1. Formative Assessment Classroom Techniques (FACTs)
Holly Anthony, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Mathematics Education
Department of Curriculum & Instruction 1

2. Traffic Light
Read the Formative Assessment Target Goals posted on the easel sheets throughout the room.
Place a green dot on the left side of the easel sheet for any goals that you feel you have already mastered.
Place a yellow dot on the left side of the easel sheet for any goals that you know something about but have not yet mastered.
Place a red dot on the left side of the easel sheet for any goals that you have either never heard of or that you know virtually nothing about.

3. Session Target Goals Participants will:
articulate the differences between formative &
summative assessment
recognize the impact of effective formative
assessment
describe and provide examples of how to effectively use the five keys to quality assessment
use three guiding questions to ensure that students are informed and involved in the assessment process

4. Why assess students? To gather evidence of student learning
To inform instruction
To motivate students and
increase student learning

5. How do we assess students?
Formative Assessment Summative Assessment

6. Card Sort
Use the large label cards to create the headings for two columns - one for “Formative Assessment” and one for “Summative Assessment”
Sort the cards and place each one under the most appropriate heading in your chart

7. Formative Assessment
Summative Assessment

8. Assessment for Learning Assessment of Learning

9. Assessment for Learning Assessment of Learning
Teachers, students and parents are the primary users
Teachers, principals, supervisors, program planners, and policy makers are the primary users
During learning
After learning
Used to provide information on what and how to improve achievement
Used to certify student competence
Used by teachers to identify and respond to student needs
Used to rank and sort students
Purpose: improve learning
Purpose: document achievement of standards
Primary motivator: belief that success is achievable
Primary motivator: threat of punishment, promise of reward
Continuous
Periodic
Examples: peer assessment, using rubrics with students, descriptive feedback
Examples: final exams, placement tests, state assessments, unit tests
Assessment for Learning
Assessment of Learning

10. 20 Purposes for Using FACTs
Activate thinking and engage students in learning
Make students’ ideas explicit to themselves and the teacher
Challenge students’ existing ideas and encourage intellectual curiosity
Encourage continuous reflection on teaching and learning
Help students consider alternative viewpoints
Provide a stimulus for discussion and argumentation
Help students recognize when they have learned or not learned something
Encourage students to ask better questions and provide thoughtful responses
Provide starting points for inquiry
Aid formal concept development and transfer

11. 20 Purposes for Using FACTs
Determine whether students can apply ideas to new situations
Differentiate instruction for individuals or groups of students
Promote the use of academic language in learning
Evaluate the effectiveness of a lesson
Help students develop self-assessment and peer-assessment skills
Give and use feedback (student to student, teacher to student, and student to teacher)
Encourage social construction of ideas
Inform immediate or later adjustments to instruction
Encourage and include participation of all learners
Increase comfort and confidence in making one’s own ideas public

12. Research Support
Principle 1: If their [students’] initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp new concepts and information presented in the classroom, or they may learn them for purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions (Bransford, et al., 1999, p. 14). Principle 2: To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must (a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application (p. 16). Principle 3: A “metacognitive” approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them (p. 18).

13. Classroom Environments that Support Formative Assessment
Learner-Centered Environment
Knowledge-Centered Environment
Assessment-Centered Environment
Community-Centered Environment

14. Making the Shift to a Formative Assessment Centered Classroom
Shift our beliefs about the role of the instructor
Interact more frequently and effectively with students on a day-to-day basis
Listener and encourager rather than “information provider” and “corrector of errors/misconceptions”
Provide opportunities for students to discuss, construct, and to organize thinking
Students play an active role in their own learning
Learning goals and standards are shared explicitly with students
Acknowledging students’ ideas

15. The 5 Keys to Quality Assessment
Identify the Purpose
Clarify the Targets
Use a Sound Design
Provide Effective Feedback
Involve Students

16. Complete the Drawing 3 Guiding Questions 5 Keys to Quality Assessment
Summative
Assessment
Complete the Drawing
5 Keys to
Quality
Assessment ? 3
Guiding
Questions

17. Assessment Key #1: Identify the Purpose Who will use it?
How will it be used?

18. Assessment Key #2: Clarify the Targets Deconstruct the objectives.
Are they clear to the students?

19. Assessment Key #3:
Use Sound Design
Method?
Sample?
Quality?
Bias?

20. Provide Effective Feedback
Assessment Key #4:
Provide Effective Feedback
The best feedback is:
Descriptive
Specific
Relevant
Timely
Empowering

21. Assessment Key #5: Involve Students Peer Assessment Self Assessment
Goal Setting

22. The Formative Assessment Framework
Three Guiding Questions

23. How to Answer the Three Guiding Questions
Seven Strategies of Formative Assessment
Where am I going?
1. Provide a clear and understandable
version of the learning targets.
2. Use examples of strong and weak
work.
Where am I now?
3. Offer regular descriptive feedback.
4. Teach students to self-assess and
set goals.
How can I close the
gap?
5. Design lessons to focus on one
aspect of quality at a time.
6. Teach students focused revision.
7. Engage students in self-reflection
and let them document and share
their learning.

24. Five Keys to
Quality
Assessment
Identify
the
Purpose
Clarify
Targets
Use
Sound
Design
Involve
Students
Provide
Effective
Feedback
Where Am
I Going?
I Now?
How Do I
Close the
Gap?

25. Suggestions for Using FACTs
Make students’ thinking explicit during problem-solving activities and investigations.
Create a classroom culture of ideas, not answers.
Develop a discourse community.
Encourage students to take risks.
Encourage students to listen carefully.
Use a variety of FACTs in a variety of ways.
Use a variety of grouping configurations.
Encourage continuous reflection.

26. Traffic Light
Read the Formative Assessment Target Goals posted on the easel sheets throughout the room.
Place a green dot on the right side of the easel sheet for any goals that you feel you have already mastered.
Place a yellow dot on the right side of the easel sheet for any goals that you know something about but have not yet mastered.
Place a red dot on the right side of the easel sheet for any goals that you have either never heard of or that you know virtually nothing about.

27. References & Recommended Readings
Keeley, P., & Tobey, C. R. (2011). Mathematics formative assessment: 75 practical strategies for linking assessment, instruction, and learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.