Dylan Wiliam – Formative Assessment – The Masterplan The first of a series of notes / reflections on sessions at the 2010 SSAT National Conference. Bio Dylan Wiliam has the grand title of ‘Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment‘ at the Institute of Education in London. He is a former Maths teacher and co-author of the book “Inside the Black Box“. He is a world renowned expert on assessment for learning, and was recently to be seen on BBC television in The Classroom Experiment. My Notes On learning environments & the role of the teacher: Teachers do not create learning. On intelligence & environment: Intelligence is partly inherited. On flow: Flow = match between challenge and capability. On assessment: Pre tests. 5 key strategies in teaching: On feedback & questioning: Middle class kids ‘get the code’, working class are no less intelligent just don’t get what we want. Plan questions carefully to elicit understanding, not incorrect methods that are resulting in right answers. Wait time for questioning. Key points: Cause thinking.
Barefoot In the head Authentic Assessment Toolbox Home Page to the Authentic Assessment Toolbox, a how-to text on creating authentic tasks, rubrics, and standards for measuring and improving student learning. Inside, you will find chapters on A good place to start -- In this chapter I identify the characteristics, strengths and limitations of authentic assessment; compare and contrast it with traditional (test-based) assessment. Why has authentic assessment become more popular in recent years? After a brief overview, follow a detailed, four-step process for creating an authentic assessment. All good assessment begins with standards: statements of what we want our students to know and be able to do. Authentic assessments are often called "tasks" because they include real-world applications we ask students to perform. To assess the quality of student work on authentic tasks, teachers develop rubrics, or scoring scales. A guide to constructing good, multiple-choice tests, to complement your authentic assessments Wonder what a term means? Jon's Book
Classroom Assessment | Basic Concepts - Nightly A. Formative vs. Summative Assessments Classroom assessments can include a wide range of options -- from recording anecdotal notes while observing a student to administering standardized tests. Formative assessments are on-going assessments, reviews, and observations in a classroom. Summative assessments are typically used to evaluate the effectiveness of instructional programs and services at the end of an academic year or at a pre-determined time. The following table highlights some formative and summative assessments that are common in K12 schools.
New York schools enter the iZone 26 October 2011Last updated at 00:34 By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent Uncertain horizons: New York's economic fortunes are now linked to education After the iPhone and the iPad, the iZone is a different kind of design experiment. It's New York's attempt to reinvent an inner-city school. The iZone project - or Innovation Zone - is challenging state schools in New York City to rip up the rule book. They're being told to find new ways to provide a more individualised education, to change the shape of the school day, explore what technology can offer and even ask whether pupils need to be in school at all. "The challenge we face is nothing less than transforming our schools from assembly-line factories into centres of innovation," said the city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who warns that the US school system is falling behind international rivals. If the state schools are not improved, the fear is that the city will be entering the twilight zone rather than the iZone. Global cities
How to move your lessons from good to outstanding | Teacher Network | Guardian Professional Where would I be without Twitter? I have decided to elaborate on this AfL strategy, following this tweet from my @TeacherToolkit account on #ukedchat 3.11.11. My tweet said "#ukedchat Missed out tonight, look forward to reading ideas. My favourite T&L strategy at the moment is "Pose, Pause...Pounce, Bounce" #AfL". Firstly, this concept is not mine. So it is at this point, where I will be honourable and credit a colleague who I think has a money-spinning idea here. The fabulous Mrs Pam Fearnley delivered the session. What is it? It is a simple, yet sophisticated, AfL (Assessment for Learning) questioning technique to help teachers move from good-to-outstanding. Why is it useful? For many reasons. The strategy encouraged teachers to take risks and tease out the "learning" in class. How does it work? I have listed the four-part approach below with additional information that I hope explains the method. • Give the context of your approach to the class. This is the hard part. Explore! 1. 2. 3.
What Are Formative Assessments and Why Should We Use Them? | Scholastic.com - Nightly "Informative assessment isn't an end in itself, but the beginning of better instruction." —Carol Ann Tomlinson Traditionally, we have used assessments to measure how much our students have learned up to a particular point in time. Since formative assessments are considered part of the learning, they need not be graded as summative assessments (end-of-unit exams or quarterlies, for example) are. When I work with teachers during staff development, they often tell me they don't have time to assess students along the way. Formative assessments, however, do not have to take an inordinate amount of time. Using a Variety of Formative Assessments The National Forum on Assessment (1995) suggests that assessment systems include opportunities for both individual and group work. Often, the opportunity to work with others before working on their own leads students toward mastery. Types of Assessment Strategies How to Use the Assessments in This Book In addition, for many strategies you'll find:
22 Mind-Blowing Infographics on Education | Socrato Learning Analytics Blog Data is extremely valuable for all of us in the education industry; we”ve got to consume a lot of it to make valuable decisions for our students and schools. However, when you spend too much time with your nose in your computer, e-reader or a book, it”s easy to forget what information looks like. That”s why I took the time to put together a list of amazing, tantalizingly visual infographics meant to titillate your mind and engage your visual synapses. There are 22 mind-blowing infographics on education below. Enjoy this hand-picked visual feast! 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. Did we miss any of your favorite educational infographics? Free e-Book: 5 Tips to Improve Your Reporting for Standardized Test Reporting Download this eBook from Socrato to learn how to optimize and improve your reports to help students improve their scores on standardize tests such as the SAT, ACT, LSAT or others. Download the eBook >>
Student-Led Parent Conferences: How They Work in My Primary Classroom “Tell us what you think you did well in your writing?” “I put spaces between the words…and I sounded them out. I spelled my right.” “What else did you do well?” “I put a capital letter at the beginning.” “What could you do to make your writing better?” “I could put a dot at the end. “Yes, you could use a period at the end. “Three.” “Exactly. Thus began one of the student-led parent conferences in my grade one classroom last term. The conferences always center around what has been posted on the student’s individual blog. The Students Choose In the past, I have allowed the students to choose three articles from their blog to share with their parents that they think reflect their best work . Representing is a strand of our language arts curriculum in which the students show what they know about something through a drawing, drama, clay, etc. Since the beginning of the school year, we have been talking about what good writers and good representers do. Time alone with parents