Professional Learning Goals

• Documented student learning using observations and conversations
• Utilized descriptive feedback in a way that improves student achievement
• Improved our assessment practices (formative and summative)
• Improved student understanding of assessment (learning goals and success criteria)
• Built student capacity for documenting their own learning
• Encouraged and implemented student choice and voice in assessment
• Harnessed digital technology to improve assessment for and as learning
• Used formative assessment to improve teaching practices
• Used various assessment types as examples of student learning and skill acquisition for reporting to parents
• Made assessment transparent for students and parents
• Provided a responsive environment for assessment by providing real-time feedback

Activities and Resources

Our team used release time to develop a plan of action in order to explore different ways of assessing students across the subjects, effectively and efficiently. Initially, we decided to focus on formative and summative assessment and then extended our focus to include descriptive feedback and student voice (communication) within formative assessment. This release time gave us the opportunity to collaborate with each other and to determine a course of action as to which apps to use and how/what to use them for. We were then able to compare student work samples and evaluate our own assessment practices.

In Grade 5, we investigated the concept of progressive portfolios using Adobe Spark Video, where students communicated and reflected on their mathematical processes through a data management unit. As well, we used Sesame for student-directed documentation of learning in a City of Ember unit focused on mapping, problem-solving, collaboration and coding using the Ozobot.

In Grade 8, we used Sesame to document our learning and understanding of various math problems which gave students the opportunity to post work samples as well as add in their own voice to the learning. Also, by using Sesame, students were able to self- and peer-assess using success criteria and offer each other descriptive feedback in order to improve or consolidate their learning. We also used Adobe Spark Video as a way for students to communicate their learning in math by explaining their process and thinking when completing open-ended math tasks.  This was done both in groups and by the individual.

In Grade 8 Language Arts, we chose to use the application, Blogger, during a novel study. Students engaged in online discussions by sharing their thoughts about the book, following co-created criteria for participation, communication and peer-feedback for improvement. Weekly online journals to reflect on social media were completed with Google Slides. This provided an efficient and timely medium to review students’ writing and provide feedback, which they could use in their journal entry the following week.

Book Resources:

Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School by Starr Sackstein

Digital Portfolios in the Classroom: Showcasing and Assessing Student Work by Matt Renwick

#FormativeTech: Meaningful, Sustainable, and Scalable Formative Assessment With Technology by Monica Burns

The Formative 5: Everyday Assessment Techniques for Every Math Classroom by Francis Fennell, Beth McCord Kobett and Jonathan Wray

Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan Wiliam

Hacking Leadership: 10 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Learning That Teachers, Students, and Parents Love by Joe Sanfelippo and
Tony Sinanis

Tech Resources:

iPads

Digital Resources:

Sesame, G Suite (Google Slides, Classroom, Blogger) Adobe Spark Video

Unexpected Challenges

• Navigating the digital tools available and choosing appropriate apps (free for students)
• Frequent updates to apps are difficult to manage within the board’s network
• Time (e.g., need additional days and scheduling)
• Alignment with current school practices (i.e., harnessing a growth mindset with regards to assessment with colleagues)
• Feelings of isolation in assessment practices within school
• Access to 1:1 technology
• Planning for tech with classroom (based on limited school resources)

Enhancing Student Learning and Development

Throughout the project, we exposed students to different types of assessment and explicitly discussed the differences between formative and summative assessment. We were transparent in our delivery and expectation of assessment for learning so that students would respond to the descriptive feedback provided. Students became more comfortable with assessment and their understanding of descriptive feedback in order to improve on their learning. Most students became more aware of how to document their learning and demonstrate their understanding in multiple forms (e.g., students independently used Adobe Spark Video to explain how they solved an open-ended math task). By the end of the project, students had developed a variety of ways of demonstrating their learning using digital tools so as to improve their achievement.

Sharing

Within our schools, we conducted lunch-and-learn sessions on documentation using a learning management system. This included samples of student documentation and digital work samples. We also shared our findings within our schools through school-wide staff meetings, grade-level team meetings and by creating a Google site (http://bit.ly/ReThinkingAssessment) that we could share with other educators in our superintendency. We also plan to propose and present our findings at the Empowering Modern Learners conference during the summer. Our research findings will also be used across the grades at the middle school level to transform formative assessment in the upcoming school year with a focus on digital assessment and documentation of learning.

Project Evaluation

This project has elicited some needed change within our classroom practices and students understanding of and engagement with assessment.

We were able to accomplish the following:

• Increased teacher knowledge about assessment (e.g., formative versus summative)
• Improved teacher discussion and reflection on assessment within the school
• Teachers continue to become more proficient and efficient in providing a variety of assessment and feedback to address student needs
• Ongoing support for teachers to intentionally plan and think about formative assessment in order to improve student achievement
• Exposure of students to different types of assessment
• Students, in the two classrooms, have become more comfortable with feedback and how to use it to improve their learning

This project was successful and continues to support the implementation of Growing Success within our schools by illustrating feedback, assessment and technology in the 21st century and how it can be harnessed effectively to improve student achievement.