Formative Assessment: What Is It, Where Is It and How Do I Know I Have Found It? Academic Coaches Meeting MILWAUKEE PUBLIC SCHOOLS Lee Ann Pruske Mary Mooney November 2, 2012

Milwaukee Public Schools TITLE OF PRESENTATION MPS Board of School Directors Dr. Michael Bonds, President Larry Miller, Vice President Mark Sain, District 1 Jeff Spence, District 2 Annie Woodward, District 4 Dr. Peter Blewett, District 6 David Voeltner, District 7 Meagan Holman, District 8 Terrence Falk, At-Large Senior Team Dr. Gregory Thornton, Superintendent Naomi Gubernick, Chief of Staff Darienne Driver, Chief Innovation Officer Tina Flood, Executive Director, Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Karen Jackson, Chief Human Resources Officer Michelle Nate, Chief Operations Officer Gerald Pace, Esq., Chief Financial Officer Anita Pietrykowski, Director, School Administration Denise Callaway, Communications & Partnerships Patricia Gill, Executive Director, Family Services Sue Saller, Coordinator to the Superintendent

 Take a moment to jot down your current understanding of a definition of formative assessment on an index card.

 Deepen our understanding of formative assessment.  We will know we are successful when we can articulate a working definition of formative assessment as well as how it impacts our work as coaches.

 The term formative is used to describe the function that evidence from the assessment actually serves, rather than the assessment itself.

 Who is actually doing the assessment?  Teacher?  Individual Learner?  Peer?

 Focus is on the decisions instead of the intentions of those involved.  Evidence that is collected with the intent of being used, but never actually used is unhelpful.

 The evidence is used to make adjustments that improve learning opportunities.

 The focus is on decisions about the next steps in instruction, the teaching and learning of the content.

 Decisions are either better, or better founded than decisions might have been without the evidence gained as part of the assessment process.  The evidence might indicate that the planned course of action (next steps) might be correct, or that students need more work in the current assessment area before moving on in the content.

An assessment functions formatively to the extent that evidence about student achievement is elicited, interpreted, and used by teachers, learners, or their peers to make decisions about the next steps in instruction that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the decisions they would have made in the absence of that evidence. Dylan Wiliam, 2011

 The term formative is used to describe the function that the evidence from the assessment actually serves, not the assessment itself.

 Review your evidence of formative assessment that had been collected.  Choose one to transcribe on an index card.

 Stand up! Form a circle.  Facilitator will read a sample evidence piece.  Individually decide if this does or does not fit the definition of formative assessment. If yes, go to the inside of the circle, if no, go to the outside of the circle.  Face your peers and divide into small groups of who agree and disagree. Engage in discussion to defend your thinking.

Where the learner is going Where the learner isHow to get there Teacher Peer Learner Clarifying, sharing and understanding learning intentions Engineering effective discussions, tasks, and activities that elicit evidence of learning Providing feedback that moves learners forward Activating students as learning resources for one another Activating students as owners of their own learning 15

 3 key processes:  Finding out where the learners are in their learning  Finding out where they are going  Finding out how to get there  3 kinds of individuals  Teacher  Learner  Peer

Where the learner is going Where the learner isHow to get there Teacher Peer Learner 17 Using evidence of achievement to adapt what happens in classrooms to meet learner needs

 Teaching is a contingent activity. We cannot predict what students will learn as a result of any particular sequence of instruction.  Formative assessment involves getting the best possible evidence about what students have learned and then using this information to decide what to do next.  Assessment is the bridge between teaching and learning.

 1. Clarifying, sharing, and understanding learning intentions  2. Engineering effective classroom discussions, activities, and learning tasks that elicit evidence of learning  3. Providing feedback that moves learning forward.  4. Activating learners as instructional resources for one another.  5. Activating learners as the owners of their own learning. Leahy, Lyon, Thompson & William, 2005