Purpose: To engage a team in refining proficiency-based summative assessments against the key traits of alignment, accessibility, transfer, rigor, and scoring.
Time: 40 minutes, or longer if student work is examined along with the assessment task.
Group Size: 3-10 participants. The protocol is designed for one teacher to present an assessment to a neutral group of participants. However, the protocol can also be adapted for a group to examine a summative assessment that they had previously collectively designed.
Materials:
- Summative assessment design guide
- Assessment task (ideally outlined using the summative assessment planning template), including assignment instructions, rubric, exemplars, and samples of student work, if available
1. Introduction (2–3 min)
The facilitator presents an overview of the following protocol so all participants understand the steps; the facilitator also allows time for participants to review the summative assessment design guide.
2. Presentation (3–5 min)
The presenter shares the graduation competency (or competencies) and performance indicators that the assessment measures, as well as directions, scoring criteria (or rubric), and samples of student work, if available. The presenter provides context on grade level, number of students, or other important factors. The presenter may share a specific focus question for the group to consider.
3. Review of work (10 min)
The group silently reviews the assessment materials and notes warm and cool feedback based on the summative assessment design guide.
4. Clarifying Questions (3–5 min)
- Group members ask clarifying questions to ensure they understand the purpose and structure of the assessment.
- Clarifying questions are matters of fact and should be easily answered by the presenter. Save substantive issues for later.
5. Warm feedback (round robin, open discussion; 5 min)
- While the presenter silently takes notes, the group identifies specific elements of the assessment, rubric, or student work that indicate alignment with the summative assessment design guide. Observations should be objective: “I notice…” rather than “I like…”
- Group members highlight strengths within the assessment that allow students to effectively demonstrate and provide evidence of their learning.
6. Cool feedback (round robin, open discussion; 10 min)
7. Reflection (3–5 min)
The presenter identifies potential shifts and improvements to the assessment and next steps as a result of the feedback. They should not try to respond to all ideas or questions from the warm and cool feedback.
8. Debrief the process (3-5 min)
The facilitator helps the group assess how helpful the protocol was (or was not) in meeting the needs of the presenter.
- What worked well in this process?
- What could we improve to have more effective feedback?
- What will we each be thinking about in our own instruction and assessment practices as a result of this process?
This resource was produced by the Great Schools Partnership and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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