Assessment for Learning Project

 During the 2017-2018 school year, our ALP effort has evolved significantly.  The New Hampshire Learning Initiative with Jonathan Vander Els as project director and Michael Turmelle as student exhibition lead, are partnering with the New Hampshire Department of Education,  the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment and Envision Learning Partners, in an effort to expand efforts over the next two years with a two-pronged approach to personalizing competency-based learning called Collaborative Learning Design. One effort is focused at the primary level only with the other being a K-12 approach.  The essential question that guides both strands of this work is: How can students and teachers collaborate to co-design learning and assessment?

For the primary grades the focus is on developing greater student agency and equity through students and teachers co-designing curricular units, including formative and performance assessments that integrate Work Study Practices and are based on learning progressions. Teachers within this project and their students are currently engaged in these units in the following participating elementary schools: DJ Bakie School, Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, Maple Street Magnet School, Memorial School, Mill Brook Elementary School, and Parker Varney Elementary

Simultaneously, an additional cohort of mostly secondary schools new to the project is focused on further developing student exhibition opportunities.  Our collaborative learning design model guides this work to engage students and teachers in collaboratively designing student demonstrations of learning that increase student agency and equity. Eventually, the resulting co-designed assessments and student exhibitions from both cohorts will be incorporated into PACE.  These districts/schools are currently engaging in student exhibition pilots as part of this project: Concord School District, Epping High School, Henry McLaughlin Middle School, Kearsarge Regional High School, Londonderry Middle School, Lisbon School District, Monroe School District, Sanborn, Souhegan High School, Southside Middle School.