Assessment and Moderation Workshop - Bruce Moody

The main purpose of assessment is to gain evidence of the students achievement and next teaching steps. However, some people think assessment is about producing standardised numbers where we can create graphs etc from it.

Why standardised?  Data driven assessments became the focus and assessment was ad hoc. As stated in NZ Assessment Mathematics Standards:

“Assessments need to be meaningful for students.”

“Teachers need to choose a range of assessments that give their students the best opportunities to demonstrate achievement.” 

We are trying to get the best out of the students and report on that in a fair and accurate manner. Therefore, we need to choose a range of assessments that give students the best opportunity to demonstrate their achievement. Ensure it is fair and accurate. We cannot go back to ad hoc.

When a child freezes or has a bad day, choose a different day. A different question. 

Think about what is the best way for the student:

For 5 year olds, talk to them.

Some older students may want to write it down or maybe oral is better for them.

Relaxed situations show better maths.

Utilise structures we already have so assessment isn’t an intrusion or stressful environment.

It needs to show what they could do independently. (Stress - students will use the most primitive strategy. Encourage them to use 'Smart Maths.') 

Assess in small groups. It needs to be managemable for the teacher and learning should not stop just because you are assessing. Bruce had a whiteboard. "This is my number and this is your number and this is yours (all different)." Students couldn’t look across at each other and copy. They were relaxed.

Students can half their whiteboards - when students have finished they could move on to the next quesion on the other half of their whiteboard. Once again, every student's number was different.  

You don’t have to use the exact same questions as the assessment.

Use the math progressions by Bruce (use 'like' questions with the idea of the MATHS as being the focus. Use different context but maths has to be the same.). 

"Add your number with mine and see what that is.

You’ve got $36, you’ve got $78 etc and I’ve got an $8 bag of persimmons for sale. How many bags can you get?" There's no sticky beaking and copying but they are all doing the same maths.

Capturing evidence - take photos of their working out on a whiteboard or written on a piece of paper.

If they get it wrong and if I believe they can get them right because they've got it right before, come back in a couple of days. Do it as part of a lesson rather than making extra work.

Bruce advised that he wouldn’t assess three groups in one day.

Remember about using NEMP tasks and there are great problems on the TKI website.

Lester Flockton created this pyramid (based on the healthy food pyramid)

The yellow zone, if we get it right it, is the public face of the learning.

To capture evidence for a 5 year old, make it verbal, then annotate on a Google Doc (I asked questions like this and a tick chart of children who could answer this). 

Moderation:

We all have the same key progressions we can refer to. There are different ways of being able to do this. If we moderate and iron out the progression, it shows us what it looks like before we teach it. This also ensures teachers are on the same page.