Formative Assessment Institute

1. Formative Assessment Institute Barb Rowenhorst Janet Hensley Jo Hartmann Marilyn Hofer Pam Lange

2. Day Three:September 20th

3. PTSB Credit Sign-in Sheet

4. TransitionIt’s All About Numbers

5. Welcome Back. . . On an index card, write down three numbers between 0 and 10.

6. Take a minute and think to yourself how each number represents something in your life. For example: If I wrote down the number 3 – I would share that I come from a family of six children, and I am number three in the pecking order.

7. Group Sharing • Using the round robin protocol, share with your group what each number represents. • Share only one number at a time, then move to the next group member. • Continue around the table until each person has shared all three of their numbers.

8. Things to remember…. • Numbers represent many different things, and how you interpret them can make a major difference in the outcome. • Not everything that can be measured counts and not everything that counts can be measured. 12 3 4 56

9. Learning Targets Lander, WY September, 2007 Marilyn Hofer & Jo Hartmann TIE

10. It’s hard to hit a target if you can’t

11. See it

12. What is the intended learning? • That’s the target!

13. The learning targets may also be called: • Content standards • Benchmarks • Grade level indicators • Grade level expectations

14. Learning outcomes • Lesson objectives • Learning statements and • Essential learnings

15. All the synonyms represent Learning statements or Statements of Intended learning

16. The point is that if we don’t begin with clear statements of intended learning, we won’t end with sound assessments

17. It’s hard to know where you’re going if you don’t have a map.

18. Sample Learning Target Students will comprehend fictional, informational, and task-oriented text.

19. In order to plan lessons, we would need to define “comprehend” and pin down the kinds of fictional, informational, and task-oriented texts we will work with this year.

20. The key to improving student achievement is not looking at how to assess, but focusing instead on WHAT to assess.

21. We should examine whether or not our assessments reflect clear and important learning targets.

22. If we further break down the learning target example into a set of sub-targets

23. Such as “comprehend” being defined as • “identifies main idea and supporting details, • summarizes text, • makes inferences and predictions, and • uses context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words”

24. Then it becomes clear that a project such as “build a diorama” is NOT an appropriate measure of whether or not students have reached the learning target.

25. Intentional Teaching • Once we determine our learning targets and define how we should assess them, • then we can plan clear instruction and experiences • and can best combine them to prepare students to know what they need to know and demonstrate their learning.

26. Intentional teaching then means that all instruction and classroom activities are aimed at specific learning targets.

27. Teaching by “mentioning it” • With so much curriculum, we have to make difficult choices about what to teach and what to leave out. • We must learn to balance “in depth” with” coverage.”

28. When we begin with well-defined targets, we are able to develop assessments that 1. reflect exactly what we teach and 2. what we expect students to learn.

29. Is there any reason NOT to include in our curriculum and teaching, learning targets that are tested for accountability purposes?

30. There are many benefits based on the existence of learnings that are • CLEAR and • USABLE

31. In order to build clear learning targets we need to understand that there are actually FIVE kinds of learning targets.

32. Knowledge Targets Usually knowledge targets begin with words like: • Knows, lists, names, identifies, recalls

33. Procedural knowledge targets call for knowing how to do something. • Example: Uses scientific notation to represent very large and very small numbers.

34. If information were water we’d all be drowning.

35. Beyond knowing things outright, we can know things via reference. • There isn’t enough time to teach everything students need to know.

36. Thus, we need to determine which knowledge students will be required to know outright • and which they will be required to learn via reference.

37. Reasoning Targets • Reasoning targets deal with the skillful use or application of knowledge.

38. Reasoning targets start out with mental processes like: • Predicts, infers, classifies, hypothesizes, compares, concludes, summarizes, analyzes, evaluates, generalizes

39. Types of Reasoning 1. Inductive reasoning uses specific facts or evidence to infer general conclusions 2. Deductive reasoning begins with a general rule or principle to infer specific conclusions or solutions

40. 3. Analytical reasoning requires that we examine components or structure of something. It is used in almost every discipline when we identify parts and describe relationships among them.

41. 4. Comparative reasoning describes similarities and differences between two or more items. Marzano’s research concludes that identifying similarities and differences is the most effective learning technique for students.

42. 5. Classifying means sorting things into categories based on specific characteristics. The trick being to identify relevant categories.

43. 6. Evaluative reasoning involves expressing and defending an opinion, a point of view, a judgment or a decision. This necessitates providing credible evidence on which to base one’s conclusions.

44. 7. Synthesis is the process of combining several discrete elements to create something new.

45. There are many different “takes” on reasoning, but Stiggins gives us the preceding six (or seven) if you differentiate between inductive and deductive reasoning as I did.

46. Stiggins’ list contains the most common reasoning targets found in standards documents.

47. Performance Skills Targets Performance skills require the students to demonstrate their mastery of a learning target and to be observed.

48. Product Targets Product targets are not used as frequently as other types but are highly valued, calling for creation of a product. • It may be difficult to differentiate between “task” and “target.” • The key question is always “What is the intended learning?”

49. Dispositional Targets Dispositional targets rarely show up on state standards but are important because they reflect students’ attitudes about school and learning.

50. Examples of learning targets are shown on Table 3.1 of Stiggins’ book, “Classroom Assessment for Student Learning.” • We would like you to look at the chart and with a partner, formulate for your school, one knowledge and one skill target for one subject area at whichever grade level you prefer.