Student Agency Through Assessment

This keynote will highlight the symbiotic relationship between student agency and the assessment cycle. Student agency, often succinctly described as voice and choice, is not a zero-sum game; rather, it is the result of an expansion that allows students to become meaningful decision-makers alongside their teachers before, during, and after the learning.

Next Generation Assessments: Assessing 7 Critical Competencies

As schools and school districts around the world begin to shift their curricular priorities toward developing 21st-century competencies, questions abound regarding how—and even if—we should assess these competencies.

This two-day workshop will highlight seven critical competencies (critical thinking, collaborative thinking, creative thinking, communication, social competence, digital citizenship, and self-regulation) and the assessment practices and processes that make their authentic development possible.

Nothing can be developed without assessment. While some assessment fundamentals are timeless, there are others that will need to be reworked or rethought to align with these 21st-century outcomes.

CONNECT & ENGAGE

First, participants will be able to connect their current understanding of sound assessment practices to the relatively newer goal of developing critical 21st-century competencies within their students. Additionally, there will be a multitude of interactive segments where participants will discuss (both in small groups and as a whole) their perspectives on how to effectively and efficiently approach the assessment of these critical competencies so that the claims of development can be substantiated.

LEARN

Participants will learn about six assessment tenets that serve as a timeless foundation for the assessment of 21st-century competencies. There will be a focus on understanding the intricacies and the nuances that underpin many of the critical competencies so that substantive details of student demonstrations can be used both to formatively further student growth and summatively confirm that students have developed the competencies as not just skills, but also default dispositions.

REFLECT & APPLY

Throughout the workshop, participants will be invited to reflect on their current practices and how they compare to many of the desirable ones discussed throughout the workshop. Extended time will be allotted toward the end of each day so participants can rework their assessments, criteria, and plans while having Tom available to answer questions and provide any necessary support.

OUTCOMES

Participants will explore:

1. The big picture of curricular reform and the ways of communicating that vision to all stakeholders.
2. Which assessment fundamentals remain essential and which will likely become somewhat marginalized or even antiquated.
3. The fundamental principles of performance assessments (including project- or problem-based learning) and how they must transform the assessment norms of every classroom, school, and district.
4. The practices and processes necessary to assess critical thinking, creative thinking, and collaborative thinking.
5. The practices and processes necessary to ensure that the assessment of critical competencies is both valid and reliable.

Handouts

Save paper and effort where possible!

For your convenience, and to support our efforts in being "green", all handouts/files posted here have been notated with an A, B, C or D indicating the following:

(A) hardcopies needed at workshop
(B) electronic version on electronic device is sufficient (for viewing during the workshop)
(C) required reading PRIOR to the workshop
(D) file not needed for workshop itself, but simply material of additional interest/reference.