Formative Assessment- The Journey Continues Pershing Elementary August 2011

Formative vs. Summative  It is essential to know and understand how these differ  Summative: Assessments that provide evidence of student achievement for the purpose of making a judgment about student competence or program SJSD these include…..  Formative: A collection of practices with a common feature-They all lead to some action that improves learning. It is not the instrument that is formative; It is the use of the information gathered, by whatever means, to adjust teaching and learning, that is truly formative work.  Recall what the Black Box Article said……

Framework for thinking about Formative Assessment/A for L  Where Am I GOING?  Where AM I NOW?  What Do I Need To Do To Get THERE?

Formative Assessment is Assessment for Learning  Seven Strategies include:  Clear Targets  Strong & Weak Work  Student Feedback  Students self-assessing & goal setting  Lesson design  Teaching students focused revision  Students self-reflect while tracking and sharing their own learning

Where are we in the journey?  Work involved:  Intense focus on CA Clear Targets  Wrote “I Can/This Means” Statements for CA  Wrote numerous CA checkpoints  Focus on student-friendly language  Student Assessment Binders & Students began tracking more of their learning

Think CHECKPOINTS:  The CP truly aligns with the objective (CT) to be learned/the objectives taught  All of the items on the CP truly match what has been taught  The CP is designed in a way that it will truly pinpoint specific problems so that teachers can easily analyze and decide what action to take  Assessment results are available right away-to students and teacher  Teachers and students honestly take action based on the results  Checkpoints are “on grade level”

Student Assessment Binder Contents-Let’s TALK!  What might be included?

Partner Share  Please reflect on the following question with a partner….Be prepared to share your thoughts with the group  Why is it essential for learning goals (CT) to be presented in student-friendly language? Think of your “I Can” & “This Means” Statements

Artifact Share  Let’s reflect on artifacts from last year’s implementation….It truly was a great year of implementation!  Remember-Buildings that make gains have a commitment from ALL to implement certain practices.

Student Feedback-This Year’s Piece  Anchor Texts include:  Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning by Jan Chappuis (Chpt. 3)  How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students by Susan M. Brookhart (coming in February)  Please read Brookhart article, Brookhart chapters 1-3, and Stiggins chapter 3 this semester.

This Year’s Thread…  The Feedback Strategy truly complements our focus this year on:  Teaching to the students ON grade level  Teaching to the students ABOVE grade level  Teaching to the students BELOW grade level

The Research on Feedback  Kluger & DeNisis’ overall research finding indicated the groups receiving feedback on average outperformed their respective control groups by.41 standard deviations-the equivalent from moving from the 50 th to the 66 th percentile on a standardized test.  The effectiveness of Feedback can be effected by a number of things, especially the way in which the student experiences the comment.

Student Feedback-An Overview (SB text) Think MOTIVATION  Feedback says to a student, “Somebody cared enough about my work to read it and think about it!”  Good feedback gives students information they need so they can understand where they are in their learning and what to do next-the cognitive factor. Once they feel they understand what to do and why, most students develop a feeling that they have control over their own learning-the motivational factor.  Don’t discount this strategy-When used ineffectively, it can actually be harmful to achievement!

What does Susan Brookhart have to say???  Focus on: Timing Amount Mode Audience

Brookhart & Feedback Content: An Introduction  Outcome Feedback is important, but don’t stop there. Yes it’s right or sorry, it’s wrong, is not near enough feedback.  Good feedback includes next steps to improve learning.  Giving feedback about the process used to accomplish a task is important. Feedback about processes shows connections between what they did & the results the student achieved.  Feedback needs to be presented in a way that can be used in future learning & tasks.

More Brookhart & FB Content  COMPARISON FEEDBACK  Criterion Referencing: Compare the students work with the established criteria. Allows students to see what the learning target looks like and what they need to do to close the gap. (Scoring guides & Anchor Papers before work begins)  Norm Referencing Feedback: Comparing a student’s work to other students work- Can create winners & losers DESCRIPTIVE VS. EVALUATIVE FB -Grades on papers can be detrimental

STIGGINS’ WORK  Providing EFFECTIVE feedback requires sophistication….The presence of feedback does not always improve learning. The QUALITY of the feedback determines effectiveness.

Characteristics of Effective Feedback (Stiggins)  FB directs attention to the intended learning (CT), pointing our strengths and offering specific information to guide improvement.  SUCCESS FEEDBACK: POINTING OUT WHAT THE STUDENT HAS DONE WELL  INTERVENTION FEEDBACK: GIVES SPECIFIC INFORMATION TO GUIDE IMPROVEMENT

WHAT IS WRONG HERE?  Try these again  Incomplete  Keep studying  More effort needed  Redo  Get a parent signature

Characteristics of Effective Feedback (Stiggins)  OCCURS DURING LEARNING WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME TO ACT  Before the graded event  Cultivate the mindset that it is ok to make mistakes!

Characteristics of Effective Feedback (Stiggins)  ADDRESSES PARTIAL UNDERSTANDING  Feedback is not always appropriate; It is most effective when it addresses faulty understanding rather than a total lack of understanding.  Providing feedback when a student is not ready can lead to a student feeling failure TWICE  If you are unable to offer any success feedback, more actual teaching may be necessary. Offering the same feedback many times may mean this also.

Characteristics of Effective Feedback (Stiggins)  EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK DOES NOT DO THE THINKING FOR THE STUDENT  Start by asking, “Do you know what you need to work on?”  A hallmark of good feedback is that it spurs thoughtful action-not just following directions or using someone else’s ideas. It can be easy to “over-feedback” or do it for them.

Characteristics of Effective Feedback (Stiggins)  EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK LIMITS CORRECTIVES TO WHAT STUDENTS CAN ACT ON  How many pieces of advice can a student handle?  Don’t offer feedback about things students know truly know how to do

Feedback Implementation in the Classroom  We would expect to see….. Individual conferences & Small group conferences Discussion about where students are in relation to the learning targets Feedback logs/tools & Scoring Guides with feedback CHOOSE A CONTENT AREA IN WHICH YOU ARE GOING TO WORK THIS FA STRATEGY

Monitoring our Implementation  Choose a subject area and work the feedback process  I would expect to see a “dialogue process” that has occurred between the teacher and student  Students need to be able to refer to the feedback you provided them (on paper)  Find a system that works for you..Stars & Stairs and etc.  This will be part of the Walk-Through process