Session 4: Balanced Assessment and Accountability

1) What are some possible extensions of this learning, which could directly improve your work in this area? The day began with discussion about the types of assessments we currently due in our district and then deciding which ones of them are actually formative and which ones are actually summative. Some of the days was also spent on deciding whether we believed we really had "balanced assessments"; meaning, were we doing as much assessment for learning as we were doing assessment of learning. It is quickly obvious to me that we currently are not balanced in our district. We don't have balanced classroom assessments or district assessments. As far as the classroom goes, there is little balance simply because our teachers are not trained assessment writers. One of my goals over the next several years to is to help train key teacher leaders in writing or creating balanced assessments. We have many more options available to aid us in creating assessments with item bank readily available with text book series and online sources; however, there is a major danger in selecting from these banks if one has never had training in balanced assessments and depth of knowledge. I would like to work on this with teachers so that the classroom level of assessments become more valid. Another classroom level issue is not just making sure each test itself is balanced, but that our teachers are using a good balance of formative and summative assessment techniques. I believe that our teacher's have become increasingly aware of formative assessments and their power. I believe we have many more teachers implementing quick formative assessments more frequently, but I don't believe that all of them have systems in place to actually use the information that they glean from the assessment. For example, I have seen in observations a classroom do a warm-up activity, the teacher go over the activity and then ask for some feedback on how they did with a show of hands. When having a follow-up conversation with that teacher about what they did with that information to information and how it informed his teacher, he realized that the answer was "nothing". So, even though on the outside it appeared to be a good check for understanding, really he was just going through the motions of formative assessment. Another issue that became very clear to me at this session was the lack of balance in assessment at the district level. It is my goal through the work n my Change Initiative Project that leadership teams create district level assessments and act as ambassadors of the district for their colleagues to help implement these assessments with fidelity. My vision is that the leadership team would then be the first eyes to see all the data for the district and analyze it. They would then bring the information to their building, or department and get feedback from their colleagues to help make decisions on gaps in learning, and best practices for teaching. They would help to pinpoint whether certain problem areas were systemic or only at certain grade levels or in certain buildings or classrooms and the team would then tackle any deficient areas of learning. Currently, most of the assessments given at the district level are meant to be summative or the information gleaned from the wasn't used to inform any decision making and therefore, became summative by nature. It is my hope that through the training of teachers in the area of assessment and through the work of my change initiative of creating a core leadership team for the district, that we will be able to have a more balanced approach to assessment throughout the district.

2) What are some examples of your work in this area? Some examples of my work in the area of assessment actually stem from when I was a teacher myself. I worked with the county Math and Science center and facilitated HS-MAS II and III. This professional development included training on Stiggin's work and moved teachers through the process of identification of clear learning targets to proper and balanced assessments of them. I have taken pieces of this training and infused it in some professional development I have led our district through since I have been in my new position as Director of Secondary Instruction. 3) What evidence exists of the impact of the work you are doing in this area, especially as it relates to your Change Initiative Process? I haven't been able to infuse much of this information into my work in the district yet, as I am in the beginning stages of not only my new position, but also my Change Initiative Project. Therefore, I can't say that I have much evidence at all yet. I hope that I can answer this question different in one-two years as the leadership team is further developed and has had some time to implement some of this work.