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A Local Assessment Toolkit to Promote Deeper Learning
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A Local Assessment Toolkit to Promote Deeper Learning
Transforming Research Into Practice

Foreword by Jay McTighe



March 2018 | 512 pages | Corwin

Build assessments you can really use | Unlock the how, when, what, and why

Watch your system become greater than its parts by building local capacity through common language and deeper knowledge of assessment components. For years, educators have turned to the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrices (CRM). Now for the first time, the modules are packaged into one resource to help you evaluate the quality and premise of your current assessment system. 
Designed as a professional development guide for long-term use by school leaders, five content-rich, topic-based modules:

  • Offer field-tested, teacher-friendly strategies for local school test development
  • Can be used for individual or professional development opportunities
  • Allow for sequential or non-sequential use 

 
Foreword
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Author
 
Introduction
 
Module 1: Are My Students Thinking Deeply or Just Working Harder? Infusing Rigor Into Instruction and Assessment: Laying the Groundwork for Deeper Learning for All Students
1.1 What Is Cognitive Rigor?

 
1.2 Developing a Common Understanding of What Cognitive Rigor Is and What It Is Not

 
1.3 Seven Common Misconceptions About Rigor

 
1.4 Bloom Meets Webb: Origins of the Hess Cognitive Rigor Matrix

 
Reflections

 
1.5 Getting Started Applying Your Understanding of Rigor and Deeper Learning

 
 
Part 2: Support Materials for Module 1
I. A Workshop Plan for Module 1

 
II. The Hess Cognitive Rigor Tools: About the Tools in This Module

 
III. Strategies and Tools for Professional Developers and Teacher Planning

 
IV. Kid Tools: Resources for Use With Students to Support Deeper Thinking

 
 
Module 2: Is the Task Appropriate to the Text? Examining and Using Increasingly Complex Texts
2.1 What Makes Texts Complex, and Why Should Every Teacher Care?

 
2.2 The Thinking Behind the Tools in Module 2

 
2.3 Five Key Learnings From a Text Complexity Analysis Process

 
2.4 Understanding Quantitative and Qualitative Complexity Measures

 
2.5 Unpacking Overall Text Complexity Using a Qualitative Analysis Approach

 
2.6 A Detailed Discussion of What to Look for—Eight Qualitative Complexity Factors

 
Reflections

 
 
Part 2: Support Materials for Module 2
I. A Workshop Plan for Module 2

 
II. The Hess Text Complexity Tools: About the Tools in This Module

 
III. The Importance of Teaching About Text Structures

 
IV. Sample Instructional Strategies for Teaching About Text Structures

 
V. Sample Text-Based Assessment Strategies

 
 
Module 3: What Does This Test Really Measure? Designing and Refining High-Quality Assessments for Deeper Learning
3.1 What Is a High-Quality Assessment?

 
3.2 Assessment Purposes and Use: Formative, Interim, and Summative

 
3.3 Developing and Refining Rubrics and Scoring Guides

 
3.4 What Can You Learn From Analyzing Student Work Products?

 
3.5 Developing Anchor Papers for Performance Tasks and Anchor Sets for Calibration

 
3.6 Cognitive Labs: An Effective and Efficient Alternative to Piloting New Assessments

 
Cognitive Lab Part 1: Observe and Document—Done While Students Are Working

 
Cognitive Lab Part 2: Small Group Interview

 
Cognitive Lab Part 3A: Interpret Student Work Samples and Make Decisions

 
Cognitive Lab Part 3B: Collaboratively Interpreting Evidence in Student Work

 
3.7 Guidelines for Creating Task Validation Teams: Analyzing Technical Quality of Assessments

 
Local Assessment Cover Page for Task Validation

 
Analyzing Assessments for Technical Quality: Conducting a Task Validation

 
Reflections

 
 
Part 2: Support Materials for Module 3
I. A Workshop Plan for Module 3

 
II. The Hess PLC Tools: About the Tools in This Module

 
III. Strategies and Tools for Professional Developers and Teacher Planning

 
IV. Sample Formative Assessment Strategies

 
V. Sample Performance Assessment Design Strategies

 
 
Module 4: Where Do I Start, What Do I Teach Next, Which Supports Work Best? Using Learning Progressions as a Schema for Planning Instruction and Measuring Progress
4.1 What Are Learning Progressions (or Learning Trajectories), and How Can They Be Used to Scaffold Instruction and Guide the Design and Use of Assessments of Deeper Learning?

 
4.2 Four Interrelated Guiding Principles of Learning Progressions

 
4.3 Standards, Learning Progressions, and Curriculum: How Are They Related?

 
4.4 Zooming “In” and Zooming “Out” of Learning Progressions: Two Sides to the Same Coin

 
4.5 Applying the Four Interrelated Guiding Principles to Better Understand a Learning Progression

 
4.6 Providing System Coherence: Using Learning Progressions for Instructional and Assessment Planning

 
4.7 Lessons Learned—Using Learning Progressions to Guide Instruction and Change Assessment Practices

 
4.8 Looking for Increasing Rigor—by Observing Shifts in Teacher and Student Roles

 
4.9 Suggested Ways to Get Started Using the “Looking for Rigor” Walk-Through Tool #26

 
Reflections

 
 
Part 2: Support Materials for Module 4
I. A Workshop Plan for Module 4

 
II. The Hess LP Tools: About the Tools in This Module

 
III. Strategies and Tools for Professional Developers and Teacher Planning

 
IV. Strategies and Resources for Use With Students

 
 
Module 5: Is This a Collection of Tests or an Assessment System? Building and Sustaining a Local Comprehensive Assessment System for Deeper Learning
5.1 Rethinking What It Means to Have a Comprehensive Local Assessment System

 
5.2 Five Indicators of a Comprehensive Local Assessment System

 
5.3 Multiple Measures and Common Assessments

 
5.4 What Exactly Are “Common” Assessments and Where Do They Fit in the Local Assessment System?

 
5.5 Revisiting Alignment From a Systems Perspective

 
5.6 Interpreting Results From Local Assessment Analyses

 
Reflections

 
 
Part 2: Support Materials for Module 5
I. A Workshop Plan for Module 5

 
II. The Hess Alignment Tools: About the Tools in This Module

 
 
Appendices
Appendix A: Summary of Hess Tools to Guide Local Assessment Development, Instructional Planning, and PLC Activities

 
Appendix B: Instructional and Formative Assessment Strategies to Uncover Thinking

 
Appendix C: Troubleshooting Tips When Designing Assessment Items and Tasks

 
Appendix D: Sample “What I Need to Do” Rubrics—Science, ELA, Mathematics, Blank Template

 
Appendix E: Student Profile: Science Inquiry Learning Progression

 
Appendix F: Student Learning Progression Literacy Profile—Grades 7–8

 
Appendix G: Writing Persuasively Learning Progression (Strand 7, LPF)

 
Appendix H: LPF STRAND 7 (Grades K–2) Sample Lesson Planning Steps Using Learning Progressions

 
Appendix I: An Expanded Glossary for Understanding and Designing Comprehensive Local Assessment Systems

 
 
References
 
Index

"Karin Hess has a gift. She understands the complex and technical world of assessment, but she is able to convey concepts, techniques, and strategies in a way that is clear, practical, and right on target for today’s schools and classrooms. Her central focus on transfer is operationalized in practices that depend upon and promote cognitive rigor, literacy, and student performance. This IS assessment for deeper learning. But her greater gift—and the one offered to teachers and instructional leaders so ably in this invaluable resource—is her richly developed 'toolkit' of professional development modules. Karin Hess not only gives us the why but also the how and the what if around developing great assessment practices.”

 

Chris Gareis, Professor of Education and co-author of Teacher-Made Assessments: How to Connect Curriculum, Instruction, and Student Learning
College of William and Mary

”Using Karin Hess's tools and protocols ensured that our district curriculum, instruction, and assessments are rigorous and aligned with state standards. By having us focus on cognitive rigor and plan for challenging questions and tasks, we are better equipped to guide our students to challenging and higher cognitive levels. This also allows our students to transfer their thinking to non-routine situations. Thank you for guiding and supporting our vision!” 

 

Marcia Smith, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning
Springdale School District, Arkansas

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ISBN: 9781506393759
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