They plan lessons, choose activities and teach the material and then give the assessment. Unfortunately, many times teachers don't know if students have mastered the content because they don't seek confirmation of learning and lack evidence to show if students have mastered the content.

Also, the activities may not contain evidence of learning and are not selected to match the assessment. As a result, students do poorly on the test. In the past, teachers have even blamed the students for not learning what they were taught.

In backward planning, teachers focus their attention on: (1) knowing the curriculum standards; (2) creating formative and summative (in-class) assessments and reviewing and analyzing state- and district-required assessments to meet the needs of all students; and then (3) designing lessons that integrate these standards and assessments.

Master teachers know their curriculum standards and are competent in designing formative assessments, understanding state assessments and developing lessons that integrate both. They plan for evidence that truly demonstrates student content mastery and student construction of knowledge. This evidence might be shown in students' oral or written explanations, interpretations, applications, demonstrations of perspective, displaying empathy, and showing meta-cognitive awareness (Wiggins & McTighe, 2012).

In 1998, Wiggins & McTighe introduced the backward planning approach to curriculum design where the destination is designated before mapping the route to be taken. This approach also is used in other disciplines, such as in one of the "habits of highly effective people" by Stephen Covey (2004) - "Begin with the end in mind."

This planning can occur collaboratively with teachers in their professional learning communities (PLCs) when they are aligning curriculum, assessment and instruction while reviewing student performance data. Principal leaders should establish PLC agendas and protocols so all of this can be accomplished during productive and efficient PLC time periods. Principals and members of the leadership team are the instructional leaders that need to be present at PLC meetings. They need to ensure that they lead and effectively support the full potential of the backward planning approach.

During classroom observations, leaders also should assure that what was discussed in PLCs is implemented during the instructional period. If not, feedback, support and coaching also can assist teachers to enhance their practices.

Three Teacher Roles in Backward Planning

Lesson planning must be purposeful, intentional and lead to effective teaching. In the Universal by Design approach (Wiggins & McTighe, 2012), similar to backward planning, the teacher assumes three different roles. The first is direct teaching, which includes connecting and engaging students to the lesson objective that leads to the essential question, exploring students' background knowledge and presenting an explanation of the concepts of the lesson being taught.

The second role a teacher assumes is that of a facilitator. The teacher intentionally facilitates authentic student thinking through inquiry-based approaches, such as project based learning and Socratic seminars, reciprocal teaching, differentiation of instruction, use of graphic organizers to represent thinking, and other reflective practices (Avilés & Algasem, 2016).

The third role of a teacher is to be a coach of student learning. As a coach, teachers provide ongoing feedback and encouragement, prompt students to self-reflect and assess themselves, and provide multiple opportunities for independent practice. If the teacher sees that students have not mastered the content to be learned, he or she employs corrective alternative teaching practices. This does not mean re-teaching in the same way, but rather providing opportunities for learning in new ways that take into account students' different learning styles, preferences and personalities.

Direct teaching, facilitating and coaching all become part of the lesson cycle through planning and implementing presentations, guided lessons and independent practice.

All of the objectives and assessments need to be clarified by the teacher before and during the instructional processes so that the students understand what they are learning, what is expected of them and how they can achieve the goals set by the teacher. This helps students to be successful and demonstrate content competencies by knowing where they're going and the knowledge and skills they need to learn to maximize achievement (Avilés, 2017). They need to know how they will be assessed on what they will learn and how they will demonstrate what the teacher has taught them. This, in itself, can improve student performance.

Three Types of Assessments

When curriculum and assessments are selected and instructional lessons are planned and implemented, it is important for leaders, teachers and students to understand different types of assessments that might be used. Assessments can occur at various times for distinct purposes, and the teacher should use these assessments to strategically promote and reinforce authentic learning.

Assessments of learning include summative assessments that are used to demonstrate student achievement at the end of a lesson or unit, a quarter of the year, the semester, or the full year as is done on the state test.

Assessments for learning happen during the learning process, and happen frequently and more than once during the lesson or unit. Students know what they are to learn and do, and the teacher assesses them as this learning occurs and then redirects the learning as needed while giving students feedback.

Assessment as learning enables students to reflect on their own learning processes. Through this metacognitive process, students understand their own learning and can then take action and ownership for future learning. Teachers support learning when they clarify the purpose of any assessment and select the method that best serves the instructional context (Earl & Katz, 2006).

Thus, assessments are not only used at the end of the instructional cycle, they are to be used intentionally with the curriculum standards of what is to be learned. Curriculum standards integrated with assessments during the instructional process yield assessment results that are more likely to accurately portray the real evidence of student achievement.

School leaders must be facilitators and supporters of learning (Avilés, 2016). They need to have systems and structures in place that advance teaching teams to design and implement instruction, based on 21st century skills, developing reliable and valid assessments that cultivate lifelong learning.

Resources

Avilés, N. (August 2017). "Unlocking Instruction Through Structured Teaching," IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio, Texas: Intercultural Development Research Association).

Avilés, N. (March 2016). "Leaders Turnaround Schools - Transformational Equity Focus Makes College Readiness a Priority," IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio, Texas: Intercultural Development Research Association).

Avilés, N. & Algasem, N. (September 2016). "Project Based Learning - Changing Learning Paradigms One Lesson at a Time," IDRA Newsletter (San Antonio, Texas: Intercultural Development Research Association).

Covey, S.R. (2004). The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, revised edition (New York, N.Y.: Free Press).

Earl, L.M., & S. Katz. (2006). Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind - Assessment for Learning, Assessment as Learning, Assessment of Learning (Winnipeg, Manitoba: Crown in Right of Manitoba).

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2011). The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units (Alexandria, Va.: ASCD).

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2012). Understanding by Design Framework (Alexandria, Va.: ASCD).

Nilka Avilés, Ed.D., is an IDRA senior education associate and directs the IDRA STAARS Leaders project. Comments and questions may be directed to her via email at nilka.aviles@idra.org. Kristin Grayson, Ph.D., is an IDRA education associate. Comments and questions may be directed to her via email at kristin.grayson@idra.org.

[©2017, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the August 2017 IDRA Newsletter by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]

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Backward Planning - How Assessment Impacts Teaching and Learning - IDRA

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Assessments are a critical step in the education process as they determine whether the learning objectives of a lesson have been met. By showing students' understanding of concepts taught, assessments enable teachers to see if their teaching has been effective. Assessment affects students' grades, placement, curriculum progress and enrichment, instructional needs, and even school resources and funding.

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https://www.modelteaching.com/education-articles/lesson-curriculum-planning/backwards-design-in-lesson-planning

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Backwards Design in Lesson Planning - Model Teaching

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What is backwards design? In this article, learn the three critical steps of backwards design in lesson planning and how best to use it in the classroom.

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https://edsource.org/2015/how-to-report-test-scores-to-parents-debated/72918

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Credit: Berkeley Unified School District

With California students set to begin taking new Smarter Balanced tests in the Common Core State Standards this spring, state education officials are worried about how parents will view the results - especially if, as experts predict, their kids' initial scores will be low.

"I'm not sure we have (the message) right yet," Chief Deputy State Superintendent Richard Zeiger told members of the State Board of Education on Wednesday. The Department of Education is working on drafts of explanations of the scores that it has not yet published.

"Let's be frank: All scores will be shifted to the left," he said, meaning lower on the point scale, with fewer students deemed to be proficient than under the old state standards and more students scoring at basic or below basic levels. "We have to educate parents about that. It's not that your kid got dumber; there has been a shift in systems."

Downplaying the significance of the first year's scores, State Board President Michael Kirst has said that it will take five more years for full implementation of the new standards, with fully trained teachers using fully developed curricula and textbooks. He and others are concerned that low scores will fuel the public's skepticism of Common Core and teachers' anxiety that they'll be prematurely judged by test scores.

Last year, students from California and 16 other states belonging to the Smarter Balanced consortium took a Smarter Balanced "field," or practice, test. Based on the results and professional educators' judgments, Smarter Balanced created four performance levels for the test, determined by threshold points or "cut scores" at each level. Level 4 designates advanced work and Levels 1 and 2 demonstrate partial or minimal knowledge of the standards. Level 3 is roughly equivalent to proficiency, although Kirst and other officials insist on not using that term. Smarter Balanced is predicting that between 33 percent and 44 percent of students in California and elsewhere will reach the threshold for Level 3 this spring, when the formal tests are introduced.

In 2013, the last time that the California standardized tests were given, 51 percent of students overall posted a score of proficient and above in math and 56 percent of students scored proficient and above in English language arts. The scores ranged from 46 percent proficient in 3 rd-grade reading to 72 percent proficient in 4 th-grade math.

Kirst and advocates of Common Core argue that Common Core standards, which stress problem-solving, communication skills and conceptual understanding of math, are different, if not more rigorous, than the previous state academic standards, and new tests will be harder, too. To emphasize this point, the Legislature prohibited comparing the old and new test scores to update the Academic Performance Index (API), the state's chief accountability measure.

From March to June, 3.2 million California students in grades 3 to 8 and grade 11 will take the Smarter Balanced end-of-year tests in math and English language arts. Nearly all will take it online, and the state Department of Education is promising that schools will receive the scores electronically between two and four weeks later. Parents will receive paper copies of the report about a month after that. It will take longer to report the scores of the 2,000 students, mainly from rural schools without adequate technology, who will take the Smarter Balanced test on paper.

State Board update on assessment issues, agenda, Jan. 14, 2015

EdSource Today article on Smarter Balanced test, Dec.3, 2014

Smarter Balanced consortium press release on achievement levels, Nov. 18, 2014

Information about Smarter Balanced achievement-level setting process, fall 2014

States' memorandum on how to interpret tests' achievement levels, Nov. 17, 2014

Students will receive a score ranging from 2,000 to 3,000, a point system intentionally chosen to differentiate it from what other states have used. The state can choose how to present the results to parents. It could focus on a student's raw number and emphasize the student's growth on the scale from grade to grade - something that wasn't possible with the old state tests. Or it could de-emphasize the raw score while focusing on which of the four performance levels the student achieved. Board members expressed different views.

"Scale scores provide a better breakdown," Kirst said. "We need to get away from the over-focus on (performance) levels." There's "nothing magical" about the threshold or cut scores by level; they are imprecise, he said.

But board member Trish Williams said that performance levels provide an easily understandable indicator. Parents need to know how their children performed relative to others, she said.

Still to be determined is whether first-year Smarter Balanced scores will be used to judge schools' and districts' performance. The state board suspended the API for 2014-15, and in March, it will decide whether to suspend it again in 2015-16. That's what the Association of California School Administrators, representing superintendents and principals, and Los Angeles Unified, the state's largest district, are seeking. They have said that there has not been enough time for teachers and districts to make the transition to the new standards for accountability purposes.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti seconded that in a letter sent to the state board this week. "Any use of the spring 2015 (Smarter Balanced) results will give the state an inaccurate picture of student and school performance," he said.

Doug McRae, a retired standardized testing publisher from Monterey who has consistently questioned Smarter Balanced's methodology and timetable in testimony before the state board, on Wednesday called for delaying all reporting of this spring's Smarter Balanced scores until the state has done thorough studies to determine if the performance levels are valid and reliable, as required by state law.

The board has referred the issue of delaying the API scores to two advisory committees, which are to report back in March.
To get more reports like this one, click here to sign up for EdSource's no-cost daily email on latest developments in education.

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How to report test scores to parents debated

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With California students set to begin taking new Smarter Balanced tests in the Common Core State Standards this spring, state education officials are worried about how parents will view the results - especially if, as experts predict, their kids' initial scores will be low.

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https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1579117709/norwichps/xvveoutilz0jm5vmm42x/middle-sbrc-guide.pdf

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https://www.edutopia.org/assessment-testing-parent-resources

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Though tests (especially standardized tests) may be the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word assessment, comprehensive assessment encompasses a wide range of methods for evaluating a child's social and emotional and academic abilities. As a parent, it's critical that you know about alternative types of classroom-based assessments, in addition to traditional tests and the standardized tests mandated by your school district or state department of education. Below, we've collected resources to help you understand various types and uses of assessment, identify questions you can ask your child's teachers and school, and support your child during testing.

Classroom Assessment Strategies

There are many ways to measure a student's abilities. Which ones do your child's teachers use?
Take advantage of parent-teacher conferences and back-to-school nights to talk with teachers about their assessment strategies. Do they use portfolios of student work? Do they conduct performance-based assessments? How do test results inform the way they work with a particular student or group of students? Consult the resources below for more information about different assessment types and other questions you can ask.

For Every Child, Multiple Measures (Northwest Evaluation Association, 2012)
This 2012 report by the Northwest Evaluation Association and Grunwald Associates LLC describes feedback from parents and teachers on what kinds of assessments are most useful, relevant, and cost effective, and makes recommendations for assessment developers, policymakers, and state and district leaders based on their findings. Edutopia blogger Anne O'Brien has written a helpful outline of the report findings.

Healthier Testing Made Easy: The Idea of Authentic Assessment (Edutopia, 2006)
Grant Wiggins discusses how formative assessment and authentic assessment can help learners get the feedback they need to improve and progress.

Performance-Based Assessment (Project Appleseed)
Project Appleseed, a nonprofit advocacy organization for parent involvement in education, provides an excellent primer on the many types of performance assessments and their advantages, as well as strategies for improving student performance. For more about performance assessment, take a look at Edutopia contributing writer Roberta Furger's 2002 article, " Take a Deeper Look at Assessment for Understanding."

A Parent's Guide to Testing at Your Child's School (National Education Association, 2007)
This two-page brochure, developed in 2007 by the National Education Association (NEA) in partnership with the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), describes some of the types of tests used in schools and what parents can do. It's also available as a PDF download in Spanish.

Parents: 19 Meaningful Questions You Should Ask Your Child's Teacher (Edutopia, 2013)
Forget about all the vague, superficial information out there. Edutopia blogger Terry Heick cuts to the chase with 19 meaningful questions -- including questions related to assessment -- parents can ask their children's teachers at the beginning of the school year.

All About Standardized Tests

Ask questions and talk to your child's teacher or a district assessment specialist about implications of test results and possible follow-up action. Are high-stakes decisions based on student performance on this single measure? Are the state's standardized tests aligned to content standards? Are test results used to better inform teaching and learning? How does the school or district use this information to better meet student educational needs? Browse the resources below for more information about standardized tests, including new tests aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

What Should Parents Know About Standardized Testing? (Project Appleseed)
Learn about the purposes of standardized tests and how they are used, as well as how you can help your child prepare and questions to ask.

Testing Our Schools: A Guide For Parents (PBS Frontline, 2002)
PBS' Frontline offers an easily navigable explanation of high-stakes testing that includes basic information about what tests measure, how they're developed and scored, specific tips for parents, and links to additional resources. Though the package was produced in 2002, it's still a valuable resource.

The State of the Common Core (Edutopia, 2013)
Vanessa Vega, Edutopia's former research analyst, offers a work-in-progress view of how the Common Core is being implemented and assessed nationwide. For more about what parents need to know about the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), check out Anne O'Brien's " What Do Parents Need to Know About the Common Core? "

Parents' Guide to Student Success-Frequently Asked Questions (National PTA)
The National Parent Teacher Association partnered with experts on the Common Core State Standards to create parent guides for grades K-12 that include information about what children should be learning in each grade once the standards are implemented, activities that parents can do at home, and strategies for building stronger parent-teacher relationships. To find out more about your states CCSS's implementation plans, check out their State Education Agencies page.

Parent Roadmaps (Council of the Great City Schools, 2012)
The Council of the Great City Schools has developed content and grade-specific parent roadmaps in English and in Spanish that provide detailed information for parents about the expectations of the Common Core in English Language Arts and Mathematics.

Accommodations, Modifications, and Alternate Assessments (GreatSchools, 2010)
Your child may be eligible for modifications to help him succeed in the classroom -- and on standardized tests. For more information about how students with special needs will be assessed on the Common Core State Standards, see " Application to Students with Disabilities," from the website for the Common Core.

Helping Children Prepare

In their book But Are They Learning? A Commonsense Parents' Guide to Assessment and Grading in Schools, Richard Stiggins and Tanis Knight emphasize that assessment and grading strategies should be defined at the start of a project -- in terms that students can understand. Get clarification from the teacher any time your child seems unclear about expected outcomes for a project or assignment. The resources below include useful strategies for supporting children during testing.

Helping Students Understand What a Test is and Is Not (Edutopia, 2014)
Neurologist, teacher, author and Edutopia blogger Judy Willis explains how students' performance on tests can often be affected by their perceptions of and feelings about why they're being tested and what's being assessed.

Survive and Thrive During Testing Season (Edutopia, 2014)
Guest blogger Lori Desautels considers the brain research on why test prep can be so stressful, and offers six brain-compatible strategies to help students feel better about themselves and more connected to the material.

4 Tips to Build Student Confidence (Edutopia, 2014)
Edutopia blogger Matt Levinson, recognizing that students get overwhelmed by unfamiliar material and choke up on assessments, offers four confidence-building strategies: verbalizing, brain dumps, non-linear thinking creativity.

Parent Tips: How to Help Your Child Prepare for Standardized Tests (Colorin Colorado, 2008)
This resource from Colorin Colorado, a bilingual site for families and educators of English-language learners, provides suggestions to parents to support children before tests, on test days, after tests, and on a daily basis.

Additional Resources

Edutopia's Community Discussion on Assessment

The National Center for Fair and Open Testing

"The Importance of Low-Stakes Student Feedback," from KQED's Mindshift (2014)

"Assistive Tech for Testing Merges Into Mainstream," from Education Week (2014)

"Field-Testing Set to Begin on Common-Core Exams," from Education Week (2014)

"An Education Reporter Puts Himself to the Standardized Test," from NPR (2014)

"Three Reasons Students Should Opt Out of Standardized Tests - and Three Reasons They Shouldn't," from The Hechinger Report (2014)

"The Next Generation of Assessments Can-and Must-Be Better," from ASCD Express (2013)

Test Anxiety for Teens, from TeensHealth (2013)

"Why Teacher Ratings Hurt Schools and Students," from Greater Good Science Center (2012)

State High School Exit Exams: A Policy in Transition, from the Center on Education Policy (2012)

Information for Parents about The Nation's Report Card, from The Nation's Report Card

Parents & Students, from Smarter Balanced

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Understanding Assessment: Resources for Parents

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Though tests (especially standardized tests) may be the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word assessment, comprehensive assessment encompasses a wide range of methods for evaluating a child's social and emotional and academic abilities.

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Formative and Summative Assessments in the Classroom

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Formative and Summative Assessments in the Classroom

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https://www.amle.org/formative-and-summative-assessments-in-the-classroom/

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Printable article

Successful middle schools engage students in all aspects of their learning. There are many strategies for accomplishing this. One such strategy is student-led conferences. As a classroom teacher or administrator, how do you ensure that the information shared in a student-led conference provides a balanced picture of the student's strengths and weaknesses? The answer to this is to balance both summative and formative classroom assessment practices and information gathering about student learning.

Assessment is a huge topic that encompasses everything from statewide accountability tests to district benchmark or interim tests to everyday classroom tests. In order to grapple with what seems to be an over use of testing, educators should frame their view of testing as assessment and that assessment is information. The more information we have about students, the clearer the picture we have about achievement or where gaps may occur.

Defining Formative and Summative Assessments
The terms "formative" and "summative" do not have to be difficult, yet the definitions have become confusing in the past few years. This is especially true for formative assessment. In a balanced assessment system, both summative and formative assessments are an integral part of information gathering. Depend too much on one or the other and the reality of student achievement in your classroom becomes unclear.

Summative Assessments are given periodically to determine at a particular point in time what students know and do not know. Many associate summative assessments only with standardized tests such as state assessments, but they are also used at and are an important part of district and classroom programs. Summative assessment at the district/classroom level is an accountability measure that is generally used as part of the grading process. The list is long, but here are some examples of summative assessments:

State assessments

District benchmark or interim assessments

End-of-unit or chapter tests

End-of-term or semester exams

Scores that are used for accountability for schools (AYP) and students (report card grades).

The key is to think of summative assessment as a means to gauge, at a particular point in time, student learning relative to content standards. Although the information that is gleaned from this type of assessment is important, it can only help in evaluating certain aspects of the learning process. Because they are spread out and occur after instruction every few weeks, months, or once a year, summative assessments are tools to help evaluate the effectiveness of programs, school improvement goals, alignment of curriculum, or student placement in specific programs. Summative assessments happen too far down the learning path to provide information at the classroom level and to make instructional adjustments and interventions during the learning process. It takes formative assessment to accomplish this.

Formative Assessment is part of the instructional process. When incorporated into classroom practice, it provides the information needed to adjust teaching and learning while they are happening. In this sense, formative assessment informs both teachers and students about student understanding at a point when timely adjustments can be made. These adjustments help to ensure students achieve, targeted standards-based learning goals within a set time frame. Although formative assessment strategies appear in a variety of formats, there are some distinct ways to distinguish them from summative assessments.

One distinction is to think of formative assessment as "practice." We do not hold students accountable in "grade book fashion" for skills and concepts they have just been introduced to or are learning. We must allow for practice. Formative assessment helps teachers determine next steps during the learning process as the instruction approaches the summative assessment of student learning. A good analogy for this is the road test that is required to receive a driver's license. What if, before getting your driver's license, you received a grade every time you sat behind the wheel to practice driving? What if your final grade for the driving test was the average of all of the grades you received while practicing? Because of the initial low grades you received during the process of learning to drive, your final grade would not accurately reflect your ability to drive a car. In the beginning of learning to drive, how confident or motivated to learn would you feel? Would any of the grades you received provide you with guidance on what you needed to do next to improve your driving skills? Your final driving test, or summative assessment, would be the accountability measure that establishes whether or not you have the driving skills necessary for a driver's license-not a reflection of all the driving practice that leads to it. The same holds true for classroom instruction, learning, and assessment.

Another distinction that underpins formative assessment is student involvement. If students are not involved in the assessment process, formative assessment is not practiced or implemented to its full effectiveness. Students need to be involved both as assessors of their own learning and as resources to other students. There are numerous strategies teachers can implement to engage students. In fact, research shows that the involvement in and ownership of their work increases students' motivation to learn. This does not mean the absence of teacher involvement. To the contrary, teachers are critical in identifying learning goals, setting clear criteria for success, and designing assessment tasks that provide evidence of student learning.

One of the key components of engaging students in the assessment of their own learning is providing them with descriptive feedback as they learn. In fact, research shows descriptive feedback to be the most significant instructional strategy to move students forward in their learning. Descriptive feedback provides students with an understanding of what they are doing well, links to classroom learning, and gives specific input on how to reach the next step in the learning progression. In other words, descriptive feedback is not a grade, a sticker, or "good job!" A significant body of research indicates that such limited feedback does not lead to improved student learning.

There are many classroom instructional strategies that are part of the repertoire of good teaching. When teachers use sound instructional practice for the purpose of gathering information on student learning, they are applying this information in a formative way. In this sense, formative assessment is pedagogy and clearly cannot be separated from instruction. It is what good teachers do. The distinction lies in what teachers actually do with the information they gather. How is it being used to inform instruction? How is it being shared with and engaging students? It's not teachers just collecting information/data on student learning; it's what they do with the information they collect.

Some of the instructional strategies that can be used formatively include the following:

Criteria and goal setting with students engages them in instruction and the learning process by creating clear expectations. In order to be successful, students need to understand and know the learning target/goal and the criteria for reaching it. Establishing and defining quality work together, asking students to participate in establishing norm behaviors for classroom culture, and determining what should be included in criteria for success are all examples of this strategy. Using student work, classroom tests, or exemplars of what is expected helps students understand where they are, where they need to be, and an effective process for getting there.

Observations go beyond walking around the room to see if students are on task or need clarification. Observations assist teachers in gathering evidence of student learning to inform instructional planning. This evidence can be recorded and used as feedback for students about their learning or as anecdotal data shared with them during conferences.

Questioning strategies should be embedded in lesson/unit planning. Asking better questions allows an opportunity for deeper thinking and provides teachers with significant insight into the degree and depth of understanding. Questions of this nature engage students in classroom dialogue that both uncovers and expands learning. An "exit slip" at the end of a class period to determine students' understanding of the day's lesson or quick checks during instruction such as "thumbs up/down" or "red/green" (stop/go) cards are also examples of questioning strategies that elicit immediate information about student learning. Helping students ask better questions is another aspect of this formative assessment strategy.

Self and peer assessment helps to create a learning community within a classroom. Students who can reflect while engaged in metacognitive thinking are involved in their learning. When students have been involved in criteria and goal setting, self-evaluation is a logical step in the learning process. With peer evaluation, students see each other as resources for understanding and checking for quality work against previously established criteria.

Student record keeping helps students better understand their own learning as evidenced by their classroom work. This process of students keeping ongoing records of their work not only engages students, it also helps them, beyond a "grade," to see where they started and the progress they are making toward the learning goal.

All of these strategies are integral to the formative assessment process, and they have been suggested by models of effective middle school instruction.

Balancing Assessment
As teachers gather information/data about student learning, several categories may be included. In order to better understand student learning, teachers need to consider information about the products (paper or otherwise) students create and tests they take, observational notes, and reflections on the communication that occurs between teacher and student or among students. When a comprehensive assessment program at the classroom level balances formative and summative student learning/achievement information, a clear picture emerges of where a student is relative to learning targets and standards. Students should be able to articulate this shared information about their own learning. When this happens, student-led conferences, a formative assessment strategy, are valid. The more we know about individual students as they engage in the learning process, the better we can adjust instruction to ensure that all students continue to achieve by moving forward in their learning.

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Formative and Summative Assessments in the Classroom - AMLE

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Printable article Successful middle schools engage students in all aspects of their learning. There are many strategies for accomplishing this. One such strategy is student-led conferences. As a classroom teacher or administrator, how do you ensure that the information shared in a student-led conference provides a balanced picture of the student's strengths and weaknesses?

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https://www.wfisd.net/cms/lib/TX01000557/Centricity/Domain/56/Fundamental%20Five%20Summary.pdf

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https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00461520.2016.1145550?journalCode=hedp20

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Assessments that function close to classroom teaching and learning can play a powerful role in fostering academic achievement. Unfortunately, however, relatively little attention has been given to discussion of the design and validation of such assessments. The present article presents a framework for conceptualizing and organizing the multiple components of validity applicable to assessments intended for use in the classroom to support ongoing processes of teaching and learning. The conceptual framework builds on existing validity concepts and focuses attention on three components: cognitive validity, instructional validity, and inferential validity. The goal in presenting the framework is to clarify the concept of validity, including key components of the interpretive argument, while considering the types and forms of evidence needed to construct a validity argument for classroom assessments. The framework's utility is illustrated by presenting an application to the analysis of the validity of assessments embedded within an elementary mathematics curriculum.

Funding

Development of the conceptual framework described in this article and its application to assessments intended for classroom use was supported in part by grants to the authors from the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education (#R305A100475, #R305A090111), and the National Science Foundation (#0732090, #0918552, #0920242). The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the funding agencies.

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A Framework for Conceptualizing and Evaluating the Validity of Instructionally Relevant Assessments

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Assessments that function close to classroom teaching and learning can play a powerful role in fostering academic achievement. Unfortunately, however, relatively little attention has been given to discussion of the design and validation of such assessments.

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https://www.state.nj.us/education/archive/frameworks/science/chap5.pdf

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The Three Key Assessments for English Language Arts Teachers

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The Three Key Assessments for English Language Arts Teachers

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https://www.ace.edu/blog/post/2018/08/16/the-three-key-assessments-for-english-language-arts-teachers

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In a few short days my classroom, like yours, will be abuzz with new faces, and another year of endless potential will begin. Each of our students comes to school with differing English language arts levels, and that is where our teacher magic comes in as we plan and deliver lessons that work to close the achievement gaps for our struggling learners.

In my role as a special education teacher, I am constantly collecting data on my students. Students who are struggling are sometimes referred to me for analysis. Through assessment, I identify where their gaps are so that we can get those kiddos into the interventions and groupings that will be most beneficial.

I'd like to share three great tools that you can use to take quick English language arts (ELA) data on students that are either in your building right now, or just a click away.

1. Curriculum-Based Measurement Written Assessment

Getting authentic writing samples quickly can be a challenge, so my go-to resource for writing is the Curriculum-Based Measurement Written Assessment. All the resources you need to deliver and score this assessment can be found online at Intervention Central . Here you'll find a probe generator that gives you multiple story starter ideas. Choose and print the one that is most appropriate to the grade level you are working with. You'll read it with your student and then time them as they construct a response, which takes about five minutes total.

Scoring takes a few times to get down, but the end result will give you a writing fluency score of how many words per minute your student can compose a correct word sequence. This is a great tool to use throughout the year because you'll really be able to see how your students' writing capacity grows.

2. Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI)

When I evaluate a student's reading fluency and reading comprehension, I use the QRI.

In most buildings, the reading specialist will have a copy of this assessment in the reading room, or you can pick used ones that are the last edition (which is still good to use) on Amazon at a reasonable price. Choose the grade level at which you want to start, and have your student read aloud to you as you time them. Marking on the stimulus sheet as the student reads will allow you to analyze miscues, substitutions and other errors students are making while reading.

Following the oral reading, you'll ask students a series of about eight questions - both implicit and explicit. At the conclusion of this assessment,which takes about 15-20 minutes to complete, you'll be able to pinpoint the grade level equivalent for your students' reading fluency, analyze where they are making reading errors and know their level of comprehension. That's a lot of data in a very short amount of time.

3. CORE Phonics Survey

To get more information about students phonics' ability, I like to lean on the CORE Phonics Survey. This assessment allows you to analyze students' decoding abilities and is appropriate for grades K-8. I find it's super helpful with the intermediate grades because you can pinpoint gaps in phonic knowledge so that those can be explicitly addressed. What's more, you can find the directions in their entirety online. The other benefit of the CORE Phonics Survey is that you can do it in small chunks, setting aside a minute or two to do word lists with students. It's also a great tool to tailor a spelling program to your students' needs.

Knowledge is power, and power comes from data! These three quick assessments will give you the knowledge to plan powerful lessons that will meet your students' specific needs to quickly address gap areas in ELA.

Happy assessing!

Become the leader of ELA and literacy in your school. Get your master's in literacy from American College of Education.

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The Three Key Assessments for English Language Arts Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In a few short days my classroom, like yours, will be abuzz with new faces, and another year of endless potential will begin. Each of our students comes to school with differing English language arts levels, and that is where our teacher magic comes in as we plan and deliver lessons that work to close the achievement gaps for our struggling learners.

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Guidelines for the Assessment of English Language Learners

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Guidelines for the Assessment of English Language Learners

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https://www.ets.org/s/about/pdf/ell_guidelines.pdf