1. Consequential validity of formative assessment

2. Formative assessment = improved student learning?
We don’t know what we are doing, we haven’t had it modeled, we are often siloed, we have a tradition of high-stakes finals, stressed students, tests can be triggers for maladaptive responses, high reading workload tradition BUT we have adult learners.

3. what it is intended to accomplish.
An assessment is VALID
when it accomplishes
what it is intended to accomplish.
CONSEQUENTIAL VALIDITY
is the measure of an assessment’s broader impact on student learning.
Difficult to measure—often just asserted on the basis of the logic and purpose behind the assessment. BUT
An assessment has
HIGH CONSEQUENTIAL VALIDITY
when it broadly improves student learning.

4. Lund University Faculty of Engineering 2008 Study of Assessment System
Highly competitive and demanding program
Coordinated system of assessments intended to help students pass by spreading their study efforts evenly throughout semester and across classes
Study found that assessment system had become separated from student learning:
Struggling students focused on assessment task just ahead, and strategically avoided some
Faculty believed poor scores evidence that school needed to tighten admission standards.
Some evidence that what we thought is helping may not always help.

5. Best Practices for Designing Formative Assessments with High Consequential Validity
Essentially—how to we align our assessments with learning goals and clearly communicate with students? That means explaining and listening to them and the data—what does it mean?

6. 1. Make an assessment’s alignment with course’s learning objectives transparent to students.
Make the assessment system’s alignment with learning goals transparent—so students understand how this furthers their learning
but avoid “teaching to the test”—keep learning goals foundational enough to allow for creativity, flexibility, the unexpected good. (Property example of misunderstanding—MC questions). Scaffolding rather than limiting or making mechanistic learning.

7. 2. Use rubrics to create a shared language of instruction.
Explain what rubrics are--A rubric may weaken an assessment’s consequential validity when it has imprecise criteria or descriptions not adapted to the intended audience because when students do not understand the how they will be evaluated, they are less likely to use the assessment to improve on learning goals. Example?

8. 3. Ensure the assessment system encourages students’ autonomy.
This goes to the level of control we exercise over student behaviors. Larry Krieger and Kennon Sheldon study of autonomy support—led to higher GPA (so better learning across the curriculum), higher bar passage numbers, and students with a higher self-determination in career planning. Also higher subjective well being.
Autonomy support=students belief they are autonomous, or acting out of their own interests and values; and competent, or working on something they are good at or can become good at; and working relatedly, or connected meaningfully to others in a supportive process.
three defining features: 1) assignments provide students with as much choice within the constraints of the assignment as possible; 2) they provide students with a meaningful rational of why the choice may be limited and the tasks that are required; and 3) they communicate to students that the students’ perspectives and concerns are important and considered in the decisionmaking.

9. 4. Set high expectations and display confidence students can meet those expectations.
Rick Byrd—men’s basketball coach at Belmont, built highly successful program. For 17 consecutive years, the Bruins have compiled a team G.P.A. of 3.0 or higher with a perfect graduation rate.
Early feedback can be a trigger for maladaptive responses, like fixed mindset and stereotype threat. More assessment does not help these students. The assessment has low CV because it decreases a student’s ability to learn and progress.
In addition to all of above, need to explain this danger to students and set high expectations for student achievement, provide robust feedback, and communicate confidence that students can meet those expectations

10. 5. Regularly revisit assessment system and pay particular attention to students’ ownership of their own learning.
Also,
Create logical consequences for choices students make about learning. If students are expected to be prepared for class to maximize learning, create an assessment to ensure they suffer a consequence if they are not.
Be consistent and clear and fair. Students should be encouraged to provide the same level of personal investment and introspection into the learning that we do