Assessment processes provide information to parents, students, systems, institutions and other stakeholders and may be open to public scrutiny.  For accountability purposes it is the professional responsibility of schools and teachers to ensure that assessment procedures are appropriate, transparent, equitable and inclusive of all learners.

Assessment is the process of acquiring information and making judgements about students' learning.  The purposes of assessment include the following:

• to assist student learning related to outcomes,
• to make judgements about students' achievements,
• to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching programs, and
• to inform decisions about students' future learning.

Some people broadly distinguish between formative and summative assessment.

A category of graphic organisers. This category allows us to identify the attributes of things in a range of areas of study.

Authentic assessment is linked to a teaching and learning program that seeks to provide contextual tasks in a supportive environment so that the learner can be given feedback about their progress.

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A tool for categorising the level of abstraction of questions.  Bloom’s Taxonomy is used for teaching critical thinking skills.  Questions are categorised according to six levels: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

An instructional tactic used for group problem-solving that involves the spontaneous contribution of ideas from all members of the group.

Uses inductive thinking and is a tactic in which ideas or responses are grouped or 'bundled' into various categories decided upon by the students or participants.

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A card cluster is an effective way of grouping ideas. Individually or in groups, students write one idea on a card. The cards are grouped to create a visual display.

A category of graphic organisers. This category allows us to identify the cause or causes of events and the resulting effect or effects.

Cause and Effect diagrams are a type of graphic organiser that describe how events affect one another in a process.

The student must be able to identify and analyse the cause(s) and the effect(s) of an event or process. In this process, the student realizes how one step affects the other.
There are many models of cause and effect events.

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Questions that can be answered with a single word or phrase.  For example:  How many days are there in a week?

You can take a genuinely open question such as ‘Is racism ever a good thing?’ and use it to shut down the thinking of students by taking a closed attitude.  A teacher would do this by having in the back of their head the only answer they will accept. See Open attitude

Cluster diagrams (also called cloud diagrams) are a type of non-linear graphic organiser that can help to systematize the generation of ideas based upon a central topic. Using this type of diagram, the student can more easily brainstorm a theme, associate about an idea, or explore a new subject. Proforma

The focus is on listening, thinking, challenging and changing viewpoints within a safe environment in which students can take risks in their thinking. Logic and reasoning underpin ideas as each member of the community challenges the thoughts expressed by others.

A category of graphic organisers. This category allows us to compare the attributes of things in a range of areas of study and contrast their differences.
 

Comparison-Contrast Charts are for looking a two quantities and determining in what ways they are similar and in what ways they are different. First you look at the similarities. Then you consider the differences, making sure to indicate on what criteria you are drawing out the dissimilarities. Proforma

Concept maps are tools for organising and representing knowledge.  They illustrate concepts and the relationships between them.  These links are indicated by words that specify the relationship between two or more concepts.

Concepts maps provide a process for students to build their understanding by progressively adding information and increasing the complexity of the links.  They can be used for formative and summative assessment.

Concept mapping is a technique for representing related concepts in visual form.  A series of networks and nodes are used to explain the links between different concepts.

Cooperative Groups: A collaborative process using designated roles to ensure that all participants are working towards a common outcome. Roles may be negotiated within the group or allocated by teachers. Roles should be rotated ensuring, that over the course of a term or semester, students gain experience in developing a range of capabilities. Some possible roles are: M anager, Time Keeper, Recorder, Reporter , Material’s Manager, Interpreter.

Criterion referenced assessment is the performance of an individual as measured against a standard or previously established criteria rather than against performance of others who take the same test.

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Cycle Diagrams are a type of graphic organiser that shows how items are related to one another in a repeating cycle. Use a cycle diagram when there is no beginning and no end to a repeating process.

In making a cycle diagram, the student must identify the main events in the cycle, how they interact, and how the cycle repeats.
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Direct Attention Thinking Tools (DATT) give you 10 strategies for focusing your thinking in a more comprehensive, effective, and efficient way. The DATT tools create a framework for defining a situation. In turn helping to improve your ability to consider consequences before you take action.

A body of knowledge to which a particular set of principles, key questions and methods of testing assumptions are attributed.

Double Bubbles, like Venn diagrams, illustrate the relationships between two or more groups of objects that share something in common. Proforma

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DOVE Rules for Brainstorming
D efer judgment
Opt for original and off-beat
Vast numbers are important
Expand on ideas by piggybacking

Write the main idea on the lead-in line and supporting ideas on the branches of the ‘E’. Proforma.

The capacity to monitor both their own and other people's emotions and to use this information to guide their own thinking and actions.

Evaluation is the process of gathering, measuring, interpreting and using information to make educational decisions or judgements.  The term 'evaluation' is usually used to describe a reasoned judgement about the effectiveness of a learning sequence or a program.

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Graphic organisers can be used to help distinguish facts vs. opinions in a theme or text.

• Facts are statements that can be shown to be true or can be proved, or something that really happened. You can look up facts in an encyclopaedia or other reference, or see them for yourself.
• Opinions express how a person feels about something -- opinions do not have to be based upon logical reasoning.

A student can use one of these graphic organisers to help determine which parts of a news article, debate, or essay are facts and which are opinions. This is a useful tool for developing critical thinking skills.

A particular type of concept map which is often used to demonstrate cause and effect.  Proforma.

This strategy help focus the attention of students as observers, while others model a process or product. Have some students sit centre-stage (in the 'fishbowl'), while other students observe the action from outside the fishbowl.

The student must be able to identify the first step in the process, all of the resulting stages in the procedure as they unfold, and the outcome (the final stage). In this process, the student realises how one step leads to the next in the process, and eventually, to the outcome.

Chain diagrams are useful in examining linear cause-and-effect processes and other processes that unfold sequentially.

Formal assessment is structured and recorded assessment.

Formative assessment is used to monitor learning progress during a learning sequence.  It provides continuous feedback to teachers and students, which enables them to monitor progress and identify and address errors in learning.  Because formative assessment is primarily directed towards improving learning, the results are typically not used for assigning awards.

This is a graphic organiser that places a future event in a circle in the centre of a document. Consequences from this first event are placed in a second ring of circles, then a third, and so on. The futures wheel identifies expanding consequences.

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Select one person to display the item. Select a second person to stay with the display and give a one minute overview while other groups come and listen. After two rotations select another group member to give the overview.

A Gantt chart is a horizontal bar chart which provides

students with an illustration of a schedule to assist with planning, coordination of, and tracking specific tasks in a project.

A significant topic, issue, concept or 'big idea' which provides depth and rigour, multiple connections and different perspectives required to support students' development of powerful understandings.  A generative topic is typically central to one or more of the disciplines, interesting to both teachers and students, accessible and supports inquiry-based approaches to learning.

A tool which organises information in visual form.  There are many different types of and purposes for graphic organisers. Organisers

Questions that aim to develop deep understanding through an inquiry mode of learning. They are open-ended, non-judgemental and provide a relevant inquiry context rather than content as a basis for the construction and selection of learning experiences.

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The 16 Habits of Mind were developed byArthur l. Costa, Bena Kallick.  A Habit of Mind is knowing how to behave intelligently when you DON'T know the answer. Read more

HOTS - Thinking that occurs at higher levels of abstraction.  In Bloom's Taxonomy it indicates thinking that takes place at the analysis, synthesis and evaluation levels.

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One of the two broad methods of logical reasoning - the other being deductive thinking.  Inductive thinking uses a 'bottom up' approach moving from specific observations through to broad generalisations and theories.

Teachers and students use informal assessment opportunities to make incidental and immediate judgements and provide feedback about student learning.  Informal assessment is frequently used for formative assessment purposes.

This is a plan for better meeting the learning needs of students. Student individual plans are particularly useful for students whose needs are not being met within mainstream educational programs.

An inquiry is a systematic investigation into an idea or issue.  Inquiry-based learning encompasses the processes of posing problems, gathering information, thinking creatively about possibilities, making decisions and justifying conclusions.

Inside/outside circles is a tactic that facilitates dialogue and builds community. It involves placing students in two circles, one inside the other, with each student in one circle facing a student in the other. A facilitator asks students to discuss a problem or a question. The student on the outside tells the student on the inside how they would attempt to solve it, then the outside person extends the thinking. The outside student then rotates one to the left or right continuing the discussion or starting a new discussion for a new problem. The facilitator rounds off the discussion at an appropriate time by asking for volunteers from the circles to share their understandings. Further information can be found in, Bennett, B. & Rolheiser, C. (2001). Beyond Monet: The Artful Science of Instructional Integration. Bookation Inc., Toronto. p160.

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A method of focusing attention and developing, then sharing expertise. It involves four steps:
1.  arrange co-operative groups and assign material;
2.  form expert groups by grouping students with the same assigned material;
3.  students return to co-operative groups and take turns presenting material to one another;
4.  individual and groups demonstrate mastery of the material.

A journal provides teachers or students with specific and ongoing documentation of process, ideas, feelings, thoughts, questions and comments about their work and the work of others.  A journal can be incidental or planned, private or shared, and provides evidence and insights about thinking and understandings.  Keeping a journal enables teachers and students to reflect on, expand and enhance their practice.

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K-W-L was created by Donna Ogle in the 1980s and stands for what I KNOW, what I WANT to know and what I LEARNED. Students brainstorm as a class or in groups what they know and list this prior knowledge (K). They set their goals for learning (W) and reflect or evaluate their learning (L). Proforma

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Simply defined as 'different approaches or ways of learning'.  Learning styles theory recognises that individuals have preferences for different types of thinking processes and this affects their learning behaviour.  The challenge for educators is to address and apply different learning styles in the classroom. Overview document

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Matrix diagrams are a type of graphic organiser that condense and organise data about multiple traits associated with many items or topics. Charts can be used to show attributes of items, to compare and contrast topics, and to evaluate information.

For example, a chart can be used to create a display of arthropod characteristics. Or a chart can be used to show key inventions, noting who invented them, when, where and why they were invented. Or a chart can be used to compare and contrast the major features of plant and animal cells or to chart plant growth.

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Simply defined as 'thinking about thinking', metacognitive knowledge refers to a person's understanding about their own cognitive processes - 'I learn best by... What I learned this week included..' This knowledge can be used to control one's cognitive processes.  Works well as part of the Journal process

Closely related to concept mapping, mind mapping is a technique for representing related ideas which radiate out from the one central idea.  Mind mapping is a useful tool for students to share prior knowledge, to establish connections between ideas and to list ideas quickly without judgment.

Howard Gardner suggests that individuals perceive the world through at least eight and possibly nine different and equally important intelligences - verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic, naturalistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and possibly existential.  The challenge for educators is to address and apply multiple intelligences for individuals in the classroom.

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This is a process of involving students in decisions about their learning.  When teachers negotiate with their students, they share their intentions with them and make it clear what the constraints and non-negotiable elements of the program are.  Then they enable the students to make their own contributions to planning the learning program. As in adult negotiations, this does not mean handing over control to one party or the other, but it does mean working towards outcomes that are acceptable to all.

Numbered heads is a useful tactic for organising groups and increasing individual accountability in group work. Individual group members are numbered off (#1, #2, #3) and are advised that they can be called upon randomly to share their group's thinking.

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List details for each sense in the appropriate column.

Proforma Senior

Proforma Junior

You can take a closed question and use ti to open p the thinking of students.  You know what the correct answer is, but you can take an open attitude with respect to the question. Closed attitude

Questions that cannot be answered by a single word or phrase.  For example: What is truth?  Open questions are useful for promoting student discussion.

A form of survey that asks students to agree or disagree with particular perspectives about a contested issue.

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A category of graphic organisers. This category allows us to order the procedures or proceedings of events in a range of areas of study.

Peer-assessment occurs when students provide feedback to other learners about their learning.  The feedback could be about the content, process or presentation of the work.  To be effective, peer-assessment should be structured, planned for and take place in an environment of trust.  Peer-assessors should be trained in the process, and protocols for constructive criticism established.

A performance view of assessment requires students to be able to demonstrate their understanding in new contexts.  This often requires students to take part in a culminating performance designed to exhibit deep understanding.

The graphic organiser guides the student through a four-stage decision-making process. The stages in the process are:

• State the decision that needs to be made.
• List possible alternatives.
• List the pros and cons (the consequences) associated with each of the alternatives.
• Compare the consequences each of the alternatives in order to make the decision (and/or evaluate the alternatives).

A cooperative learning strategy which allows students to think about, record and share their ideas around a key idea or issue. Placemat proforma.

Plus/Minus/Interesting, is a lateral and creative thinking strategy used in de Bono's CoRT Thinking program. It is used for affective processing to consider the pluses, minuses and interesting points felt about a lesson, concept or issue. Proforma

Portfolios are focussed and methodical collections of selected student or teacher work samples, products, reflective journals, performances, achievements and assessments gathered over time.  They may reflect agreed criteria for selection of representative samples and may include input from teachers, parents, peers and members of the wider community.  Portfolios may be used for evaluation purposes or for sharing as a record of student achievement.

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This graphic organiser helps to identify a problem, why it is occurring and what solutions have been attempted before reporting on the end result. Proforma

Careful questioning of students can encourage thinking behaviours in students.  Thought-Encouraging Questions

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An instructional tactic used to rank ideas in order of importance, with number 1 being the most important.

Relations Diagrams (Tree diagrams) are a type of graphic organiser that show how items are related to one another. The tree's trunk represents the main topic, and the branches represent relevant facts, factors, influences, traits, people, or outcomes.

They can be used to sort items or classify them. A family tree is an example of a tree diagram. Other examples of trees are cladistic trees (used in biological classification) and dichotomous keys (used to determine what group a specimen belongs to in biology). Tree diagrams are also used as visual in statistics to document the outcomes of probabilistic events (like tossing a coin).

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A rubric is a key that describes varying levels of quality from excellent to poor for a specific assignment, skill, project, essay, research paper or performance.  Its purposes are to give informative feedback about works in progress and to give detailed evaluation of final products.  All rubrics have two features in common: a list of criteria and gradations of achievement.  The criteria are chosen to define and guide the teaching and learning.  Rubrics can be constructed by teachers or collaboratively by students and teachers.  Statistical analysis can be used to ensure that teachers can distinguish between the specified levels of performance. Samples

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Scaffolding is a teaching strategy which provides students with specific support to accomplish tasks and develop understanding that they would not be able to manage on their own.  The teacher provides temporary supporting structures at particular points in the learning process.  Over time, support is withdrawn and responsibility for learning gradually shifts to the learner.

Scientific inquiry method refers to the way scientists investigate the natural and constructed world and propose explanations for their findings based on the evidence derived from their work.

Self-assessment occurs when the learner assesses her or his own work.

List details (pictorially, as appropriate to the student) for each sense in the appropriate column.

Proforma

Single Bubbles are a type of graphic organiser that condense and organize data about multiple traits, fact, or attributes associated a single topic.

They are useful for basic brainstorming about a topic or simply listing all the major traits related to a theme.

For example, a single bubble can be used to create a graphic display describing all you know about dinosaurs (when they lived, what kinds there were, how big they were, what they ate, where fossils have been found, etc.) or a graphic display of methods that help your study skills (like taking notes, reading, doing homework, memorizing, etc.). Proforma

Dr. Edward de Bono used his expertise to promote more effective creative thinking and decision making. The 6 Thinking Hats is one such technique.

The main idea is to have the group only "wear one hat at a time" when considering a problem. The wearing of the hat is metaphorical. At any one time, everyone will wear the same colour, in other words, look at the problem at hand from only one perspective, the perspective indicated by the hat colour.

A Spider map (sometimes called a semantic map) is a type of graphic organiser that is used to investigate and enumerate various aspects of a single theme or topic, helping the student to organize their thoughts.

The process of creating a spider diagram helps the student focus on the topic, requires the student to review what they already know in order to organize that knowledge, and helps the student to monitor their growing comprehension of the topic. It also helps point out the areas where the student must investigate more (where the web is hard to fill out).

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Suspending judgement is a disposition that leads a person to consider a range of evidence or points of view before reaching a decision. In suspending judgement students and teachers reflect on their beliefs and assumptions and consider various perspectives when developing a point of view.

A framework through which strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are identified in order to make considered judgements on an issue. Proforma

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Bias can occur when a teacher uses criteria not intended to be judged in assessing students' performances (e.g. perhaps by awarding credit for neatness in a written task that was solely concerned with measuring problem-solving skills, and was not concerned with measuring neatness).  Other forms of bias include personal bias (judging different performances to be the same), and the halo effect (when a teacher's general impression of a student influences the rating of characteristics of the student's erformance).

In this activity a student is required to learn information to pass on to the other team members to ensure that the team has success at the task/game.  We tend to listen more carefully when we have to pass something on. Telephone variations

This instructional skill allows thinking time for students and teachers after a question has been asked and before a response is expected. It also includes thinking time for students after their response to encourage further thinking. Research has shown that the use of Think or Wait time increases the quality and length of the response. Somewhere between 3-10 seconds, depending on the group.

A cooperative learning strategy in which three group members interview each other on a particular topic.  Typically student A interviews student B, student B interviews student C and student C interviews student A.

This is a variation of the co-operative learning structure Think-Pair-Share. In Think-Ink-Pair-Share students use wait time to think about an idea or question, write down their responses, and then pair with a partner for discussion. Individuals return to what they wrote and change or modify their first ideas to reflect new thinking.

A co-operative learning structure. The teacher or facilitator gives one or two minutes 'wait time' for the students or participants to think about an idea or topic and then pair with a partner for discussion. After discussing with a partner ideas are shared with the whole group.

A think-board is a graphic organiser designed to help students think about ideas and conceptual understandings in a range of ways. The think-board encourages students to make connections and show what they know through mediums of pictures, stories, signs, and symbols. 

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The Thinker's Keys are a range of question starters developed by Tony Ryan. They are designed to engage and motivate students in divergent thinking activities and provide a framework for teachers when developing units of work.

The Thinkers Keys include:

• the reverse - name 10 things you cannot eat
• the what if.? - what if the sun stopped shinning?
• the alphabet - compile a list of words on a topic from A to Z
• the BAR - make an item bigger, add something to it, replace something on it
• the combination - list the attributes of two dissimilar objects. Combine all the attributes to make a single object
• the disadvantages - choose an item and list all of its disadvantages
• the different uses - find 10 uses for empty plastic yoghurt containers
• the prediction - predict what children will be like in 10 years
• the picture - draw a simple diagram and students work out how to link it to the topic
• the ridiculous - make a ridiculous comment that would be impossible to implement and then attempt to substantiate it.

Further information on this framework can be found at: Publications by Tony Ryan

Venn diagrams illustrate the relationships between two or more groups of objects that share something in common. Venn diagrams do not have to overlap. However examples that fit into both categories, overlap in the circles. Proforma

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Williams’ Taxonomy is an important model to use when teaching thinking skills. It is used for teaching creative thinking skills. Williams’ Taxonomy has eight hierarchical levels- Fluency Flexibility Originality Elaboration Risk Taking Complexity Curiosity Imagination. Read more

To show the thinking of your class/group when working on a topic use a chart or wall space to create a table of three columns headed Questions, Issues and Comments.  Students can use sticky notes or write directly on to it as they begin to ‘wonder’ about their research.

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A Y chart is a cooperative learning strategy for discussing a multifaceted issue. A Y is used as the organiser for students to brainstorm what a topic looks like, feels like and sounds like. Proforma

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For further 'edspeak' access a Lexicon of Learning provided by The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).