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Developed by Carla Evans & Jeri Thompson
National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment
Transcript
Welcome to the Introduction to Micro-Course 2. This module will provide you with the information you will need to understand the intended audience, guiding questions, organization, and proposed uses of the four modules in Micro-Course 2 as well as how Micro-Course 2 relates to the modules in Micro-Course 1. Both micro-courses focus on learning acceleration using formative assessment processes in the classroom and were created by the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence and the Center for Assessment.
Micro-Course 2 is specifically designed for experienced K-12 classroom educators or for those who have completed Micro-Course 1 and want additional training or to go deeper into concepts related to formative assessment processes.
Micro-Course 2 is designed around guiding questions that are often asked by educators such as:
How do I provide feedback that moves student learning forward?
How do I clarify, share, and help students to understand the unit and lesson learning goals and success criteria?
How do I activate students as learning resources for one another?
How do I activate students as owners of their own learning?
The micro-course includes four modules. The first module begins with an overview of the formative assessment process and serves as an advanced introduction to key concepts for educators. Module 2 addresses how to clarify, share, and help students to understand the learning intentions and success criteria for a unit and lesson. Module 3 focuses on how to provide feedback that moves student learning forward. Module 4 provides suggestions for how to involve students and their peers in the formative assessment process.
Each of the four modules has a pre-recorded video presentation that is between 15-25 minutes long, as well as hyperlinks within the presentation handouts to additional resources and materials. Because the modules are intended to support educator reflection and changes to formative instructional/assessment practices, each module includes interactive elements such as:
– A warm-up question;
– Embedded pause and reflect (or discuss) questions;
– And final reflection questions and/or application activities
The modules were created to be used in a couple of different ways. Individual teachers can listen and watch the pre-recorded video presentations to build their professional knowledge and skills around classroom assessment literacy. Teachers could select the modules of most interest to them and complete them in any order, or complete all modules in order. The modules are stand-alone, meaning they were not designed such that you have to do them in order or complete all of them. However, there is a coherent sequence of learning developed across the modules in each strand and some modules depend on understanding concepts from a previous module.
Second, and more ideal in terms of fostering discussion and learning from others, the modules were created to be 15-25 minutes in length so they could be viewed by groups of teachers within/across schools during professional learning communities, team meetings, or other grade/content specific teams of teachers. We know these types of ‘during the school day’ meetings typically last around 40-45 minutes. Therefore, the modules were created so that they could be watched and then discussed within that block of time. Groups may decide to pause and discuss the video content at any point during the video. We believe it is crucial that teachers have time to process, discuss, and apply the material reviewed in each module in collaborative and collegial environments. Individual teachers can then respond to the reflection questions and perhaps share their applications and lingering questions at the beginning of the next PLC or team meeting.
Micro-Course 2 is designed to expand the concepts in Micro-Course 1. Micro-Course 1 provides the foundation for this more advanced micro-course and covers such topics as: using quick pre-assessments, or other formative assessment probes during and after instruction to elicit evidence of student learning strengths and needs, as well as how to use evidence of student learning to adjust instruction and better meet students’ learning needs.
In summary, Micro-Course 1 in the blue boxes addresses part of the formative assessment process and serves as an introduction, especially for newer teachers; whereas, Micro-Course 2 [click enter] provides a more advanced and complete examination of formative assessment processes for more experienced teachers. Taken together, these two micro-courses provide a solid foundation for formative assessment processes for any K-12 classroom educator. The modules do not need to be completed in order, but as stated previously, the concepts do logically build upon one another. The content in the two micro-courses is mostly unique so any teacher could benefit from participating in both courses.
Accompanying Materials & Resources
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- Click to download the slides for this presentation (PDF)
