Jennica Quenville

Anne Davies Assessment Series (online courses) - My Main Takeaways

Course #1:Grading, reporting and professional judgment in elementary classrooms

Key Takeaways Why it is important /and/or other specific details on the
“takeaway”

Classroom provides essential information to parents, guardians, teachers,

assessment and supporting personnel, and the student themselves.
evaluation are
essential

Students should be ● Sets clear expectations for the students - they know the
involved in the purpose/learning intentions of their assignments and are
entire assessment provided with clear examples of quality work.
process. ● Empowering to take ownership of their learning.
● Practice in setting goals
● Practice in sharing their work
● Practice in collaboration and critical thinking
● Leads to greater personal awareness of their own strengths and
stretches - what they need to focus on.
● Great way for students to review content they have learned - for
example, when involving students in the creation of their
portfolio/progress report - the videos depicted the students
looking over all of their work from the year, involving them in
choosing evidence of their learning and therefore they reflect on
the concepts they have learned. Teacher would encourage the
use of appropriate language for the content, for example, it
would help students practice their mathematical language.
● Become better at articulating their work and thought processes.

Assessment Assessment is formative assessment - it occurs during learning, teachers

(assessment for observe and coach students as they practice, it can be used to inform
learning) and instruction.
evaluation
(assessment of Assessment of learning (“Show time”) is the same as summative
learning) are assessment or evaluation. It provides teachers with the info they need to
different. teach to emerging needs so all students are learning and students have
the info they need to self-regulate and self-monitor their way of
success.

What would be ● Reflects students’ consistent and recent pattern of performance

considered in relation to agreed upon criteria.
assessment that is ● Occurs after students have been involved in understanding
done well?
quality by co constructing criteria and after students have had
 the time/opportunity to learn.
● Based on a wide array of evidence
● Are understood by students (both expectations and acceptable
evidence) and are derived from evidence present, not absent.
● Do not reflect data related to factors such as efford, attitude,
attendance, and punctuality, which are evaluated and reported
separately

Begin with the end

in mind - Backwards Need to think about what the students are expected to learn and how
design! they can achieve that and show evidence of it.

1. Determining the standards or outcomes that students need to

4 steps for preparing learn
for teaching and 2. Researching expected quality levels - what would meet the
learning: above standards?
3. Planning to collect reliable and valid evidence of learning
4. Collecting baseline evidence of learning.

Set ● Sets students up for success.

criteria/expectations ● The teacher should give frequent reminders of the
for students early in criteria/expectations (for example if they know what criteria is
the year. expected for their target behaviour, they should be reminded of
this on the regular).
● Have visual representations to reflect the criteria.

Steps for 1. Choose one subject area - you might want to think about
determining the one term or unit.
learning intentions 2. Download or copy the standards or outcomes that
(AKA learning
students are to learn and cut them into individual chunks.
destinations)
3. Organize the standards or learning outcomes into
groupings that make sense to you by sorting the
individual statements related to a topic, concept, or
process.
4. When the groupings are finalized, summarize each group
by identifying a big idea so the standards or outcomes
can be shared with others in simple, clear, student
friendly language that corresponds to how the learning
needs to be reported later.
5. Return and review the standards and outcomes in their
original form. Check back to see if there is anything you
 missed.
6. Ask colleagues to review your draft using a protocol that
facilitates specific, descriptive feedback.
7. Make revisions based on the results of the protocol
conversation.

Involving students Brainstorm with the students the criteria -> example with a grade 2
in setting criteria class “What count’s in writing?”
- First brainstorm
- Then categorize
- The teacher can always put in input as well because they are a
member as the class as well.
- Then they can come back to this criteria during evaluation.
- They can then take the work up to the criteria chart and check if
their work satisfies all of the criteria before handing in - puts
students in charge of their learning.

Pause and think Write about what they just learned and they can write about what
notebooks - they did and if they have any questions.

Nine actions that

teachers can take to (Harlen & Deakin Crick,
support, engage, and 2002b, p. 8).
motivate learners in 1. Provide choice and help students to take responsibility for their
an environment of learning.
increased testing 2. Discuss with students the purpose of their learning and provide
pressure. feedback that will help the learning process.
3. Encourage students to judge their work by how much they have
learned and by the progress they have made.
4. Help students to understand the criteria by which their learning
is
assessed and to assess their own work.
5. Develop students’ understanding of the goals of their work in
terms of
what they are learning; provide feedback to students in relation
to these goals.
6. Help students to understand where they are in relation to
learning goals and how to make further progress.
7. Give feedback that enables students to know the next steps and
how to
succeed in taking them.
8. Encourage students to value effort and a wide range of
attainments.
9. Encourage collaboration among students, along with a positive
view of each others’ attainments.
Evaluating and 1. Collect all of the evidence together
Reporting to others ○ Teachers ask students to look for the best proof that they
have met ALL the learning standards or outcomes in a
subject area.
○ Students and teachers work together to gather this
information.
2. Make the professional judgement that we have prepared for
3. Report out in the manner in which we are supposed to
4. Have students collect that evidence together and show it to their
team, their parents, and other people whose opinion they value.

Student-Parent Student Led Conference video

Conference
● The student has had support to prepare for this student-parent
conference.
● Student has a plan to follow during the independent conference
time with his parent.
● The student demonstrates the learning he is doing in his class
including Writing, Mathematics, Reading, group meeting time,
Science, technology, and so on.
● At the end the student shares some goals with their parent.

Evaluation form done by the parent

1. What did you like about the student led conference

2. What is one thing that surprised you about your child
3. Did you feel that the child informed you about their progress?
4. What suggestions do you have for student-led conference.

Parent-Student Preparation

● Students are sorting their own work with support and guidance
from the teacher.
○ The video showed students in a math lab sorting into
categories - projects, assessments and then everything
else into categories -numbers and operations,
measurement, geometry and spacial sense, patterns
functions and algebra (she had these written up on the
board with examples underneath)
● The focus is on quality, proficiency, and improvement in
relation to the standards.
● Students are asked to reflect on key pieces of evidence using the
following frame: (**In the video provided she provided slips of
paper with these questions for the evidence pieces they picked)
 I chose this piece because…

I learned… (reference the standards being learned)

Please notice that…

● Students rehearse with each other before being expected to share

with parents.

Course #2: Building an assessment plan

Key takeaways Why it is important /and/or other specific details on the “takeaway”

There are key steps 1. (Start with the end in mind) Teachers review the curriculum and
for creating an standards documents and describe for themselves the learning
assessment plan: that students are expected to accomplish.
● Teacher should collect/review samples that show what
the learning looks like for students of particular age
ranges.
● Think through the kinds of learning evidence students
could produce to hit the learning target.
2. Teachers work with students to bring them into the assessment
plan (This was described in detail in the above course).
3. Teachers evaluate -> they sum up the learning by looking at all
of the evidence collected by students and by the teacher from
multiple sources over time, and make a judgment regarding the
degree to which students have learned what they need to.

Assessment plan ● Could be a document that you take to parent teacher meetings
overview and can be used to share with students.
● Example of what an assessment plan can incorporate:
○ Brief synopsis of teachers philosophy on assessment
○ Learning targets
○ Graphic about the triangulation of assessment
○ Plan for communicating with parents

(part of 1st step) - Cut up the pieces so that you can move them around on the desk
and place them with evidence pieces, to get that visual
Should get the representation
standards - Then you will be able to see it as a continuum
documents in tactile - Ask for other teachers opinions so you can come from it from
form different perspectives.

Evidence of learning - Does not reflect multiple intelligences -> many students
should not be wouldn’t excel in the one area that is expected of them, although
limited to one form they may know the content well.
- Students have a variety of ways to show what they know

Students need to - Brain based research shows that when students know what is
know what the expected of them, they have greater ability to self-monitor, make
learning destination adjustments, and learn more effectively.
(learning intention)
is before they begin
to work.

Learning intentions - An example of this would be “I can statements” such as “I can

should be shared write a paragraph with a topic sentence and a closing sentence”
with students in a
simple, kid friendly
manner.

(2nd step)
Triangulation = collecting evidence from multiple sources over time.
Evidence should be
triangulated. Evidence includes:
1. Products
- Need to provide variety of different types of products
- Can give students choice of products
2. Observations = anything a teacher observes students doing or
asks them to do.
● Can be recorded in different ways but the key is the
recording needs to have a focus - pay attention to the
exact skills that are being practiced
● Questions to ask self when creating a focus for
observations:

○ What is the purpose of the learning activity?

What are students learn?
○ What particular focus will I choose for this
observation?
○ How will I record and organize my observations
so they are useful?
3. Conversations
- Conversations about learning involve listening to what
students have to say about their learning, or reading what
 they record about their learning (Ex. self-assessment
would be conversation evidence)

**Triangulation increases reliability and validity of classroom

assessment**

Effective way to Take these steps…

determine what 1. Write a list of all of the possible evidence you could include.
evidence to use: 2. Think about how you can select evidence pieces that you can do
over and over again (ex. Math journal).

Evaluating and 1. What does the student know, what can they do, and what can
reporting typically they articulate?
focuses on 4 things: 2. What areas require further attention or development?
3. In what ways can the student’s learning be supported?
4. How is the student progressing in relation to the standards or
development for students in a similar age range?

Evaluation is It is a process of looking at all the evidence (products, observations,

subjective conversations), comparing it to the description and samples of quality,
and asking, did this student learn what was to be learned? How well? ->
Therefore, the teacher is determining the worth or value of evidence.

Reporting is now Examples of reporting -> students taking home a sample of their work
expected to be an and discussing it, parents come in and look at students portfolios, etc.
ongoing process.
Formal reporting (providing written record of evaluation) is usually
required by legislation or policy.

Involve yourself in Guidelines for starting a learning circle:

learning circles 1. Start small (Begin with a few people you think might be
(groups of interested)
teachers/colleagues 2. Get organized together
that you can share - State reasons for starting the group
ideas, ask questions - Decide what the group might do or accomplish
- learn together) - Develop a plan for where and how often the meetings
should happen
3. Share responsibility -> each meeting would be conducted by
someone who’s been designated in advance

Do you need more Should do assessment plans for each subject - but you should try to
than one assessment create and share with other teachers.
plan?

Course #3: Using samples, criteria, and making the grade

Key Takeaways Why it is important /and/or other specific details on the “takeaway”

The use of samples Helps

is helpful to ● Students picture quality
students, the ● Students and teachers co-construct criteria
teacher, and the ● Students to self assess and determine specific steps.
parents/guardian. ● Teachers to identify mini lesson focus (how they should chunk
the learning)
● Parents to understand quality, range, expectations and next steps.

Teaches should use What it looks like:

a gradual release of
responsibility 1. Teacher shows different samples with the quality criteria the
when it comes to samples are reflecting.
students taking part 2. In groups the students then model this process with work that is
in assessing not their own -> the students compare a piece of writing to the
samples. samples/criteria (At this stage the teacher guides step by step).
3. Finally, students assess their own work against the samples that
are posted and criteria that is in kid friendly language (that they
would have worked together with the teacher to create).
4. The students assess the work of others (peer-assessment, peer
feedback).

When to use When…

samples: 1. Developing criteria with students.
● What does this process look like?
○ Students examine the samples and come up with a
list of the important features of them -> the teacher
records this brainstorming and may also add own
ideas.
○ Students sort and categorize the list.
○ Write these up in a T-chart that can be posted in
class.
○ Students then can revisit this list when beginning
pieces of work and using it to revise their work
throughout.
2. Assessing and giving descriptive feedback about student work
3. Showing ways to represent their learning (give evidence)
● Helps students see the range of development over time
(Ex. providing samples of greater and greater quality,
students can more easily see what they are aiming for).
● Range of different ways to fulfill the criteria.
4. Helping others understand more about student learning (ex.
Parent meetings)
5. Informing professional judgement.