Module 1
Cultivating Student-Centered Assessment Systems
In this module, we model cultivating a caring culture where our work together can thrive and grow. Our work begins with developing a vision for science learning and student performance. This vision is our guiding light throughout the remainder of the Toolkit. We refine our vision by considering what our vision communicates to others, we develop values statements to support our vision, and then we deeply center our thinking and our work around our students. We generate some initial ideas about places in our local system where we see opportunities and develop goals for our work.
"There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about."
– Margaret J. Wheatley
Participant agendas, blank tools, and examples are included below.
1.1 What is our vision for science learning and student performance?
In this session, we come together as a community of learners and begin to document our visions for science learning and student performance that will ground our NGSS assessment work going forward. We are introduced to the idea of assessment as a caring practice and consider what it means to cultivate a culture of caring in our work. We work from individual to collective team vision statements and consider our vision statement in relation to other visioning documents.
1.2 What does our vision communicate to others?
In this session we interrogate our vision statement to ensure it communicates the right messages about students, about learning, and about science to others. We identify values that support our vision and develop values statements to further tell our story about students and their science learning. We generate some initial ideas about the opportunities, challenges, and goals we have for our system in light of our vision and values.
1.3 How do students experience our assessment system?
In this session, we consider who may be left out of our vision for science learning and performance and why. We walk in the shoes of individual students to gain perspective and consider the environmental barriers that need to be removed to improve outcomes for students.
1.4 To what extent do the assessments in our system attend to features of equity?
In this session, we analyze a set of assessments and reflect on how these assessments do or do not represent our vision and student-centered assessment practices. Participants analyze their local assessment system through various lenses to further examine features of equitable assessments and equitable assessment systems. Teams begin to develop a working definition of equity and we are introduced to a framework that serves as the foundation for the toolkit tools and processes.