Informal Assessment By: Lisa Swan

Analyze social justices issues present in children’s books. Describe critical literacy learning activities for students that address social justice issues present in children’s book. Learning Objectives

The Problem Conceptual Misunderstanding

NCTE: race, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, age, appearance, ability, national origin, language, spiritual belief, size [height and/or weight], sexual orientation, social class, economic circumstance, environment, ecology, culture, and the treatment of animals

The Problem Conceptual Misunderstanding Time

The Problem Conceptual Misunderstanding Timing Inexperience

Formative Assessment

“a set of skills and activities that are undertaken by teachers to provide feedback to students to enhance their motivation and learning by designing instruction to meet student needs” (McMillian, 2007, p. 1).

Formative Summative Provides ongoing feedback to improve learning Documents student performance at the end of an unit or class Occurs during instruction Occurs after instruction Teacher provides immediate, specific feedback Teacher evaluates and measures students performance Informal Formal “assurance” in learning (William & Leahy, 2007, p. 40) “quality control” of learning (William & Leahy, 2007, p. 40) McMillian (2007)

Benefits Shows what is important Encourages evaluative thinking Promotes learning autonomy Improve motivation and engagement (Brookhart, 2007; McDowell, 2012; McMillian, 2007)

Benefits Provides invaluable feedback about teaching Opportunities change your instruction (Brookhart, 2007; McDowell, 2012; McMillian, 2007)

Informal Assessment Activities Quick writes 12 word summary 3-2-1 Idea wave Clickers, Signal Cards, or Thumbs up

Informal Assessment Activities Four corners 1 minute reflection Concept maps/web Test question generators Analogy prompt Application Article

Successful Oral Assessment Open questions Give plenty of time Try not to evaluate responses

Question Heuristic Hodgen and Webb (2008) outline: “Tell me about the problem.” “What is similar? What is different?” “How do you know that” (qtd. Butt, 2010, p. 60)

Self-Evaluation Criteria Ask yourself: How integrated in my class is my formative assessment? How did I change my instruction? Were these changes effective? Are students learning and engaged? (McMillian, 2007)

References American Federation of Teachers. “Formative (Informal) Assessment Strategies.” AFT A Union of Professionals. n.d. Accessed January 20, 2014. http://www.aft.org/pdfs/teachers/teach11materials/t11_providingh3.pdf Brookhart, S. M. (2007). Expanding views about formative classroom assessment: A review of the literature. In J. H. McMillian (Eds.), Formative classroom assessment: Theory into practice (pp. 43-62). New York, NY: Teachers College Pr. Butt, G. (2010). Making assessment matter. New York, NY: Continuum Publishing Group. Haugen, L. “Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATS).” Iowa State University. 1999. Accessed January 23, 2014. http://www.celt.iastate.edu/teaching/cat.html National Council of the Teachers of English. “Beliefs about Social Justice in English Education,” NCTE. 2009. Accessed January 23, 2014. http://www.ncte.org/cee/positions/socialjustice McDowell, L. (2012). Assessment for Learning. In L. Clouder, C. Broughan, S. Jewell, & G. Steventon (Eds.), Improving student engagement and development through assessment: Theory and practice in higher education (pp. 73-86). New York, NY: Routledge. McMillan, J. H. (eds). (2007). Formative classroom assessment: Theory into practice. New York, NY: Teachers College Pr. William, D. W. & Leahy, S. (2007). A Theoretical Foundation for Formative Assessment. In J. H. McMillian (Eds.), Formative classroom assessment: Theory into practice (pp. 9-29). New York, NY: Teachers College Pr.