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Diocesan Performance Assessment Plan
In 1998, the New York State Education
Department commissioned a new set of tests for students in grades 4 and 8.
These new, more rigorous tests are designed to assess students' progress
toward meeting the State learning standards at designated grade levels and to
project if a student is on course to meet the demands of the commencement level
Regents examinations. Traditionally, our Diocesan schools
have administered final examinations to students in grades 3 to 8 using a
locally designed assessment. Students
are tested in all core subject areas including religion. These tests are typically scheduled in the last two weeks of
school in June. After administering the new State
assessments for two years, teachers and principals have expressed the desire to
explore an alternative approach to the traditional local June examinations.
Beginning in September 2001, schools will have an additional option for
the end-of-the-year measurements used to assess students' progress at the 4th
and 8th grade levels. Schools
will be permitted to develop and administer a performance assessment. It is left to the discretion of the principal to determine what subject areas will be covered in the performance assessment and if performance assessments will be allowed at other grade levels. What is a performance assessment? ·
(as
defined in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Report
by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.
September, 1997.) “Performance
assessment refers to the use of integrated, practical tasks, involving
instruments and equipment, as a means of assessing students' content and
procedural knowledge, as well as their ability to use that knowledge in
reasoning and problem solving. The
assessment task may be as simple as the routine use of a piece of equipment or
as complex as an investigation combining manipulative and procedural skills and
requiring higher-order thinking and communication. Performance assessment aims to provide students with a
testing environment which is more "true to life" and
"authentic" than the traditional paper-and-pencil written test. It does so by providing students with equipment and materials
to manipulate in a realistic problem-solving situation. It attempts to elicit
performances or behaviors that will be a more valid indication of the students'
understanding of concepts and potential performance in real life situations. Proponents
of performance assessment argue that the practical nature of the tasks utilized
in this mode of assessment permits a richer and deeper understanding of some
aspects of student knowledge and understanding than is possible with written
a test alone. Performance
assessment has captured the attention of teachers and policymakers for a variety
of reasons. It reflects the current
trend in many countries toward active, inquiry-oriented, hands-on teaching and
learning. It is seen as a means of
assessment that is educationally valid, psychologically and developmentally
appropriate, and congruent with "constructivist" pedagogies. A
well-designed performance task, with appropriate scoring rubrics, can elicit a
rich variety of student performances, and offers the possibility of deeper
understanding of cognitive processes and problem-solving strategies.
For example, students asked to solve an interesting problem in a
practical situation may draw on whatever content knowledge appears relevant,
revealing both prior knowledge and misconceptions.
The student may try several approaches, each demonstrating knowledge
about different attributes of the phenomenon.
The students have an opportunity to demonstrate their grasp of conceptual
and procedural issues, and their reasoning ability… Few would argue against the premise that the detailed study of student performance on practical tasks in life-like assessment situations offers greater potential for understanding student achievement than paper-and-pencil tests alone…” Types of Performance Assessments Performance assessments can be broken
down into four categories of assessments: constructed-response, product,
performance, and process assessments. Depending
on the objective of the assessment, one or more of these categories may be
utilized or any combination of the four. n
Constructed-Response:
With this type of assessment students are expected
to create short responses to questions. These
questions may have a stimulus attached (graphs, charts, maps, pictures, etc.) in
which students are expected to demonstrate performance at various levels.
Some questions may be as simple as simply extracting information from the
stimulus or as complex as comparing two stimuli or interpreting information from
the stimulus. Some examples
may include but are not limited to…
n
Product
Assessment: In product assessments, students are
actively engaged in planning, producing, and possibly using a product (created
by the student or by an outside source) to meet a standard specifically outlined
in the project. Some examples
may include but are not limited to…
Please note:
A completed product assessment alone is not necessarily a true indicator that a
student has achieved understanding. n
Performance
Assessment: With a performance assessment task
students are actively engaged in planning and carrying out a performance that
meets specific criteria. Performance
assessments provide rich opportunities for students to demonstrate their
abilities, skills, and often their understanding of concepts and information. Some examples
may include but are not limited to…
n
Process
Assessment: As the name suggests, students use a
process aligned with a predetermined set of criteria to accomplish a goal.
Using a process assessment is a good way to assess how well students can
apply learned skills in a variety of situations.
This type of assessment is often thought of as being as close as one
could get to creating real-life situations in the controlled environment of the
school. Some examples
may include but are not limited to…
It is important when developing your
performance assessment to know what type of assessment will be the most
beneficial for your students. Here,
you want to choose one that will match your objectives - whether you are
assessing the students' ability to process information, develop a knowledge
base, create a finished product, or focus on some aspect of performance. The following chart was taken from The
High Performance Toolbox by Spence Rogers & Shari Graham, 3rd
Edition, Copyright 1998. Each methodology included in the table
below can provide us with valuable information regarding what students know
and/or can do. It is important to
select the methodology that provides the best possible combination of
effectiveness and efficiency for the intended purpose and targeted learning.
In the table below, the following codes are used to indicate best matches
between methods and targets. 3
- This is an excellent method for the targeted learning circumstances. 2
- This may be a good method for the targeted learning (depending on the specific
targeted learning and the actual vehicle being used).
Depending on the assessment data desired, additional methods may be
necessary. 1 - This is usually an ineffective
and/or inefficient methodology for the targeted learning.
The following will provide basic
guidance in matching what the performance assessment is targeting and what type
of methods can be used. This is
only a partial listing of the available methods that a teacher can use.
The teacher's creativity, in most cases, will provide a host of other
possibilities. Source:
The High Performance Toolbox by Spence Rogers & Shari Graham, 3rd
Edition, Copyright 1998. Page 26. Information Targets: facts Methods:
Say; circle; list; match; select; find; true/false; multiple-choice;
fill-in-the-blank; present in essay or oral presentation. Conceptual Learning Targets:
Equations; literature; animals; change; force; evolution; or conflict. Methods:
Explain; generalize; create examples; find examples; apply it in varied
contexts; and draw conclusions in new contexts. Skills Targets:
Write; listen; speak; paint; perform mathematical operations; scientific
procedures; isolated skills; and structured problem solutions. Methods:
Do it (showing procedure) and describe or explain
how it was done. Product Development Targets: Essay;
lab report; book; story; paining; model; video/audio tape; portfolio; and
research paper. Methods:
Create it and describe and/or explain how it was
done and why it was done the way it was. Performance Ability Targets:
Signing; dramatic reading; science demonstrations; oral presentations; and
individual athletic performances such as figure skating. Methods:
Do it and describe how it was done and explain why
it was done the way it was. Process Ability Targets: Interview;
debate; build consensus; teach; dialogue; communicate; compete in athletic
games; research; and solve unstructured problems. Methods:
Work through it in varied/unexpected contexts;
explain how it was done and explain why it was done the way it was. Attitudes & Perspectives Targets: Appreciate
for something and liking or disliking something. Methods: These can be assessed by observing behavior or engaging in open conversation - providing trust has been developed. (Do not score or grade.) Quality performance assessments share
certain characteristics in their structure and their delivery. 1)
High standards and expectations are
evident. Expectations need to be
clearly and precisely stated, and known to all. Students should have a good "feel" of what is
expected of them, and whenever possible, examples of the highest quality of work
should be provided. 2)
Plan, plan, and plan! Developing a quality performance assessment is a lot of work.
If you are doing it alone, reach out to others for help.
Keep in mind the following for developing your assessment:
3)
Design performance assessments that are
meaningful and within the reach of your students. Performance assessments have a way of grabbing the attention
of your students because, when designed properly, they will mirror
“real-life” situations. With
these types of tasks students are less likely to ask the age-old questions of
“What does this have to do with life? or When will I ever use this?” They will see, feel, and experience the connections! It is vitally
important to match the objects and tasks to the abilities of your students.
You can develop the world’s best performance assessment and have it
fail simply because the students lacked certain skills required to complete the
task(s). This is where collaborating with a colleague comes in handy.
Share your thoughts and ideas along the way with another person who is
familiar with the group of students you intend to use this assessment with. 4)
Performance assessments should reflect
both fixed and dynamic standards. Fixed
standards being those that are considered non-moveable and dynamic standards
which are in a constant state of movement, need to be identified at the onset of
engaging in a performance assessment. We
see these two types of standards illustrated in figure skating competition.
An athlete may advance to the next level or to the next competition when
he/she has successfully completed the prerequisite (fixed) number of jumps in a
routine. As the figure skater
becomes more efficient at his/her jumps and the level of quality is increased,
goals or standards of excellence are adjusted (dynamic). 5)
No single performance assessment is
going to paint an overall picture of a student's abilities. Therefore, a number of opportunities in a variety of
situations should be provided to students. 6)
Involve others.
Think of ways to solicit help from parents, other students, businesses,
and the community. These people can
serve a valuable role in the outcome of your students’ assessments.
They can share their experiences and talents through one-on-one or small
group interviews, or they can serve as guest speakers.
They also make great audiences! 7)
Set up the scoring criteria in
advanced, and when possible share it with students.
It is no secret that when a student is aware of the expectations for a
given assignment or task, his/her focus can be targeted to those elements that
will produce the best possible responses or end products. Please
note that the scoring or grading of performance assessments is not as easily
done as with traditional tests because there tends to be a greater degree of
subjective material. Since there
are no clear-cut answers to the tasks on performance assessments compared to the
objective questioning style of traditional tests, quality rubrics must be
designed that distinguish low performances from those considered to be excellent
ones. 8) Finally, a performance assessment designed for your class this year might not be appropriately designed for next year’s class. Since you are developing this assessment with your student’s abilities and experiences in mind, be mindful to the fact that this year’s class may turn out to be very different in those attributes than next year’s class. Performance assessments need to be reevaluated based on the needs of the class and also to improve upon its design. Simply defined, a rubric is an
assessment tool that defines varying levels of student achievement on various
tasks. As stated by Grant Wiggins,
rubrics are a set of guidelines for distinguishing between performances and
products of different quality. They
are based on standards for achievement, provide criteria understandable to
students, and contain scores arranged on a scale.
He goes on to state that rubrics contain these characteristics as well:
Source:
Health, Physical Education, Family And Consumer Sciences. NY State
Education Department Resource Guide. Part III.I. (1997). Page 9.
When designing rubrics keep in mind
that they can be very simple or quite complex.
If you have had an opportunity to view some of the rubrics developed for
the NY State assessments in English or Social Studies, you may recall that they
are very detailed and probably took a team to create. Your rubrics need not be so detailed, it really depends on
your needs. Research has shown that using rubrics
is an effective way to enhance instruction at the local level. When used in the
daily routines of the classroom, students become more conscious of the
expectations set by the teacher, they may work better at completing the assigned
task, and they have a greater sense of the “bigger picture.” Finally, when rubrics are consistently
used and designed well, students feel a sense of guidance and direction.
The main components of a rubric are criteria, indicators, and rating
scales. The criteria are the main elements that are vital in demonstrating
exemplary work. The indicators demonstrate how the criteria meet at various
levels in the rating scale. Lastly, the rating scale assigns a ranged value to a
piece of work. The following example illustrates a
rubric that can be used with an art, social studies, or science
project.
Most performance assessments are
designed by having the end product or learner outcomes in mind (backward
design). Your goal is to create a
meaningful, rich learning experience that incorporates targeted subject matter
or key content standards into a quality performance assessment. This is no easy task and you will find that there is no one
right approach to accomplishing this. I
have found, however, that most performance assessments are born out of some
common beginning thoughts. To get
your assessment off to a good start, you might begin by focusing on:
This Is Where It All Comes Together There is no one, single right way to
put it all together. What is
important is that all the pieces do come together with a tight fit.
The best analogy that I have read thus far for creating a performance
assessment is the one used by Rogers & Graham. They explain that putting a performance assessment together
is done similarly to that of affixing a tire to a car. You must align the rim’s large center
hole and its accompanying smaller holes to the hub and threaded bolts on the
vehicle. Once this alignment has
been made and positioned just right, then you begin to fasten the lugs to the
bolts. It matters not which lugs
are affixed first. You may begin to
fasten each lug to its accompanying bolt but are careful not to tighten too much
until you know that each bolt has been properly aligned. Once the rim is secured to the vehicle, you will want to
complete the job by making sure each lug has a tight fit.
Picture this if you will - the hub,
which is located at the center, will represent the curriculum and standards and
the lugs, which hold it all together, will represent the component that make up
your performance assessment. The lugs will illustrate the
assessment’s: Overview
or Focus – This explains what students will
learn and do as a result of this assessment. Situation
– This is primarily for tasks that include situational events such as students
playing a role, taking a position on a given topic, or creating a situation in
which students are required to problem solve. Behavioral
Outcomes – Outline ways in which students are
expected to perform. For example,
are students assessing, interpreting, communicating, creating, or evaluating. Alignment
To Curriculum And Standards – How does the task relate to
the curriculum and/or learning standards? Be sure to qualify these connections. Learning
Events – Will anything lead up to the
administration of this performance assessment?
Have you planned any pre-event activities?
For example, if the performance assessment deals with an environmental
issue, is it possible to invite a guest speaker such as a local conservationist
to set the tone? Again, as I stated
earlier, try to involve the community – tap into the resources around you. Scoring
Guides – Have you created a quality set of
rubrics and possibly anchor papers? Plan
to share these with your students. They
need to see exactly what the expectations are through samples of quality work
and scoring guides. Rubrics can
also be created with the input of your students.
Anytime you can create an atmosphere of ownership with your students,
whether it is in the development of the assessment or in the rubrics, you
increase the chances of students taking a vested interest in what they are doing
and when this happens, students usually perform at very high levels. Lastly, Assess And Reassess what you have created! It is never too late to fine-tune your performance assessment if you feel that it will benefit your students. In fact, you may find that you will have to make adjustments along the way. You want to make every effort not to be caught in a situation where adjustments midstream need to be made but sometimes this cannot be avoided.
The
Rubric - Description
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