Presenter: Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Teaching and Teacher Education, Stanford University
Host: Kathryn Baron, features producer and research editor, Edutopia
The world's top-performing school systems are said to be the model for new Common Core standards. Learn about the assessment systems in these countries, and how the results challenge the status quo in the United States.
November 17, 2009: "Lessons from Abroad: International Standards and Assessments"
1. Lessons from Abroad International Standards and Assessments These webinars are a special presentation of Edutopia and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education in collaboration with the Council for Chief State School Officers.
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3. Lessons from Abroad International Standards and Assessments These webinars are a special presentation of Edutopia and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education in collaboration with the Council for Chief State School Officers.
6. Lessons from Abroad International Standards and Assessments These webinars are a special presentation of Edutopia and the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education in collaboration with the Council for Chief State School Officers.
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9. Durchschnittliche Schülerleistungen im Bereich Mathematik Low average performance Large socio-economic disparities High average performance Large socio-economic disparities Low average performance High social equity High average performance High social equity Strong socio-economic impact on student performance Socially equitable distribution of learning opportunities High science performance Low science performance 15 Source: Andreas Schleicher, OECD
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11. Schooling in the Middle Ages: The School of the Church Source: Andreas Schleicher, OECD
12. Schooling in the Industrial Age: Educating for Discipline Source: Andreas Schleicher, OECD
13. The challenges today: Motivated and self-reliant citizens Risk-taking entrepreneurs, converging and continuously emerging professions tied to globalizing contexts and technological advance Source: Andreas Schleicher, OECD
14. How the Demand for Skills Has Changed Economy-wide measures of routine and nonroutine task input (U.S.) (Levy and Murnane) Mean task input as percentiles of the 1960 task distribution The dilemma of schools : The skills that are easiest to teach and test are also the ones that are easiest to digitize, automate, and outsource
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24. Example of Tasks: GCSE English Nonfiction and Media: Responses to previously unseen authentic passages. Writing Information and Ideas: One continuous writing response—choice from two options. Information and Ideas Written exam 80 marks (40 per section) Three activities: a drama-focused activity; a group activity; an individual extended contribution. One activity must be a real-life context in and beyond the classroom. Speaking and Listening Controlled assessment (coursework) 40 marks Two linked continuous writing responses from a choice of Text Development or Media. Imaginative Writing Controlled assessment (coursework) 40 marks Responses to three texts from choice of tasks and texts. Candidates must show an understanding of texts in their social, cultural, and historical context. Reading Literacy Texts Controlled assessment (coursework) 40 marks Tasks Unit and Assessment
This Webinar is made possible, in part, thanks to the generous support of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Brief history of what the U.S. has done in education reform since the release of A Nation at Risk. Not a discussion about NCLB reauthorization, rather an overview of how our reforms haven’t served students as well as they should have in the past 20 years. How well has that reform served us as indicated by results on international assessments such as TIMSS and PISA. A few words describing those exams. Explain what OECD is and that it administers PISA.
Discuss fundamental difference in focus of tests.
Discuss that regulations have been released. How they are based on Innovation. What does it mean for teachers? How can this competition promote new assessments and standards in the United States that are more in line with those abroad?
Notes for the facilitator The commonly agreed list of capacities expected of individuals in the modern workplace that is outlined on this and the following slide (from Professor Cheng’s paper provided as a pre-reading in the participants’ handbook) constitutes a key reason for the adoption of the 334 senior secondary reform programme. The new curriculum envisaged in 334 is designed not only to build Hong Kong’s knowledge base by ensuring all students receive a full six years of secondary education, but also developing the broader range of knowledge based skills required for success in today’s highly competitive global marketplace. (The list continues on the next slide)
Slide # 3 from Linda’s pp
Time-based written examinations For the time-based written examinations, say at the H2 Level, students offer between 2 to 4 papers and each paper is about 3 hours in duration. The format of the assessment items in A-Level papers would typically be open-ended essays/free response questions, structured questions, case studies and source-based questions. The design of the assessment specifications and assessment criteria, item setting, marking/scoring are done externally by the Board in collaboration with CIE. School-based coursework Assessment We have coursework examinations for a number of subjects which includes Project Work and Knowledge and Inquiry. The assessment tasks are typically for a duration of about 6 months and may involve producing a piece of product, oral presentation or an independent study/extended essay (H2: 2,000-2,500 words; H3: 3,000 – 3,500 words). Our School-based Assessment of coursework is tightly defined in that the assessment tasks are externally set by the Board/CIE but they are internally marked by the school teachers and externally moderated by the Board/CIE.
PW is unique on several fronts: Interdisciplinary coursework subject, compulsory for all pre-university students There is dedicated curriculum time for students to carry out their project tasks over an extended period. As a distinct interdisciplinary-based subject, it breaks away from the compartmentalisation of knowledge and skills to focussing on the interdisciplinary outcomes by requiring students to draw knowledge and apply skills from across different subject domains. It fosters collaborative learning through group work Together as a group which is randomly formed by the teacher, students brainstorm and evaluate each others’ ideas, agree on the project that the group would undertake and decide on how the work should be allocated amongst themselves. It requires every student to make an oral presentation Individually and together as a group, each student makes an oral presentation of their group project in the presence of an audience Both product and process are assessed There are 3 components for assessment: one product component is the Written Report which shows evidence of the group’s ability to generate, analyse and evaluate ideas for the project. The other product component is the Oral Presentation in which each individual group member is assessed on his/her fluency and clarity of speech, awareness of audience as well as response to questions. The group as a whole is also assessed in terms of the effectiveness of the overall presentation. The 3 rd component is the Group Project File in which each individual group member submits 3 documents related to ‘snaphsots’ of the processes involved in carrying out the project. These documents show the individual student’s ability to generate, analyse and evaluate (i) preliminary ideas for a project (ii) a piece of research material gathered for the chosen project and (iii) insights and reflections on the project. In carrying out PW assessment task, students would acquire self-directed inquiry skills as they propose their own topic, plan their timelines, allocate individual areas of work, interact with teammates of different abilities and personalities, gather and evaluate primary and secondary research material. These PW processes reflect important life skills and competencies such as knowledge application, collaboration, communication and independent learning, which would prepare students for the future workplace.