THINKING LIKE AN ASSESSOR

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THINKING LIKE AN ASSESSOR

• Resource Dept.

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Just a thought

• The person who uses a lot of big words is not
  trying to inform you, hes trying to impress you
• O. Miller

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Another thought

• Those who write clearly have readers, those who
  write obscurely have commentators.
• Albert Camus

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Three Basic Questions

• 1) What kinds of evidence do we need to find
  hallmarks of our goals, including that of
  understanding?
• 2) What specific characteristics in the student
  responses, products, or performances should we
  examine to determine the extent to which the
  desired results were achieved?
• 3) Does the proposed evidence enable us to infer
  a students knowledge or understanding?

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Two approaches to Thinking About Assessment

• Activity Designer
• Fun and Interesting?
• Students wish to do?
• What tests based on the content I taught?
• How will I grade?
• How well did the activities work?
• How well did the students do on the test?

• Assessor
• Evidence of Understanding?
• What Performance Tasks?
• Different types of evidence?
• Against what criteria?
• Did the assessments reveal understanding?
• Why did the learner make particular mistakes?

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A Continuum of Assessments

• -

Observations And Dialogue
Informal Checks For Understanding
Tests And Quizzes
Performance Tasks
Academic Prompts
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Performance Tasks

• Involve a real or simulated setting and the kind
  of constraints, background noise, incentives, and
  opportunities an adult would find in a similar
  situation.
• Typically require the student to address an
  identified audience (real or simulated)
• Are based on a specific purpose that relates to
  the audience
• Allow students greater opportunity to personalize
  the task
• Are not secure The task, evaluative criteria,
  and performance standards are known in advance
  and guide student work.

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Academic Prompts

• Require constructed responses to specific prompts
  under school and exam conditions
• Are open with no single best answer
• Are often ill structured requiring the
  development of a strategy
• Involve analysis, synthesis, and evaluation
• Typically require an explanation or defense of
  the answer

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Quiz and Test Items

• Assess for factual information, concepts, and
  discrete skill
• Use selected response (true/false, multiple
  choice, etc.)
• Are convergent, typically having a single best
  answer

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Informal Checks for Understanding

• Ongoing assessments used as part of the
  instructional process.
• Examples would be teacher questioning,
  observations, examining student work, and think a
  louds

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GRASPS

• G-Goal
• R-Role
• A-Audience
• S-Situation
• P-Product, Performance, and Purpose
• S-Standards and Criteria for Success

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Hmmmmmmm

• We need to know the learners thought process
  along with their answers.

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Ah-ha!

• The learners explanation of why they did what
  they did.support for their approach and
  reflection on the result are evidence of
  understanding.

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Question

• How can we distinguish between factual knowledge
  from an understanding of the facts.

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The Six Facets of Understanding

• 1) Explanation
• 2) Interpretation
• 3) Application
• 4) Perspective
• 5) Empathy
• 6) Self-Knowledge

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Facet 1 Explanation

• Asks students to tell the big picture or big
  idea in their own words.

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Facet 2 Interpretation

• Requires students to make sense of stories, art,
  data, situations, etc.

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Facet 3 Application

• Students who understand can use their knowledge
  and skill in a new situation.

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Facet 4 Perspective

• Demonstrated when the student can see things from
  a different point of view, articulate the other
  side of a case, or take a critical stance.

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Facet 5 Empathy

• Intellectual Imagination
• Ability to appreciate people who think and act
  differently from us

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Facet 6 Self-Knowledge

• Self-assess their past as well as their future.

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Assessment Methods
Worth Being Familiar With

• Traditional quizzes and tests
• Paper-and-Pencil
• Selected Response
• Constructed Response
• Performance Tasks and Projects
• Complex
• Open-ended
• Authentic

Important to Know and Do
Big Ideas And Core Tasks
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Conclusion

• We recognize that individual or group success has
  been achieved when we see an application of the
  skills.

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John Keating

• Dead Poets Society
• I thought the purpose of education was to learn
  to think for yourself.

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