students to progress at their own pace through the levels of a scale.
Source: Adapted from Marzano Research, 2016ll.
Some of the strategies in table 1.2 involve making a distinction between the various uses of scores generated from a proficiency scale. To illustrate, consider the strategy using formative scores and the strategy generating summative scores. When using proficiency scales, these terms take on a clear meaning. Specifically, the time the teacher administers an assessment, as opposed to the assessment’s format, determines whether its score is formative or summative. To illustrate, reconsider figure 1.2. The first four scores in the figure are formative. They provide evidence to compute the final score—the summative score. In effect, a teacher can assign a summative score without actually using a specific summative assessment. (For a detailed discussion, see Marzano, 2006, 2010b.)
Some strategies expand the scope of what defines an assessment. Consider the strategy using different types of assessments. It describes three general types of assessments: (1) obtrusive assessments, (2) unobtrusive assessments, and (3) student-generated assessments. As their name implies, obtrusive assessments interrupt the flow of instruction. Teaching stops; assessment occurs. Typically, obtrusive assessments are pencil and paper in nature. Classroom teachers tend to use obtrusive assessments almost exclusively. Unobtrusive assessments do not interrupt the flow of instruction and commonly take the form of observations while students are working. Student-generated assessments are the most unique and potentially powerful form of assessment because students determine how they might demonstrate proficiency on a particular topic. Student-generated assessments help develop student agency because they give some decision-making power to those who are being assessed.
When the strategies in this element produce the desired effects, teachers will observe the following behaviors in students.
• Students can describe how they have progressed on a particular proficiency scale.
• Students periodically update their status on a proficiency scale.
• Students can describe what they need to do to get to the next level of performance.
Element 3: Celebrating Success
Providing scales (element 1) and tracking students’ progress (element 2) on those scales allow for the celebration of two types of success: status and growth. Status refers to a student’s score at a particular moment in time. Growth refers to the difference between the student’s current and first scores on the topic. A student grows when his or her scores on a scale rise over time.
Table 1.3 (page 16) lists the strategies for this element.
Table 1.3: Celebrating Success
| Strategy | Description |
| Status celebration | The teacher celebrates each student’s status at any point in time, including at the end of a unit. |
| Knowledge gain celebration | The teacher celebrates knowledge gain, which is the difference between a student’s initial and final scores for a learning goal. To do this, the teacher recognizes the growth each student has made over the course of a unit. |
| Verbal feedback | The teacher emphasizes each student’s effort and growth by specifically explaining what a student did well on a task. |
Source: Adapted from Marzano Research, 2016d.
The first two strategies in table 1.3 address formal ways of acknowledging students’ status and growth. The teacher might have celebrations, such as by ringing a bell, each time a student reaches score 3.0 on a proficiency scale. At the end of a unit, the teacher might also acknowledge all students who have increased their original score by 1.5 or more scale points. Students might simply stand and receive a round of applause from their classmates. Verbal feedback might involve private or public comments to students. The structure of a proficiency scale allows for multiple celebrations of both status and growth.
When the strategies in this element produce the desired effects, teachers will observe the following behaviors in students.
• Students demonstrate pride regarding their accomplishments in class.
• Students appear to strive for higher scores on a proficiency scale.
• Students say they enjoy celebrations.
Planning
The design question pertaining to providing and communicating clear goals and objectives is, How will I communicate clear learning goals that help students understand the progression of knowledge they are expected to master and where they are along that progression? The three elements that pertain to this design area provide specific guidance regarding this overall design question. Teachers can easily turn these elements into more focused planning questions.
• Element 1: How will I design scales or rubrics?
• Element 2: How will I track progress?
• Element 3: How will I celebrate success?
For a given unit, a teacher should think carefully about the content and select what is essential. This is not an easy task in an era of standards. It is a common practice for teachers to plan their instruction around a specific standard. For example, a fourth-grade science teacher might plan a unit of instruction around the following science standard:
Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation. (Achieve, 2013, p. 35)
This single standard has a wide array of embedded content. In fact, the following content is implicit in this single standard (Marzano &
