Topic and Questions We Can Help You To Answer
Paper Instructions:

For this project, you will first identify a content standard for an instructional unit which you will be teaching during the time our course is in session. The content standard will be associated with knowledge and understanding, reasoning, performance skills, or product development for the unit of study. Additionally, at least one related non-cognitive skill will be chosen to be assessed.

The second step is to select learning targets and then determine appropriate and equitable methods for assessing those targets on a formative and/or summative basis for a total of three assessments. The three assessments should not all use the same assessment tool, but they may address the same learning target. At least three different types of assessment tools should be included (e.g., selected response, constructed response, essay, performance assessment, product assessment, etc.), at least one of those should include a rubric and at least one of them should include a table of test specs. At least one of the assessments must provide item analysis feedback for the teacher to be able to discern student misconceptions, and the misconceptions must be specified. This is a point where you may turn to research around questions such as the ideal number of choices in selected-response items or designing for equity in assessment. There is no requirement that assessments you develop are a certain length, rather what is important is that they generate results used for feedback to your students and yourself. 

The third step is to pilot the assessments with a small group of students about whom you wish to know more about learning and planning for instruction, or a whole class. In some cases, it may be just one student who takes the assessments. Piloting the assessments will help you learn about the usefulness of the assessments and give you the information you could use to determine what (if any) changes you would make to create more effective assessments. Be sure to analyze the results you collect and discuss the implications of your results in your final project write-up. This is the second point where you may incorporate research into your project. Remember that you can call on the research librarians at St. Thomas in addition to me for assistance with research questions you might have. 

Step four is the submission, in two formats: a five (5) minute Power Point presentation and a written paper or final submitted narrated Power Point, or other format agreed upon by student and professor by week 6 of the course. The five minute Power Point presentation is to the class and should summarize and analyze the process you went through to design and administer the assessments and analyze the results, conclusions you drew from the results, as well as key points from your reflection on what you learned in general, how to construct assessments which equitably assess student learning, assessing non-cognitive skills, and how you will integrate that into your teaching. Perhaps you came up with interesting questions about assessment that you found answers to in the literature during this project, or upon completion, you have yet more questions. This is the appropriate place to tell about your findings.