Table of Contents

Part I: Definition of Assessment.......................................2 Assessment Beliefs Principles of Quality Assessment Assessment Outcomes Part II: Definition of Grading...........................................6 Grading Beliefs Principles of Effective Grading Rubric Examples..................................................8-9 Communication Plan for Grades Part III: Principles of Effective Data ................................11 Data Beliefs Communication of Data Part IV: Quality Lesson or Mini-Unit...............................13 Project Examples Assessment Expansion Blueprint Sample Data .................................................19 Sample Products Part V: References........................................................22

Definition of Assessment
Definition:
[Assessment] is used to find out what facts or skills have been acquired and the feedback it provides to help further learning is in terms of what has not been learned. (Harlen, 1997) It is the process of collecting information by observing evidence of student learning and drawing conclusions about what students know (Sailers, 2012).

Purpose:

Thus, the purpose of Classroom Assessment is to make immediate changes to benefit current students. (Hardwood, 1999) A process of collecting information conducted to improve educational programs, demonstrate program effectiveness and focus student learning. (James Madison University, 2012) The evidence of student learning [teachers] gather each day influences the most crucial instructional decisions. (Stiggins, 2004) Quality assessment can also identify students for grouping, special programs like Math and Science Center, and students who need extra help.

Types:

Formative assessment is defined as the process used by teachers and students to recognise and respond to student learning in order to enhance that learning, during the learning. (Cowie, 1999) While formative assessment does not always have data collected but answers the questions: Where am I now? Where am I going? How do I close the gap? (Sailers, 2012) Summative Assessment characteristics: it takes place at certain intervals when achievement has to be reported; it relates to progression in learning against public criteria; the results for different pupils may be combined for various purposes because they are based on the same criteria; it requires methods which are as reliable as possible without endangering validity; it involves some quality assurance procedures; it should be based on evidence from the full range of performance relevant to the criteria being used. (Harlen, 1997)

Assessment FOR learning

Assessment OF learning

Beliefs on Assessment
Personal Beliefs:
Assessment should be a tool to guide the teacher and students in their learning. It should be designed to give an accurate picture of what students have learned. This may cause more work on my part as the teacher and may mean using different ways of calculating grades for each student (Guskey, 2002).

How assessment will be used in my classroom:

to show what the students have learned to guide the teacher in instructional changes to report to evaluate program effectiveness to show students where they are to create many points for progress monitoring

How assessment will be NOT used in my classroom:

to make students feel inadequate to fill up extra time during the day to punish students for bad behavior

Principles of Quality Assessment

Clear Learning Goals:
Research confirms that learners are more likely to succeed when they understand the learning goals and see them as meaningful and personally relevant. (McTighe 2006) Students can help to set these learning goals to help create more personal feeling of responsibility over their learning. Marzano says this will help students make their own conections in the world in which they live (2004).

Research-Based Techniques:

In education, as in many other fields, valid research should be used to support assessment. Unfortunately, some areas of education have been turned over to the trial and error methods (Rubio, 2012). In these situations, try it and see what happens can be detrimental to the learning process. Prestigious educators such as Marzano, Chappuis, Guskey and Stiggins have performed years of research to back up their assessment techniques and current educators can learn from their peers and use those conclusions in the classroom. Assessment should measure important aspects of learning. It can be used to measure informally to guide future instruction (Leahy, Lyon, Thompson and Wiliam, 2005) or used to measure at the end of a unit to see how well students learned. These measurements are only worth collecting if something is done with them (Sailers). Students can use assessment to track their learning as teachers use it to improve their instruction.

Useful Feedback to Students/Stakeholders:

Feedback to students should focus on the task, should be given regularly and while still relevant, and should be specific to the task (Black and Wiliam, 1998). Providing feedback in student friendly language will help them to be able to use the important information collected by the teacher. ...the effectiveness depends specifically upon the quality and communication of the assessment feedback (Black and Wiliam, 1998). It is also important to make sure parents can understand the feedback being given. For this reason, many schools ahve a standard form of reporting this information. However, for the individual teacher, some extra feedback may be helpful to get the parents and other stakeholders on board, especially when the student needs help.

Outcomes of Assessment
Proficiency/Mastery:
Assessment can be used to help students reach mastery level. One study done over a period of 15 years with about 7000 students involved periodic testing and adequate feedback to help students reach mastery. Students took tests with the goal of scoring 90% or above. If they scored lower, students retook the tests to reach the goal. (Black and Wiliam, 1998). This use of assessment caused the students to reach higher grade point averages.

Diffentiated Instructions:

Can be defined as making space for meeting the individual needs of students (Wilson, 2009). Part of differenciated instruction is that teachers focus on processes and procedures that ensure effective learning for varied individuals (as cited in Wilson, 2009).

Struggling Students-

In art, we have the advantage of worktime where the teacher can take time to talk to each student and observe where they are on a certain project. If a student needs more time to complete a project, it can often be found in other class periods. This is why one way I will help struggling students is by allowing them to redo or make changes to any project by the end of the semester. While this creates a lot of grading for me, it makes space for students who may need more time or more feedback.

Successful Students-

Gifted and talented students are often left out of the equation in education because teachers are so busy trying to catch the other students up. Again, I will have somewhat of an advantage in art because students can work ahead or use more advanced materials. For example, students will need to learn basic drawing skills at the beginning of the semester. However, some students are very talented in drawing and may want to try more challenging subject matter. For this I could set up a separate still life with different lighting or multiple objects for them to attempt.

When my students do not get it:

Grouping with students who do get it Instructional Intervention such as reteaching Outside examples and resources from online artists Extra worktime to meet with individuals before or after school or during lunch They can always make changes before the end of the semester and resubmit a project

When my students get it the first time:

Make them peer group leaders Allow them to use more advanced materials Have them research new techniques in that subject Create opportunities for making the project larger or more complex Have them create their own version of a quiz on the material with an answer key

Definition of Grading
Definition:
A rank, quality or proficiency; a mark indicating the quality of a students work. (Oxford, 2012) A mark, letter, number or rank assigned to a score to convey quality or level of student work.

Purpose:

One of the most important functions of report cards and grades is to give families information on their childrens progress in school. (Jung & Guskey, 2007)

Types:

Letter Grades: Usually A, B, C, D, F assigned to a score. Most common form of grades in the United States. The system most parents understand. Score: Points gained out of possible points. Usually in number form as a ratio. Does not have a symbol assigned to it. Percentages: Found from dividing points earned by points possible. Out of 100% Usually not used on its own, but combined with letter grades.

Beliefs:

Grades should be based on the work the student has completed. They need to be easily communicated to all stakeholders, including students. Objective grades found from strictly mathematic programs do not necessarily mean fair grades (Guskey, 2002). Student behavior should be reported separatly from grades in a manner that can be tracked and help students improve in the classroom. In art specifically, the quality and time spent on work is an important aspect because talent is the willingness to spend the time (Bippes).

Principles of Effective Grading

Clear, Quality Standards:
When grades are not deliberately connected to learning, they provide little valuable feedback regarding students academic strengths and weaknesses, and can even be counterproductive (Winger, 2005). Creating clear standards that measure learning is the only way grades can be effective. This will be achieved through the use of rubrics (see page 8-9). Rubrics detail the expectations for each criterion (Wong and Wong, 2009). A rubric made specifically for each project/assignment, helps students remember what they need to do and can communicate to stakeholders th important aspects of each assignment.

Consistency and Communication:

While grades for each unit or each student may not be most effectively found through mathematic programs (Guskey, 2002), consistency in how teachers grade is still important. Teachers need to have consistent expectations for each student, while they may not be the same for each one, they need to make sense and be communicated to them constantly. Students should not be surprised in their grades. Constant communication to students, through progress reports can help keep students in the loop as to their grades.

Useful Feedback to Stakeholders:

Creating useful grading practices leads to useful feedback. While most parents understand letter grades, and most schools follow certain proceedures, teachers still have personal practices in how they grade. The important aspect to remember is that however grades are calculated, the teacher must be able to present valid reasons and support for that grade.

Rubrics
Grading Form Name: Hour:
Rate yourself Teachers rating Rate yourself 1-5 in each area. 1-2 = needs improvement, 3=average, 4=good, 5=excellent. Total your points at the bottom and add any comments for the teacher.

Criteria 1- Completed all parts of the project that we talked about as a class. Criteria 2- Followed all directions in class. Name and hour on the project and attached a grading form with the self evaluation complete. Criteria 3- Behavior: Did not disrupt class, respected others and the materials. Kept positive attitude and listened well. Criteria 4- E ort: Took time to develop idea and complete the project. Didnt rush, used classtime well. Came prepared and brought a pencil. Criteria 5- Craftsmanship: Well thought out, put together nicely and neatly. Clean and complete without rips, smears, stray marks or excess glue. Total points
Students comments:

Teachers comments:

+++ Behavior Time/Effort

Class time was used wisely. Much time and effort went into the planning and design of the mask. It is clear the student worked at home as well as at school.

++

Class time was used wisely. Student could have put in more time and effort at home.

Class time was not always used wisely, but student did do some additional work at home.

Class time was not used wisely and the student put in no additional effort.

Rubrics
CATEGORY Design/
Composition
Student applies design principles (such as unity, contrast, balance, movement, direction, emphasis, and center of interest) with great skill.

Color
Choices

Choice and application of color shows an advanced knowledge of color relationships. Color choice enhances the idea being expressed.

Student applies design principles (such as unity, contrast, balance, movement, direction, emphasis, and center of interest) with fair skill.

Sources of Inspiration

The student used 5 or more sources of inspiration (including sketches) and cited them correctly. Student has taken the technique being studied and applied it in a way that is totally his/her own. The student\s personality/voice comes through.

Choice and application of color shows knowledge of color relationships. Colors are appropriate for the idea being expressed.

Student tries to apply design principles (such as unity, contrast, balance, movement, direction, emphasis, and center of interest) but the overall result is not pleasing.

The student does not appear to be able to apply most design principles to his/her own work.

Creativity

The student used 4 or more sources of inspiration (including sketches) and cited them correctly. Student has taken the technique being studied and has used source material as a starting place. The student\s personality comes through in parts of the painting.

Choice and application of color shows knowledge of color relationships. Colors are, however, NOT appropriate for the idea being expressed.

Student needs to work on learning color relationships and using that knowledge in his/her work. The student used less than 3 sources of inspiration (including sketches) AND/OR and did not cite them correctly. Student has not made much attempt to meet the requirements of the assignment.

The student used 3 or more sources of inspiration (including sketches) and cited them correctly. Student has copied some painting from the source material. There is little evidence of creativity, but the student has done the assignment.

Communication Plan for Grades

Teachers role:
Communicate expectations in an effective manner (rubrics). Provide data collected to stakeholders and students. Be available to answer questions, clarify and defend grading practices. Stay updated on valid, quality research and be willing to adjust practices to improve them.

Students role:

Complete self-assessments honestly and frequently. Ask questions when requirements are not clear or results are not what they expected. Keep track of their learning through their own records.

Timeliness:

The most recent grades are the clearest idea of what students know (Guskey). Projects and assignments should be graded within the week of the student completing them. In this way, students get feedback quickly and know what to change so they do not continue incorrectly. Teachers need to communicate recent grades to stakeholders quickly and often through progress reports.

Communication with stakeholders:

Email, phone and personal meetings will be made available to stakeholders in order to get in touch with me if they have questions or concerns. The newsletter I will send at the beginning of the course will have all of this information for parents. Progress reports are sent through the school, but I may wish to send other reports such as if a student did particularly well on a project or if a student needs help behaving apporpriately in class. Honest and frequent communication will ensure that the stakeholders will know what is going on in my classroom and how much their students are learning.

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Principles of Effective Data

Purposes:
Lets the teacher know which instructional strategies are working Tells the student how they are progressing Measures how the program is effective in the class

Measures:

Demographic Data answers the questions: Who are our students? What factors outside the school may help us understand the data? Are there trends in the data for various student groups? What other information would be helpful? Program Effectiveness Data answers the questions: What processes are in place with respect to student learning? What are overall factors that may or may not contribute to these findings? What other information would be helpful? Acheivement Data answers the questions: What evidence can we collect about our students learning? What does the data tell us about which students got it and which students didnt get it? What does the data tell us about what students understand and what they dont? What other information would be helpful? (Retrieved from Multiple Measures of Data, Dr. Sailers)

Types:

Qualitative Dataobservable data, deals with descriptions Quantatative Datanumerical data, can be measured

Beliefs:

For data to be effective, it needs to be collected with a purpose. In my class, data that can be used would be based on how students used certain materials or techniques. With this data I can improve how I teach new materials and what my students learn from year to year if I have cohort data. I will collect qualitative and quantatative data regularly because as a beginning teacher I will need to see what is working and what needs improvement. *see page 19 for plans to use data

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Communication Plan for Data

Teachers role:
Collect relevent data and compile it in usable ways Communicate data to administration and parents

Student involvment:

Keep track of personal improvement data Answer honestly and to the best of their ability on assignments

Stakeholder involvement:

Parents need to be made aware of data to see how their student is progressing and how they relate to the class. Parents can make changes at home in order to foster student succes and data can help with those decisions. Administrators need to be aware of what learning is going on in the classroom so they can support their teachers. This helps them make program improvements.

Data in my classroom will be collected in the form of:

Projects Quizzes Worksheets Sketches Behavior

Data in my classroom will be reported in the form of:

Charts Graphs Written summaries Tables

*see page 19 for sample data and examples of written summaries

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Mini-Unit
Lesson Plan: Complementary Colors Grade: 6th Goals: The goal is to teach how to mix complementary colors in order to get different shades of gray. (Formal Summative Assessment) Objectives: The student will be able to identify complementary colors and mix paints to create at least three different shades of gray. Concepts: Primary colors-red, yellow, blue Secondary colors-orange, green, violet Value-lightness and darkness Complement-opposite on the color wheel, added together they make gray Tempera paint-egg based paint media Materials: palettes 6 colors of tempera (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet) brushes paper towel water cups soap heavy weight paper pencils Set up: Pass out plates palettes and brushes, water filled cups, paper towel and paper to each group or desk. Have the paints ready for each group but do not pass them out until ready to begin. Teaching for a 60 minute period: Time Activity Adaptations 5-6 mins Anticipation: ask students to Help them get to red, orange, name the six colors. yellow, green, blue and violet/purple. Review six colors Repeat after me, write them complements. on board for visual. Talk about what they know How complements neutralize from science about light. each other by light. 10-12 mins Instruction: demonstrate how Have students practice with the colors mixed together a pencil making darker and make a gray. Explain how lighter values to help them different values can be made understand. by adding more or less of a complement. They can paint a picture or make a value scale as long as each gray is visible. 1-2 mins Pass out paint and write Have a helper pass out paint names on back first! 30 mins Work time: Walk around the Keep the words on the board

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30 mins

5-6 mins

7-10 mins

Work time: Walk around the room and help students mix the complements to create the desired values. Clean up: Have an area of the classroom set aside for each students work to dry.

Mini-Unit

Informal Assessments: Do a basic walk-around and observe the values to check for light
and dark identification skills and for the effort they put into the project. THUMBS - (example) who remembers what the complement of violet is? Pick on someone to tell the class.

Have one student from a group collect all the paints and brushes to wash while others clean off the table. Closure/Time killer: Give Review the six color each student a colored card complements by volunteers face down on the desk (tell in order to keep it fresh as them not to look at it). Have they play the game. each student pick up the card and hold it to their forehead. If some students are having a They will then walk around harder time, ask others to and tell each other the name describe items that are the of the complement to the same color as they have on color on the other persons their forehead. forehead. Then the student will find the appropriate Review values by having colored circle on the wall and students identify things in stand by it. (This can also be the classroom with light and done with values by getting in dark values. order of no more than four values from lightest to darkest.)

Keep the words on the board for reference. Make sure the paint is staying on the paper.

Formal Formative Assessment:

Choose the complement: ____violet a. orange ____red b. blue ____blue c. yellow ____green d. green ____orange e. red f. violet Scribble with pencil the values shown here Light Medium

Dark

Ticket out the door (formal formative):

When using the paint, how did you make your gray darker? What did you do to make it lighter? *see pages 8-9 for self-assessment and painting rubric

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Mini-Unit Information

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Mini-Unit Information
Lesson Plan: Complementary Colors Grade: 6th Goals: The goal is to teach how to mix colors to create a complete color wheel. (Color Wheel = Formal Summative Assessment) Objectives: The student will be able to identify complementary colors and mix paints to create all the tertiary colors. Concepts: Primary colors-red, yellow, blue Secondary colors-orange, green, violet Tertiary colors-red violet, blue violet, yellow green, blue green, yellow orange, red orange Complement-opposite on the color wheel, added together they make gray Analogous-colors near each other on the color wheel Tempera paint-egg based paint media Materials: palettes 6 colors of tempera (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet) brushes paper towel&water cups soap heavy weight paper pencils scissors Set up: Pass out plates palettes and brushes, water filled cups, paper towel and paper to each group or desk. Have the paints ready for each group but do not pass them out until ready to begin. Teaching for a 60 minute period: Time Activity 5-6 mins Anticipation: ask students to name the six colors. Review six colors complements. Adaptations Help them get to red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet/ purple. Repeat after me, write them on board for visual.

10-12 mins

1-2 mins

Talk about what they know from science about light. How complements neutralize each other by light. Instruction: demonstrate how the Have students practice with colors mixed together make a tertia- crayons and how they are ry color. Explain how different hues labeled to help them undercan be made by adding more or less stand. of a color. They need to know that labeling puts the primary color name before the secondary name. Pass out paper and have them cut Have a helper pass out paint circles. Pass out paint and write names on back first!

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30 mins

5-6 mins

7-10 mins

Work time: Walk around the room and help students mix the colors and make sure they are labeling the hues correctly. Clean up: Have an area of the classroom set aside for each students work to dry.

Mini-Unit Information

Keep the words on the board for reference. Make sure the paint is staying on the paper.

Informal Formative: Do a basic assessment on the wheels to check for name identification skills and for the effort they put into the project. THUMBS - (example) who remembers what the analogous colors to red? Pick on someone to tell the class. Formal Formative assessment: Group the analogous colors (remember that some overlap): Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Write the names of the tertiary colors below: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Closure/Time killer: Give each student a colored card face down on the desk (tell them not to look at it). Have each student pick up the card and hold it to their forehead. They will then walk around and tell each other the name of the complement to the color on the other persons forehead. Then the student will find the appropriate colored circle on the wall and stand by it. (This can also be done with values by getting in order of no more than four values from lightest to darkest.)

Have one student from a group collect all the paints and brushes to wash while others clean off the table. Review the six color complements by volunteers in order to keep it fresh as they play the game. If some students are having a harder time, ask others to describe items that are the same color as they have on their forehead.

Review values by having students identify things in the classroom with light and dark values.

When using the paint, how did you make your red-orange? What did you do to make it lighter/darker?

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Assessment Expansion
Assessment Blueprint With MDE Visual Art Standards:
Type of Assessment Standards: MDE Visual Arts ART.VA.I.7.5 ART.VA.II.HS.7 ART.VA.II.7.2 Learning Target What will be collected? What will be done with it? Perform; Qual- Produce; ProjectRubric ity Craftsman- Perform; Color Wheel will colship Application and Graylect data scale on techniques Create drafts Create; Sketches Check brainstorm for having them completed Identify Evaluation Mini-Quiz- Points out zes of three; one point for each question. Taken as ticket out the door. Self-assess Analyze Self-assess Check rubric for having them completed Verb/Level Assessof Cogniment tive DeMethod mand

Formal Summative Formal Formative Formal Formative

Formal Formative

ART.VA.III.7.1

Formative Assessment Description and Action Plans:

Sketches- measure understanding of basic design concepts. measure behavior when they turn them in. Mini-Quizzes- measure understanding of lesson concepts. If they get the mini-quzzes they can move on to the project. If they almost get the mini-quzzes we can do a short review in groups or pair those who get it and have them reteach each other. If they do not get it we may need to reteach as a class and learn the concepts again before beginning the bigger project. Self-Assessment Rubric- measure how well they believe they did, how much effort they put in and if they have any concerns about their project they would like to communicate.

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Assessment Expansion
Assessment Expansion Name Allen, C Braise, K Chard, D Crane, J Dansen, O Diphine, H Drake, H Franklin, E Handson, A Harper, T Hillson, M Hook, C Nairin, M Mason, C Rohr, S Striker, R Tucker, W White, V Worsh, H Yacht, D Sketches Color Wheel GrayScale Mini-Quiz yes 4 4 3 yes 4 4 3 late 3 4 2 yes 2 3 3 late 1 2 2 late 3 2 1 yes 4 3 3 yes 2 2 3 late 4 4 2 yes 1 1 2 late 3 2 3 yes 3 4 3 yes 4 4 2 yes 3 3 2 late 2 2 1 yes 3 3 2 late 2 3 3 yes 4 4 3 late 2 3 2 yes 2 2 1 Ticket Out yes yes yes yes no no yes yes no yes no yes yes yes no yes yes yes no no Behavior +++ +++ ++ ++ + ++ +++ +++ +++ ++ +++ ++ +++ +++ ++ +

Conclusions from the data:

Four students who acheived 4.0 on their color wheels also received the full 3 points on the mini-quiz. This suggests that those who best understood how to complete the assignment, best understood or remembered the material. This is supported by the grayscale data because those who achieved 4.0 on the grayscale also anwered at least 2 of the 3 miniquiz questions correctly. Seven students failed to turn in their ticket out the door. From these students, four of them received one + or below on their behavior assessment. Also, six of these students turned in their sketches late. This suggests that sketches and tickets out the door are behavioral assessments and students who struggle in behavior struggle with turning items in.

What to do with this information:

Action Plan: The mini-quizzes can be taken during a class period before the color wheels and grayscales are due. In this way I can see who is understanding the information and who needs extra help so they can be successful on their final projects. Review questions as a class or taking time to answer individual questions during worktime will help. Where students fail to perform the apporpriate classroom behaviors, outside consequences such as lunch detention to finish their work may be necessary. In this case the behavior may not be affecting their grade directly, but it does have an effect because they cannot complete the bigger assignment without having these other materials.

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Color Wheel
This wheel shows the twelve colors that students will be expected to have on their wheel. They will be labelled as follows: 1.yellow-orange 5. red-violet 9. blue-green 2. orange 6. violet 10. green 3.red-orange 7. blue-violet 11. yellow-green 4. red 8.blue 12. yellow

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Grayscale
Students will be expected to create at least three of these values from complementary colors.

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References
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education, 5. 1, 7-74. Cowie, B., & Bell, B., (1999). A model of formative assessment in science education. Assessment in Education, 6. 1, 101-116. Grade. (n.d.). In Oxford English Dictionary online. Retrieved from http://oxforddictionaries.com/ definition/english/grade. Guskey, T. R. (2002). Computerized gradebooks and the myth of objectivity. Phi Delta Kappan, 83(10), 775-780. Harlen, W., & James, M. (1997). Assessment and learning: Differences and relationships between formative and summative assessment. Assessment in Education, 4. 3, 365-379. Harwood, E. M., & Cohen, J. R. (1999). Classroom assessment: Educational and research opportunities. Issues in Accounting Education, 14. 4, 691-724. Jung, L. A., & Guskey, T. R. (2007). Standards-Based Grading and Reporting: A Model for Special Education. Teaching Exceptional Children, 40. 2, 48-53. Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., & Wiliam, D. (2005). Classroom Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 18-24. Marzano, R. J. (2004). Building background knowledge for academic achievement: Research on what works in schools. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. McTighe, Jay; Brown, John L. Differentiated Instruction and Educational Standards: Is Dtente Possible? Theory into Practice44. 3 (Summer 2005): 234-244. Stiggins, R. (2004). New Assessment Beliefs for a New School Mission. Phi Delta Kappan, 86. 1, 22-27. Wilson, S. (2009). Differentiated instruction: How are design, essential questions in learning, assessment, and instruction part of it? New England Reading Association Journal, 44. 2, 68-75. Wong, H., & Wong, R. (2009). The First Days of School. Mountain View, CA: Harry K. Wong Publications, Inc.

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