Newsletter Spring 2005

In this issue:

President’s Message

Dear Members,

As you will note in this newsletter, we have two exceptional workshops to offer you for the October 2005 Professional Development Day. Ms Janet Allen will be presenting in Coquitlam and Mr. Rob Rankin will be presenting in Kamloops. BCASCD continues to strive to offer quality speakers for your personal growth and which will ultimately benefit all of our students.

I would like to thank the educators in BC who have continuously supported our initiatives over the years. We have worked hard at trying to bring appropriate and timely sessions to various parts of the province to support the work all of us are involved in on a daily basis. Our focus for 2005/06 will continue to be on Literacy and Assessment, as well as building Professional Learning Communities at all levels.

It has been my privilege to serve as president of BCASCD for the past two years. I have enjoyed being President and working with such a wonderful executive who give tirelessly to this affiliate, so it is with some sadness that I hand over the reins to Ms Judy Robb, who will be the new BCASCD president for the 2005/06 & 2006/07 years. I know Judy and the new executive will continue to offer quality opportunities throughout BC.

I wish you all a wonderful summer, filled with time for yourselves, for family and simply time to take a deep breath and be reminded of the difference you make to children’s lives!

Sincerely,

Executive for 2005/06 & 2006/2007

see executive list on our 'about BCASCD' page

Workshops

January 26, 2006

Advocacy vs Authority in Education

A Dinner Meeting with Paul Shaker

The Power, Passion and Promise of Educational Leadership

by Leslie Langford, District Vice Principal,Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment, Abbotsford, BC

In late January, 150 educational leaders from across the region gathered at Newlands Golf and Country Club to hear Martha Bruckner president of ASCD. The theme of Martha's presentation was the Power, the Passion, and the Promise of Educational Leadership and it addressed our challenge and responsibility as educators to support the achievement of all students.

Martha called upon educators to use their power to challenge, their passion to lead, and to fulfill our promise to succeed. As educators, we have the obligation to challenge anything that hurts children or gets in the way of their learning. At times we may need to challenge our bosses, our school leaders, teachers, parents, peers, even our governments. Martha reminded us that we are determined to lead because we want to make a difference for our students, our schools, and our communities. As leaders we bring to the table the ability to relate to people, the drive to execute, the capacity for feeling ownership, and consistently high ethics. As educators we must keep the promise. If we do believe it is possible, we are really making a promise to succeed, to make a difference for each child. Improving teaching and learning for the sake of children is the driving force for action.

Each of the session attendees received a copy of Richard Sagor's book, Motivating Students and Teachers in an Era of Standards courtesy of the Ministry of Education. Throughout her presentation Martha referred to Sagor's work by asking the question, "What encourages humans to invest in difficult undertakings?". According to Sagor, it is the need to feel competent, the need to belong, the need to feel useful, the need to feel potent, plus the need to feel optimistic. So, can Sagor's theory help explain why change is so difficult? Might we struggle with change because our competency is threatened? Or is it our concern that we might no longer belong? Perhaps it is the worry that we won't be useful in the new organization? Or might it be related to a worry of whether or not we will be able to make a difference after the change?

Here are just a few highlights that some of the participants shared:

• Lessons from a skateboarder - "Why don't young people show the same commitment and expend the same level of energy in the classroom that they do on the street corner or athletic field? - We often try to figure out what is wrong with students. Perhaps we need to take a hard look at what is wrong about how we work with them."
• I was so impressed by Martha's close connection to the classrooms and the kids in her district. In her role as Associate Superintendent of Educational Services ( Omaha, NE) and President of ASCD, an international organization it is a wonder she has any time to be involved in the day-to-day routine of an elementary classroom. It was evident throughout her talk and slide presentation that she stays deeply committed to the students in her district.

Many districts took this evening as an opportunity to support their educational leaders by introducing them this passionate educational leader. The evening was a great success. The winning ingredients: an inspiring educational leader, a thoughtful and timely message, good food and grand conversations.

Assessment AS Learning: Student-Involvement

• by Jean Borsa, Director of Elementary Education, SD #73 (Kamloops/Thompson)

As teachers our goal is to have all of our students succeed at learning. Since all learners are in charge of their own learning, we can only provide them with compelling learning experiences and opportunities. The question becomes, “How can we help our students want to learn?”

Black and William (1998) and Chappuis, Stiggins, Arter & Chappuis (2004) demonstrate that letter grades, rewards and punishments, do not motivate all students. Instead, research shows that successes boost confidence levels so that inner reserves give students the impetus to take risks and try again. Involving students in assessment for learning, in record keeping and in communication about their own learning shows students how to build small steps of success and increases their confidence and desire to take risks to learn. Student involvement in assessment is assessment AS learning.

Students Involved with Classroom Assessment

Students can be partners in developing the rubrics, criteria or assessments to assess learning in any subject area. Such student involvement clearly identifies the learning targets and defines learning expectations so that students have a clear path to success. Students no longer have to guess at what counts or at what the teacher wants.

Some ideas for student involved assessment include inviting students to: provide feedback to the teacher about an assessment; provide suggestions on improving assessments; create sample assessment exercises; assist in devising scoring criteria; create scoring criteria on their own; apply scoring criteria to evaluate peer performance; apply scoring criteria to evaluate their own performance; and, compare how their own self-assessment relates to the teacher’s assessment of their academic success. Rick Stiggins’ (2001) book “Student-Involved Classroom Assessment, 3 rd Edition, has a wealth of ideas for student-involved assessment.

Assessment AS learning does not have to mean more teacher time spent creating assessments, marking, or providing written/oral feedback to students. Ask the students to create the questions that would assess the learning outcomes. Ask students to paraphrase each other’s questions and responses. Ask students to score each other’s responses to quizzes. Designate one or two students as observers and recorders during discussions, and have them note who responds to what kinds of questions and how well. Engage students in peer and self-assessment of performance.

Students Involved with Record Keeping

Students should also be involved in keeping records of their progress over time in a variety of ways e.g., criteria, rubrics, written feedback, oral feedback, marks, products, portfolios or self-assessments. Such student-kept information provides the students with evidence of their growth and change over time. It is tangible proof of what they have already accomplished and that further success is within reach.

Students Involved with Communication

Students’ abilities to communicate about their own learning and growth over time give them a greater sense of personal responsibility for their own learning. Articulating their own journey to success instills pride in accomplishment and leads to greater achievement. Students can be asked to discuss, or to write, about their own growth over time with respect to specific criteria. Students can keep journals in which they describe their learning, their reasoning, their understandings and their challenges or questions. We all know the power of student-led parent conferencing in describing student learning and next learning steps.

Summary

Classroom assessments have direct personal consequences for each student. By involving students and using classroom assessment AS learning we make assessment informative, rather than judgmental; we make students believe in themselves by helping them to experience learning success; and, we maximize student success for all students.

Student-involved assessment provides students with the capacity to monitor the quality of their own work during production, and to compare their own work to standards or criteria for excellence. When student-involved assessment is accompanied with immediate or timely feedback from the teacher, or peers, on how work can be improved, then such assessment AS learning builds confidence and lays out the path to improvement. Most importantly, student-involved assessment provides the teacher with invaluable insights into student learning and student needs. Assessment AS learning informs both the students and the teacher regarding what is needed next in order to improve student achievements.

Student involvement AS learning refers to anything we can do in our classrooms to help students understand learning targets (learning outcomes), engage in self-assessment, watch themselves grow, describe their own growth, and plan the next steps in their own learning.

Next Issue: Ideas to Engage Staff in Assessment FOR/AS Learning