1. Formative Assessment: Checking for Understanding by All Students
Teaching and Learning in the
BLOCK

2. Outcomes
Educators will be able to explain the purpose of formative assessment.
Educators will be able to use a variety of strategies to collect formative data throughout a lesson.
Educators will collect formative data and share how they used this data to inform instructional planning.

3. How have you assessed student learning this week?
Write down ways you have assessed student learning this week.
Next, draw a line through any you have graded or plan to grade.
What you are left with is assessments that are clearly meant to be formative.
Are you using them that way?
If any of the assignments you crossed out are meant to be formative and provide you with information to adjust your instructional plan, what message are you sending to students if they are graded?
Respond to Block #1 on your learning log.
Facilitate a brief discussion utilizing the responses to this activity and questions.

4. What makes assessment formative?
INFORMative
Used to provide INFORMation to the educator as to what students understand, do not understand, have misconceptions about, are confused by
The educator uses this information to decide what to do next in the in-progress lesson, next lesson, etc.
As professional educators, you obviously come with quite a bit of knowledge and understanding of formative vs. summative assessment. However, life in the classroom can be overwhelming and it is easy to start working toward meeting the grading requirements, while putting the true purpose of formative assessment in the back of your mind instead of the forefront. Our goal today is to start thinking as assessors all the time, and using that mindset to help us plan and adjust our instruction in response to student need.

5. What makes assessment formative?
Teachers collect a wide range of data so that they can modify the learning work for their students.
Lorna Earl, Assessment as Learning
Formative assessment is not just an activity conducted once or twice in a lesson…
It is a perpetual state of mind in which the educator views all student actions and activities in a lesson as an opportunity to gain insight into understanding.
Respond to Block #2 on your learning log.
What do you think of these statements? Do you think like this now? Do you want to get to that point in your teaching?

6. When in a lesson can we collect formative data?
Framing the Learning/Introduction to the Lesson
Pre-assessment for the lesson
(Pre-assessment for the unit may take place up to two weeks prior to the start of the unit)
Student Acquisition of Learning
Modeling, inquiry task, lecture, reading, etc.
Have educators answer the title question before sharing other possible answers.

7. When in a lesson can we collect formative data?
Student Processing and Utilization of Learning
Writing, dialogue, projects, simulations, tasks, etc.
Student Summarization of Learning
Completes the frame of learning
Closure by the student
Note that the lesson components on slides 6 & 7 really walk educators through the integral parts of a lesson plan. You may also note the focus on the role of the student in the language used. How are the students acquiring new learning, etc.?

8. What are some ways to collect formative data?
Complete your mind map of ways you do or could collect formative data throughout the course of the lesson.
Yours might begin like this…

9. Mind Map: Formative Assessment
Student Processing & Utilization of Learning
Student Acquisition of New Learning
Student Summarization of Learning
Formative Assessment
KWL Chart
Framing the Learning/
Introduction
-Provide time for educators to complete their mind map.
-Then have educators work in pairs to enhance their mind map. Depending on the size of your group, you may wish to have the pair may wish to create a merged copy on bulletin board or chart paper.
-Complete a gallery walk of the mind maps. Have each educator write additional ideas on their personal mind map. Ensure that the ideas on the mind map are indeed ways to collect assessment data. For example, if “lecture” is listed…discussion must be had on -HoW to collect formative data during a lecture…perhaps through utilization of the 10:2 theory…students are given a specific stem to write about or discuss, as the teacher monitors and listens for misconceptions or areas of confusion.
-Share out the mind maps prior to moving into the strategy section of this presentation.
Complete your blank mind map.

10. Checking for Understanding by ALL Students
Reflect back on your questioning this week...
Have you asked the following:
Does anyone have any questions?
Everybody got it?
Or have you asked specific questions of the whole class to come out with the information that a couple students who answered the questions understand?

11. Checking for Understanding by ALL Students
We all have done these things…many times!
But this does not paint a clear picture of whether or not ALL students understand.
Let’s fill your toolbox with some new ideas or revisit some you know about, but maybe haven’t used in a while.
You may wish to stop here to discuss any additional ways or ways addressed on the mind map that teachers can check for understanding by ALL.

12. Strategies to Try
Instructional strategies are only effective when the appropriate strategy is used at the appropriate time, with the appropriate students, and the appropriate content.
If a strategy doesn’t work the first time, reflect, revise, and try again until you feel confident that it is working or is simply not right.
Ask educators to read through the next few slides. You may wish to use Jigsaw to have educators summarize the strategies and how they might consider using them.
Possible discussion stems include: Have you used these strategies? How were they used? Did use of the strategy result in your desired outcome/provide you with the information you needed? What adjustments might you make to them in the future?

13. Where or from whom did I learn
Frame of Reference
How do I know what I know
about this topic?
Use in pre-assessment, or as a strategy before, during, or after reading.
Find this strategy in Why Didn’t I Learn This in College? by Paula Rutherford, page 78 (template is available on the book’s CD)
What do I know
Topic
about this topic?
Where or from whom did I learn
what I know?

14. KWL or KWHL Chart May be used: As pre-assessment
Following student acquisition of learning
To help focus student research, etc.

15. Taken from http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/kwl.pdf

16. Popsicle Sticks Provides a random sampling of student answers
Use during whole class or small group Q & A
Trick: always put students’ sticks back in the jar after using
When absolutely necessary, a name can be made up if you need to call on a student. Just pull the stick quickly. 
Cons: This still gives you a limited sampling of student understanding. This should not be your only tool.

17. White Boards
Provides an opportunity to see all students’ answers or work quickly
Use during Q & A, individual, pair, or group work
Where to find cheap: dollar stores or bins, laminated file folders, make at home improvement store

18. Reading Your Students
While not a strategy and perhaps impossible to measure, being able to read students’ faces and behaviors, can help the educator to be able to determine a need for processing time, discussion, or a sense of confusion.

19. Safe, Effective Learning Environment
It is also important to create a learning environment, in which students are respected by others, so that they feel comfortable asking questions and expressing confusion or uncertainty.
Question box
Individual interactions with students
Signal cups
Green = Going well
Yellow = Need some help
Red = Totally lost

20. Exit Slips To have students summarize their learning
3-2-1, 3-1-1, etc.
Example: 3 things you learned, 2 things you want to learn more about , 1 question
Find this strategy and more ideas for stems in Why Didn’t I Learn This in College? by Paula Rutherford, page 99 (template is available on the book’s CD)
Inverted outcomes
The lesson’s stated outcomes (in student friendly language) turned into questions or a problem task

21. What to do with exit slips, etc…
Sort into at least 3 piles
Got it
Have it for the most part, but there is a need for some clarification, or remediation on a particular concept or objective
Didn’t understand at all; in need of re-teaching
Now that you are INFORMed, what will you do with this knowledge for tomorrow?
Be sure to discuss the sorting of exit slips with the group. Many educators use exit slips, but don’t USE exit slips.

22. How might you record this formative data?
If you are using the information immediately to re-teach or clarify during a lesson, you may not record it.
If you are using the information to adjust the next day’s lesson plan, it may be recorded as part of your lesson reflection or the next day’s lesson plan.

23. How might you record this formative data?
Notes on a clipboard or in the grade book, perhaps by objective or skill
Notes on a note card or labels (one for each student)
Other ideas?

24. I’ve collected formative data: Now what?
As you move through the lesson, gathering data about student understanding, how might this change your instruction for the remainder of the lesson?
What about the next lesson?
Ask educators to reflect again on their week…when in a lesson this week did they collect formative data (however informal the “collection” may have been and used it to adjust their lesson. Examples may include: students working on a task, and the teacher realizes that the majority of learners are not ready, so stops and re-teaches the concept; teacher sees a small group who is struggling and works with or provides scaffolding for that group, etc.

25. How will you use this information?
Complete the first part of Block #3 on your Learning Log.
For our next meeting on _____________.
Try a new method of collecting formative data. Bring your results and be prepared to share how you used the data to inform your instruction.

26. Summarization of our Learning and Thinking
Share one idea you learned today that will help you to meet Professional Educator Standard III, Key Element 7
Communicates specific performance expectations and uses a variety of assessment strategies to plan, monitor and adjust instruction, and document student progress.
Whip around the room to share out.

27. Additional Tools and Strategies
Video: Checking for Understanding
Mind Mapping
Research-based Techniques to Check for Student Understanding
It is recommended to provide a copy of the Techniques to Check for Student Understanding.

28. References
Earl, L. (2003). Assessment as learning: Using classroom assessment to maximize student learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press Inc.
KWHL chart. Retrieved from
Rutherford, P. (2009). Why didn’t I learn this in college? Teaching & learning in the 21s century. Alexandria, VA: Just ASK Publications, Inc.