1. Student Learning Outcomes
Dylan Wiliam, pioneer of the use of assessment for learning, advocates that when teachers make student learning outcomes explicit and share criteria for student success, learning can substantially improve (Ahead of the Curve, 192). To this end, our school division made SLOs a focal point for teacher learning in the 2008-2009 school year. The following links provide resources for teachers in providing opportunities for students to reflect on their own learning outcomes.
What does it look like when the curriculum outcomes are made explicit for students and strategies are used to involve students in understanding their own learning? Here are some practical suggestions which are loosely organized around six strategies (some suggestions might fit in more than one category):
Outcomes are written in student friendly language.
Outcomes are linked to classroom activities.
Outcomes are linked to assessment and evaluation.
- SLO 6 This example from a Pearson math blackline master, shows how the curriculum outcomes are linked to each part of the assignment.
Outcomes are referenced before, during and at the end of the lesson.
- SLO 4 At the end of a lesson, students use exit slips to communicate their progress and any indication of support needed to the teacher.
- SLO 13 Use web based resources to communicate your SLOs to students and engage them with communication technology.
Outcomes are dynamic, not static. In other words, as learning progresses the understanding of the outcome develops more depth and meaning.
- SLO12 As the unit of study develops, this teacher shows how curriculum indicators are related to the outcome using a graphic organizer.
Students routinely use the outcomes in their learning--they are involved metacognitively in their learning.
- SLO 2 When outcomes are reached by the whole class, visual symbols are used to note this on a poster showing all the outcomes for a unit of study.
- SLO 8 Outcomes can be made available to students during seatwork to help them remember the relationship between their activities and the outcome.
- SLO 11 This example could fit many categories. It shows how students self assess their level of learning related to the outcome/daily learning targets, monitor their own growth and create a personalized study guide with respect to the summative evaluation which takes place after learning.
Want to share your tactics in making the learning destination explicit? Email your pictures or files to hall.david@prairiesouth.ca
2. Understanding Quality
There are several ways to help students understand what quality work looks like. Jan Chappuis explains that an effective formative assessment practice is the use of strong and weak examples of student work. Students come to understand the meaning of proficiency in regard to learning outcomes when they can assess samples that display student work that meet the outcomes on a variety of levels. An appropriate tactic would be for students to use rubrics to score assignments or test questions which would build an understanding of the rubric itself. This, in turn, would allow them to self-assess as they engage in their own activities.
Anne Davies suggested a four step approach to the co-construction of criteria with students:
- Groups of students brainstorm what they think are the expectations for a particular project, assignment, or performance assessment based on the student learning outcomes for that task. The student ideas could come from prior knowledge, a range of samples (both high level exemplars and lower level anchors) or from an analysis of the indicators/targets that are part of the outcome.
- The students would group together the brainstormed ideas or descriptions based on a common, unifying theme.
- Each group (criterion) is placed in a T-chart opposite the descriptions and is named based on the unifying theme.
- This chart is used, adapted and expanded as necessary. The descriptions in the T-chart could form the basis of the "proficiency" level of a rubric or other rating scale ssuch as a checklist.
Here is an excellent example of how the co-construction of criteria works.
3. Feedback for Learning
The most important aspect of providing feedback to students is to separate descriptive feedback from grading. Teachers should not grade all student work, but provide comments that allow the student to learn from making errors in a non-punitive way. It is the quality of the feedback that provides the best learning for the student. Here are some points to remember in giving feedback:
- Point out the strength in the learning, not in the individual. Some ways of doing this include:
- identify what is done correctly
- identify how a strategy or process is correctly applied
- highlight one quality feature of the work
- offer specific information for improvement
- identify a correction
- describe a feature or quality requiring more work
- identify problems with strategies or processes
- give reminders
- ask questions
- feedback occurs during learning, not after summative evaluation
- emphasize partial learning, if present. If not, reteach.
- feedback cannot be a set of directions to follow...then you're doing the thinking for the student
- limit correctives to what the student is capable of completing
- there is no need to comment on everything
4. Student Goal Setting and Self Assessment
Chappuis (2009) explains that when students set specific and challenging goals for themselves, they should do so in regard to the curriculum outcomes--not to the attainment of specific grades. If the outcomes are met at a higher level, the grades will follow. Student goals should answer these three questions:
- What do I need to get better at?
- Where am I now with respect to my goal?
- How will I do this?
Goals can be set and amended at any time of the school year. They are most often set with teachers and parents input, with an identification of the supports needed to meet the goals and with discussion as to how the student will know if and when the goal is met. Goal-setting involves reflection, collection of information and understanding of standards. The following files might help in setting student goals:
6. Focussed Revision
Two suggestions right now, but much more in development!
- During a quiz, have students indicate on the test paper if they think they answered correctly
- test analysis: consider this
 template adapted from the work of Jan Chappuis
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