Formative Assessment

A FA on A for L ! Assessment FOR learning 1.involves teachers providing descriptive rather than evaluative feedback to students 2.involves teachers assessing frequently and using the results to plan next steps in instruction 3.involves reporting to others about students’ achievement status at a certain point in time 4.both 1 and 2

Which of the following is NOT considered a key strategy for improving student learning/achievement: 1.Sharing learning targets/intentions with students 2.Providing evaluative/quantitative feedback 3.Engaging students in self assessment 4.Facilitating focused discussions, questions, learning activities 5.Utilizing peer assessment strategies

Based on evidence/research, “It’s not the difference in curricula, it’s the difference in teaching that really impacts student achievement.” 1.true 2.false

Descriptive and specific feedback should be provided to students 1.by the teacher 2.by other students 3.by both the teacher and other students

According to research, which of the following contributes most to student improvement 1.providing assessment scores to students 2.providing comments/feedback to students about their work 3.providing both scores and comments/feedback to students about their work

Formative Assessments have implications for both teaching and learning  Selecting specific Formative Assessments can improve teaching by providing a ‘template’ for a new pedagogical practice  Not every Formative Assessment is appropriate for every class/teacher  Research into teaching and learning reveals that far too little time is devoted to ‘sense-making’; Formative Assessment can provide a ‘structure’ for doing that  Don’t GRADE Formative Assessment; use them to provide feedback and open lines of discussion for further thinking

A good idea – poorly implemented – is a bad idea (Ainsworth &Viegut, 2006)

#1: Agreement Circles  Activate student thinking  Are active/kinesthetic  Safely engage students in civil discourse  Uncover student ideas/preconceptions/conceptions  Can be used throughout a unit

#2: Chain Notes  Provides an opportunity to examine others’ thinking  Encourages synthesis and evaluation over recall  Allows various levels of entry points  Best for checking for understanding after students have had some opportunities to learn and explore the concept

#3: Card Sort  Put choices on strips of paper or cards  Work in teams of two—emphasize the reasoning/explaining component of the sorting decisions  Can be used throughout a unit

#4: Concept Cartoons  Promote thinking and discussion  Often allow for the surfacing of common misconceptions—diagnostic  Work well in both small groups and whole class  Can use ‘blank’ bubbles and allow students to fill them in then have other students interact with them  *Not all Concept Cartoons have a ‘right answer.’ *created at Thinkfinity.org using ‘comic creator’

What do you think?

#5: Data Match  Use evidence to draw conclusions  Helps teachers determine how well students understand the role and significance of data  Quantitative or qualitative data can be used  Students should record their answers independently, then engage in discussion in small groups or whole group

Which match the data? 1.1.The Democrats received more debate time in The debate moderators showed preference to some candidates. 3.The questions were longer in the republican debates, leaving less time per candidate to respond. 4.There are more republican candidates than democratic candidates.

#6: First Word-Last Word  Variation of acrostics  Used to activate student thinking about a concept or topic  First Word – at beginning of unit – to uncover student ideas  Last Word – after learning experiences – to allow comparison of ideas/growth and depth of understanding

Take Home Messages  Effective teachers constantly monitor for engagement—and when they know that students are not engaged, they do something to change it.  Start small—pick just a couple of new strategies to implement.

Formative Assessment Ideas used were from the book: Science Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning by Page Keeley