Collaborative Assessment Conference

This protocol for examining student work was used by department chairs in a critical friends setting and was quite successful. 

The Collaborative Assessment Conference Protocol

 

Developed by Steve Seidel and colleagues at Harvard Project Zero

Adapted by Patty Butz

 

1. Getting Started (5 minutes)

•  Ann is presenting the student work but will say nothing about the context of the work
• The DCs will review the essay in silence, perhaps making brief notes about aspects of it that they particularly notice.

2. Describing the Work: What do you see? (5 minutes)

• DCs answer without making judgments about the quality of the work or their personal preferences.
• Ann does not participate.

3. Asking Questions about the Work (5 minutes)

• The facilitator asks the group, “What questions does this work raise for you?”
• DCs state any questions they have about the work, the student, the assignment, the circumstances under which the work was carried out, and so on.
• The presenting teacher, Ann, may choose to make notes about these questions, but she does not respond to them now--nor is she obligated to respond to them in Step 5 during the time when the presenting teacher speaks.

4. Speculating About What the Student Is Working On (5 minutes)

• The facilitator asks the group, “What do you think the student is working on?”
• Participants, based on their reading or observation of the work, make suggestions about the strategies, problems or issues that the student might have been focused on in carrying out the assignment.

5. Hearing from the Presenting Teacher (5 minutes)

• The facilitator invites the presenting teacher, Ann, to speak.
• The presenting teacher provides his or her perspective on the student’s work, describing what she sees in it, responding (if she chooses) to one or more of the questions raised, sharing the assignment and adding any other information that she feels is important to share with the group.
• The presenting teacher also comments on anything surprising or unexpected that she heard during the describing, questioning and speculating phases.

6. Discussing Implications for Teaching and Learning (5 minutes)

The facilitator invites everyone (the participants and the presenting teacher) to share any thoughts they have about their own teaching, children’s learning, or ways to support this particular child in future instruction.

7.  Debrief