Day 3 - Assessment Summit - ATL

Day three of The Solution Tree's Assessment Summit in Atlanta provided even more compelling evidence and generally applicable methods of reforming assessment to become methods of instruction and learning for both teachers and learners.

Anne Davies provided methods to make students involved in the assessment process including student driven and developed assessments. Once students understand the assessment process and are able to provide positive feedback to others, they develop a deeper understanding of their own metacognition. Honestly I could have listened to her for 8 hours as she was so informative and practical.

Though Dylan Wiliam reinforced what many other presenters provided, he gave a sound discussion on why investing in teacher professional development is critical to the improvement of education. This was a discussion that every superintendent, board member, and principal needed to hear. Again, like Davies, his presentation needed to be longer but done through a workshop fashion instead of a lecture. He presented much information on standards and assessments but I feel we would have benefited more if given the opportunity to participate and experience the processes described.

I was disappointed in one presenter, whom I will not name, as he spoke against several other presenters' works. Not only did he provide no documentation or data to back up his claims but he tastelessly projected their work in his presentation with a giant X over it! This turned me off to the rest of his presentation. If you are going to state that something needs to be changed, present evidence to support your claim. If you are going to state that someone is wrong, defend your position with data - OTHER PEOPLE'S DATA, don't just reference your own writings. In fact, I would say limit references to your own work; it's tacky and gives the perception that you are just there to sell your own books.

Over all The Solution Tree's Assessment Summit in Atlanta, Georgia was excellent. I walked away with volumes of useful information that is not only directly applicable to me as a secondary classroom teacher, but also is information I can put into place immediately. I wish every classroom teacher could attend something of this nature as it reinforces much of what we do and yet demonstrates the paramount nature of change. Much of the information presented can be found in the book Ahead of the curve: The power of assessment to transform teaching and learning by Ainsworth, L., Almeida, L., Davies, A., DuFour, R., Gregg, L., Guskey, T., et al.