AAC... A Learning Organization

The Alberta Assessment Consortium (AAC) provides tools, coaching and instruction in support of classroom assessment thereby improving student achievement based on curricular outcomes. AAC wants to achieve broad and deep impact on classroom assessment knowledge and practice by implementing processes and procedures that provide AAC products and services to increasing numbers of teachers.

The intended audience for study is AAC member jurisdictions with the purpose of continuously improving consortium products and services in support of teacher implementation of the Teaching Quality Standard Applicable to the Provision of Basic Education in Alberta².

Purpose

The study will:

1. determine the relationship between what teachers know and do with respect to their assessment beliefs and practices and the expectations of the Teaching Quality Standard;
2. determine the extent to which AAC products and services support the attainment of the Teaching Quality Standard;
3. investigate the impact of AAC product usage on student learning and achievement as defined by the respondent; and
4. recommend future directions that will enhance the value of AAC products and services.

Outcomes

The study will:

• establish baseline data about the:
  • relationship between what teachers know and do with respect to their assessment beliefs and practices and the Teaching Quality Standard;
  • extent to which AAC products and services support the attainment of the Teaching Quality Standard; and
  • impact of AAC product usage on student learning and achievement as defined by the respondent
  by engaging educators in a variety of contexts including:
  • Current AAC members*
  • Former AAC members ('opt outs')*
  • Non-members ('never beens')*
  • Beginning and pre-service teachers
  • Teacher education institutions (universities and colleges)
  • Teachers attending the AAC Fall Conference 2001
  • Alberta Learning (identified users/potential users in Learner Assessment, Curriculum, Learning and Teaching Resources, Learning Technologies Branches)
  • Alberta Distance Learning Centre (ADLC).

* including district services personnel and teachers at various stages of their careers

• recommend practices and procedures that will get high quality AAC products and services to teachers

This study will be completed during the 2001-2002 school year with recommendations that will guide the AAC work plan for 2002-2003 with implications for years ahead.

¹ Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization (New York: Doubleday), 1990.
² Teaching Quality Standard Applicable to the Provision of Basic Education in Alberta, Policy 4.2.1, Pursuant to Section 25(1)(f) of the School Act including the descriptor specific to learner assessment- Teachers gather and use information about students' learning and progress.

Teachers

1. monitor students' actions on an ongoing basis to determine and respond to their learning needs.
2. use a variety of diagnostic methods that include observing students' activities, analyzing students' learning difficulties and strengths, and interpreting the results of assessments and information provided by students, their parents, colleagues and other professionals.
3. select and develop a variety of classroom assessment strategies and instruments to assess the full range of learning objectives.
4. differentiate between classroom and large-scale instruments such as provincial achievement tests, administer both and use the results for the ultimate benefit of students.
5. record, interpret and use the results of their assessments to modify their teaching practices and students' learning activities.
6. help students, parents and other educators interpret and understand the results of diagnoses and assessments, and the implications for students.
7. help students develop the ability to diagnose their own learning needs and to assess their progress toward learning goals.
8. use their interpretations of diagnoses and assessments as well as students' work and results to guide their own professional growth.
9. assist school councils and members of the community to understand the purposes, meanings, outcomes and implications of assessments.

We're pleased to announce that the following jurisdictions are joining the expanding AAC partnership:

• Golden Hills Regional Division No. 15
• Red Deer Catholic Regional Division No. 39

2001 Fall Conference - October 25th to 27th - Calgary

This year's conference will be held at The Westin Hotel in Calgary and features keynotes Ruth Sutton, (renowned British educator and author of several books), and Elliott Asp (Assistant Superintendent, Research and Assessment from Colorado)

Based on feedback from previous conference delegates the format has been changed to include more in-depth sessions. This year there will be three half-day workshops on Friday morning. Now delegates can choose to attend one half-day workshop or two breakout sessions.

The theme is "2001: An Assessment Odyssey" and the posters and program guides outlining all sessions will be distributed to schools early in June. Check the AAC website for the latest information.

We expect 550 delegates to attend this year's conference. Register early to avoid disappointment!

This conference offers learning and assessment insights through the most diverse choice of sessions ever offered by AAC.

AAC Product Orders

Please use the product order form on the AAC web site to order classroom assessment materials.

Copies of the video, Building Professional Learning Communities are available through the AAC office (780) 447-9420 at a cost of $25 plus GST. This high impact five minute presentation, set to the beautiful music of Enya, was created in PowerPoint format by Dr. Rick DuFour, Superintendent, Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Benefits of fostering 'professional learning communities' are highlighted. This resource is complementary to AAC's commitment to teacher professional development in classroom assessment. All proceeds go to the Adlai E. Stevenson High School Foundation.

Summer Development Workshop

Here are the development projects for summer 2001:

Elementary Revision Projects	English Language Arts (ELA) 1-3 French Language Arts (FLA) 1-3 (revision and new product development) ELA 4-6 Mathematics 1-3 (English) Mathematics 4-6 (English)
Secondary Projects- New Developments	Science 8 (Optics Unit) ELA 10
Special Projects	ICT Summative Performance Assessments (grades 5 and 8) Writing Project- Smerging Data... More Than Number Crunching

Revised and newly developed assessment materials will be posted on the AAC web site in September under 'Work in Progress 2001'. Assessment materials will be field tested during the 2001-2002 school year through the Request for Tools (RFT) initiative. Samples of student work will be collected and included on the web site.

Consider participating in the field testing by going to the RFT link.

"There is great value in education, but anything worth knowing cannot be taught."
- Audrey Hepburn

Request for Tools (RFT)

Here is how RFT works.

Teachers receive a non-taxable benefit for

• creating and submitting performance assessments that meet the Alberta Assessment Consortium development standards as outlined in the new resource, How to... Develop and Use Performance Assessments in the Classroom. A professional development voucher of $300 will be awarded for each approved performance assessment.
• field testing performance assessments that have already been developed, and providing samples of student work to the Alberta Assessment Consortium with appropriate copyright clearance. A $125 professional development voucher will be awarded.
• reviewing and refining performance assessments developed by other teachers. A voucher of $75 will be awarded.

Further details are available on the Alberta Assessment Consortium web site - Request for Tools (RFT). Watch for regular RFT announcements in The ATA News.

"You can't teach anybody anything. You can only help him find it in himself."
- Galileo

... with Galileo's thought in mind, read about Agassiz and the Fish (Louis Agassiz, renowned 19^th century entomologist, professor of natural history, and zoologist) by going to... http://people.morrisville.edu/~snyderw/courses/natr252/agassiz.html

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