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    A Roadmap for Education Leaders

    ​​​​​Focus on Effective Instruction

    Ensure every student has access to the resources and supports necessary to successfully engage with and master grade-level content.​

    Webinar to learn more about the Assessment and Instruction sections of the roadmap. (YouTube)
    Access the PowerPoint presentation shared during this webinar (PowerPoint)

    Focus on Effective Assessment

    A highly developed assessment system includes a balanced approach to using formal and informal assessments, classroom-based evidence showing growth over time, and involving students in the evaluation of their own work. The adoption of a systemic approach enhances the use of assessment data to inform teaching and learning practices. This system should include assessment tools that are congruent with the district's goals and curriculum.

    Identifying the assessments given in any school is easy; more difficult is determining why those assessments are administered and how the results are used. Therefore, it is beneficial to think about creating an assessment plan that considers the purpose for assessments, as well as a description of how the results are to be used.

    Diagram with 5 circles going in a flow, top circle, assess the skills of students using a variety of assessment types - circle to the right, analyze assessment results - circle to bottom right, interpret results and make instructional or programmatic decisions - circle bottom left, instruct teach skills and focus/adjust practice - circle left, reflect and monitor the progress of individuals and groups. Center text, Share reports with students, parents, and administrators.

    Assessments and instruction have a dynamic reciprocity in both measuring progress and providing informative data to shape effective and responsive instruction (Valencia & Buly, 2004). Valencia and Buly cautioned educators from using the results of a single outcome measure to make instructional decisions about students. COVID-19's interruption of teaching and learning heightens the importance of using a sensitive approach to assessing students at the start of the 2020-21 school year. There is no "one-size-fits-all" assessment – whether screening or diagnostic or summative – that can meet the needs of all stakeholders and satisfy all purposes (Evans, 2020 and Lorie, 2020).  A comprehensive assessment system includes a balanced approach to using formal and informal assessments, classroom-based evidence that shows growth over time, and more involvement of students in the evaluation of their own work.

    Ample preparation time is needed for vertical teams of teachers to determine the gaps or limits from the previous year's teaching and learning. Teachers should use the feedback/data already available to them rather than administering a formal pre-assessment at the start of school. It is important to build positive relationships with students and establish a comfortable learning environment during the first 2-3 weeks of school.

    Formative assessments embedded in the opening instructional unit will provide teachers with additional data to help identify learning gaps. Formative assessment practices have been shown to significantly raise student achievement and student attitudes toward learning (Ozan & Kincal, 2018). Teachers should consider using more formal assessments, such as screeners and diagnostics, after students have been acclimated to the new learning environment, to identify strengths and areas of instructional need. A thoughtful design of a balanced assessment approach will identify learning gaps and provide data to inform grade level instruction — as well as incorporating both remediation and acceleration along the way. 

    The resources below are compatible with any local assessment. Pennsylvania does offer educators two valuable free resources that will be described throughout:

    • The Pennsylvania Classroom Diagnostic Tools (CDT) is a set of online assessments, divided by content area, designed to provide diagnostic information in order to guide instruction, remediation, and/or acceleration.
      • The CDT consists of multiple‐choice questions, evidence-based selected-response questions, and technology enhanced items and is designed to provide information to help guide instruction by providing support to students and teachers. CDT reports are designed to provide a picture or snapshot of how students are performing relative to the Pennsylvania Assessment Anchors & Eligible Content and Keystone Assessment Anchors & Eligible Content. CDTs go beyond focusing only on what students should know and be able to do at a particular grade and/or in a particular course. The CDT also provides a snapshot of how and why students may still be struggling; or if a student is exceeding the grade level Eligible Content. These diagnostic reports provide valuable information typically not identified through other types of assessments. Teachers, by using CDT reports, may access additional information through the Learning Progression Map, a resource that allows teachers to pinpoint where students are currently on the learning continuum. The CDT helps identify and provide suggestions for "next steps" in student academic development.
      • CDT questions were developed to specifically align to the Pennsylvania Core Standards and/or Pennsylvania Assessment Anchors and Eligible Content. Content assessed on the CDT is similar to the content assessed by the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments (PSSA) and the Keystone Exams.
    • The SAS Assessment Center allows registered users to build an assessment by searching the PDE database of standards-aligned items. Additionally, users can generate a custom assessment item (utilizing the SAS step-by-step process), which can be added to an assessment. View My Assessments allows a teacher to examine any previously created assessments. Assessments can be shared with colleagues.  Using the Check for Understanding function, teachers can create a brief assessment that can be sent to students via an online URL; as students respond, the teacher receives immediate feedback.

    Focus of Effective Instruction

    The 2020–21 school year presents a unique set of opportunities and challenges due to the disruption to instruction in spring 2020, as well as the uncertainty associated with what the "return to school" will look like. Educators know that every school year there are students who require support in addressing unfinished learning from prior grades; a challenge that will be felt more prominently in the 2020–21 school year. It is vitally important that educators are supported in making deliberate instructional and assessment choices within a comprehensive system that allow all students to effectively engage with grade-level work.

    Instruction must be aligned to a coherent set of learning outcomes, indicating what students should know and be able to do. Dimensions for consideration when planning for instruction include the following.

    • Instructional Delivery: Instructional delivery is differentiated relative to explicitness through modeling, systematic instruction with appropriate scaffolding and pacing, and provision of immediate corrective feedback to students with sufficient opportunities to respond.
    • Grouping: Grouping includes whole group, homogeneous small group, partners, heterogeneous mixed ability small group, independent and one-to-one.
    • Time: The amount of instructional time varies relative to a particular area of content, small group instruction versus whole group instruction, and opportunities for students to interact or work independently.
    • Materials: Selecting materials for specific students and purposes is often a challenge. Materials should be evidence-based and adjusted to meet the needs of students.
    • Learning Environment: A positive and safe learning environment has clearly defined and consistent expectations.

    Differentiated instruction is key to enhancing students' ability to learn. Teachers must have the content knowledge and knowledge of students (students' needs, interests, cultures, and experiential backgrounds) that enable them to plan instruction. Differentiation is one critical active response to meet the various needs of the students in the classroom.

    The most effective and equitable way to support students in their learning is to ensure the majority of time is spent engaging with grade-level content, remediating with precision and only as necessary. It is entirely possible to hold high expectations for all students while addressing unfinished learning in the context of grade-level work. Since time is a scarce commodity in classrooms — made more limited by anticipated closures and remote or blended learning models in the fall of 2020 — strategic instructional choices about which content to prioritize must be made, supported by key PA Academic Standards.  Note that while all standards deserve a defined level of instruction, neglecting key concepts may result in learning gaps in student skill and understanding and may leave students unprepared for the challenges of a later grade.