Building a Performance Assessment

With the assistance of the AAC (Alberta Assessment Consortium), we are developing our skills in using performance assessments in the classroom. To begin with, we decided to get some expert help in honing our skills at the school. Pat Sachs, from the AAC, has worked with us for two professional development days already, giving us planning templates and feedback on our work.

When we first began, we agreed that we needed to plan with the end in mind using universal design strategies. Therefore, we developed essential questions that needed answering in Science by looking at the Alberta Science curriculum, at the PAT (Provincial Achievement Test) years.

Grade 3:
How do living things grow in order to adapt to their environments?
What characteristics of rocks and soil make them useful in the community?
What decisions need to be made in order to create the best product possible?
What makes sound, sound?

Grade 6:
How can humans make informed decisions about their actions on a forest ecosystem?
How can we pose questions and make inferences based on investigated evidence?
How can we use what we know about air and aerodynamics to construct working flight models?
How does the position of the Earth in the universe affect humans?

Grade 9:
How can humans make informed decisions about their actions on ecosystems and the global environment?
Why is it important to understand reactions of matter in your environment?
How has the development of technologies contributed to the exploration and understanding of space and to the benefits on Earth?

We then unpacked the curriculum outcomes at the Grade 3, 6 and 9 levels by cutting and pasting them on a bulletin board so that we could see the alignment from the early grades to the later.

In our next professional development session, we decided as teachers which essential question we would focus on in the creation of a performance assessment. Because our classes are multi-graded and have a variety of levels within each grade, we decided that we would focus on a question that could be answered at all of the levels in the individual classrooms to some degree. As teacher of the Grade 3 Science curriculum, I chose to answer the question involving product creation. I felt that I could comfortably provide instruction at the Grade 3 level and tier it down for the Grade 2s and 1s, without changing the focus.

Once the essential question was selected, an assessment plan had to be created. The assessment Planning Template includes the Alberta Program of Studies Enduring Understandings, that is, what we want each student to learn at each level that is worth remembering past a test. It also includes the outcomes written in students friendly language, the list of evidence we will expect as a demonstration of the learning, and the enabling tasks or activities that we will have the students do in the process of answering the essential question.

Moving on from the assessment planning template, a performance assessment task needs to be created, a scenario that would appeal to the students and give them real life connections. For my Grade 1, 2, and 3s, I created a Santa's Workshop Scenario. Several of Santa's elves have retired since this last Christmas and he has just advertised for several new positions that are available. The new elves would have to demonstrate that they can create a variety of objects with a variety of uses from a variety of materials. The new elves would also have to explain why they chose the materials they did and the process of creating these objects.

Taking this scenario to the class, I put it to them that they had decided that they would like a job in Santa's Workshop. They liked this idea.

In order to be successful in getting the job, I told them that they would need to impress Santa and his head elf. They would need to:
- Ask questions and make predictions about how they might be successful in getting the job.
- Design an object that Santa would like to have in his workshop.
- Identify, select, and list the materials and tools they will need to create the object.
- Learn some building skills by building 3 practice objects.
- Create an object to present to Santa and his head elf.
- Practice safe construction techniques.
- Present the object to Santa and his head elf for inspection.

The performance assessment task has rubrics at each Grade level, from Grade 1 to 3, a check list of embedded tasks the students would have to complete as they are building the objects, with space for teacher observations, and a student self-reflection sheet, where the students would be asked to reflect on their performance of the criteria and embedded tasks.

The three practice objects are taken from the Grade 2 building things unit of study: a flower vase made from a paper roll, a napkin holder made from cardboard and/or plastic, and a gift box made from cardboard, plastic, and/or wood. With each object, the students would have to fill out a planning sheet and answer one or two reflection questions designed to assist them in improving their skill level in the next round. In the first practice, the students would be asked what they did to make their vase stable enough to hold a flower. In the second practice, students would be asked if they could do the project all over again, would they do it the same or differently, and if they would do it differently, what would they do? In the third practice, students would be asked to reflect on the materials and techniques they have used so far. They would be asked to present their object to their flexible group and/or the teacher, stating how they built the object, listing the materials they used, and describing the building techniques they learned in this section of the project.



Students will build the object or toy for Santa, will self-reflect and revise if necessary, and will present the object or toy for inspection. Students efforts will be documented and pictures will be taken of the students with their practice objects. Their final presentations will be recorded using video. If students' parents agree, these final presentation recordings will be uploaded to the school website for publication.

Did you ever have one of those days?

Things were not going right from the moment I left town. The roads were slick in places and the half inch of snow was blowing around creating limited visibility. Between the on route phone calls that staff couldn't make it due to inclement weather, the challenge of covering classes and supervision with remaining staff together with combating the virus that had been plaguing me since Christmas, I was feeling like it was becoming one of those days. You know, the one where you wished you could have stayed in bed and that someone would miraculously ride in and save the day.

My knight in shining armour did not arrive at the same time I did, so I went down to cover supervision for one, arranged to pull an educational assistant from two of our programs, met with a student who had blown up the day before, put off a parent meeting until after school, met my students in the breakfast room, sent off a couple of emails asking for help, and this was all before school. Thank the good Lord that our staff is flexible enough and care for our kids enough that they are willing to do just about anything for them.

I then went to class because I also teach half time. My class is a mixture of Grade 1, 2, and 3 students of various abilities, needs, and personalities. By lunch time, they had fixed me with love. One of the boys gave me a hug leaving the gym, saying, "you're so nice". One of the girls that I need to remind every few minutes to stay focused gave me a hug, telling me, "I love you." Smiles and hugs come from all directions just when you don't think you can do it.

Among other things, we had a spelling test, practiced our bumper words, created new words, read our library books, practiced being good listeners and good speakers during social, and worked on building a vase in Science. Even during Math class, students who usually don't want to even open their math books, had something to show me. We had to do without our reading assistant, but the students picked up and performed anyway. They were patient and kind to one another. Even when I had to send one of my grade 1's out of the gym at lunch time for pushing, she went quietly because she knew did a wrong thing and she recognised that I wasn't mad at her, that she just needed to leave.

I am so proud of the students and staff at my school. They work hard; they try to help each other and they care. Even those that sometimes give you grief still show up because they know you want the best for them and you'll try your best for them. By the end of this day, I said to myself on the way home, it was one of those days! Thank goodness!

"Bring on the Learning Revolution"

Ken Robinson is a wonderful speaker, funny, but truthful and he gets you to think...

I just watched his TED talk at http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html

He speaks of "creating conditions under which students flourish rather than creating students to fit the industrial model." His last quote from WB Yeats, "tread softly, for you tread on my dreams".

It's worth watching (under 20 minutes).

Compelling Case for School Learning Networks Part 2

Why would any school need to be networked and networking?

Learning is changing all over the world. All of what we know and can do is available on the Internet. More than two billion people are connected to the Internet and these two billion people are potential teachers to our students once they are connected to the Internet. The fact that many of our students are already connected to the Internet via their computers at home or the phones they carry around all day makes it impossible to ignore personal learning networks. As educators and as the people who are responsible for our students six or seven hours of their awake time, it is our duty to teach students how to use these networks well. We would also be remiss if we did not employ these networks as tools for our own learning and teaching. The Internet could possibly be the most powerful learning tool ever invented, should we decide to assist students in publishing their work online and enlisting the help of experts in the field who are also online. The possibilities are endless!

The Internet can help level the playing field, cutting out some of the barriers to learning that they might experience in a small community. In small rural schools such as ours, the students do not always have the same learning opportunities on site as in the large urban schools. Therefore it is critical that we access what we can online. Personal learning networks for teachers can expand access to education experts and provide sounding boards thus enhancing professional development. Using the world wide web expands learning and teaching for all. However, the professionals need to be aware of what is available for students and staff and be able to model ethical and responsible use of the Internet. We need to devote time to develop and use our own personal and professional networks in order to be good models to our students and to be able to teach our students how to develop and use personal learning networks online. Staff and students who develop a personal learning network, could seek out expert opinion and feedback on their own work, thus improving their own learning. Once established, these connections could expand teaching and learning on an ongoing basis, thus extending the learning beyond the school day and the school year.

Our students deserve the same learning opportunities as any other student. Devoting time and resources to developing personal learning networks for staff and students would go a long ways in solving the problem of inequity in education.

Can you see the possibilities?