This session will invite participants to imagine a process by which Michigan educators could implement a more balanced approach to assessment and give every district access to high-quality interim/benchmark assessment tools that measure the state’s content standards in a cost-effective manner. Presenters will describe how, by working in concert, assessment and subject matter experts, policy leaders, and local districts could create interim/benchmark performance assessments—in all subjects and grade levels—that teachers could embed periodically in instruction. Presenters will also explore how educators could take advantage of a cost-effective, virtual scoring system for such assessments using tools such as the already-created Michigan Collaborative Scoring System (MI-CSS), powered by OSCAR Classroom. This online tool promotes teacher collaboration in scoring student work, helping teachers to better understand what high-quality student work looks like, and how to use performance assessment to assess the deeper learning that results in student achievement.
This session will address these questions:
- How could collaboratively developed interim performance assessments balance Michigan’s assessment system?
- How might an online collaborative scoring system promote professional learning among educators and trust among administrators and policymakers in the results of performance assessment?
- What lessons can be learned from the Michigan Arts Education Instruction and Assessment (MAEIA) program and from the educators currently using MAEIA’s catalogue of performance assessments in the arts?
Presenter: Michigan Assessment Consortium
Presenters: Ed Roeber, Heather Vaughan-Southard, Ellen Vorenkamp, Kathy Dewsbury-White. The Michigan Assessment Consortium (MAC) is a professional association of educators who believe quality education depends on accurate, balanced, and meaningful assessment. A nonpartisan and nonprofit organization, the MAC provides leadership and services to advance high-quality balanced assessment practices and systems. MAC hosts the ALN in collaboration with the Michigan Department of Education to promote assessment literacy among Michigan educators.
Presenter: MZ Development
Presenters: Kim Bolz-Andolshek, Zac Henrich. MZD is the developer of OSCAR Classroom, a collaborative teacher performance assessment management, scoring, and reporting platform. They have partnered with the Michigan Assessment Consortium to enable teachers using the MAEIA performance assessments in the arts to easily upload student work and apply scores while engaging in online collaborative scoring discussions.
Presenter: Michigan Department of Education
Presenter: Andy Middlestead. The Michigan Department of Education has been an active partner in hosting the Assessment Learning Network, and in the development of Michigan's extensive catalogue of performance assessments in the arts. Andy Middlestead will serve as discussant for the day's dialogue, and he will offer his perspective as director of the MDE's assessment and accountability office.
