Resources
The Quality Assessment in Science Professional Development (QAS PD) project developed two tools that can be freely used for research, teacher education, professional development, or self-reflection.
The Quality Assessment in Science Notebook
The QAS Notebook is a portfolio designed for teachers to collect ten consecutive days of assessment artifacts. The collection process includes an initial and concluding reflection, ten days of artifact collections including all assessments and samples of student work, and annotations of the artifacts.
Access the PDF
Please use the following citation for any use of the Notebook:
Kloser, M., Borko, H., Rafanelli, S., and Wilsey, M. (2015). QAS Notebook. Funded by the Spencer Foundation #201400153.
Dimensions of Quality Assessment and Data Use in Science Framework
The nine Dimensions provide a framework drawn from the literature for reflecting on the elements and quality of assessment and data use practice. Each Dimension includes a five point rubric that was used for self and external rating of Notebooks.
Access the PDF
Please use the following citation for any use of the Notebook:
Kloser, M., Borko, H., Wilsey, M., Rafanelli, S.(2015). Dimensions of Quality Assessment and Data Use in Science. Funded by the Spencer Foundation #201400153.
About the Project
Project Overview
The Quality Assessment in Science Professional Development (QAS PD) project is a joint research endeavor between researchers and teacher educators at the University of Notre Dame and Stanford University investigating teachers' conceptions and practices across a year-long intervention using portfolios of assessment and data-use artifacts. This work builds on previous iterations of QAS Notebook studies in collaboration with Felipe Martinez (PI) at UCLA and Brian Stecher (Co-PI) at RAND Corporation, funded in part by the Spencer Foundation and the W.T. Grant Foundation.
In this current studies, we use the Notebook as a means for professional development. Teams of middle school science teachers from four schools in two states were trained to reflect on artifacts in these portfolios - assessment tasks, student samples, and annotations of the artifacts - in light of nine dimensions of effective practice. Drawn from the literature, the nine Dimensions used during the PD and the professional learning communities (PLCs) include:
Dimension 1: Setting Clear Learning Goals
Dimension 2: Aligning Assessments to Goals
Dimension 3: Assessing Frequently
Dimension 4: Varying Assessment
Dimension 5: Assessing with Appropriate Cognitive Complexity
Dimension 6: Reflecting Math/Science Practices
Dimension 7: Involving Students in Own Assessment
Dimension 8: Providing Specific Feedback
Dimension 9: Using Evidence of Student Thinking to Adapt Instruction
Participating teachers collected an initial 10-day Notebook prior to an intensive professional development where they were introduced to and used the Dimensions to reflect on their own practice (Figure 1). During the school year, teachers met in PLCs on a monthly basis, collecting shorter 5-day Notebooks and reflecting on specific Dimensions. A final Notebook was collected one year after the initial baseline collection. Notebooks were analyzed, blind to participant and time, by the research team.
Initial Findings
Emerging results show that, on average, teachers' conceptions of assessment and data-use practice shifted from focusing on isolated types of assessments to conceptual frameworks more reflective of the nine dimensions right after the PD. Nine months later, their conceptions reflected fewer dimensions, but were more likely to incorporate feedback loops in which evidence of student thinking was used to inform instruction beyond mere reteaching. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of participants' practice captured in the baseline and final portfolios indicated that the dimensions related to teachers helping students close the gap between their current understanding and the learning goal improved over time only if teachers already showed proficiency in dimensions like 'setting clear learning goals' and 'developing assessments with appropriate cognitive complexity'. If not, even teachers whose conceptions - as articulated in interviews and drawn conceptual maps - reflected explicit ideas about using data to inform instruction showed few changes in their practice in effective data-based decision making. These findings reveal cases of both professional growth in assessment and data-use practice as well as a possible developmental trajectory for improving in specific dimensions of practice.
Principal Investigator
Co-Principal Investigator
Research Assistant
Research Assistant