Standards Based Assessment Systems

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Standards Based Assessment Systems
Dana Anderson ESD 113 Danderson_at_esd113.k12.wa.us
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Purpose of Today

• Engage in a dialog regarding grading practices
• Explore and reflect upon aspects of a Standards
  Based Assessment System
• Begin to build consensus about grading
• Chart a course for next steps

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Topical Agenda

• Why change grading?
• What are grades for?
• What makes a grade?
• What are standards based grades?
• How do you manage it?
• What is a standards based report card?
• What are our next steps?

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Concerns Based Adoption Model
Level of Concern Expression of Concern
0. Awareness I am not concerned (yet)
1. Informational Id like to know more
2. Personal How is this going to effect me?
3. Management What materials/resources will I need?
4. Consequence How is this going to effect my students?
5. Collaboration How can I relate what I am doing to what others are dong?
6. Refocusing How can I make this work even better?
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CBAM- Standards Based Report Cards

• Where are you with regard to this change?
• Where do you think the staff is?
• Discuss and Share Out

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A Brief History of Time

• Prior to mid 1700s students did not get grades,
  they received written narrative feedback
• 1780- Yale University quantified feedback on a 4
  point scale (4.0 system)
• 1877- Harvard created Divisions
• Division 1 90 to 100
• Division 2 75 to 90
• Division 3 60 to 74
• Division 4 50 to 59
• Division 5 40 to 49
• Division 6 below 40

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Why Change the Current Grading System?

• We Consider Factors Other Than Academic
  Achievement when Assigning Grades
• We Weight Assessments Differently
• We Misrepresent Single Scores on Classroom
  Assessments
• We compare students against each other instead
  of what they need to learn (standards)

(Source Transforming Classroom Grading by
Robert Marzano)
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Factors Other Than Academic Achievement
Student 1 Same Teacher Student 2
Same Course Same Homework Scores Same Tests
Scores Same Quiz Scores Same Project Scores Same
Presentation Scores
Grade A
Grade B-
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Factors Other Than Academic Achievement
Percentage of Teachers Reporting Use of Effort, Behavior, Cooperation, and Attendance in Determining Grades Percentage of Teachers Reporting Use of Effort, Behavior, Cooperation, and Attendance in Determining Grades Percentage of Teachers Reporting Use of Effort, Behavior, Cooperation, and Attendance in Determining Grades Percentage of Teachers Reporting Use of Effort, Behavior, Cooperation, and Attendance in Determining Grades Percentage of Teachers Reporting Use of Effort, Behavior, Cooperation, and Attendance in Determining Grades
Grade Level Effort Behavior Cooperation Attendance
K 31 7 4 8
1-3 29 8 4 8
4-6 30 8 8 10
7-0 36 10 8 18
10-12 36 14 9 24
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Teachers Weight Assessments Differently
Team Teaching Same Class
Teacher 1 Teacher 2
Same Students Same Homework Scores Same Quiz
Scores Same Test Scores Grading Based on
Achievement Factors (No effort, behavior,
etc) Exactly the same Assessment Information to
Construct Grades
Agreement 57.7 of the Time
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Misrepresentation of Single Scores
Student 1 Student 2 Student 3
All 3 students do the same class
assignment Assignment has two parts Part I
Multiplication Part II Deductive Reasoning,
Problem solving, Communicating
Mathematically Each part is worth 10 points
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Mathematics Assignment

• Part 1 Directions Fill in the answer for each
  multiplication problem.
• 7 x 6 2. 12 x 11
• 9 x 7 4. 7 x 32
• 6 x 6 6. 13 x 5
• 42 x 7 8. 5 x 5
• 9. 14 x 3 10. 6 x 9

Part II Directions Write your answer and show
all your work on a separate piece of
paper. Treena won a seven-day scholarship worth
1,000 to the Pro Shot Basketball Camp.
Round-trip travel expenses to the camp are 335
by air or 125 by train. At the camp she must
choose between a week of individual instruction
at 60 per day or a week of group instruction at
40 per day. Treenas food and other expenses
are fixed at 45 per day. If she does not plan
to spend any money other than the scholarship,
what are all the choices of travel and
instruction plans that she could afford to make?
Explain your reasoning.
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Misinterpretation of Single Scores
Student 1 Student 2 Student 3
All 3 students do the same class assignment All 3
students receive the same percent score All 3
students receive the same grade
All 3 students have demonstrated different
understandings
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Misrepresentation of Single Score Single Score
represents a wide array of Skills and Abilities
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Think Time

• What do you think about the four problems with
  grading?
• Are there other issues related to grading
  practices that concern you?

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At What Price?

• Have you ever received a grade that was a
  flagrantly inaccurate representation of your
  achievement in a course of study?
• How many of you believe that grades you received
  in school were not an accurate representation of
  your achievement?

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What Are Grades For?

• On at least 3 Post-it Notes write what you think
  is the purpose of grades.
• Place them on butcher paper at your table and
  discuss your thoughts.
• Group purpose statements into themes.

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In the assessment literature

• Administrative Purposes
• Retention
• Placement
• College entrance
• Feedback about achievement
• Guidance
• Courses of study
• Career planning
• Instructional Planning
• Motivation

What is the most important purpose?
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How do you determine grades?

• Not digging too deeply yet, but what method do
  you use to determine student grades?
• Percentage of points (Modified Norm Referenced)
• Attainment of learning goals (Criterion
  Referenced)
• Knowledge Gain (Individual Referenced)

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A tale of two scenarios
Scenario 2 You teach English to a class of 8th
graders with varying ability levels. During this
grading period, the students grades are based on
quizzes, tests and homework assignments that
involve working out exercises. Kelly has not
turned in any homework despite your frequent
reminders. Her grade on quizzes have ranged from
65 to 75, and she received a D on each of the
tests. In this situation, you would
Scenario 1 In your 7th grade social studies
class, report card grades were based on quizzes,
tests and an out-of-class project, which counted
as 25 of the grade. Terry obtained an average
of an A on his quizzes and tests, but has not
turned in his project despite frequent reminders.
In this situation, you would
Brookhart, 1993)
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Grades are often based upon

• Academic Achievement
• Effort
• Behavior
• Attendance

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Academic Achievement

• Subject-Specific Content
• Information-Based Topics (Standards)
• Process or Skill-Based Topics (Standards)
• Thinking and Reasoning Skills
• Information Processing Skills (Comparing,
  Analyzing, Classifying)
• Logic (Argumentation, Induction, Deduction)
• Knowledge Utilization (Inquiry, Investigation,
  Problem Solving, Decision Making)
• Communication Skills
• Writing
• Speaking
• Other Media

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Non-Academic Achievement

• Effort
• Participation
• Work Completion
• Behavior
• Following Rules
• Teamwork
• Attendance
• Tardiness
• Absenteeism

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Feedback Time

• What would you like to see included on your
  report cards?
• Academic Achievement
• Non-Academic Achievement
• Discuss at your tables and share out.

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Cycle of Assessment
Reporting Standards
Rubrics Anchors
Standards Reporting
Self-Assessment
Feedback
Learning Opportunities
Reflection Against Rubrics
Assessment
System Student Teacher
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How do you track achievement?

• Most of us assign points to assignments, quizzes
  and tests.
• Grades are based on points earned points
  possible.
• What might be wrong with this practice?

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Whats Wrong With Points?
Multiple Topics in Various Assessments Multiple Topics in Various Assessments Multiple Topics in Various Assessments Multiple Topics in Various Assessments Multiple Topics in Various Assessments
Assessment Topic 1 Topic 2 Topic 3 Topic 4
Homework 1 (10 points) 5 5
Homework 2 (10 points) 5 5
Quiz 1 (15 points) 5 5 5
Homework 3 (15 points) 5
Quiz 2 (20 points) 5 5 10
Performance Task (40 points) 10 10 20
Homework 4 (10 points) 5
Final Exam (100 points) 20 20 20 40
Total 220 points 55 45 55 65
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So where did points come from?

• 1917- US Army develops Alpha test, multiple
  choice and true false to determine training
  placement of recruits. (Evolves into ASVAB)
• 1941- College Entrance Examination Board
  commissions SAT, multiple choice format
• 1942- Essay portion is dropped from SAT
• 1950s- Textbook publishers begin to adopt
  correct/incorrect model of assessment
• Test results begin to be reported as percentages,
  and single scores become indications of general
  achievement in content areas.
• Items that could not be scored as correct or
  incorrect are given points (essay, oral
  presentations, etc.)

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So how can it be managed?

• Use a Standards Based Grade Book
• Assess students topically (standard)
• Use rubrics to score student work
• Report results by topic (standard)

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Standards Based Grade Books

• Moving from Columns to Rows and from Points to
  Rubrics
• Look at sample grade book
• How is it different from a traditional grade
  book?
• Why is it organized by student rather than class?
• How are differently weighted assignments handled
  in this model of tracking progress?

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Rubrics

• It is assumed that rubrics are well understood by
  staff, but
• Rubrics can be holistic, item specific,
  qualitative, and/or quantitative
• Rubrics can be designed to assess
  Information-Based as well as Skill/Process-Based
  Tasks
• Rubrics should have between 3 to 5 levels of
  quality (odd numbered scales tend to regress
  toward the middle when used for scoring)
• Appropriate use of rubrics has been shown to
  increase student achievement
• Rubric scores have been shown to be more accurate
  than grades when correlated with standardized
  tests

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Moving from the abstract to the concrete

• A quiz has been designed to assess students
  knowledge and skill in the topics of
  Precipitation and Reading Tables.
• Take a moment to take the quiz yourself.
• Which items are assessing the two topics?
• Now read the rubrics provided and determine (as a
  table) the rubric scores for students A and B in
  both topics.

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Still want points?

• Use the table provided to determine the point
  value and score you would give to each students
  response and determine the overall percentage
  score for students A and B.
• How do your results compare with the rubric
  scores?
• What does this mean in terms of assessing
  learning?

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Think Time

• How does this example illustrate the differences
  between points and rubrics?
• What would you need in order to systematically
  assess students in the manner weve been
  discussing?

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Okay, but what about time?

• Recording multiple standard scores takes more
  time than single percentage scores.
• Average 7 minutes longer for a class of 30 (3
  standards)
• Scoring student work using rubrics takes less
  time than assigning points and calculating
  percentages
• Average 14 minutes less for a class of 30

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Assigning Final Grades

• Check for understanding
• Pretend you buy everything that we have been
  talking about so far, why would averaging be a
  less than desirable method for determining end of
  term grades?
• What is lost when grades are reported as A, B,
  C, or D?

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True Score Based on Averaging
Rubric Score
Avg Score 1.64
True Score 1.5
Assessments Displayed Chronologically
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One pesky problem

• Averaging makes up for over or under scoring
  students work (when compared to true score.
• However, the average over time method assumes
  that the true score, or learning is constant over
  time.
• This is not supported by research on learners and
  learning.
• The Power Law of Learning indicates that true
  scores increase over time as a result of multiple
  opportunities to practice new skills or apply new
  knowledge.

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Power Law of Learning
1 22.9
2 11.7
3 7.7
4 5.6
5 4.3
6 3.5
7 2.9
8 2.5
9 2.2

20 .85
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True Score Based on the Power Law
Avg Score 1.64
True Score 1.5
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Final Standard Scores

• Are best determined using the Power Law of
  learning.
• Can be closely estimated using .25 point
  intervals over time.
• Should be based upon multiple small assessments
  evenly spaced over time.

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Now you tryWhat Final Power Score would you
assign?
Topic Scores for a Grading Period Topic Scores for a Grading Period Topic Scores for a Grading Period Topic Scores for a Grading Period
Assessment Topic 1 Topic 2 Topic 3
1 2.0 3.0 2.0
2 1.5 2.0 1.0
3 2.0 2.0 1.5
4 3.0 2.5 2.0
5 2.5 3.0 2.0
6 3.0 2.0 2.5
7 3.0 3.0 3.0
8 2.5 2.5 3.0
9 3.0 3.0 3.5
10 3.0 3.0 3.0
Final Power Score
3.00
2.71
3.00
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Think Time

• What are some issues with regard to final
  grading?
• How could technology make this process simpler?

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Assessment Items

• There are 7 types of assessment items that are
  used in classrooms to assess student achievement.
• The role of the classroom teacher is to
  purposefully select the appropriate item type and
  to construct assessments that determine topic
  proficiency.

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Types of Assessment Items and Formats Types of Assessment Items and Formats Types of Assessment Items and Formats Types of Assessment Items and Formats Types of Assessment Items and Formats Types of Assessment Items and Formats Types of Assessment Items and Formats Types of Assessment Items and Formats
Aspects of Grading Assessments Assessments Assessments Assessments Assessments Assessments Assessments
Aspects of Grading Forced Choice Essay Short Response Oral Reports Performance Tasks Teacher Observation Student Self-Assessment
Informational Topics M H H H H M H
Process Topics L M L M H H H
Thinking and Reasoning M H M H H L H
Communication L H L H H L H
Non-achievement Factors L L L L M H H
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Your task if you choose to accept it Mr. and Mrs.
Phelps

• Jigsaw reading and cooperative group teaching
  activity.
• You need to get into groups of 5.
• Each group member needs a set of the reading
  materials (one color per individual)

• Read your section and share
• What is your item type appropriately used to
  assess?
• How is it best scored?
• What are some key points or guidelines for using
  your item type?

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Report Cards (Finally)

• Look at the sample report cards provided and
  discuss
• What do you like from each sample?
• What would you change?
• What would you like your report cards to look
  like?
• Share out

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Next Steps

• Determine leadership and organizational structure
  of building report card team
• Gather survey and perception information to
  determine where folks are on the change
  continuum.
• Determine what you will include in grades
• Determine weights you will apply to your grading
  categories
• Create draft report cards
• Craft topic assessments
• Select a management system
• At each step
• Communication plans
• Professional development and staff support