Developing Expertise With Classroom Assessment in K–12 Science: Learning to Interpret Student Work. Interim Findings From a 2-Year Study

Conceptualizing and Exemplifying Science Teachers' Assessment Expertise

“…Gearhart et al (2006) studied assessment-related teacher professional development that emphasized the 'relationship between understandings of assessment concepts and facility with assessment' (p. 259, emphasis added). Instead of literacy, they referred to this relationship as assessment expertise, which is consistent with the view that teaching expertise involves applying knowledge to the particular teaching context, not just acquiring the PCK needed to teach.…”

Commentaries

“…It is well established that the quality of formative assessment in the classroom is a key factor in student learning (Black & Wiliam, 1998;Brookhart, 2004;Kennedy, Brown, Draney, & Wilson, 2005;Shepard, 2001;Wilson & Sloane, 2000). Teachers need feasible assessment strategies that capture the range of student thinking in the classroom so they can build discussions and activities on student understanding, provide students with useful feedback, and make revisions in instructional plans (Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall, & Wiliam, 2004;Cowie & Bell, 1999;Gearhart et al, 2006;Herman, Osmundson, Ayala, Schneider, & Timms, 2005;Russell, Qualter, & McGuigan, 1995). However, many of the assessments proposed by Smith et al capture student achievement only at milestones in the K through 8 progression, and therefore have limited capacity to capture student progress within a grade level, much less in the context of a specific lesson or lesson sequence.…”

Templates and Objects in Authoring Problem-Solving Assessments

“…It should be noted that, although we have focused on state educational standards here, what is important is that there be a pedagogical goal driving the design and use of the simulation whether it is set by the state, educator, designer, or student-user, and that this goal be explicitly stated rather than remaining an implicit or ill-defined notion (Gearhart et al, 2006). Next, the designer or design team must consider the cognitive demands that the simulation will place on the student.…”

“…Validity of inference must be considered when designing and using any assessment, including simulation-based assessment (Gearhart et al, 2006). For example, we are aware of a simulation that was designed to increase and test student understanding of dissolved gases in the blood.…”

“…Again, the learning and instructional goals of the teacher and the reason for the assessment should determine the type of scaffolding or questioning present within the simulation and the analytical methods employed to make valid inferences. The assessment methods must align with educational goals and objectives (Baker, 2005;Gearhart et al, 2006).…”