Unit 2: Using Assessment in Instructional Decision-Making

(CATs) Classroom Assessment Techniques

Basic steps in CAT -1- Chooses the learning goal to assess; Focus in on the one learning goal most interested in that day. -2- Choose an appropriate assessment technique -3- Explain to the students what's going on; tell them what will be done with the CAT that's been selected that day; written- tell them how to write a response; verbal- explain that students will be in small groups to do an activity -4- Analyze the results- What was found out about what students said or did during the CAT that was administered?; share the results with students -5- Respond to the data- What have you found out that students are giving you feedback about what is not getting through or making sense?; the CAT has been useless without reaction to what has been learned from students; Make required corrections

Assessment

Any of a variety of procedures used to obtain information about student performance. Assessment answers the question: :How well does the individual perform?"

Instruction is Most Effective When

1. Directed toward a clearly defined set of intended learning outcomes. 2. The methods and materials of instruction are congruent with the outcomes to be achieved. 3. The instruction is designed to fit the characteristics and needs of the students. 4. Instructional decisions are based on information that is meaningful, dependable, and relevant. 5. Students are periodically informed concerning their learning progress. 6. Remediation is provided for students not achieving the intended learning. 7. Instructional effectiveness is periodically reviewed and the intended learning outcomes and instruction modified as needed.

Beginning of Instruction (Placement Assessment)

1. To what extent do the students possess the skills and abilities that are needed to begin instruction? (typically obtained through readiness pretests/ tests given to cover prerequisite skills needed for success) 2. To what extent have the students already achieved the intended learning outcomes of the planned instruction? (answered by a placement pretest covering the intended learning outcomes of the planned instruction; possibly another form of the test given at the end of instruction) NOTE: Pre-assessments are pointless if not used to remedy deficiencies.

Planning of Instruction

1. What are the intended learning outcomes of instruction? 2. How will we know whether students have achieved the learning outcomes? (established content standards answer these questions and provide framework for curriculum development, instruction, and the assessment of student achievement)

End of Instruction (Summative Assessment)

1. Which students have mastered the learning tasks to such a degree that they should proceed to the next course or unit of instruction? 2. What grade should be assigned to each student? -summative assessment- typically comprehensive in coverage and includes both tests and performance assessments; primarily used for grading, some feed back to students and the results should be used for evaluating the effectiveness of instruction.

authentic assessments

A title for performance assessments that stresses the importance of focusing on the application of understandings and skills to real problems in "real world" contextual settings.

measurement

The process of obtaining a numerical description of the degree to which an individual possess a particular characteristic. Measurement answers the question: "How much?"

alternative assessments

a title for performance assessments that emphasizes that these assessment methods provide an alternative to traditional paper-and-pencil testing.

test

an instrument or systematic procedure for measuring a sample of behavior by posing a set of questions in a uniform manner. Because a test is a form of assessment, tests also answer the question: "How well does the individual perform- either in comparison with others or in comparison with a domain of performance tasks?"

performance assessments

assessments requiring students to demonstrate their achievement of understandings and skills by actually performing a task or set of tasks. EXAMPLE: writing a story, giving a speech, conducting an experiment, operating a machine

Other Ways Assessments Can Aid Learning

-Student Motivation: 1-Provide students with short-term goals, 2- clarifying the types of tasks to be learned, 3- providing feedback concerning their learning progress. Feedback is more helpful/effective when given ASAP -Retention and Transfer of Learning: Learning outcomes at the application, understanding, and interpretation levels are likely to be retained longer and have greater transfer value than items at the recall level. -Student Self-Assessment: all instruction should be directed toward helping individuals better understand themselves so that they can make more intelligent decisions. Feedback will help students understand what they can do well and what needs correction -Evaluation of Instructional Effectiveness: Were the instructional methods effective? realistic? Were the methods of instruction appropriate and sequenced well? Where did students perform poorly?Why?; Analysis of the students' responses and a class discussion of the results should provide clues to the source of the instructional difficulty so that corrective steps can be taken.

Different ways to use CATs

-check for background knowledge -helps to identify places where students are particularly confused or do not understand what they should know or learn in the classroom. -using CATs as a tool for learning: Students can begin to self assess their own learning; students become less dependent on the teacher. -important for student who have always struggled in the classroom -allows faculty to target specific learning skills

Teachers' Standards for Student Assessment

1- Teachers should be skilled in choosing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions. 2-Teachers should be skilled in developing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions. 3-The teacher should be skilled in administering, scoring, and interpreting the results of both externally produced and teacher- produced assessment methods. 4-Teachers should be skilled in using assessment results when making decisions about individual students, planning teaching, developing curriculum, and school improvement. 5-Teachers should be skilled in developing valid pupil grading procedures that use pupil assessments. 6- Teachers should be skilled in communicating assessment results to students, parents, other lay audiences, and other educators. 7-Teachers should be skilled in recognizing unethical, illegal, and otherwise inappropriate assessment methods and uses of assessment information.

Understands the Methods of Measurement

1. "knows", "understands", and "applies" are often used in content standards but are not at the level instructional of instructional objective and do not describe how the student will demonstrate achievement of learning outcomes 2.What is meant by knows (identifies, describes), understands (explains, give examples), and applies (computes, converts) 3. When the standards are converted to instructional objectives, they provide guidelines (a blueprint) for planning instructional activities and preparing assessment instruments.

Assessment is Most Effective When

1. Designed to assess a clearly defined set of intended learning outcomes. 2. The nature and function of the assessments are congruent with the outcomes to be assessed. 3. The assessments are designed to fit the relevant student characteristics and are fair to everyone. 4. assessments provide information that is meaningful, dependable, and relevant. 5.Provision is made for giving the students early feedback of assessment results. 6. Specific learning weaknesses are revealed by the assessment results. 7. Assessment results provide information useful for evaluating the appropriateness of the objectives, the methods, and the material of instruction.

During Instruction (Formative and Diagnostic Assessment)

1. On which learning tasks are the students progressing satisfactorily? On which ones do they need help? 2. Which students are having such severe learning problems that they need remedial work? -Formative assessments are designed to measure the extent to which students have mastered the learning outcomes (example- end of chapter test/ or a small section of information) -place greater emphasis on 1.- measuring all of the intended outcomes of the unit of instruction -2. using the results to improve learning (rather than to assign grades) -assess strengths and weaknesses in learning to adjust instruction -Diagnostic assessment is used after all corrective measure of a formative assessment/ much more intensive and helps to answer questions about the students specific difficulty/errors. (poor understanding of vocabulary; lack of understanding with regrouping)

Traditional/Authentic Assessment

Authentic- Real life correlation, Hands-on, application and transfer of knowledge Traditional- Paper and pencil, test knowledge, content, and skills only. It is important to use both types of assessments in your classroom because an authentic assessment may not cover all of the needed content or knowledge for the unit, while a traditional assessment may only test skills themselves, rather than the application of those skills.

Assessment is an integrated process for determining the nature and extent of student learning and development.

Effective principles to follow throughout the integrated process: 1-Clearly specifying what is to be assessed has priority in the assessment process. 2-An assessment procedure should be selected because of its relevance to the characteristics or performance to be measured. 3-Comprehensive assessment requires a variety of procedures. 4-Proper use of assessment procedures requires an awareness of their limitations. 5-Assessment is a means to an end, not an end in itself. What is being assessed? ...measured? What are the best procedures? What are the limitations?