Helping Districts Design Balanced Assessment Systems National Conference on Student Assessment – CCSSO June 27-29, 2018 San Diego, CA.
Session Outcomes • Share a new resource – the District Assessment System Design Toolkit • Share process and observations about user experience with the Toolkit, based on initial Proof of Concept Pilot
District Assessment System Di De Design Toolkit Pilot Jo Joseph Martineau | Senior Associate Ka Kathy Dewsbury-Wh White | President & CEO Ed Ed Roeber | Assessment Director El Ellen Vorenkamp | Assessment Consultant St Stephen Sn Snead | | Su Supervisor, Curriculum & Assessment Unit Jonathan Flukes | Research, Evaluation, & Assessment Consultant Jo Bl Bloomfield d Hills Scho hools De Dearborn Schools Nov Novi Community School District
Why Develop the Toolkit? Why Conduct a Proof of Concept Pilot?
To Top 3 Reasons Why We Should Invest in De Development of Assessment Literacy • Assessment used only as an accountability tool will never result in improvement . In other words, used only to certify status is not an effective school improvement strategy. • Using assessment well is essential to meeting NEW mission of a public education , i.e. assist ALL students to meet high standards • Cognitive science tells us we can only be effective with our craft if we use assessment well i.e. execute effective assessment practice and balanced, comprehensive assessment systems. In other words, effective teaching and learning practice depends on effective/integrated assessment practice .
Resource Response – National Perspective
Mo Motivating Questions • Do you have a coherent and effective district and school assessment system that complements and enhances instruction? • Does it serve student, teacher, administrator, and policymaker needs, and with the correct balance? • Was the system designed so that teachers, principals, and administrators share power in the service of providing students the best possible education? Or does the collection of tests feel more like a collection of bricks than a well-designed house?* * * Coladarci, T. (2002). Is it a House…Or a Pile of Bricks? Important Features of a Local As Assessment System. Th The Phi Delta Kappan, 83 (1 (10). ). pp. 772-774. 774.
So Some Symptoms of Ha Having a Pile of Bricks • Purposes of Assessment • Unclear, misunderstood, understood differently by different people. • Given by tradition, but purpose has been forgotten. • “System creep,” with new tests added but old ones rarely dropped. • Appropriate Use • Type of assessment may not be appropriate for the intended purpose. • Test data are rarely used (if at all) when data become available. • New tests added without explicit attention to appropriate use. • It feel like some tests will crumble under the weight of use. • Coherence and Fit with Instruction • State, district, and/or classroom tests conflict in timing, content standards, and/or results. • It feels like, overall, testing disrupts rather than facilitates instruction.
Cha Challeng nges in n Cr Creating ng a Hous use Rathe her tha han n a Pile of Br Bricks Ad Addressed in the Toolkit and As Associated Facilitated Process • Achieving a shared assessment vocabulary • Achieving a shared understanding of intended purposes of assessment • Achieving a shared understanding of the match between purpose and types/characteristics of assessment • Designing a parsimonious system that minimizes duplication (and thus the amount of potential instructional time devoted to formal test taking)
Cha Challeng nges in n Cr Creating ng a Hous use Rathe her tha han n a Pile of Br Bricks Addressed in the Toolkit and As Ad Associated Facilitated Process • Designing a coherent system in which components are consistent with an overall vision and complementary to each other in drawing a balanced and non-contradictory picture of student learning • Developing a productive approach to power sharing across levels of responsibility (e.g., teacher, principal, central office, superintendent, school board) • Developing a sound plan to implement the newly designed system that attends to potential barriers • Developing a sound plan to maintain the system over time so that it evolves as a system to meet changing needs.
Affirming National Need at State & Local Level • Changes in the state’s education landscape have • The number of positions solely dedicated to placed much emphasis on state accountability assessment is growing. assessments. • Momentum is building to think critically about the • Vendor created assessment solutions offer lots of role of assessment in K-12 education. conveniences…in isolation from one another. • Interest in professional learning on assessment is on • Frequent changes in multiple levels of local LEA the rise. leadership have led to a lack of historical • Emphasis on state & national assessment have institutional knowledge. helped put a spotlight on classroom assessment • Difficult for regional service agencies to support LEAs who don’t have a clear picture of their assessment “system”
Proof of Concept Pilot A proof of concept ( POC ) or a proof of principle is a realization of a certain method or idea to demonstrate its feasibility, or a demonstration in principle, whose purpose is to verify that some concept or theory has the potential of being used effectively… Two aims… • Refine the District Assessment System Design Toolkit • Determine what type of facilitated support might be necessary or desirable to assist a district using the Toolkit 2. Joseph to Kathy… 1. Kathy to Joseph… “Yeah, that’s a good idea. “Do you want to try it We would do POC Pilot.” out with some real districts?”
Description of the Toolkit & the Pilot
Wh What is the District Assessment System De Design Toolkit – ma materials include… Templates for… Tools for… • Feedback from participants • Performing an assessment audit • Compiling potential barriers to implementation • Summarizing the results of the assessment audit • Developing a project plan for implementation [including strategies • Implementing a principled to address potential barriers] system design process • Creating a design document • Comparing the results of the • Developing an project audit and the design process implementation plan • Developing a comprehensive report on the results of the process.
In Included in in the Toolk lkit it and Associa iated Fa Facilitated Process • Professional learning regarding… • Types and characteristics of assessment • Purposes of assessment • Matching types and characteristics to purpose • Integration of all educator/leader roles within the district • Principled processes to… • Audit an existing district assessment system • Select and prioritize intended purposes of the district assessment system • Design/refine a district assessment system to optimally match intended purposes • Develop a plan to address potential barriers to implementation • A comprehensive end-of-process report that… • Describes the principled process • Incorporates a design document based on district team decisions • Incorporates a set of principles for allowing the system to evolve to meet changing needs, but that builds on the process already completed.
Wh Where the Toolkit Stops The toolkit and associated facilitated process stops with a design that identifies prioritized intended purposes, the types and characteristics of the assessments that will be used to meet them, and a listing of potential barriers to implementation with associated potential solutions.
No Not Included in in the Toolk lkit it and Associa iated Fa Facilitated Process • Identification of specific assessments to be used • Identification of specific professional learning • A specific implementation plan • A specific maintenance plan • Additional professional learning will need to be targeted for different types of educators within the district. The MAC’s assessment learning network is a great place for targeted professional learning opportunities.
District Assessment System Di De Design Toolkit Pilot Jo Joseph Martineau | Senior Associate Ka Kathy Dewsbury-Wh White | President & CEO Ed Ed Roeber | Assessment Director El Ellen Vorenkamp | Assessment Consultant St Stephen Sn Snead | | Su Supervisor, Curriculum & Assessment Unit Jonathan Flukes | Research, Evaluation, & Assessment Consultant Jo Bl Bloomfield d Hills Scho hools De Dearborn Schools Nov Novi Community School District
Pr Process to Pilot Use of the DASD • Three approximately 4-hour workshops • LEA teams supported by their ESEA consultant and a project wiki • Sending a team representing teachers, building leadership, central office staff, and district leadership • Advance reading materials to minimize the number and duration of meetings. • Homework between sessions. • From populated Toolkit, with customized responses – district develops plan of action
What a District Gets From Using the DASD Toolkit A comprehensive report detailing… • The deliberative process • Representation on the district team • An assessment system design document and associated schematic representation • A compilation of potential barriers to implementation with associated strategies for addressing them • A set of principled questions to address ongoing maintenance of a system
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