11-18-14

•Discuss Reading Journals

•Review: Language Study

•ETC, Chapter 8: Assessment

•Discuss unit plans

Agenda:

Vocabulary Study…

• should be ongoing – all the time, in every lesson, whenever a word comes into question.

• should be fun. (Word of the day. Word histories. Weird words. Puns and other word humor.)

• should be relevant and useful: words related to whatever is currently being studied, not big words memorized in isolation.

• should go beyond individual words when possible: stems, word families.

• should include aural element (i.e., pronunciation).

Grammar Study…

• seems to work better when taught in context rather than in isolation.

• can be prescriptive or descriptive: what people should do or what people actually do

Classroom Practices

• Sentence combining

• Sentence imitating

• Sentence unscrambling/recombining

• Sentence expanding

• Sentence templates

• Considering alternative choices

• Playing with punctuation

Assessment & Grading

ASSESSMENT

GRADING

Kinds of Assessment

Developmental –(Improvement-Based)

Absolute –(Criteria-Based)

compares early (or “baseline”) performance with later performance; grade is based on progress or improvement

compares performance to an established goal or criterion; grade is based on meeting, exceeding, or not meeting the established goal

Kinds of Assessment

Developmental –

Absolute –

Physical Test: On Day 1, run two miles, do as many push-ups as possible in 2 minutes, and do as many sit-ups as possible in 2 minutes. On Day 21, repeat the test.Cut 1 min from run time = D, cut 2 min = C, cut 3 min = B…Add 5 push-ups = D, add 10 = C, add 15 = B, add 20 = AAdd 10 sit-ups = D, add 15 = C, add 20 = B, add 25 = A Train daily. At end of third week, take final

test. Run Push-ups Sit-upsA=0-10:00 (mins) A=60 and up A=60 and upB=10:01-11:00 B=55-59 B=55-59C=11:01-12:30 C=45-54 C=50-54D=12:31-14:30 D=36-44 D=45-49F=14:31 and over F=0-35 F=0-44

Kinds of Assessment

Formative -

Summative -

happens during the process. Goal is to let students know how they are doing and help them improve their performance. (Looks backward and forward, but mostly forward.)

happens after the process. Goal is to let students know how they did, and maybe why they got the score they got. (Might include an element of looking forward to “next time,” but mainly looks backward.)

Formative assessments: Check progress toward goal; make corrections as needed

Summative assessments: Compare actual destination to intended destination

So you’re doing a unit on Hamlet…

After reading (or watching) Act I, you give a quiz on setting and characters. WHY?

a. Without a quiz, students won’t pay attention.b. You need at least two grades per week for PowerSchool.c. It’s your job; students and parents expect quizzes.d. You need to know how well the students know what’s

happening, because if students don’t know the characters, they won’t understand the actions in Acts II-V.

So you’re doing a unit on Hamlet…

What do you do with the quiz grades?

a. Remind students that quiz grades “count,” so they’d better play closer attention next time.

b. Record the grades and drive on.c. Engage in self-flagellation if the grades are low.d. Look for clues as to what the students know well

and what they’re missing, so you can “catch them up” on anything they’re missing.

Summative -

Formative -

You’re finished with Act I. Move on to Act II.

If all is well, then move forward – but if there’s a problem, fix the problem before (or while) you take the next step.

What’s your ATTITUDE? Move on so you can “cover” the material? Focus on proficiency rather than coverage?

Reality Check…

Be an effective ELA teacher.

Takeclasses

Create practice lessons

Level I, II & IIIfield experiences Create “real” lessons

InternshipOngoing PD

What’s the value of the grades along the way?

Reality Check…

Be an effective first-year teacher.

Internship

Another Reality

Be an effective reader/writer.

Get an “A” in this class.

Stay off the teacher’s radar.

Have a good time until

school ends.

Cause as much trouble as possible.

You can’t control… You can control…

What you are assigned to teachWho shows up in your classInterruptions (pep rallies, fire drills)

School resources available

How well you know the materialYour attitude toward the material, the students, and the interruptionsWhat you do in class

You might be able to influence…The mood of the classThe focus of the classThe level of interest in the lessonThe level of student engagement

What does this have to do with assessment?

If you can create a “culture of learning” in which assessment is expected and understood, you and your students are more likely to be on the same page regarding why assessment occurs and what purposes it serves.

The Assessment Loop:

Goals

TeachInterpret Results

Assess

Plan(to achieve goals)

Assessment Issues

Valid - measures what it claims to measure(A “writing” test that consists of multiple-choice items regarding editing choices doesn’t really measure writing ability.)

Reliable - will yield the same score consistentlyTest-Retest: Someone who scores an 89 this morning should also score an 89 if assessed this afternoon or even tomorrow

Split-Half: If Part A purports to measure knowledge of Act I plot, and Part B also purports to measure knowledge of Act I, the score for Part A should be roughly the same as for Part B.

Inter-Rater: If different raters score the same performance, they will both award the same score (or very close scores).

Assessment Issues

Valid -

Reliable -

Unfortunately, teachers don’t always test what they teach.Answer: Start with the goal, then the assessment, then the activities.Avoid interference: Use the same format for formative assessments (such as quizzes) as for the final assessment.

Different assessment methods might yield different scores. For example a student might demonstrate skill or knowledge orally, but not in writing – or maybe in one written format but not in another. Hence, the different methods might not be reliable, but one might be accurate.

Assessment Issues :So what do we do?

Backwards-plan: Start with the goal, then how to assess it, then how to teach it.

Assess frequently, informally, and with low stakes.

Triangulate: use different kinds of assessments.

Teach (and practice) the format of the assessments. (Format issues can interfere with the accuracy of the results.)

Remind students that you are assessing performances, not assessing people. (This is a challenge for some students.)

Stay focused on the long-term goal.

Teaching Students How to Take Tests

Discuss Burke’s “Test-Taking Strategy Directions” (pp 307-8)

Teach “Writing-on-Demand” (for a test) as a genre

Use student samples to model different performance levels

Teaching Students How to Take Tests

ABCD Strategy:

Attack the prompt

Brainstorm possible answers

Choose the order or your response

Detect errors before turning in the draft

SOAPSTone Strategy:

Speaker (Who is speaking?)

Occasion (What’s the occasion for writing – the context?)

Audience (Who is the audience?)

Purpose (What is the author’s purpose – the goal?)

Subject (What is the subject of the text?)

Tone (What is the author’s attitude as revealed in the text?)

Assessment = Grading

Product?Process?

Progress?

Burke on Grades

Grades should…

…be linked to specific learning goals

…have criteria that are clearly established and communicated

…be based on criterion-referenced performance standards

…apply only to the performance – not to extra credit

…be as objective as possible

…be uniform across classes

…recognize the value of process, performance, and progress

…not be used as punishment or encouragement

…offer feedback to help improve process and performance

When have you seen (or experienced) grades being used well (effectively) or poorly (ineffectively)?

Closing questions on comments on Ch 8?

Questions on unit plans?

http://faculty.citadel.edu/thompson/595/ADEPT-2-Rubric.pdf

11-25: no class (Thanksgiving!)

12-2: present unit plan to class

12-9: final exam due; celebration