score level. For example, say a student acquires 88 percent of the possible points for the score 2.0 level, 50 percent of the points for the score 3.0 level, and 15 percent of the points for the score 4.0 level. Examining the overall pattern, the teacher then determines how well the student performed overall in reference to the scale. This is done by making decisions about the student’s proficiency moving from score 2.0 through score 4.0. The score 2.0 percentage is 88 percent, so the teacher concludes that the student obtained at least a score of 2.0 on the assessment. Next, the student’s percentage score for the 3.0 content was 50 percent. The teacher concludes that this is not enough to warrant an overall score of 3.0, but it is enough to warrant a score of 2.5. The teacher stops at this point. If a student has not provided enough evidence to warrant a score at one level, then he or she is not scored at the next level up.
2. Response codes: With this approach, each student’s response on each item is coded as correct, partially correct, or incorrect, as opposed to assigning points to each item. For more specificity, a teacher can use high partial and low partial in place of partially correct. After scoring individual items, the teacher determines the pattern of responses and assigns a score accordingly. For example, if a student’s answers are correct on all items of the score 2.0 section of the test, partially correct on two items of the score 3.0 section of the test, correct on the third item of the score 3.0 section, and incorrect on the two items of the score 4.0 section of the test, that student would receive a score of 2.5.
3. Flowcharts: A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents a process. Steps are placed in boxes, and the boxes are connected with arrows, leading one through a progression of boxes based on a series of answers to yes or no questions. Using a flowchart, teachers can easily, consistently, and uniformly score the assessments of the whole class. Teachers can use the flowchart in figure 2.5 to score an assessment using a proficiency scale.
Monitoring Element 5
Specific student responses and behaviors allow the teacher to determine whether this element is being implemented effectively and producing the desired effects.
• Students can explain what the score they received on an assessment means relative to a specific progression of knowledge.
• Students can explain what their grades mean in terms of their status in specific topics.
• Students propose ways they can demonstrate their level of proficiency on a scale.
Use this list to monitor student responses to element 5.
To monitor your own use of this element, use the scale in figure 2.6 in combination with the reproducible “Tracking Teacher Actions: Using Formal Assessments of Individual Students” (page 38). As with other proficiency scales, level 3 or higher is the goal.
The following examples describe what each level of the scale might look like in the classroom.
• Not Using (0): A teacher does not use assessments that address the content that is being taught.
• Beginning (1): A teacher conducts formal assessments of individual students and records their scores in the gradebook, but he does not frequently use those assessments to provide students with helpful feedback about their progress toward learning goals.
Figure 2.5: Flowchart for proficiency scale.
Figure 2.6: Self-rating scale for element 5—Using formal assessments of individual students.
• Developing (2): A teacher conducts frequent formal assessments of individual students and records their scores in the gradebook. She provides students with clear feedback about their progress, though she does not monitor whether students respond to that feedback with improved understanding of the content.
• Applying (3): A teacher conducts frequent formal assessments of individual students and records their scores in the gradebook. He provides them with clear feedback about their progress, and his monitoring of their assessment scores allows him to refine his classroom instruction for further improvement.
• Innovating (4): A teacher uses various strategies to conduct frequent formal assessments of individual students in order to provide them with clear feedback that will help them improve their understanding of the content. When her classroom observations reveal that one of her students seems to be struggling with the assessments, she seeks alternative forms of assessment that provide the student with different ways to demonstrate his understanding.
Action Steps
Use the “Tracking Teacher Actions” reproducibles that follow (pages 37–38) to monitor your implementation of each element in this chapter.
Additionally, visit the appendix (page 329) for the reproducible “Tracking Progress Over Time” (page 330), which helps teachers set goals related to their proficiency with each element and track their progress toward these goals over the course of a unit, semester, or year. Also, the “Strategy Reflection Log” (page 331) in the appendix provides a space to write down your thoughts and reflect on the implementation process for specific strategies related to each element. Finally, visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for both student surveys and teacher surveys, the results of which provide feedback about your proficiency with each element.
Tracking Teacher Actions: Using Informal Assessments of the Whole Class
The teacher can use this form to plan his or her usage of strategies related to the element of using informal assessments of the whole class.
Source: Adapted from Marzano Research. (2016). Marzano compendium of instructional strategies. Centennial, CO: Author.
The Handbook for the New Art and Science of Teaching © 2019 Solution Tree Press • SolutionTree.com Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction to download this free reproducible.
Tracking Teacher Actions: Using Formal Assessments of Individual Students
The teacher can use this form to plan his or her usage of strategies related to the element of using formal assessments of individual students.
Source: Adapted from Marzano Research. (2016). Marzano compendium of instructional strategies. Centennial, CO: Author.
The Handbook for the New Art and Science of Teaching © 2019 Solution Tree Press • SolutionTree.com Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction
