The Secret Of” Success Criteria”

The Secret of” Success Criteria”

By: Melanie Greenan, Edited by Denis Maika

The Issue:

Recently in Ontario with the release of the “Growing Success”, (2010) document there has been a policy setting trend toward student based assessment and the use of high quality descriptive feedback with students to improve student learning. One of the seven fundamental principles outlined in the document (p.6), is to “provide ongoing descriptive feedback that is clear, specific, meaningful and timely to support improved learning and achievement.”

Feedback provides students with a description of their learning. The purpose of providing feedback is to reduce the gap between a student’s current level of knowledge and skills and the learning goals. Descriptive feedback helps students learn by providing them with precise information about what they are doing well, what needs improvement, and what specific steps they can take to improve. According to Davies (2007, p.2), descriptive feedback enables the learner to adjust what he or she is doing in order to improve (Growing Success, p.34).

So what is really necessary for teachers to do to provide students with high quality descriptive feedback that relates directly to the achievement of the Curriculum expectations (Achievement Chart) and the Learning Skills and Work Habits outlined in Growing Success?

There are some fundamental directions in thinking and practice that need to happen for high quality descriptive feedback to emerge in Ontario classrooms and schools.

Shift One:

High quality descriptive feedback is directly related to well developed success criteria. Success Criteria are only powerful when derived from the unpacking of each curriculum expectation or cluster of expectations and related directly to what the expectation(s) look like in student work. Using success criteria only works when the derivation of the criteria is shared and co-constructed between teachers and students. When teachers are able to clearly articulate what the expectation(s) look like in student work then high quality descriptive feedback becomes possible.

Before identifying success criteria with students, teachers spend time with colleagues deconstructing curriculum expectations and examining clusters of expectations that make sense to teach together. They build foundational knowledge in order to share with students what they expect Level 3 and 4 work to look like.

Here is an example of success criteria derived by teachers in Grade One at a professional learning community meeting for Retell/Relate/Reflect (or O.E.1: 1.4-1.6). Retell Relate/ Reflect

Meta-Tags or What is the “big idea” Make a connection…(Self, Text, World) Question Words 5 W’s (character, setting, plot, problem, solution) What does this remind you of …other texts , the world/extend understanding “Looks like” Retell the story/events/info in sequence/relevance What questions do you have now/wonder about… Beginning, middle, and end What do you think now that you didn’t before you read this… Five Important facts/ Tell about… Explain What inferences do you have…

How has your thinking changed…Using your own ideas…

Student Starters The “big idea” is… This reminds me of… or Answer Words I know this because… Another book…

“Sounds like” In the beginning, middle, I remember …

In the story… end Now I think…

First, next, then This makes me wonder…

5 Very important points Now I am wondering…

Go Map/Go Chart- Graphic organizers An inference I have…

A question I have…

Now I know…

Success Includes “big idea” Includes connection or inference to the “big idea” Criteria Includes important details “Big idea” is supported with relevant evidence from the text

Proper sequence Connection/Inference/Question-connect to the real world/ authentic

Connection/ Inference Shows new understandings after reading text

Once teachers are clear on the success criteria that they will use to verify student learning then Note: “Bigstudents idea” is arethe broughtcentral meaning into the or process purpose of of co-creating the text. It issuccess a generalization criteria for about the class.life or theme.For example, The “big if idea” is not statedteachers explicitly are but working rather implicitly on Retell, and then often students has a lesson/moral/purpose. have to clearly understand what is expected in a Fiction and Factual retell. Students need to moderate samples of student work to identify what “makes it good” and be part of identifying and posting the success criteria as an assessment and learning tool that can be referenced along the learning pathway. It is imperative that the success criteria are determined near the beginning of each learning pathway and not at the end. Students need it to be visible and available as a target to reference their learning progress and goals. Criteria are revisited and refined as teachers and students gain greater understanding of what constitutes high quality work. Success criteria do not have to be perfect at the start! These two examples show success criteria that are being constructed with students in Grade 3. Note: teachers had to provide direct instruction to show what success looks like by using a GO MAP for a Fiction Retell and 5 important points for Non-Fiction.

Once the success criteria are accurately identified and constructed with students the provision of high quality feedback becomes much easier. When teachers are clear on what they are looking for and students are clear on what they are trying to achieve, high quality descriptive feedback becomes a process of elimination with students and teachers determining what is present and missing in each student’s work. Learning targets become logical as students actively seek to include the missing success criteria into their work. All student work is honoured for what it includes and placed logically on a continuum of mastering the required skills and strategies. This is an example of a peer assessment used in Grade 8 to set learning targets.

Students self select their own learning target from descriptive feedback.

Shift Two:

The quality of descriptive feedback becomes directly related to professional knowledge in the particular subject area. How well teachers understand the reading, writing, critical thinking, mathematics and scientific processes etc., will either extend or limit the descriptive feedback that is available to students.

High Quality Descriptive feedback based on teacher’s professional knowledge and judgment (T-LCP)

Success Criteria Analysis of Student deconstructed from the Work based on the expectation, identified in presence or absence student work samples, of success criteria by stated in “kid friendly” self, peer, teacher language and displayed in the classroom Improved student learning and meta-cognition!!!!!

For example, if Teacher A thinks that retell is just retelling the important points in a text sequentially and Teacher B thinks that a retell is stating the author’s big idea, the facts/evidence that support the big idea and formulating a connection, inference or question about the text to extend understanding; then Teacher B is going to give much richer descriptive feedback. The success criteria formulated by Teacher B and her class are going to allow for much richer and deeper thinking, and by being more specific in terms of what a good retell entails, students will achieve more explicit learning and instruction then students in Teacher A’s class who will only learn how to recount. Without professional knowledge and expertise, teaching and learning are limited.

So what does this mean for educators? We can’t all be experts in every single subject! However, we need to continue to work in professional learning communities and our Teaching Learning Critical Pathways need to include time to deconstruct curriculum expectations, compare them across various grade levels in a continuum of learning and articulate with our teaching colleagues exactly what we expect Level 3 and 4 learning to look like in our area of classroom focus before we begin teaching. By actively examining samples of student work and redefining and clarifying success criteria with students along the way we will continue to expand our understandings of the important areas of learning that we need to address with students.

It is also critically important to take advantage of the collective wisdom of the group. Everyone who works in a school knows the teachers who are real experts or masters of a particular subject area. Use these experts to visit, co-teach with, lead professional learning opportunities, etc.

Shift Three:

Assessment becomes student based when teachers start to develop students’ own ability to be judge of their own workStudent and that of others’based. Teachers Assessment have felt that it is their sole job to assign grades and marks. However, it is imperative for success in the 21st Century that students become reflective and meta-cognitive• Rubrics thinkers who are •ableThinking to independently Matrix determine next steps for their own learning• andChecklists work. • Bansho • Grade assignments • Student led • Tests conferences • Quizzes • Anchor charts • Student moderated VS success critieria • Learning targets Self and Peer assessment need to become the norm. Teachers find ways to organize student thinking and learning so that each individual learner is able to see themselves on a continuum with clear next steps. Students need to be able to honour their work in terms of where it is rather than just hitting or missing the evaluation mark and moving on to something new. To make this happen teachers need to find some way to organize student thinking and learning in each of the major subject areas.:

Example: Thinking matrix This Thinking Matrix is used in Grade 8 to organize student thinking and writing. Note that the success criteria are on sticky notes that can be moved around or changed. Also, the meta- Description Types of Descriptive Feedback When? Powerful Prompts that make thinking visible cognition expectations (4.1-42) are posted around the matrix as students become familiar with Least structured- structured Adapted from LNS, Ontario Ministry of Education, SIM various thinking processes. Student work samples that highlight success criteria areSession posted II, Fall on 2010 the bottom. Formative Providing a reminder- there is an The student knows what to do but simply may have Don’t forget to include relevant and specific evidence from the assumption that the student knows forgotten what to do text and not just supporting statements in your answer  Can be oralShift or written Four:what to do and just needs a reminder to get back on track  Purpose is toDescriptive give Feedback is purposefully designed by teachers to offer the right amount of support to specific and precise informationeach for studentProviding based Scaffolding on personal- needStudents. The somewhat chart know below what to showsdo during the how task but assessment We talked about “for” how toand think “as” about the beginning of the story students to improve need more structure and support to move forward and then the end of the story to try and help us figure out the learning (GrowingDirective: Provide Success, precise information p.31), can be custom fit for each student by“big changing idea” in the text. the Can prompts you use your schema and the clues and explain specifically what the in the text to figure out what the story is really all about?  Student should be able and understandingstudent needs to thedo context of the student learning situation. to go back to the same piece of work to Can you think about what the author was trying to teach us, tell us or convince us about? Why do you think they wrote address and apply feedback this?

Can you show me your thinking- how do you know that is the  Feedback needs to be “big idea”? What is the evidence in the text? personal and objective, according to student needs in their work Once you know what the “big idea” is think about what it means to you, what do you think now or have questions about that you didn’t before you read this?  If there are several students who would benefit from the same feedback, it is effective Questioning: ask a direct question to Help students who are having difficulty accessing the Why do you think the author wrote this text? What is the big to group them and have students think about what they task idea? What does it mean to you? provide them with a need to do guided lesson The “big idea” of the story is… Complete the sentence: give the student a thought that he/she needs to I think the author is trying to…. complete I know this because…

A question I have is…

A connection I have is…

An inference I have is…

Provide Examples- Help students who are having difficulty accessing the Let’s think about the “big idea” that we identified in today’s task read aloud when we read the book, “Psst..”. We decided that Give students 2 or 3 choices from the author was trying to tell us that zoos are not a great place which they can pick one that speaks to for animals. The “big idea” was that animals belong in the them. They then continue to expand on wild and need to be free. We knew this because the animals the choice/example all asked the girl for something to build the getaway car and escape from the zoo It made us question whether zoos are really good places for animals and maybe we don’t want to visit them anymore. Please think about the story you have just read in the same way and record your thinking. A new deliberate process piece is added into the teaching and learning cycle that entails developing an archive of powerful prompts and strategies for students (See Appendix B). It is necessary to articulate the dynamic prompts, powerful teaching and learning strategies, successful tasks, and rich culminating activities that really help students to reach their potential in each learning pathway. The chart above can be used in conjunction with Appendix B to facilitate assessment “as” and “for” learning in the classroom. As teachers develop these archives on their own and internalize the professional knowledge and expertise gleaned through the teaching of each pathway descriptive feedback improves.

Shift Five

The way that “assessment of learning” or evaluation of student work occurs is impacted by using success criteria with students and by the provision of more effective descriptive feedback. Students who are engaged in a process of understanding and constructing success criteria with their teachers, who are given the chance to moderate and assess their own and others’ work, who are provided with the opportunity to self determine and set their own learning targets approach evaluation as an opportunity to gage their learning on a clear continuum rather than as a unconnected singular event.

The criteria and method of evaluation is shared with students at the beginning of the learning cycle. Students understand that feedback from teachers and peers is going to be given in verbal or written form and they should be actively using it along with the success criteria to improve their work. Students are asked to collate feedback and determine learning targets. When formal evaluation takes place students see themselves as part of the assessment process with their self chosen, most proficient and most recent pieces of work being evaluated.

Conclusion:

It is vitally important that the learning loop is closed for Ontario students. By recognizing the relationship between understanding the curriculum expectations, communicating what is expected to students, constructing success criteria with students in language that they understand and connecting it to their work, creating meaningful and rich tasks; and using student based assessment in the classroom that allows all student work to be honoured and viable learning targets to be established by peers and self, Ontario students will forge successfully into the 21st Century.

Appendix A

The following tool, Looking at Opportunities (Ritchhart, 2003) from the Project Zero group at Harvard is a great take away to see where we are beginning this process: Appendix B

Example of Prompts and teaching/ learning strategies that can be used for the teaching of Ontario Language Expectations, Reading 1.4-1.6 T-LCP Learning Archive Example

O.E. 1: Expectations 1.4-1.6

Retell/ Summary (1.4)

Demonstrating Understanding

Prompts Teaching/ Learning Strategies

What happened at the beginning? Teach students that texts are constructed by an author for a specific reason What happened at the end? GO Map/ Story Organizer What is the “big idea” of the story? “Big Idea” Pyramid

What is the author trying to get Reciprocal Retellings you to think about? Model how to infer the “big idea” (think about beginning and end/ what facts/ details are included in the Why did the author write this? text)

How do you know this is the “big What Makes you say that? Explain your thinking/ Make thinking visible idea”? Teach students to locate key information in a text and to know the difference between what is “big idea” What is the evidence for your and a “main idea” thinking? What is the message/ big idea? Students are provided with a list of statements and are asked to identify What were the most significant those they believe the author or illustrator meant to convey? and relevant parts? Graphic Organizer for beginning, middle, end/ Problem and Solution/ Story Map What was the sequence of events? Chunking the text

Practice writing retells and recounts and knowing the difference between the two

Reading Response Journals

VIP(Very Important Points) strategy

Reading with sticky notes to identify Very Important Points

Voice Memos

Turn on the Lights

Reader’s Theatre

Read and Retell/ Summary

-written to written retells

- written to oral retells

- written to drawing or drama

- drama to written, etc.

Newspaper articles (5 W’s)

H= How I know

S= still wondering

Structured Overview

Making Inferences (1.5)

Prompts Teaching/ Learning Strategies

How do you know this is the “big The Gist Strategy For further information or complete documents mentioned in this article please visit:

1. http://www.pz.harvard.edu/

2. http://www.pz.harvard.edu/vt/VisibleThinking_html_files/05_SchoolWideCultureOfThinking/L ookingatOpportunities.pdf

3. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growSuccess.pdf