Balanced Assessment: A Gifted Learner Support System

1. Balanced Assessment:A Gifted Learner Support System Office of Gifted Education High School Teacher Training Module

2. A thought to consider-- "Whether I liked it or not, informative assessment always demonstrated to me that my students' knowledge, understanding, and skill were emerging along different time continuums and at different depths. It became excruciatingly clear that my brilliant teaching was not equally brilliant for everyone in my classes. In other words, informative assessment helped me solidify a need for differentiation. “ (Tomlinson, 2007) Office of Gifted Education 2011

3. Session Goals • To explore the importance of creating a balanced assessment system to enhance and support gifted learner outcomes. • To identify the pieces of a balanced assessment system within a unit of study. • To consider the use of data in determining best practices for differentiated instruction. Office of Gifted Education 2011

4. KUDs – Know , Understand, and Do Enduring Understandings: • A balanced assessment system leads to high-quality teaching and deeper student understanding. • Balanced assessment insures that instruction meets the intellectual, social, and emotional needs of gifted learners. Essential Questions: • How can pre, formative, and summative assessment be used to shape the learning opportunities presented to students and promote rigor? • To what extent does a teacher use formative assessment as a measure of student understanding and to plan or modify learning opportunities presented to students? • How will I know the degree to which my students have gained understanding of unit goals and objectives? Office of Gifted Education 2011

5. KUD – Know , Understand, and Do Know: • The 3 types of assessment and the value of their use; • Preassessment can be used to gauge learning style, prior knowledge, and interest; • The importance of using data from a balanced assessment to monitor student understanding and to refine their stage 3 sequence of learning. Do: • Consider ways to refine a unit to reflect the principles of balanced assessment. Office of Gifted Education 2011

6. Thinking Like an Assessor • Ask yourself these questions: • What kinds of evidence do we need? • What specific characteristics in student responses, products, or performances should we examine? • Does the proposed evidence enable us to infer a student’s knowledge, skill, or understanding? Office of Gifted Education 2011

7. Pieces of a Balanced Assessment System Office of Gifted Education 2011

8. Here’s What! • Why start with the summative piece? Important Considerations: • Assessment as evidence of unit mastery • Preassessment chosen to diagnose • Formative assessment data used to adjust learning plans. Office of Gifted Education 2011

9. Here’s What! How does desired data inform preassessment? Important considerations: • Based on the summative assessment objectives • Preassessment data used when crafting a learning plan that will challenge gifted learners to work to their potential. Office of Gifted Education 2011

10. Here’s What! • How does formative assessment inform instruction and provide students reflective opportunities about their own learning? Important considerations: • Variety • Feedback • Alignment • Self-evaluation Office of Gifted Education 2011

11. So What? Let’s consider Stage One like an assessor. • What preassessment data will you need for this unit? • How will you use the data? • What formative assessments will provide you and the students with the feedback needed prior to summative performance? • How will your formative assessments complement the summative performance task to come? • How can the formative assessment provide both descriptive feedback and the opportunity for student reflection? Office of Gifted Education 2011

12. Putting the Pieces Together Office of Gifted Education 2011

13. Now What? Content Exploration: Unit design and reflection • Review stage one • Consider your summative performance piece • Outline the data you will need at the beginning of the unit. • What formative assessment tools can provide opportunities for assessor feedback and student reflection? Office of Gifted Education 2011

14. Return to Balanced Assessment Inventory Post-Session Reflection: • Reflect on perspective • Contemplate the big ideas of module Self-Assess: • Set a SMART goal Office of Gifted Education 2011

15. Final Thought “Our success in teaching for understanding depends on our design skills—our ability to design assessments that naturally raise questions and new ideas instead of telling students what we know, and assuming that they understand.” ~Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins Office of Gifted Education 2011

16. Work Consulted McTighe, J. And Wiggins, G.(2011). The Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High Quality Units. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)  Tomlinson, C. (2008). “Learning to Love Assessment.” Informative Assessment. Web. Office of Gifted Education 2011

17. Teacher Workshop Date: ___________Balanced Assessment:A Gifted Learner Support SystemName: _________________School: __________________ 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Office of Gifted Education 2011