The
Collaborative
Assessment
Conference


Description
Steps
Virtual Protocol
CAC in Action



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Steps
Developed by Steve Seidel and Harvard Project Zero colleagues.


The following steps are a working agenda for a Collaborative Assessment Conference. The time allotted for each step of the conference is not fixed, since the time needed for each step will vary in accordance with the work being considered. At each stage, the facilitator should use his or her judgment in deciding when to move the group on to the next step. Typically, Collaborative Assessment Conferences take from forty-five minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes.

The Collaborative Assessment Conference

I. Getting started The group chooses a facilitator who will make sure the group stays focused on the particular issue addressed in each step. The presenting teacher puts the selected work in a place where everyone can see it or provides copies for the other participants. S/he says nothing about the work, the context in which it was created, or the student until Step V. The participants observe or read the work in silence, perhaps making brief notes about aspects of it that they particularly notice. II. Describing the work The facilitator asks the group, "What do you see?" Group members provide answers without making judgments about the quality of the work or their personal preferences. If a judgment emerges, the facilitator asks for the evidence on which the judgment is based. III. Asking questions about the work The facilitator asks the group, "What questions does this work raise for you?" Group members state any question they have about the work, the child, the assignment, the circumstances under which the work was carried out, and so on. The presenting teacher may choose to make notes about these questions, but s/he is does not respond to them now--nor is s/he obligated to respond to them in Step 5 during the time when the presenting teacher speaks.

IV. Speculating about what the student is working on The facilitator asks the group, "What do you think the child is working on?" Participants, based on their reading or observation of the work, make suggestions about the problems or issues that the student might have been focused on in carrying out the assignment. V. Hearing from the presenting teacher The facilitator invites the presenting teacher to speak. The presenting teacher provides his or her perspective on the student’s work, describing what s/he sees in it, responding (if s/he chooses) to one or more of the questions raised, and adding any other information that s/he feels is important to share with the group. The presenting teacher also comments on anything surprising or unexpected that s/he heard during the describing, questioning and speculating phases. VI. Discussing implications for teaching and learning 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. VII. Reflecting on the CAC The group reflects on the experiences of or reactions to the conference as a whole or to particular parts of it. VIII. Thank the presenting teacher The session concludes with acknowledgment of and thanks to the presenting teacher.