Required Skills for Assessment Balance and Quality: 10 Competencies for Educational Leaders

1. Required Skills for Assessment Balance and Quality:10 Competencies for Educational Leaders Assessment for Learning: An Action Guide for School Leaders Chappuis, Stiggins, Arter, & Chappuis (2004)

2. 1. The leader understands the standards of quality for student assessments and how to ensure that these standards are met in all assessments. • Clear purpose • Clear targets • Proper methods • Appropriate sample • Control for bias

3. 2. The leader understands the principles of assessment for learning and works with staff to integrate them into classroom instruction. 9 Principles of Assessment for Learning • Teachers understand and can articulate in advance of teaching the achievement targets students are to hit. • Students are informed regularly about those targets in ways they can understand. • Students can describe what targets they are to hit and what comes next in their learning. • Teachers can transform those targets into dependable assessments that yield accurate information. • Teacher and student use assessment information to revise and guide teaching and learning. • Feedback helps students identify their strengths and know how to plan and improve their work. • Students are consistently active in the assessment process. • Students can communicate about their achievement and improvement. • Teachers understand the relationship between assessment and student motivation and use assessment to build student success

4. 3. The leader understands the necessity of clear academic achievements standards, aligned classroom-level achievement targets, and their relationship to the development of accurate assessments. “Students learn more when they know what they are expected to achieve. Many students come to school every day prepared to learn yet are not given a clear sense of what is expected of them. Those who cannot clearly see the target will have difficulty hitting it”. (p.203)

5. 4. The leader knows and can evaluate teachers’ classroom assessment competencies and helps teachers learn to assess accurately and use the results productively. 6 Essential Questions How well do teachers … • Attend to the purpose of each assessment? • Address and explain learning targets being assessed? • Select proper assessment methods for the content? • Assure accuracy of results? • Involve students in assessment? • Communicate results?

6. PD Plan must … offer teachers opportunities for continuous learning be focused on district/school goals address what we want students to know address what we want students to do focus on assessment methodology What do teachers need to know/learn? How to develop formative assessments How to use formative assessments Test & interpret individual results Promote peer assessment & self evaluation 5. The leader can plan, present, or secure professional development activities that contribute to the use of sound assessment practices. Learning Team Approach Research-based assessment content + adult learner process - leads to teacher professionalism, collaboration, planned over time - leads to connections between teachers, schools and districts

7. 6. The leader analyzes student assessment information accurately, uses the information to improve curriculum and instruction, and assists teachers in doing the same. Audit Standardized Assessments • Comparison between other schools, boards, province • Analysis of “groups” within the school • Further data analysis of sub-groups • Areas of improvement? Lack of Improvement? • Identify problematic learning targets • Identify problematic assessment methods • Data from feeder schools • Are different test results consistent? • Needs for improvement • Does our plan meet our needs? • What else do we need to know?

8. 7. The leader develops and implements sound assessment and assessment-related policies. Leaders need to have a good working knowledge of assessment policies • opportunity to set and communicate standards, expectations, and the priorities most relevant to student achievement. • can educate the school community • part of the assessment system – all parts connected working together • policies clarify purpose and context • reduce ambiguity • set clear expectations

9. 8. The leader creates the conditions necessary for the appropriate use and reporting of student achievement information, and can communicate effectively with all members of the school community about student assessment results and their relationship to improving curriculum and instruction. Communications of standardized testing to parents should include the following components: • Explanation of what is being measured • Assessment methodology • Scoring and timing • Sample tests • How to interpret results • How results are intended to be used

10. Assessment for Learning Assessment of Learning 9. The leader understands the attributes of a sound and balanced assessment system. Balance Knowledge targets Reasoning, skill & product targets Methodology Communications Local assessments v board/state assessments Instructional decision making Support resources & infrastructure Professional development Strategic planning

11. 10. The leader understands the issues related to the unethical and inappropriate use of student assessment and protects students and staff from such misuse. • Responsible for well-being of students • Promote interpretation, use and communication of results • Appropriate inferences about student learning that leads to proper actions • Avoid misuse, miscommunication and misinterpretation • Protect confidentiality • Parental consent • Security procedures • Make assessment accommodations consistent with IEP • Monitor testing and preparation • Ensure testing, results and review procedures are accessible to all

12. This presentation is adapted from the bookAssessment FOR Learning: An Action Guide for School Leadersby S. Chappuis, R. Stiggins, J. Arter & J. Chappuis(2004)