Kingston Numeracy Network

Early Years:Rich Assessment Tasks

Nadia Walker20 October 2010

“Nobody ever got taller by being measured” (Professor Wilfred Cockroft, United Kingdom)

Favourite assessment moments ...

With a partner ...• Describe a favourite assessment

moment or task.

Consider: • What was the task?• Why it was so successful?• What information did you get out of it?

What is meant by“rich assessment tasks”?

Divide your page into two columns:• What I know ...• What I know now ...

Take a moment to jot down some dot points in the first column that capture your ideas about “rich assessment tasks”.

We’ll fill in the rest as we go ...

Place Value task ...

What numbers can you make using 6, 5 and 8?

NOTES:Do students record their answers

systematically?Do they know when they have recorded all the

possibilities?Do they include single digits e.g. 5, as one of

their answers?

Animal Legs(refer to your handout)

• “I went to visit Mr Brown’s farm on the weekend. When I walked past the barn, the top part of the door was shut so I couldn’t see the animals properly. But I could see 20 animal legs. What animals could have been in the barn?”

NOTES:Many students tended to focus on the drawing

of the animals rather than recording the number of legs for each, or altogether.

Discussion point

• Do all Rich Assessment Tasks need to be open-ended?

Assessable Moments in Numeracy: ACT

The project looked at how the results from a variety of assessment tools could be used to improve student numeracy outcomes.

The project was an ACT initiative in 2001 and 2002.

Head researcher was Alistair McIntosh.

http://activated.act.edu.au/assessablemoments/index.htm

What is a “rich assessment task”?Rich Assessment Tasks (RATs) focus on questions that

require open-ended and explanatory responses. Students can work and respond either individually or as a group.

 RATs allow students to demonstrate the breadth and

depth of their knowledge.

In developing RATs teachers need to be clear about the outcomes they want to assess. There is considerable benefit from being explicit with students about what is being assessed.

RATs follow a three-point framework. They are made up of • A closed question • An open question • An explanation or communication question.

Structure of a “rich assessment task”• Closed questions typically have a single correct

response. A very simple closed question can help focus the overall task.

• Open questions require a student to think more deeply and may have several (or an infinite number) of solutions. A response usually involves more than recalling a fact or reproducing a skill. Open questions give students the opportunity to respond at their own level and in their own way.

• Explanation or communication questions ask a student to describe how or why they gave their response. This can provide insights into how a student is thinking. This can help the teacher identify students’ partial- or mis-understandings, something not readily available through some other assessment approaches.

Assessment information gained When used prior to a teaching block RATs can be used

effectively to:• Identify strengths and weaknesses for individual students • Illustrate the level of language they use to explain their

thinking • Highlight trends within the class, for example common

misunderstandings or difficulties • Identify class strengths and weaknesses.

This information can be the basis for planning further teaching activities.

When used after a teaching block RATS can: • Provide explicit information for reporting to students, parents

and other staff members • Indicate possible groupings within the class, perhaps for

short-term intervention or extension • Add to information gained from other assessment tools to

provide a more comprehensive view of student performance.

Benefits of Rich Assessment Tasks• Are flexible; the teacher selects the outcomes &

questions to be asked • Explore deep understanding • Identify clear learning outcomes • Work well with explicit scoring rubrics • Provide an overview of whole class achievement • Can be repeated to document student

development over time • Encourage risk-taking by both teachers and

students • Value explanations, deep understanding and using

errors as stepping stones for moving forward • Provide valuable opportunities in the development

process for collaborating with other teachers

Let’s look at some more examples ...SNMY materials provide great ‘rich assessment tasks’.

SNMY: Filling the Buses

A school is planning a bus trip to the swimming pool for school sports.

There are 489 students and 24 teachers at the school.

Each can hold 45 passengers. Everyone must wear a seat-belt.

• How many buses will be needed to carry all the students and teachers to the pool?

• Make a plan for the most likely way for the students and teachers to travel to the pool by bus. Show how many students and teachers will be on each bus.

• Sometimes, politicians and other educational policy makers believe that it is the act of assessment that will lead to improved learning, when in fact it is the action that follows, using the information gained from the assessment that is potentially most powerful.

Doug Clarke & Barbara Clarke

Rich assessment tasks:

• connect naturally with what has been taught • address a range of outcomes in the one task • are time efficient and manageable • allow all students to make “a start” • engage the learner • can be successfully undertaken using a range of methods or approaches • provide a measure of choice or “openness” • encourage students to disclose their own understanding of what they have learned • allow students to show connections they are able to make between the concepts they have

learned • are themselves worthwhile activities for students’ learning • provide a range of student responses, including a chance for students to show all that they

know about the relevant content • provide an opportunity for students to transfer knowledge from a known context to a less

familiar one • help teachers to decide what specific help students may require in the relevant content

areas • authentically represent the ways in which the knowledge and skills will be used in the future.

• Don’t forget the video – equivalent fractions