| AAC | COMMUNIQUE |
| Fall 2004 |
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Edmonton, AB T5N 2R1 Phone: (780) 447-9420 Fax: (780) 447-2531 E-Mail: info@aac.ab.ca Web site: www.aac.ab.ca IMPORTANT DATES October 21-23, 2004
2003 - 2004 Executive
Executive Director
Field Services Coordinators
Administrative Assistant AAC Communique is also on-line in the Newsletter Archive at www.aac.ab.ca/news.html
Alberta Teachers' Association
"It's fantastic and is simple to become involved… looking forward to regional development workshops." "Until I did this workshop I didn't know what I didn't know about assessment." "Great ideas for teaching and learn how to plan performance assessments more effectively." "What an awesome professional development activity!" |
Assessment FOR Learning- Testimonials
It is perhaps not a coincidence that, as modern educators, we experience our 'new year' in the fall, when the leaves and the fruits of the past year are mulched into the ground, enriching it for the year ahead.
Like the ancient Celts, who celebrated their 'new year' in October, educators look back, at this time of year, at the evidence of the past year's growing season. Final report cards, district achievement scores, and Achievement Test results are analyzed for the evidence of assessment of learning. In June, AAC staff visited two Edmonton area schools that focused on assessment for learning during 2003-04.
What we found were powerful testimonials of transformation, empowerment and growth-for students and for teachers. Students told us:
"Before I never used to look at the pictures of the book and before, I never knew what I was reading."
"I think I'll keep my journal and show it to my kids so I can remember how good we did in school."
"This year I found out how to make it better before the report card."
Teachers spoke with passion and enthusiasm about their students' learning and their own professional growth:
"Everything we do is geared towards the students being successful and I am conscious of that at every step of the process. That's what happens when you begin with the end in mind. I'm amazed at how much of the assessment process the students have become involved in."
"The nicest thing is that all of them are writing independently now. They're not afraid of me giving them grades on their work because I don't do that anymore. I only give direct, specific, verbal feedback and then we discuss it and somehow come to a conclusion."
"We're giving them a lot of control and they're more on task because they have more ownership. They're transferring a lot of skills to other areas-they teach their parents-and they are realizing they can take what they're learning as far as they want."
"For most of my 23 teaching years, I was a traditional teacher. I always liked children and teaching, but I have to say that these last 6 years of working with assessment for learning have completely re-energized me as a professional."
There was no bone weary June exhaustion in these schools. We found excitement and commitment to learning-enough to carry into the new year. One teacher told us, "I've never had anything happen like this before. My kids are so on fire with this that I'm going to move up with them next year."
And isn't that what a 'new year' is all about? Colleen Heffernan, Assessment Development Assistant
Call for Nominations
The next AGM will be convened on Thursday, October 21 at 4:00 at the Fantasyland Hotel in Edmonton. Representatives (or their designates) from each member jurisdiction will nominate and elect two Executive Committee members. Nominations, including self-nominations, will be invited at the meeting. Time commitment as an executive member? - Executive Committee meetings are conducted primarily through teleconference at least 4 times per year.
New Members
Vygotsky, L. (1978) Mind in Society:
Edmonton Catholic Schools continues to have an ongoing professional development initiative, Assessment For Learning, which has inspired all staff to consider change and possibility in instructional and assessment practices. Recently, reading instruction and assessment practices have become an area of dialogue, rethinking and new ideas.
I have been asked to share a story of success with one child, whom we shall call Joey, to demonstrate the power of trying new approaches to reading assessment. Joey has been struggling in his upper elementary classroom and does not embrace reading as a preferred activity in or out of school (not an unusual reaction for struggling readers). To get a more complete picture of Joey's reading strengths and challenges, I administered several narrative and expository passages from a diagnostic assessment battery of tasks.
Joey completed several passages orally and silently as well as retellings and comprehension questions requesting his oral and/or written response. By the end of the process, Joey and I discussed his need for strategies when he reads silently. The question remaining was how to set a goal with Joey. It struck me that I could use a SMART goal approach. I wasn't sure whether or not he would respond, but it seemed a reasonable way to negotiate a mutually understandable target between himself, his parents and his teacher.
Summer Workshop 2004 Insights
How did it work? The acronym for SMART is as follows: Joey expressed a desire to read at a higher level by Christmas. Since he read at a grade 3 instructional level, after discussion about what seemed attainable by Christmas, he felt that reaching an independent level on grade 3 level expository text would be specific, measurable, attainable, results-based ( reading level is determined by oral accuracy, and timely. The surprising, unexpected outcome was the comfort that the parents had with this goal. They asked questions and felt really proud of the ownership that their son showed in thinking through what was reasonable. Here is Joey's SMART goal:
I hadn't considered that learning potential is really a target that is set by SMART goal guidelines. It makes sense because Vygotsky's concept of proximal development asks that a learner aim for a target within their "zone of proximal development". This zone is best determined by an adult and child together. The adult scaffolds the conversation by bringing in needed information about the learner and about the curricular expectations. Upon reflection, determining learning potential in any situation is best achieved by using the SMART Goal guideline. The guideline is a framework for this negotiation. Learning goals that are constructed by the stakeholders within the child's educational arena, and, most importantly, by the child, comprises a social constructivist approach to reading assessment.
Epilogue
Rhonda Nixon,
Assessment MART
Assessment for Learning: Putting it into Practice by Paul Black et al. As a follow up to the critically acclaimed study, Inside the Black Box (1998), Black et al have provided further elaboration. Assessment for Learning takes the reader through the research process that was used with justification for its method. Readers can then determine for themselves, the relevance of the results based on the research protocol. This is a resource that should be used in university faculties of education for beginning teachers and others interested in using assessment in learning and achievement enhancing ways. Real stories about formative assessment are presented showing how teaching, learning and assessment practices have been informed. As teachers are encouraged to move toward incorporating formative assessment into their daily routines and seek a balance with summative assessments, it is encouraging to see that research results provide "…firm evidence that improving formative assessment does produce tangible benefits in terms of national [or provincial] assessments…" the latter external assessments remain a key concern for many teachers and jurisdictions. Recognizing the difficulty teachers may have adopting a new way of presenting and evaluating material; the authors have provided several concrete methods that can easily be incorporated into any teaching context. Change is difficult. For many it may be scary to contemplate allowing students to become more active participants in their own learning. By adopting one or two concepts at a time, teachers observed in the study were able to witness a transformation of their classrooms to an environment that strengthened student responsibility for learning and the role of teacher as a guide. Having followed the implementation of formative techniques in United Kingdom schools for science, math, and later English, it became clear that teachers who changed their practices in questioning, providing feedback, sharing clear criteria in assignments, and allowing for self-assessment saw dramatic improvement in student involvement in their own learning. "Increasing the wait time can lead to more students being involved in question-and-answer discussions and to an increase in the length of their replies." Research has shown that when questioning for recall of information, most teachers provide less than one second for students to respond; hardly enough time for most students to formulate their thoughts and figure out how they would say it. Most teachers also use closed ended questioning which asks for simple memorized facts that often require only one or just a few words. When teachers formulated questions that were open ended and allowed for students to express many possible or partial answers, more students became involved and were willing to offer a response. When they increased the wait time after answering the question (which to some felt like an eternity) to several seconds, results were even greater. Earlier research by Ruth Butler (1988) demonstrated that providing written feedback to students without an assigned mark had a far greater impact on their learning than either assigning a mark or assigning a mark with written comments. Comments only gave the greatest results and encouraged students to improve their work more than comparing marks with one another. Some teachers in this study chose to adopt this practice as a way to increase their formative work and were pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Although it was difficult for them not to assign a mark, teachers found that students accepted without question having assignments returned with only written comments revealing what they would need to improve upon to show they understood the lessons better. However, for this to work well, written comments must be well thought out and specific. Too often we may tend to write general statements that might appear to clear to us, but which provide students with no real direction. "Comments should identify what has been done well and what still needs improvement, and give guidance on how to make that improvement." It is not surprising that when students are involved in the development of criteria for assignments or are clearly notified of them, there leaves no doubt as to what the teacher will be looking for. While it can be exciting to develop a project to engage students, it can be a real eye opener to discover while evaluating the student's project that what the students did was not quite what you were looking for, or that what you were looking for cannot easily be assessed. By involving the students in the process, greater results can be achieved. This kind of involvement also helps students to begin to self-assess their work. They clearly know what is expected and can critically look at their work to see if they have provided it.
"Implementing assessment for learning requires…changing the way a teacher thinks about their teaching and their view of their role as a teacher. Since the way a teacher teaches is inextricably linked with their own personality and identity, ultimately it means changing yourself." The authors found that for teachers to change the way they think about their teaching they need to focus more about meeting the needs of their learners rather than being so concerned about delivering a curriculum. This change is not always easy and in order for it to be achieved, it is also necessary that teachers receive tremendous support from within their schools and jurisdictional administrators. The "…provision of time for teachers engaged in trying new practices to discuss their experiences with colleagues, and to hear of other teachers' experiences with similar experiences, is a crucial part of the stimulus for sustaining the process of change." This book provides real, concrete methods with examples of changes that have taken place in classrooms. It illustrates the feelings that change can often elicit, demonstrating how that change can bring greater pride in how your students learn and what they can achieve.
"Teachers taking on formative assessment are giving their students a voice and in many cases acting so as to make that voice louder." This valuable resource is a quick read that will impact your thinking about a teacher's role and how to create a more dynamic learning environment to empower students. This is a must read for first year teachers… and those committed to on-going improvement!
Corrine Hutchings |