Leadership magazine May/June 2015 V 44 No 5 | Page 8
When educators have an
opportunity to collaborate in
the development of assessment
practices, the impact on student
learning can be very exciting.
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Leadership
T
wenty-first century teaching and
learning is shaping how educators engage collaboratively in
their professional practice. It’s
dynamic, messy and exciting work.
Research shows that teacher self-efficacy,
the belief in one’s own ability to influence
student outcomes, is fostered by “professional learning that allows teachers time to
meet and talk, and by spaces that promote
conversation and collaboration” (Beauchamp et al., 2014). Essentially, adults learn
when they have opportunities to develop a
shared understanding of effective practice.
But how do we operationalize this type of
learning and collaboration?
The Merced County Office of Education
has found the use of formative learning
and assessment tasks to be a powerful way
to deepen teacher collaboration. Formative assessment has been identified as an
effective way to provide feedback to both
teachers and students, and can ultimately
increase student learning (Hattie & Timperley, 2007).
Using tools that reveal student under-
standing, teachers are motivated to examine
and design instruction that more effectively
supports students’ thinking. Our county office believes that if practitioners engage in
collaborative processes based upon formative assessment practices, they will increase
their collective efficacy. This is the belief of a
whole faculty that they can impact student
learning (Goddard, Hoy & Hoy, 2004).
We support three communities of practice that use formative assessment practices.
Each case illustrates how this work enhances
collaboration and adult learning, and has an
impact on the success of students.
n Silicon Valley Mathematics Institute:
Learning tasks to improve understanding
Cory Henlaw at Pacheco High School
projects two samples of student work from a
MARS (Mathematics Assessment Resource
Service) problem from the previous day to
his Integrated 1 class. He polls students to
determine if they think one or both of the
By Kathy Pon