The Assessment Dilemma August 31, 2010 Formative Summative Diagnostic Benchmark

What do you think? an end of unit test a role play developed and performed by students a page of math problems to solve for homework a lab report daily quizzes

Which is which? It depends how results are used

Formative assessment Assessment for learning Tightly aligned to what is taught daily in the classroom Used to make changes in teaching immediately or next day Students can use evidence collected to manage and adjust their own learning

Formative Delivers information during the instructional process Provides day-to-day instructional information Happens before the summative

Formative Answers these 3 questions for both teacher and student Where am I going? Where am I now? How can I close the gap?

Formative Feedback is crucial timely understandable descriptive

Summative Assessment Assessment of Learning used to make a judgement of some kind grades program effectiveness progress towards AYP

Summative Feedback from these assessments tells who made the learning destination Is: coded evaluative does not offer information for an immediate change in course direction

Other Assessments Purpose Diagnostic Individually administered tests Identify learning strengths, weaknesses, knowledge and skills May be administered by a specialist Given prior to instruction Aid in remediation and adjusting curriculum for individual student needs Exs: DRA’s, GRADE, GMADEDRA’sGRADEGMADE Periodic interim or Benchmark assessments Provide info to student and teacher as to student progress toward proficiency on grade level standards Inform instructional improvement Predict future performance on other high stakes tests Measure performance on a regular basis Exs: 4 Sight, Acuity, Assess2Know4 SightAcuityAssess2Know

Other Assessments Purpose National/State/Local/District Standardized Tests Annual accountability, Comparison of schools and districts Provide info on student placement and services, guidance needs, progress monitoring, and program evaluation

Formative or Summative Tests cannot be formative if they do not: change instructional practices as a result of the data/information collected allow students to retake after reteaching

What do you think? an end of unit test a role play developed and performed by students a page of math problems to solve for homework a lab report daily quizzes

References Black, P. (2007, December). Inside the Black Box:Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment. Retrieved September 15, 2009, from retrieved from: Chaippus, S. (2007, December). The Best Value in Formative Assessment. Educational Leadership, Retrieved November 10, 2009, from Keeley, P. (2008). Science Formative Assessment. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Sparks, P. (1999, March). Assessment without victims: An interview with Rick Stiggins. Journal of Staff Development, Retrieved November 11, 2009, from Pennsylvania Department of Education. Standards Aligned Systems. Retrieved February 3, 2010, from