This document summarizes a presentation about approaches to assessment in education. It discusses using learning intentions and success criteria to provide clear goals for students. Formative assessment strategies are outlined, including activities to elicit evidence of learning, providing feedback to move learning forward, peer assessment, and fostering student ownership. The gradual release of responsibility model is presented as an instructional approach. Throughout, the focus is on using assessment to understand students and inform instruction, not for assigning marks. The overall message is that thoughtful assessment is essential for effective teaching and learning.

1. Planning with the End in Mind:
Approaches to Assessment in 405
Presented by: Jonathan Vervaet
Simon Fraser University 2014 – September 22nd , 2014

3. “If students have not been told
where they are going, it is
unlikely that they will arrive.”
– Shirley Clark

4. Learning Intentions
“I can find evidence of current
assessment and curriculum
design research in my
emerging practice.”

5. Learning Intentions
“I can describe how I will use
assessment data to inform my
instruction decisions .”

6. Learning Intentions
“I can become curious about
something in the research I
want to inquire further into.”

7. Critical Reflection
“Rare indeed are the people who
deliberately seek out books,
conversations, and practices that they
know will challenge or even undercut
much of what they find to be comfortable
and familiar”
“The Critically Reflective Teacher”
Brookfield

8. Instructional Design
The Science of Learning

9. Instructional Design
90% of what we know about the brain we have
learned in approximately the last 2 years

10. Instructional Design
The same will be true 10 years from now

11. Carol Dweck (2006)
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset.
Fixed – Believe they have to work with
whatever intelligence they have because it
can’t be increased.
They resist novel challenges if they can’t
succeed immediately.
They’d rather not try than be perceived as
dumb.

12. Carol Dweck (2006)
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset.
Growth – Believe intelligence can be built
through life.
See working harder as a way to improve.
They persist and try a wide variety of solutions
when given novel tasks.

13. Carol Dweck (2006)

14. Csikzentmihalyi (1990)
Flow Theory – The
exhilarating moments when
we feel in control, full of
purpose, and in the zone.

15. Csikzentmihalyi (1990)
Skill Level
Challenge
Level

16. How will the
science of learning
impact your
planning and
assessment
methods?

17. Planning for
learning is mostly
about the thinking
that teachers
undertake to ensure
that all students
have the best
opportunities to
learn those things
that are most
important.

18. Planning is about
the hard thinking
teachers need
to do in order to
design quality
opportunities for
student learning.

19. Good planning
requires clear
thinking, captured
in a well-constructed,
precise,
written plan, and is
a prerequisite to the
art of effective
teaching.

20. Thinking is
fundamental
to planning.

21. It’s all about
Thinking!

22. The Bridge Between the
Students and the
Curriculum
What is my content?
Who are my students?
.

23. The Bridge Between the
Students and the
Curriculum
Strategic teaching requires
you to know your students.

24. Instructional Design
The 8 Cognitive Functions
Good Readers Use

25. 1. Setting a purpose / Reading with
purpose in mind
2. Activating background knowledge
to enhance understanding
3. Monitoring comprehension and
awareness of how to repair
comprehension problems
4. Determining what’s important

26. 5. Making inferences and drawing
conclusions
6. Visualizing mental images
7. Synthesizing and accurately
summarizing information
8. Making connections
What is the most important cognitive
reading function for students?

27. What are some
ways you can get
to know your
students both as
learners and as
people?

28. Performance Based Reading
Assessment
- Curriculum based reading
assessment, created around grade
level expectations for proficient
reading.
- Reading literature, reading for
information, reading poetry etc.

29. Performance Based
Reading Assessment
It’s a snapshot of
independent
thoughtful reading.
The intent is to see if
students are independently
and thoughtfully applying the skills and
strategies required – at this particular
grade level, in this particular subject.

30. Helps teachers:
- collect information about their
students’ reading level and ability.
- inform their teaching.
Administered early in the school year or
term.
Examined to
identify areas
of strength and
challenge.

31. This is NOT FOR MARKS!
Used to help target specific areas
of instruction.
Repeated to help teachers monitor
the effectiveness of their
instruction and adjust teaching
plans.

32. Inside the Black Box: Raising
Standards Through Classroom
Assessment

33. When carried out effectively, informal
classroom assessment
with constructive feedback will raise
levels of attainment.
We know from research that effective
assessment for learning can
Improve student achievement
substantially, and helps low achievers the
most.
Source: Black and William, Inside the Black Box 1998

34. The effect sizes, that is the student gains in
learning triggered by formative assessment,
were among the largest ever reported for
educational interventions.
Source: Black and William, Inside the Black Box 1998

35. Formative Assessment:
5 Key Strategies…
sometimes 6!
Dylan Wiliam “Embedded Formative
Assessment” (2011)

36. Formative Assessment:
1.Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria
2.Activities Designed to Elicit Evidence
of Learning
3.Feedback that Moves Learning
Forward
4.Peer Assessment
5.Student Ownership of Learning

37. Learning Intentions:
What are we
learning?
Vs.
Learning Activities:
What are we doing?

38. Learning Intentions
 I can statements…
 try and use child
friendly language
 separate from the
activity instructions
 make it visible
 discuss with students
why they are learning it

39. Most students can
hit the target if they can
see it clearly and if it
stays still.
-Rick Stiggins

40. What does good look like?
What
does
good look
like?

41. Success Criteria
and the Use of
Performance
Standards

42. Reading Performance Standard
Grade 2

43. Beginning
Developed
Accomplished
Exemplary

44. Keep the Language
Consistent across Rubrics

45. If students don’t
understand the
words used
in the rubric,
it might as
well be
written in a
foreign language.

46. Design
Activities to
have students
“translate”
performance
standards into
student friendly
language.

47. Formative Assessment:
1.Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria
2.Activities Designed to Elicit Evidence
of Learning
3.Feedback that Moves Learning
Forward
4.Peer Assessment
5.Student Ownership of Learning

48. Determine
Acceptable Evidence

49. Processing Activities
What are you going to have
students do to develop key
skills and meet learning
outcomes?

50. Provide students places and
opportunities to:

51. “Hold their thinking”
Practice without penalty
Ask questions
Talk about what they are learning
Reflect
Be metacognitive

52. Performance
Tasks

53. Formative Assessment:
1.Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria
2.Activities Designed to Elicit Evidence
of Learning
3.Feedback that Moves Learning
Forward
4.Peer Assessment
5.Student Ownership of Learning

54. Formative Assessment
=
Descriptive Feedback
Informs the student
Informs the teacher
Informs Learning

55. The trouble with marks.
“Is this for marks?”

56. Marks or levels tell students more
about their success or failure than
about how to make
progress in their
learning.
“Is this for marks?”

57. The research shows
very clearly that three
things tend to happen
when students are
encouraged
to focus on
getting
good grades.

58. The first is
that they become less
excited about
the learning
itself.

59. The second is that
they tend to
become less
likely to
think deeply.

60. The third thing that happens
is when you get kids focused
on grades they pick the
easiest possible task
when given
a choice.

61. — not because
they’re lazy,
because
they’re
rational.

62. Constantly weighing the pig
won’t make it fatter...
The Benefits of Formative Assessment

63. Formative Assessment:
1.Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria
2.Activities Designed to Elicit Evidence
of Learning
3.Feedback that Moves Learning
Forward
4.Peer Assessment
5.Student Ownership of Learning

64. Self and Peer Assessment
Student self-reflection on the helpfulness of
feedback

65. Formative Assessment:
1.Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria
2.Activities Designed to Elicit Evidence
of Learning
3.Feedback that Moves Learning
Forward
4.Peer Assessment
5.Student Ownership of Learning

66. Metacognition
Thinking about thinking…
Self monitoring and regulation.

67. Reflection:
I used to think…
But now I think…
Why…

69. Portfolio Collection
Criteria for Selection Samples of Work
Process: Choose an assignment that
had a number of steps you had to
complete in order to be successful.
Improvement: These assignments
should clearly show improvement in
some area of your learning. You may
wish to compare two assignments.
Perseverance: These are assignments
that at first you found difficult but
worked hard at, without giving up,
and eventually were successful.
Risk Taking: These are assignments
in which you moved out of your
comfort zone and tried something new
or unexpected.
Favourite: These are your favourite
assignments you completed in this
period of time.
Something of Personal
Significance: These are any
assignments that are significant to you
in anyway.
Burn it: This is an assignment that
you wish you could burn and never
look at again.

70. Student Reflection Sheet
Assignment Title: Date:
The attached evidence is (ex. first draft, outline, notes, brainstorming, reflection,
WIN, project, reading log etc.):
This piece of work shows:
___ a process
___ improvement
___ perseverance
___ risk taking
___ one of my favourites
___ something of personal significance
___ something to burn!
How does this piece of work meet the criteria?
Two or three reasons I chose to highlight this piece in my portfolio are:
Some things I learned by completing this assignment are:
If I were to do this assignment again I would:

71. Approaches
1. AFL Strategies
2. Open-ended Strategies
3. Gradual Release of Responsibility
4. Co-operative Learning
5. Information / Literature Circles
6. Inquiry

72. What skills do students
need to have to be
successful in your class
/ subject?
How will you teach
them these skills?

73. The Gradual Release of Responsibility
Step 1: Modelling
Step 2: Guided Practice
Step 3: Independent Practice
Step 4: Independent Application

74. In your, planning
identify parts of the
gradual release of
responsibility.

75. The Gradual Release of Responsibility
Don’t have to show “how to,” but
rather, model the thinking process.

76. Teaching is not rocket science. It is, in
fact, far more complex and demanding
work than rocket science.
- Richard Elmore (Professor of Education Leadership at Harvard
Graduate School of Education)

77. Contact Information
Jonathan Vervaet
Email: jonathanvervaet@gmail.com
Twitter: @jonathanvervaet
Blog: jonathanvervaet.wordpress.com