Minutes with Charlie 12
By Charlie | April 7, 2008
The third type of learning target from an assessment perspective is that of a skill target. Skill targets are in essence performances that must be demonstrated by the student and observed by the teacher and others to be assessed.
In skill targets it is the doing of the skill that holds primary importance. In most cases, there are foundational knowledge and understanding targets that form some prerequisites to quality skill performance. In some cases, the mastery of reasoning targets also form an essential foundation for high skill levels. For example, if the skill target is to give an oral presentation examining the merits and demerits of the Marshall Plan, the student must possess basic knowledge of the Marshall Plan and its role in post-war Europe as well as some reasoning ability to determine the merits and demerits of the Plan. But, the skills target is the oral presentation.
While the most obvious skill targets are found in physical education and the fine arts, skill targets abound in other academic areas. In learning to speak a foreign language a skill target would be the proper pronunciation of words and correct conjugation of verbs. In language arts oral reading fluency and poetry reading are examples of skill targets. In mathematics, many of the measurement TEKS and construction TEKS are skill targets. In the sciences, the TEKS often call upon students to demonstrate certain skills in the lab.
All too often it seems we take the skill targets in the TEKS and assess them as if they were knowledge and understanding. We have students identify or select items rather than demonstrate skills. As we examine the TEKS, it is important that we distinguish the skill targets from knowledge targets and assess them appropriately.
There are several important considerations when we embark upon the assessment of skill targets that will prove useful in avoiding problems.
First, as mentioned earlier, knowledge and understanding targets often underlie the skill targets. If we are attempting to assess skill targets without first insuring that the students possess the necessary knowledge and understanding to use in the skill, we are insuring their failure. If we put them to perform a skill, without an adequate foundation, we often are deceived in their skill ability. For example, a student may have excellent skills in giving oral presentations, but if we have them give an oral presentation on a subject in which they lack adequate knowledge, their lack of knowledge will mask or hide their oral presentation skills.
Second, usually skill targets do not fall into a “they have it or they don’t have it” assessment. More often than not, skills develop along a continuum. There will be a range of proficiency or a scale of competency along which a student may demonstrate skill. As such, it is important that going into the skill assessment, we as teachers have a continuum or scale upon which to assess the skill. This continuum must contain specific criteria to move along the scale. These criteria must be understood by the student prior to the instruction and assessment.
Finally, as with most assessments (knowledge and understanding, reasoning, skills, or products), it is important to have multiple assessments for learning during the learning process, not just one skill performance.
Personal Reflection: Am I attentive to when the TEKS call upon a skill performance for my students? Do I regularly assess students in the skills they are required to develop? What can I do to become more proficient at assessing skill targets?
Topics: Learning Targets, Minutes with Charlie | 1 Comment »
Minutes with Charlie - Eleven
By Charlie | March 31, 2008
The second type of learning target from an assessment perspective is that of a reasoning target. Reasoning targets are in essence related to the mental process of applying the knowledge and understanding in various situations or problems.
We often hear teachers say something along the lines of “these kids just don’t know how to think”. In reality, they know how to think very well, what they lack is reasoning ability. Reasoning ability by and large does not increase just by getting older. Reasoning skills must be taught, practiced, assessed, re-taught, re-practiced, and assessed again and again. However, all too often educators teach and assess the knowledge and understanding and somehow expect students to make the leap to reasoning independently.
In general, in any given discipline, the majority of the TEKS that we address fall into the reasoning category. If this is true, then the importance of understanding these reasoning targets and accurately assessing them cannot be overstated.
Reasoning skills have been defined, analyzed, categorized, and classified in any number of ways. To simplify, we are going to look at some of the more common categories of types of reasoning before we talk about them as learning targets.
A common reasoning skill we see in learning standards (TEKS) is that of inference – both inductive and deductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning requires the student to use specific facts from which he infers general rules or principles. Deductive reasoning takes the general rule and makes application in specific settings.
Another pair of common reasoning skills is that of analysis and synthesis. Analysis consists of examining the parts of a system and considering how they interrelate. Synthesis consists of looking at parts of different things and forming something new.
Another pair of reasoning skills is that of comparing similarities and differences between two items or ideas. We know this is a powerful instructional strategy, but it is also an essential reasoning skill that surfaces often in the TEKS.
Finally, we have the reasoning skill of sorting and classifying. This seems to become more important in some disciplines than in others, but the skill is essential to student success in learning.
In the TEKS we see verbs that represent the reasoning skills such as compare, evaluate, analyze, classify, and infer.
We must recognize that in order to assess reasoning skills in any of the reasoning types, we must allow the student to demonstrate his reasoning ability in a new and unique problem area. For example, if we teach the similarities and differences between the natural resources of the Northern and Southern states in the Civil War, and then assess the students on the similarities and differences between the natural resources of the Northern and Southern states in the Civil War, then we are assessing knowledge and recall. If however, we teach students the skills of evaluating the similarities and differences and then assess that skill in a situation we have not compared, then we are assessing reasoning.
If our learning target consists of a reasoning skill, we must take caution to not assess it as a knowledge and understanding target. Assessing reasoning skills requires a different approach to assessment than does knowledge and understanding.
Personal Reflection: When considering my learning targets, do I distinguish between knowledge and understanding targets and reasoning targets? Can I recognize the different reasoning skills required in the TEKS?
Topics: Learning Targets, Minutes with Charlie | No Comments »
Minutes with Charlie - Ten
By Charlie | March 13, 2008
Perhaps the most recurring theme in discussions on classroom assessment for learning is that of clearly defined, articulated, and understood learning targets. These learning targets come to the forefront in discussions on the district initiatives of Performance Excellence, Understanding by Design, and Classroom Assessment.
From an assessment perspective if we do not begin with a clear target, we will certainly not end with sound assessment or accurate data on learning.
Identifying the type of learning target we have helps us know that we have clear and usable learning targets. Determining the type of learning target can generally be determined by examining precisely what the learning targets asks of the student. Learning targets will demand that a student know and/or be able to do something. This can usually be accomplished by examining the verb(s) in the learning target.
It is essential to understand that while the TEKS compose our learning standards, they do not necessarily represent our learning targets at a given time in the progression of learning. We must determine the requisite knowledge and skills that students need in order to reach those standards. It is these requisite knowledge and skills that become our learning targets. In effect, our learning targets form a ladder or scaffold that allows students to climb up to reach the TEKS.
As we breakdown or deconstruct the TEKS into these requisite skills, an examination of the verbs in the TEKS gives us an indication of the type of learning target which is our focus in this stage of learning.
For assessment purposes, clear learning targets fall into four types. The type of learning target in part helps determine the method of assessment to use. In general, learning targets in the assessment world fall into the categories of: knowledge/understanding targets, reasoning targets, skill targets, and product targets.
Over the next few Minutes with Charlie we are going to examine each of these to understand and to know how to recognize them.
Knowledge and understanding learning targets relate to the factual foundations of each discipline. Without a clear grasp of these foundations, the ability of students to reason, practice skills, and complete products related to that discipline is greatly limited.
Not all knowledge/understanding targets have to be memorized or known outright. Some knowledge targets deal with knowing how to find information.
Verbs that commonly fall into knowledge and understanding learning targets are verbs such as: identify, know, explain, understand, list, define, recognize, and describe. In order to do these things, a student must possess a basic knowledge and understanding of a given topic.
There is a tendency in educators, in an effort to set high expectation to consider this knowledge and understanding level of target as less important than the “higher order thinking” targets. However, it is important to realize that in order for a student to prove proficiency at the higher reasoning skills, they must have a basic knowledge and understanding of concepts with which they reason. These knowledge and understanding learning targets form an essential part of a balanced and complete curriculum and assessment system. By the same token, they are not the sum total of said system.
Personal Reflection: Do the learning targets I set for my student reflect the requisite skills they need to reach the level required in TEKS? Can I categorize my learning targets into the types mentioned above?
Topics: Learning Targets, Minutes with Charlie | No Comments »
Minutes with Charlie 9
By Charlie | March 4, 2008
Three questions confront students in the learning process. In order to succeed in the mission of learning, the students must be able to answer all three. A quality classroom assessment program provides the student with the answer to all three on a regular basis.
The first of the three questions is “Where am I going on this learning journey?” This we addressed in Minutes with Charlie 7.
The second of the three questions is “Where am I on this learning journey?” This we addressed in Minutes 8.
The third question a student asks is “How do I close the gap between where I am and where I’m going?” We will address this question in this Minutes.
If a student does not know what steps to take to draw closer to the target he is handicapped in his efforts to get there and we as educators are greatly impeded in our efforts to get him there.
As we saw in Minutes 8, the importance of descriptive feedback that focuses upon a student’s accomplishments (strengths) as well as on what needs to be done to improve is non-negotiable if we are to impact student learning. In addition we spoke of the importance of investing time in training the students to self-assess against a clearly defined, articulated, and understood learning target or standard. There are several important steps teachers can and should make to bring the student to a clear understanding of his next steps in closing this gap.
First, if a student is to manage his learning and determine the next steps of learning from his self-assessment, there must be a manageable number of learning targets to address. It is important to narrow the number of learning targets for which we expect students to self-assess and address at a given time. This is particularly beneficial for struggling learners. Students are no more able to incorporate new learning in large bundles than are adults.
Second, we educators must train our students to, after they self-asses to do focused revision of their work. We must show and train students to revise an answer, product, or performance. This is a process that involves clear standards of quality performance, self-assessment, and analyzing work to determine how to improve.
Finally we should engage students in self-reflection and the tracking of their learning. With clearly defined learning targets, examples of quality work, descriptive feedback, self-assessment, and focused revision, students are in a position to become possessors of an understanding of their learning and able to track it over time. This becomes the factor that glues the other elements together and propels the student to true ownership of learning.
It is important to notice that the components involved in answer these questions form a progression of skills Teachers cannot give descriptive feedback in the absence of clear targets. A student cannot self-assess in the absence of quality examples of the targets. Educators must develop these components in progression, not in a “pick what you like most” fashion.
We must make concerted efforts to insure that students can answer the three questions of, Where am I going?, Where am I now?, and How can I close the gap? For too many years students have been left to solitary efforts to advance in learning without having the answer to these questions.
Personal Reflection: Do I invest time and effort to enable my students to take possession of their learning? Can my students answer these questions in a consistent, regular manner?
Topics: Minutes with Charlie, Student Involvement | No Comments »
Data Driven or Driven to Data?
By Charlie | February 28, 2008
One of the essential purposes of quality classroom assessment is to produce and record data by which teachers and students can make instructional and learning decisions. We are quite accustomed to working with data derived from standardized assessment whether they be state assessments such as TAKS or local assessments such as district checkpoints. We have learned to manipulate the data, combining various filters and looking from different lenses to gain information on student progress.
However, we seem to be somewhat limited in our use of data from classroom assessment. In fact, we tend to limit it to a grade average. An important question is how can we use quality classroom assessments to produce, collect, and use data that will impact our decisions regarding student learning and instruction? Will you share with us some of the types of data and uses of data derived from classroom assessments that you have used?
Topics: Data | No Comments »
Minutes with Charlie - Eight
By Charlie | February 26, 2008
Three questions confront students in the learning process. In order to succeed in the mission of learning, the students must be able to answer all three. A quality classroom assessment program provides the student with the answer to all three on a regular basis.
The second of the three questions is “Where am I on this learning journey?”
If a student does not know his current position of progress toward reaching a learning target, the difficulty of reaching it is greatly increased. It is quite similar to someone on a journey who knows the destination, but has no idea where they are located relative to their destination. There are more ways to go wrong than there are to go right.
A quality classroom assessment program provides the answer to this question with accuracy and in a timely manner to prevent the student from wasting time going the wrong direction or standing still. It does so by using two essential components or competencies.
The first essential component is that of providing the student with quality descriptive feedback. As a general rule, a teacher skilled (and it is a skill that can be taught and developed) at providing descriptive feedback has students who more quickly and more consistently hit and exceed learning targets.
Descriptive feedback should reflect student strengths and weakness regarding a specific learning target or targets of an assignment. It is most effective when it has a dual focus upon what the student is doing right as well as specifics on what they need to work on next in order to advance toward the target.
Descriptive feedback is not evaluative as in a grade. Neither is it ambiguous such as “good job”. A grade and “good job” type comments do not provide students with the direction they need to improve performance. Good descriptive feedback always provides that direction.
Descriptive feedback should be focused upon a limited number of aspects of the learning target and not address every fault or weakness the student may possess.
The second essential component or competency is teaching the student to self-assess and set goals. Having already provided clear targets and samples of high quality work and having already modeled descriptive feedback, the next step is to teach the student to self-assess against the standard of excellence.
We get considerable improvement when the teacher provides descriptive feedback, but the real bang for the buck comes when the student has learned to self-assess performance against the standard.
When a student can accurately measure progress, set goals for improvement, and plot the next steps in improvement a tremendous degree of motivation and responsibility sets in for the student. At this point again, it is the lowest achieving students who advance the most and the quickest as they learn to self-assess and set personal goals.
As students learn to self-assess they also become much more adept at providing descriptive feedback to peers in a standards/criteria based assessment system.
These two components work hand in hand. The teacher never gets out of the descriptive feedback business. Yet, as the students learn to self-assess against a standard, the teacher’s efforts are essential doubled.
Personal Reflection: Does the feedback I provide students give them direction as to what they need to do to improve? Do my students know how to self-assess with accuracy and set goals?
Topics: Feedback, Minutes with Charlie, Quality Assessment Components | No Comments »
Thoughts on Learning Targets
By Charlie | February 22, 2008
One of the core competencies of classroom assessment is the presence of clearly defined, understood, and articulated learning targets. If a learning target is not clearly defined we will have the teacher instructing in a quite unfocused manner as well as the student aiming at an unclear target. If it is clearly defined, it is of little value if either the teacher or the student does not have a good understanding of the target in the sense of “I know what quality looks like in this target”. Finally if the target is clearly defined and understood, both the teacher and the student should be able to articulate in user friendly language a good description of the learning target. If a learning target comes up short on any of these three items (clearly defined, understood, and articulated), the benefit it contributes to student learning is greatly reduced.
Speaking of benefit of established and posted learning targets, the research on this topics indicates when done well and in the proper timeframe, just simply using and posting learning targets results in somewhere around a 20 percentile point gain in student performance.
This is an easy component of quality classroom assessment to implement and brings almost immediate benefit to both the teacher and the students. However, there are a number of ways that learning targets can be used in the classroom. I would appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experiences in the use of learning targets in classroom assessment.
Topics: Learning Targets | 2 Comments »
“Feedback” - What Difference Does It Make?
By Charlie | February 22, 2008
Feedback given to students from teachers often serves to be the hinge-pin upon which the success or failure of student learning swings. Feedback can be both the instrument that serves to propel a student to greater learning or an instrument that stifles any advancement in learning or even the motivation to learn.
The difference between the two extremes lies in the nature of the feedback. In general, feedback falls either into the evaluative feedback or descriptive feedback. The former stifles learning and motivation while the latter encourages students to learn and facilitates that learning. So understanding the difference is essential.
Evaluative feedback consists essentially of feedback that judges the student’s work and assigns some sort of evaluation usually in the form of a grade. Regarding learning targets, evaluative feedback consists of a simple “you hit the target” or “you missed the target” or maybe “you missed the target by this much”.
Descriptive feedback consists of sharing with students specifics on their progress toward the target. It includes comments on specific things students need to change in their performance in order to improve. The classic example of descriptive feedback is that of a coach teaching athletics to improve their performance or music teachers working with students to improve their musical ability. Coaches never simply say, “you didn’t swim fast enough”. Instead, they tell the swimmer how to improve their stroke to increase speed or reduce drag. Classroom teachers, when operating from a clearly defined, understood, and articulated learning targets can provide the same type of feedback to the learners by telling them specifically what they need to improve to come closer to hitting the target.
Please share with the BISD assessment community your thoughts or experiences with feedback to students. It is not an easy or automatic proceedure to provide descriptive feedback.
Topics: Feedback | 1 Comment »
Minutes with Charlie 7
By Charlie | February 19, 2008
Three questions confront students in the learning process. In order to succeed in the mission of learning, the students must be able to answer all three. A quality classroom assessment program provides the student with the answer to all three on a regular basis.
The first of the three questions is “Where am I going on this learning journey?”
If a student does not understand what they are to learn to know and be able to do, the chances of them knowing and being able to do it are greatly reduced, if not eliminated.
A quality classroom assessment program addresses this question with two essential components or competencies.
The first component is clearly defined, articulated, and understood learning targets. They must be clearly defined in that they are focused upon specific learning goals that are appropriate for the students. They must be articulated by both the teacher and the student. If both the teacher and the student cannot articulate the learning targets, we can be pretty well assured that they are not clear learning targets. Finally, they must be understood by both teacher and student. At first it seems that if one can articulate the target, it should be understood. However, from experience we know that this is not the case. Students can often repeat what they have been told and be void of understanding.
Often we find teachers listing a learning target that is either actually an activity (not a learning target) or is stated in terms that virtually eliminate any chance of the student understanding.
An activity is usually expressed in terms of what a student will do while a learning target is usually expressed in terms of what the student will understand.
The learning target should be articulated in student friendly language without compromising the target itself. I have found the pattern of “I am learning to . . . .” is a form that is useful in simplifying learning targets into student friendly language.
The second component of classroom assessment that assists students in answering the question of “Where am I going?” is the provision of clear examples of good or strong and poor or weak quality work. All too often as teachers we ask our students to complete a task when they have no idea what a good final product should look like. It is essential to their learning that we provide them, prior to starting the project, with clear examples of what are considered quality work. This gives them a clear standard against which to measure their work and performance.
I have been asked a number of times something along the lines of, “But what if my assessments don’t lend themselves to examples of high quality? How do you give an example of high quality multiple choice answers?” To this question I give a two part answer: (1) While there are several assessment methods that do not lend themselves to providing good examples, there are few learning targets that do not lend themselves to providing good examples, and (2) if most of our assessments are of the type that do not provide examples of quality, we should carefully examine both our learning targets and our assessments since it would appear we are missing some tremendous opportunities.
Personal Reflection: Am I providing my students with a clear answer to the question “Where am I going in this learning?” Do I, as a matter of course, provide clearly defined, articulated, and understood learning targets in student friendly language? Do my students have examples of good and poor quality evidence of this learning?
Topics: Learning Targets, Minutes with Charlie | No Comments »
Minutes with Charlie 6
By Charlie | February 19, 2008
“Student involved classroom assessment” should be as normal in our classrooms as “student involved classroom learning”. Yet, as we strive to insure the student is actively engaged in learning we have not taken steps to likewise insure that the student is involved in assessment.
We easily see where and why students should be involved in a variety of learning opportunities, but it is not so clear to us where and why the students should be involved in the assessment process. It is often difficult to see the connection between the two. I would like to explore briefly what it means to have students involved classroom assessment and then address the connection between student involvement in learning and student involvement in assessment.
Student involvement in classroom assessment deals with students being actively involved in four areas of the assessment process. These areas largely reflect the last four areas mentioned previously regarding the role of the teacher in formative assessments.
First, students should clearly know and understand the learning target to be assessed. If a student cannot accurately describe the learning target and does not have a clear understanding of the quality of work required to hit that target, he is not involved in this stage of classroom assessment.
Second, based upon his performance on classroom formative assessment, the student should know and be able to explain his progress on the road to hitting the target. This involves a specificity that far exceeds knowing his grade average on a test. A student involved in classroom assessment can describe both his strengths and weaknesses in hitting the target.
Third, based upon the results of formative assessments a student should be able to describe the next steps he needs to take to improve his performance. Just as a teacher uses the results of formative assessments to plan instruction, the student uses the results to plan steps to improvement and greater learning. A student that cannot describe the next stages of his learning and what he will do to improve is not involved in this stage of assessment.
Finally, a student should be able to accurately communicate and provide evidence of his progress toward hitting the target. This communication should be more than a grade average. One of the most powerful assessment communication tools is the student led parent conferences where the student is able to describe to the parents, in the presence of the teacher, the learning target, examples of the standards of excellence , his progress toward excellence, and the steps he will take to improve.
The primary connection between student involvement in learning and assessment lies in the area of student motivation. As educators we readily recognize that if a student is not motivated to learn, little learning occurs. If a student checks out of the learning process and decides that he is either not willing or able to learn, there is little we can do to promote learning. On the contrary, we all know that when a student is motivated to learn, they often make great leaps of learning despite considerable obstacles. Involvement in the assessment process provides the needed ingredients to enhance motivation to learn, increases engagement in learning, and improves student performance.
Personal Reflection: As a general rule, are my students regularly and actively involved in these areas of classroom assessment? Am I providing this motivational tool to my students?
Topics: Minutes with Charlie, Student Involvement | No Comments »