HIED 4010 - Assessing in secondary social studies
Module 1 - Overview of assessment. Where does it fit? What role does it play?
The purpose of assessment is often misconstrued to be one of singular purpose - to grade students. Although this is certainly a purpose of assessment, it is only one of many purposes. Assessment, when properly used: allows teachers to identify areas of strength and areas for growth among students (both as whole groups and as individuals); provides opportunities for teachers to give feedback to students aimed at not only improving student work but also enhancing understanding of core content, concepts, and skills; allows teachers to appraise their own instructional effectiveness; and gives teachers data to inform modifications to their instructional approach. The following 4-week module carries you through a workshop that overviews the assessment and evaluation process and helps illuminate the role that assessment plays in transforming classroom practice.
Week 1 readings and resources
Week 2 readings and resources
Week 3 readings and resources
Week 4 readings and resources
Module 1 assessments
Module 2 - Types and functions of assessments
What are the various types of assessments?
Your first task is to define these types of assessments. Assessment language can be overwhelming, but knowing what purposes each assessment type serves helps us to design a comprehensive assessment system. Before you start this module, find a definition for each of the assessment terms listed in the diagram above (you may use the notes linked immediately below to help).
Week 5 readings and resources
Access the link below then click on the "Types of assessment" tab. There you will find a list of various types of assessment, demonstrating the great variety of assessment options we have at our fingertips.
Watch the video below as an overview of how the various elements of assessment we've been talking about unite to form a comprehensive assessment system. Be sure to read the additional explanation in the text below the video as well.
Now that you see the types of assessment available to you and the functions of those assessments, explore some specific assessment strategies in the links below:
Week 5 check for understanding - respond to the following blog post
Week 6 readings and resources
Overall Module 2 assessment - due 10/4
For our Module 2 assessment, you will conduct a scavenger hunt of various types of assessments and share your findings with the class. Once you have located one example (in social studies) of each type of assessment in the scavenger hunt, you will need to add your information to our class scavenger hunt by editing/adding to the googledoc linked below.
Module 3 - Designing quality assessments
Week 7 readings and resources - Designing objective assessments
View the lecture below. Following the lecture, go to the link provided showing test items released by NCDPI for USH1. Review the items and then complete the activity linked below (complete the word document, save as "OBJ-Assessment-YourName", and submit to assignment three in Bb).
Week 7 check for understanding - due 10/11
Week 8 readings and resources - Designing subjective assessments part 1 (essay assessments)
View this lecture first to gain a basic understanding of the use and design of subjective assessment items, particularly constructed response/essay questions.
Next, read carefully through the workbook below designed by Reiner, Bothell, Sudweeks, & Wood (2002) and read through the "constructing essay exams" resource page.
Finally, review the following essay rubric designed by NCDPI assessment writers and taken from the NC Social Studies wiki.
Week 8 check for understanding - due 10/18
Using the document accessed by clicking the link below, annotate the summative, subjective assessment presented on page 2 the document (use the appropriate boxes on page 2 of the document to address the stated questions). In your annotations you should address strengths and weaknesses of the essay assessment using the design features you’ve learned this week (be specific about any changes needed and why they are needed as well as about why things should remain as they are in the assessment prompt). You may handwrite or type your annotations on the document and then upload to Bb under the ASSIGNMENT link, "Week 8 essay prompt analysis."
Week 9 readings and resources - Assessing history with Document Based Questions (DBQs)
Week 9 Activity/check for understanding - due 10/25
After having read carefully and thoroughly the numbered DBQ samples above, complete the four step DBQ generalization activity linked below. A generalization is an inductive process where you take specific examples of information, make observations, look for patterns, commonalities, and differences, and then apply those observations and the patterns you identify to create universablizable and generalizable "rules" about the information. We are going to use this process here to help you identify the key elements and "rules" for constructing a DBQ assessment.
Week 10 readings and resources - Creating and using rubrics to evaluate subjective assessments
Overall Module 3 assessment - due 11/1
In this module, you have learned how to design various types of assessments and how to evaluate students using rubrics. For your module summative assessment you are to do the following and submit as ONE WORD DOCUMENT (all assessments and the rubric labeled as instructed below and included together):
1. Design two formative assessments to be used with your 4323 UAM from earlier in the term. You must have one objective formative assessment and one subjective formative assessment. Label the assessments based on the lesson with which they are to be used (e.g. "Lesson one objective assessment - British taxation of colonies"; "Lesson two subjective assessment - Journal entry of a New England farmer")
2. Design a summative assessment for your three lesson series presented in the 4323 UAM from earlier in the term. You must have at least 5 objective assessment items, one essay, and one DBQ in your summative assessment. Label this assessment using the unit title and Summative assessment and add after the two formative assessments above (e.g. "American Colonization Summative Assessment").
3. Now, create a three column/level analytic rubric that I would use to assess your work in numbers one and two above. You should have criteria for four categories: Formative assessment; summative assessment; objective assessment; and subjective assessment. Your stated criteria should illuminate the elements of effective assessment in each of the four areas. Use the template linked here to guide your work on this rubric.
1. Design two formative assessments to be used with your 4323 UAM from earlier in the term. You must have one objective formative assessment and one subjective formative assessment. Label the assessments based on the lesson with which they are to be used (e.g. "Lesson one objective assessment - British taxation of colonies"; "Lesson two subjective assessment - Journal entry of a New England farmer")
2. Design a summative assessment for your three lesson series presented in the 4323 UAM from earlier in the term. You must have at least 5 objective assessment items, one essay, and one DBQ in your summative assessment. Label this assessment using the unit title and Summative assessment and add after the two formative assessments above (e.g. "American Colonization Summative Assessment").
3. Now, create a three column/level analytic rubric that I would use to assess your work in numbers one and two above. You should have criteria for four categories: Formative assessment; summative assessment; objective assessment; and subjective assessment. Your stated criteria should illuminate the elements of effective assessment in each of the four areas. Use the template linked here to guide your work on this rubric.
Module 4 - Using assessment data
Week 11 readings and resources - The homework and grade book questions
Week 11 check for understanding - due 11/8
After viewing the videos above, participate in the online discussion linked below. This is an ongoing conversation, so do not be "one and done." You should return here and keep the discussion alive throughout the week.
Week 12 readings and resources - Use this week to work on your PLC assessment data chart for the retreat and to design/revise your unit documents for ISLES-S 3 (HIED 4323). Continue to comment on the discussion from last week as well.
Week 13 readings and resources - Providing students with meaningful feedback
Week 13 check for understanding - due by 11:59 pm on Tuesday 11/24
Complete the activity linked below and submit to Bb by 11:59 pm on Tuesday 11/24.
NOTE: As you complete the ISLES-S 3 activity (planning and delivering a lesson in your senior I internship) in HIED 4323, you should be designing an assessment that you will use in conjunction with that lesson. This can be an informal or formal assessment, but you must collect some sort of assessment data in the lesson. You will present that assessment, provide three copies of student work on the assessment with your feedback, will analyze that data, and will discuss how you will use the assessment data to reflect on your practice. This will serve as the Course summative assessment due on 12/13 (see below). Please be aware of what you need to do now so that you can create and collect the proper documents during ISLES-S 3.
Week 14 readings and resources - Providing feedback and using data (readings only this week)
Review: According to SCALE, the following are expectations demonstrating effective and appropriate feedback on student work. Effective and appropriate feedback:
1. is specific
2. addresses both strengths AND needs related to the learning objectives
3. provides the student with a strategy to address an individual learning need
4. makes connections to prior learning or experience to help student improve learning
5. is used to support students to understand and use the feedback on their strengths AND weaknesses related to the learning objectives
There are many ways to use feedback to begin to compile data that can improve instruction. Below are some links that will help you begin to understand some ways to compile and use data.
1. is specific
2. addresses both strengths AND needs related to the learning objectives
3. provides the student with a strategy to address an individual learning need
4. makes connections to prior learning or experience to help student improve learning
5. is used to support students to understand and use the feedback on their strengths AND weaknesses related to the learning objectives
There are many ways to use feedback to begin to compile data that can improve instruction. Below are some links that will help you begin to understand some ways to compile and use data.
Week 15 readings and resources - Using data to inform instruction
You have been teaching a unit on the genesis of Roman Civilization. You have focused on NC Essential Standards WH.H.2.1 and 2.2 (see NCES objective text below) through the first two days of your unit and decide to give them a quiz.
NCES clarifying objectives for this two lesson segment:
WH.H.2.1 - Compare how different geographic issues of the ancient period influenced settlement, development, growth and lasting impact. (e.g., flooding, Fertile Crescent, confluence, limited fertile lands, etc.).
WH.H.2.2 - Analyze the governments of ancient civilizations in terms of their development, structure and function within various societies (e.g., theocracy, democracy, oligarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, etc.).
Below is a copy of the content notes you used to deliver instruction over the two days. Day one was a lesson with a focus on pointing out the geographic location of Rome relative to the other ancient civilizations studied so far in the course and a presentation of the formation of early Rome. Day two was an overview lecture on the transition to the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire (you have planned on much more to be presented/discussed about those two periods later) with a discussion of the similarities and differences between the evolution of Rome and other civilizations you've studied (namely Egypt and Greece).
NCES clarifying objectives for this two lesson segment:
WH.H.2.1 - Compare how different geographic issues of the ancient period influenced settlement, development, growth and lasting impact. (e.g., flooding, Fertile Crescent, confluence, limited fertile lands, etc.).
WH.H.2.2 - Analyze the governments of ancient civilizations in terms of their development, structure and function within various societies (e.g., theocracy, democracy, oligarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, etc.).
Below is a copy of the content notes you used to deliver instruction over the two days. Day one was a lesson with a focus on pointing out the geographic location of Rome relative to the other ancient civilizations studied so far in the course and a presentation of the formation of early Rome. Day two was an overview lecture on the transition to the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire (you have planned on much more to be presented/discussed about those two periods later) with a discussion of the similarities and differences between the evolution of Rome and other civilizations you've studied (namely Egypt and Greece).
The link below represents a full graded class set of papers for this formative assessment (quiz) related to these first two days of instruction.
Your task for this module (record your answers to these prompts for reference later):
1. Read through the content notes and the quiz papers carefully.
2. Conduct an item analysis to see which questions were most missed and what patterns emerged (if any) in their missed answers.
3. Provide a graphic (table or chart) or narrative that summarizes student learning for your whole class. Be sure to summarize student learning for both objective WH.H.2.1 and 2.2.
4. What was specific evidence found in the student work samples and the whole class summary (#3 above) that show that students met the learning objectives? That students struggled to meet the learning objectives?
5. What were the qualitative (observed or demonstrated through subjective items) patterns of learning for the class? What were the quantitative (measured through objective items) patterns of learning for the class?
6. How did the feedback you provided to the students addresses their individual strengths and needs relative to the learning objectives measured?
1. Read through the content notes and the quiz papers carefully.
2. Conduct an item analysis to see which questions were most missed and what patterns emerged (if any) in their missed answers.
3. Provide a graphic (table or chart) or narrative that summarizes student learning for your whole class. Be sure to summarize student learning for both objective WH.H.2.1 and 2.2.
4. What was specific evidence found in the student work samples and the whole class summary (#3 above) that show that students met the learning objectives? That students struggled to meet the learning objectives?
5. What were the qualitative (observed or demonstrated through subjective items) patterns of learning for the class? What were the quantitative (measured through objective items) patterns of learning for the class?
6. How did the feedback you provided to the students addresses their individual strengths and needs relative to the learning objectives measured?
YOU MUST COMPLETE STEPS 1-6 ABOVE BEFORE GOING TO THE MODULE 4 ASSESSMENT BELOW
Module 4 assessment - due by 11:59 pm on 12/6
Based on your analysis of student learning presented in the task above, describe specific and targeted next steps for instruction to impact student learning for the whole class. Explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of student learning (in other words, what specific things did you see in questions 4 and 5 above that will lead you to approach future instruction in the way you have identified). Support your explanation with principles from research and/or theory. Submit your response to Bb as a word document with a header that includes your name and the title "Analysis of student learning - Rome quiz".
Course summative assessment - due by 11:59 pm on 12/13
The Module 4 assessment above required that you analyze data for the entire class, however, we must also be responsive to the needs of individual students. Below you will find two sets of documents. First, you will find the class set of quiz papers from module 4 - student responses and scores for a formative assessment on the beginnings of Roman civilization. You will also find a set of papers for a student we will call Susan. In this set of papers you will find Susan's quiz paper from a quiz on Greek civilization given earlier in the term, her quiz paper from the Rome quiz (the quiz you have the whole class set for), and two feedback rubrics from peers on Susan's National History Day project. This set of papers is provided to give you a sense of Susan's performance over time. Look over her papers carefully to see what patterns you can find in her performance across assessments.
Respond to the following prompts (please cut and paste the questions and then respond to each) in a word document and submit to the appropriate assignment link in Bb.
1. Use evidence found in the Susan's work samples to analyze her patterns of learning relative to (a) facts and concepts (b) inquiry, interpretation, or analysis skills and (c) building and supporting arguments or conclusions. Consider what Susan understands and does well, and where she continues to struggle (e.g., common errors, confusions, need for greater challenge).
2. Explain how feedback provided to Susan addresses her individual strengths and needs relative to the learning objectives measured.
3. Describe how you will support Susan to understand and use this feedback to further her learning related to learning objectives, either within the learning segment or at a later time.
4. Based on your analysis of Susan's learning presented in the task above, describe specific and targeted next steps for instruction to impact her learning. Explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of Susan's learning (in other words, what specific things did you see in questions 4 and 5 above that will lead you to approach future instruction in the way you have identified). Support your explanation with principles from research and/or theory.
At the top of your word document, be sure to put your name and "HIED 4010 Course Summative Assessment."
1. Use evidence found in the Susan's work samples to analyze her patterns of learning relative to (a) facts and concepts (b) inquiry, interpretation, or analysis skills and (c) building and supporting arguments or conclusions. Consider what Susan understands and does well, and where she continues to struggle (e.g., common errors, confusions, need for greater challenge).
2. Explain how feedback provided to Susan addresses her individual strengths and needs relative to the learning objectives measured.
3. Describe how you will support Susan to understand and use this feedback to further her learning related to learning objectives, either within the learning segment or at a later time.
4. Based on your analysis of Susan's learning presented in the task above, describe specific and targeted next steps for instruction to impact her learning. Explain how these next steps follow from your analysis of Susan's learning (in other words, what specific things did you see in questions 4 and 5 above that will lead you to approach future instruction in the way you have identified). Support your explanation with principles from research and/or theory.
At the top of your word document, be sure to put your name and "HIED 4010 Course Summative Assessment."