I came across some great questions regarding assessment that I can use as a focus/guide for thinking about FreshGrade and BC’s New Curriculum.
What does powerful communication of student learning look like for students, parents and educators?
-formative assessment should be substantial, regular and provide meaningful feedback; as well as feeding back to individual learners, this knowledge should be used constantly to shape direction and practice in the learning environment. (from the 7 Principals of Learning, “The Nature of Learning”)
-we should see home-school partnerships as “a building block for innovative learning environments, so that the building connections between the home and school is vital to student success” (“The Nature of Learning”)
-each competency profile (in the New BC Curriculum) begins with the importance of family involvement.
How does a focus on communicating student learning foster increased student success and engagement?
-good (task-involving, descriptive) feedback causes thinking and thinking should be the first thing that students do when they get feedback. (Do you know what to do next? Is that enough help? What will you do if you get stuck again?) Studies have shown that ego involving feedback (“You did very well”) is the least helpful and can lower achievement. (Delta, “Providing Descriptive Feedback”, Dylan William)
-the core competencies (BC’s New Curriculum) speak to the development of intellectual, personal and social and emotional proficiencies that all students need to develop in order to engage in deep and life-long learning. Effective communication directs and facilitates the growth of these competencies. “The ultimate goal is for learners to imply the core competencies in every day in school and in life, and for the core competencies to be an integral part of the learning in all curriculum areas”.
-when communication is initiated by the learner, students take ownership of the process and are motivated to continue. This increases the likelihood that students will engage in deeper learning and greater recall. (Delta, “Emotion and Motivation”)
What role does technology play in promoting understanding of student learning and thinking?
How can the evolution of reporting change how we think about instruction, learning and assessment?
-“Doing only the things that support traditional instructional classroom activities and assessments misses the great opportunity and importance of relationships.” (teacher Matthew Renwick speaking about FreshGrade on Twitter). Reporting should involve communication and collaboration between the community of learners (student, teacher, parent, etc.).
-learning is a journey so focus of instruction and assessment should shift from end results to the whys and hows of process.
-“people are jagged in size, in intelligence”. Students are multidimensional and can’t be reduced to a single score. Reporting on the whole person effects our approach to instruction. Considerations such as personalized learning, differentiated instruction and multiple means of expression work together to assist in a more individualized assessment process.
-a shift from providing evaluative feedback (numbers, scores, general goals,”good job”) to descriptive feedback (linked to student learning, related to shared criteria/exemplars, usually in words, causes student thinking but doesn’t provide all the answers, learning is incremental, connected to where students are at) causes instruction/assessment to become personalized and differentiated. (Delta, Dylan William)
-using descriptive, multidimensional feedback changes how we communicate with parents: “When we sit down with parents and students, we can look at grades together and get an assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses of a student. This changes the entire dialogue. It’s a richer conversation. Once we recognize students’ weak areas, we can work together to improve them.”(Paul Curtis, “Comprehensive Assessment: What the Experts Say”, Edutopia, March 12, 2016)
-using descriptive feedback changes how we organize our learning opportunities: “Our approach involves massive, holistic systems change. It’s not a piecemeal approach. It’s not just changing how we give grades. It’s also project-based learning, technology integration, longer class periods — everything. We’ve changed the rules. If we’re going to assess teamwork and critical thinking, we need to give students opportunities to develop these skills. Teachers have to create assessment systems that define what these skills mean and then provide regular opportunities for students to demonstrate them. It’s a matter of getting everyone comfortable in this new system.” (Paul Curtis, “Comprehensive Assessment: What the Experts Say”, Edutopia, March 12, 2016)
-using “backwards design”
“We call it backward design. Instead of jumping to the activities”Oh, I could have kids do this, oh, that’d be cool”, you say, “Well, wait a minute.” Before you decide exactly what you’re going to do with them, if you achieve your objective, what does it look like? What’s the evidence that they got it? What’s the evidence that they can now do it, whatever the “it” is? So you have to think about how it’s going to end up, what it’s going to look like. And then that ripples back into your design, what activities will get you there. What teaching moves will get you there?” (Grant Wiggins, “Comprehensive Assessment: What the Experts Say”, Edutopia, March 12, 2016)
How FreshGrade supports these ideas:
-virtual report card, can be sent home electronically
-provides meaningful conversations with parents, allows for feedback
-infiltrates parents’ social media-centric world
-regular connection
-offers real-time sharing
-provides a “window into the classroom”
-allows students to choose what is posted, ownership
-accountability for students, parents and teachers
-diversified ways of communicating (written, pictures, audio), learning is better represented
-approaches learning and assessment in a formative way
Resources:
-BC’s New Curriculum document
-“The Nature Of Learning – Practitioner Guide” – Dumont, Istance and Benavides
-deltalearns.ca (Delta Innovation Tool Kit)
-freshgrade.com
-twitter