Behind the Scenes: Building a Common Formative Assessment -- Elementary Math

Summary

In this video, a third-grade teaching team from Reagan Elementary reviews previous test questions to create a new math assessment aligned with Common Core State Standards. The team focuses on fractions, discussing the need to include concepts like numerator, denominator, and equivalent fractions. They emphasize the importance of open-ended questions and performance tasks for students to demonstrate their understanding. By analyzing past assessments and adjusting them for Common Core rigor, the teachers aim to create a comprehensive test that combines multiple-choice questions with performance-based tasks to better gauge student abilities.

Takeaways

• 📝 The focus of the meeting is on reviewing essential standards and creating assessments for fractions in line with Common Core standards.
• 📊 Teachers are analyzing previous tests and adapting them to meet new standards, particularly in understanding numerators, denominators, and equivalent fractions.
• 🔢 They emphasize the need to include both visual and numerical comparisons of fractions in their assessments.
• ✍️ Open-ended questions are seen as important for students to demonstrate their thought process, especially in the context of Common Core.
• 🏫 The team discusses using a performance task based on a school garden scenario, where students will partition the garden and write fractions.
• 📐 Different methods of partitioning are acceptable, as long as students demonstrate equal parts, allowing for multiple correct approaches.
• 📉 They decide not to include subtraction questions, as it doesn't address the essential outcomes they are targeting.
• 🎯 The goal is to create a balanced assessment, including both multiple-choice and performance tasks, to evaluate different skill sets.
• 📊 Scoring will be based on a 5-point scale, allowing for detailed feedback on multiple aspects of student performance.
• 🔍 Teachers plan to analyze student responses to pinpoint areas of difficulty, such as writing, justification, or understanding questions.

Q & A

What are two key aspects of a professional learning community as mentioned in the video?

The two key aspects are reviewing essential standards and building common, informative assessments.

What is the focus of the third-grade teacher team from Reagan Elementary in the video?

Their focus is on teaching fractions in math, specifically transitioning last year's teaching methods to align with the new Common Core State Standards.

Which Common Core standards are being addressed by the third-grade teachers?

The standards being addressed include understanding equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, and identifying numerators and denominators.

What is a change the teachers identified that needs to be made to their previous assessments?

They noted that last year's assessment lacked questions on identifying numerators and denominators and did not include open-ended questions, which are important for Common Core.

How do the teachers plan to assess students' understanding of equivalent fractions?

They plan to include questions that ask students to determine if two fractions are equivalent and to find different ways to represent the same fraction.

Why do the teachers consider adding open-ended questions to the assessment?

They believe open-ended questions are important for Common Core as they allow students to demonstrate their knowledge by explaining their thought process in writing.

What is the purpose of including performance tasks in the assessment?

Performance tasks help evaluate students' understanding through practical application, like drawing fractions or explaining how they partition a space.

How do the teachers plan to score the assessments?

They plan to use a five-point scale and separate the multiple-choice and performance task scores to better identify where students may need support.

What challenge do the teachers discuss about students' responses to performance tasks?

They discuss that students might use different methods to partition shapes, so the teachers need to ensure that students are assessed fairly based on their ability to show equal parts, even if the visual representation differs.

What advantage do the teachers see in separating scores for multiple-choice questions and performance tasks?

By separating the scores, they can better identify specific strengths and weaknesses, such as whether students struggle more with writing justifications or understanding multiple-choice questions.