Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/649572
Measuring What We Value State Council Focuses on Assessment Literacy J A N U A R Y ' S S T A T E C O U N C I L focused on leading the profession and assessment literacy, linked to the goal of establishing an organizing culture within CTA. e program included sp eakers, for ums and breakout discussions around what kind of assessment systems and practices educators should establish for our students and schools. K e y n o t e s p e a k e r J a m e s Popham, UCL A Professor Emer - i tu s , sp o ke a b o u t t h e n e e d f o r meaning ful, teacher-led formative assessment practices. " We have tons of evidence sug- ge sti n g th e si g n i f i c a n c e of th e formative process," Popham said. Creating tests for the right purpose is key. "You want to reach an accu- rate inference of what's going on inside a kid, and make sure that is consonant with the purpose of the test. en it's good." Formative assessment focuses on student development at a particular time. By contrast, summative assessment focuses on the final outcome compared to standards or benchmarks; this can lead to labeling students and schools as failing, when in fact that is far from the truth. After Popham's speech, a forum looked at definitions and principles of quality assessment, as well as the impact of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and educators' role in its implementation. Panelists included CTA legislative advocate Patricia Rucker, WestEd Deputy Director Deb Sigman, San Diego Education Association President Lindsay Burningham, and San Juan Teachers Association President Shannan Brown, who reminded the audience to "measure what we value, instead of valu- ing what we measure." Al l a g re ed th at a sse ssm ent an d t e stin g mu st b e pur p o seful , on e of multipl e m ea sure s, an d ti ed to improved learning. They also stressed that educators Keynote speaker James Popham talks about the need for purposeful, teacher- led formative assessment practices. A special forum on assessment includes, from left, panelists Patricia Rucker, Deb Sigman, Lindsay Burningham and Shannan Brown. State Council attendees discuss what constitutes quality assessment and evaluation with their seatmates. 48 cta.org