Name: Natasha Szala

Notes on JEL or Brookhart Title/Ch. #: Brookhart Ch. 1:

General Principles for Assessing Higher-Order Thinking

I. Key Terms/Definitions

Higher-order thinking Thinking which requires students to

understand, apply knowledge, analyze, evaluate, and/or create
products

Assessment blueprint a planning tool designed to ensure that a

set of assessment items or tasks represents the breadth and
depth of knowledge and skills intended in the learning targets
*(Table of Test Specifications)

Formative assessment Ongoing assessments at the classroom

level; assessments of and FOR learning for the teacher and
students; helps give teachers and students insight into
misunderstanding and allows teachers and students to correct
those misunderstandings before summative evaluation

Summative assessment A final assessment of a school,

program, instructional effectiveness and/or student performance;
the end results of student achievement after instruction has
taken place

Recall To remember information from the past

Feedback - comprehensive conversations with students or

substantive written comments to students about their
achievement toward the desired learning targets

II. Essential Questions

 What principles must we follow to truly assess higher-order
thinking?

Is higher-order thinking always difficult? Is recall always

easy?

How do we provide quality feedback to students about their

achievement in higher-order thinking?

III. Summary (narrative or outline)

Basic assessment principles: Designing an assessment always

involves these principles:
o Specify clearly and exactly what it is you want to assess
o Design tasks or test items that require students to
demonstrate this knowledge or skill
Planning the balance of content and thinking with an
assessment blueprint (planning tool)
Planning the balance of content and thinking for
units
Planning the balance of content and thinking for
rubrics
o Decide what you will take as evidence of the degree to
which students have shown this knowledge or skill

Principles for assessing higher-order thinking almost always

involves these additional principles:
o Present something for students to think about
Using introductory material
o Use novel material (new material)
Use material students have not seen or worked with
previously (meaning students have to actually think
about the material, not just recall)
If you wish to assess higher-order thinking, do not
present the same exact material on the test as in
class (use new material)
Teachers who want their students to demonstrate
higher-order thinking should teach it; use novel
material in class as well as on assessments so
 students have many opportunities to learn and
practice higher-order thinking and not just recall
Example: Androcles and the Lion assessments
(p. 27-28)
All three assessments tap slightly different
skills:
o MC = identification
o Short-essay = identification, reasoning,
explanation
o Performance = identification, reasoning,
explanation, synthesis and creativity
o Distinguishing between level of difficulty (Manage cognitive
complexity and difficulty separately)
The misconception that recall is easy and higher-
order thinking is hard = bad results
Recall only = BORING!

Strategies for giving feedback or scoring tasks that assess

higher-order thinking
o Formative assessment of higher-order thinking
Observing and discussing student reasoning directly
= powerful assessment of higher-order thinking
Have conversations or provide detailed written
feedback for students based on learning targets
and criteria
Exactly what sort of thinking are were trying to
assess?
How should students interpret the quality of
their thinking?
What are some ways they might extend or
deepen that thinking?
o Summative assessment of higher-order thinking
A scoring scheme must be devised in such a way that
higher-order thinking is required to score well
whether the assessment is multiple-choice,
constructed-response and essay questions, or
performance

IV. Reflection
 I really enjoyed reading this Brookhart chapter. Compared to Stiggins,
Brookhart definitely reads much easier. It was good for me to read this
chapter while referring back to Stiggins and the JEL article: Mapping
the Road to Proficiency. This chapter provides a good review of the
assessment principles, especially assessment of higher-order thinking
principles. I like how Brookhart refers to the Table of Specifications as
an assessment blueprint (less intimidating terminology). I am definitely
utilizing this blueprint/table in designing my next assessment to make
sure I am purposefully measuring the different levels of thinking.