Resources

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

Content:

This PowerPoint presentation [4] introduces the assessment process, discussing the importance of assessment, standardized testing, authentic assessment, and rubrics. Sample rubrics are shown, and Web links to sample rubric sites are provided. The presentation then asks for group participation.

Description

The PowerPoint presentation, available for viewing in your browser [5], consists of twenty-three slides.

If you have Microsoft PowerPoint capability on your computer, you can download the PowerPoint file [4] and show it as a PowerPoint presentation in your classroom; you can also make changes, insert your own course information, and use it as you would any PowerPoint presentation. In addition, each slide in the downloaded and online versions contains Speaker Notes you can use as lecture notes when you show the presentation. If you do not have Microsoft PowerPoint, visit Microsoft's Download Center [6] to download PowerPoint Viewer, which will allow you to share this presentation with an audience but will not allow you to edit it in any way.

Uses:

You can use the HTML version online during class time if you have a computer and a presentation system with Internet access; use it as you would any lecture presentation material. Alternatively, download the PowerPoint file to your hard drive or CD-ROM for use on your laptop or a classroom computer; open and run the PowerPoint file just as you would any other PowerPoint presentation.

ACTIVITIES

1. Have participants read the article "Toward Genuine Accountability: The Case for a New State Assessment System [8]" and then follow these steps:

• Ask participants, "What did you think of the analogy Grant Wiggins makes between basketball and state testing? Explain."
• Have the class discuss the blueprint Wiggins suggests for state assessment, and ask participants, "Do you agree or disagree? How would you improve it?"
• Have the class discuss Wiggins's proposal for a state performance system and * the five guiding principles that underlie his proposal.
• Direct participants to take a position, either pro or con, for the proposal, create a PowerPoint presentation defending their position, and present it to the group.

2. Expert Interviews

Introduce participants to interviews with assessment experts and follow these steps:

• Divide the class into groups and have them read several expert interviews [9].
• Have the class discuss each expert interview, and ask participants, "Did you agree with the speaker? Why or why not?"
• In groups, have participants discuss the views of the interviewees with whom they most agreed or disagreed and explain their position.

3. Assessment for Understanding

Introduce the concept of performance assessment to the class, by having participants read "Assessment for Understanding [10]" and then follow these steps:

• Ask participants, "What did you think of the article?"
• Have participants discuss the section or sections of the article that affected them most, and ask them, "Why did they affect you?"
• Have participants take a position, either pro or con, on the assessment model, create a PowerPoint presentation defending their position, and present it to the group.

4. Measuring What Counts: Memorization Versus Understanding

Have participants read the article "Measuring What Counts: Memorization Versus Understanding [11]" and then discuss these questions:

• What three elements factor into the creation of a project?
• What are some of the benefits, according to the article, of project-based learning?
• What are recommendations for beginning projects in the classroom?

5. Project-Based Lesson and Rubric

The following activities are designed to give participants experience in creating a project-based lesson and a model rubric for assessing it:

Present Your Idea

• Write a reflective paragraph and present it to the group.
• List projects that would be likely to engage your students.
• Create a chart or PowerPoint presentation to present your project ideas to the group.

Design a Project and Rubric

• Choose a project idea.
• Choose a topic or question for the project-based lesson.
• Develop the objectives of the project and the tasks.
• Design a rubric for the project-based lesson.
• Decide whether the rubric is going to be an example of a teacher-created rubric or one created by both the teacher and the students.
• Create a rubric. (If word processing the rubric, it is suggested that you create a table within the document.)

Creating Rubrics

• Visit the page on the Chicago Public Schools Web site titled "How to Create a Rubric from Scratch [12]."
• Create a rubric using the site's suggestions.
• Visit the 4Teachers.org RubiStar tool [13].
• Create a rubric using the Web site's templates.

Present the Rubric

• Present to the group the rubric you have chosen to use.
• How does it fit the assessment needs of your students?
• How does it fit your assessment needs as a teacher?

Discuss Rubrics

• Discuss why it is a teacher-created rubric or one created by both the teacher and the students.
• What thoughts went into the process of creating the rubric?
• Why would one use rubric templates?
• List the pros and cons of using a template.
• When would you be more likely to use a rubric that did not employ a template?

SUGGESTED READINGS

Edutopia.org articles and videos:

• "Toward Genuine Accountability: The Case for a New State Assessment System [8]"
• "Assessment for Understanding: Taking a Deeper Look [10]"
• Assessment Overview: Beyond Standardized Testing [14]  
• "Measuring What Counts: Memorization Versus Understanding [11]"
• "Assessment: No Single Measure Tells the Story of Student Achievement [15]"
• "Appropriate Assessments: The Need to Reinvigorate Science Education [16]"
• "Geometry in the Real World: Students as Architects [17]"
• Academics Meets Architecture: Applying Math Skills to a Real-World Problem [18]  
• "Urban Academy: Where Testing Is Anything But Standard [19]"
• Urban Academy [20]  
• "Grant Wiggins: Defining Assessment [21]"
• "Studies in Success: A Survey of Assessment Research [22]"

External Links:

• Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators: "Assessment & Rubric Information [23]"
• Creating a Rubric for a Given Task [24]
• RubiStar [13]
• Interactive Classroom: Creating Rubrics Through Negotiable Contracting and Assessment [25]
• Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment [26]

Recommended Texts:

• Edutopia: Success Stories for Learning in the Digital Age [27]
• The George Lucas Educational Foundation
• Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Company
• Copyright © 2002
• ISBN: 0-7879-6082-9

• Tales of Thinking
• Paul Carreiro
• Stenhouse Publishers
• Copyright © 1998
• ISBN: 157110061X

• Assessment in Educational Reform: Both Means and Ends
• Robert W. Lisitz and William D. Schaffer
• Allyn and Bacon
• Copyright © 2002
• ISBN: 0-205-33269-2

• Meaningful Assessment: A Manageable and Cooperative Process
• David W. Johnson and Roger T. Johnson
• Allyn and Bacon
• Copyright © 2002
• ISBN: 0-205-32762-1

• Why We Assess Students -- and How: The Competing Measures of Student Performance
• James E. McLean and Robert E. Lockwood
• Corwin Press
• Copyright © 1996
• ISBN: 0-8039-6335

• A Practical Guide to Alternative Assessment
• Joan L. Herman, Lynn Winters, and Pamela R. Aschbacher
• Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development
• Copyright © 1992
• ISBN: 0871201976

• Educative Assessment
• Grant Wiggins
• Jossey-Bass
• Copyright © 1998
• ISBN: 0-7879-0848-7