{"id":65,"date":"2013-01-24T14:04:01","date_gmt":"2013-01-24T19:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/melodyrussell\/?p=65"},"modified":"2013-01-26T08:49:48","modified_gmt":"2013-01-26T13:49:48","slug":"action-plan-collecting-evidence-of-observations-and-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cohort21.com\/melodyrussell\/?p=65","title":{"rendered":"Action Plan: Collecting Evidence of Observations and Conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Growing<\/a>
Growing Success – Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Onatrio Schools<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I wanted my action plan to be a service project for teachers at my school. I want to examine tools available to help collect evidence of observations and conversations as part of assessment and evaluation required by the Ministry of Education in Ontario. All of the members of this Cohort21 work in independent schools in Ontario. Any of us who teach high school courses know about the Ministry Inspections which occur every two years. At our school the focus of the last two inspections was around the implementation of the Growing Success document<\/a>.\u00a0 Although the inspection only looked into credit courses (high school) the Growing Success document applies to all levels.<\/p>\n

We talk a lot about assessment as, for, <\/em>and of<\/em> learning<\/em>. \u00a0We’ve had discussion within departments and across departments regarding how to classify various assessments, not to mention the breakdown of knowledge, inquiry, communication, <\/em>and application<\/em>\u00a0marks within the assessments. All of this is really just\u00a0one part of the document. \u00a0On the evaluation side of things, we hear a lot about employing “professional judgement” in coming up with a final grade — that is should not just be about the calculated mark from the weighted categories, but take into account information from Products, Observations, and Conversations (POC)<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>I’ve attended various conferences and we’ve had speakers come into the school to address the document as well as what ministry inspectors are really looking for when they sit down with teachers. One of the things that became clear is that the inspectors want to see evidence of all of the aspects of POC – this is sometimes referred to as triangulation of evidence of student learning<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Collecting evidence of products<\/strong> is fairly straight-forward since this is what we have always been doing.\u00a0A product, not surprisingly, is anything “produced” by the students items such as tests, projects, presentations etc. Essentially anything that would go into your mark book. We collects tons and tons of this evidence, including the KICA breakdown and whether they are\u00a0products used\u00a0for<\/em>,\u00a0as,\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0of learning.\u00a0<\/em>At my school\u00a0use Blackbaud \/ FAWeb for the tracking of our grades. By now we are all quite\u00a0comfortable with tracking our\u00a0assessments, using\u00a0as\/for\/of<\/em> and KICA<\/em> categories as well as reporting on these grades. I am not interested in looking at methods of\u00a0tracking products in this action plan.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"pocevidence\"<\/a>
an overwhelming list<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When discussions turned to how to track and record evidence of observations<\/strong> and conversations<\/strong>, I know that I began to feel a little overwhelmed and I wasn’t the only one. Observations are usually defined as observations made during class — for example how a student uses their time, how they worked with a partner during a lab, participation in class discussions etc. \u00a0Conversations could include a quick meeting after class, extra help, parent-student-teacher conferences, or just an informal discussion in the hallway. University of Alberta professor, Dr. Olenka Bilash<\/a> discusses triangulation on her blog<\/a>, although she is referring to ESL courses, much of what she has to say could apply to any course.\u00a0 Of course, we all do this triangulation all the time. We all know of the student whose test results seem out of sync from their level of understanding displayed in class or during extra help. When reporting their final mark, we would take this information into account. But the challenge I am interested in examining is what I say to the inspector who asks for evidence of those observations and conversations to back up my professional judgment<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When I saw the slide at right showing types of evidence of POC from a Student Assessment Summer Program on Differentiated Instruction and Assessment<\/a>, I felt a pit in my stomach. One glance at my desk, and you might realize that managing paperwork is a challenge for me. I spend a lot of time designing and grading assessments (products) and I just couldn’t imagine how I would organize and deal with more “evidence”. Observations and conversations don’t translate to a neat little mark in a spreadsheet, nor should they, that is part of the point. So how will I collect and track the necessary information. . . . that is what I plan to figure out.<\/p>\n

\"mydesk\"<\/a>
how do I handle even more “evidence”?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Action Plan: Collecting and Tracking Evidence of Observations and Conversations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Goals:<\/p>\n