1. Formative Assessment
Morgan County Schools

2. Formative Assessment Strategies
Brainstorm
Formative Assessment Strategies
Bellringer/Warmup
____________________
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4
Example 5
Example 6
Example 7
Example 8
Example 9

3. Goals Gain a better understanding of formative assessments
Understand how formative assessment impacts content mastery
Create a plan for formative assessment in your building

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

5. Crucial Distinction
Assessment OF Learning (Summative): How much have students learned as of a particular point in time? Assessment FOR Learning (Formative): How can we use assessment to help students learn more?

6. Assessment for 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

7. Why Place an Emphasis on Formative Assessment?
Policy 2510 – Compliance Checklist on School Monitoring Report
“Utilizes formative assessment processes”
Informs students/assists them in monitoring their learning
Informs teachers/assists them in evaluating instructional effectiveness and allows the teacher to create interventions/support

8. Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is a process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students’ achievements of intended instructional outcomes (FAST SCASS, October 2006)

9. Formative Assessment
Occurs moment-to-moment as part of instruction
Is a process used by teachers and students frequently and is embedded in the current unit of instruction
Are small scale, short cycle assessments given in the classroom to diagnose where students are in their learning
(ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING--Stiggins, Arter, Chauppuis and Chauppuis, 2006)

10. Formative Assessment Cannot aggregate/disaggregate and report results
Use results to provide descriptive feedback or to modify instruction
Most flexible

11. The Formative Assessment Process
What It Is…
What It Isn’t…
A planned process
Unplanned
Based on assessment evidence
Individual strategies
Using evidence to make instructional adjustments and/or verifying learning
Moving on regardless of student evidence
“Actionable” feedback for students
Grading

12. Formative Assessment Process
ETS, 2009

13. Why Feedback?
Formative assessment can enhance learning when it provides students with feedback about specific qualities of their work, and about how to improve.
Black & Wiliam, 1998; Crooks, 1988; Kluger & DeNisi 1996; Natriello, 1987; Rea-Dickens, 2001; Stipek, 1996; Turnstall & Gipps, 1996
Heritage, M. Formative assessment: What do teachers need to know and do? Phi Delta Kappan. October 2007.

14. Feedback
Formative assessment is designed to provide feedback at multiple levels:
Feedback to teachers about current levels of student understanding
Feedback to guide students through their own next steps
Heritage, M. Formative assessment: What do teachers need to know and do? Phi Delta Kappan. October 2007.

15. Use of Feedback in Closing the Gap
Teachers take steps to close the gap between the students’ current learning and the goal by:
Modifying instruction
Assessing again to give further information about learning
Modify instruction again…and repeat process
Feedback must be used by the student to improve learning in order for it to be effective in closing the gap.
Heritage, M. Formative assessment: What do teachers need to know and do? Phi Delta Kappan. October 2007.

16. Effective Feedback
Clear, descriptive, criterion-based information that indicates:
where students are in a learning progression
how their understanding differs from the desired learning goal
how they can move forward
Heritage, M. Formative assessment: What do teachers need to know and do? Phi Delta Kappan. October 2007.

17. Descriptive Feedback
Specific and appropriate communication to improve learning while that learning is occurring or evolving
Should focus on the particular qualities of student learning with discussion and suggestions about what the student can do to improve
Can be provided in the form of ideas, strategies, and tasks students can use to close the gap between his or her current level and the next level
Not in the form of a score or grade
Should help the student answer three questions: Where am I going? Where am I now? How can I close the gap?
Heritage, M. Formative Assessment and Next-Generation Assessment Systems: Are We Losing an Opportunity. National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST).

18. Mark each example of descriptive feedback with a D and each example of evaluative feedback with an E. If you believe it is neither, mark it with an X.
Good job!
Sloppy work
How did you reach that conclusion? Where’s your data
Proficient 
Your calculations are accurate. Take another look at
appropriate units for density. C-
Excellent!
You need to try harder next time. You can do it!
The students at station two are ready for the lab, they
have their books cleared and their safety glasses on. 
You need to label the x-axis, include units with your
label, choose an appropriate scale, show the points you
plotted, and give the graph a title.
81%

19. Mark each example of descriptive feedback with a D and each example of evaluative feedback with an E. If you believe it is neither, mark it with an X.
E Good job!
E Sloppy work
D How did you reach that conclusion? Where’s your data?
E Proficient
E 
D Your calculations are accurate. Take another look at
appropriate units for density.
E C-
E Excellent!
E You need to try harder next time. You can do it!
D The students at station two are ready for the lab, they
have their books cleared and their safety glasses on.
E  
X You need to label the x-axis, include units with your
label, choose an appropriate scale, show the points you
plotted, and give the graph a title.
E or D 81%

20. Wrap-Up Respond to the following statements using T/F:
1. Formative assessment should be unplanned and spontaneous.
2. Formative assessment is used by a teacher to determine the effectiveness of his/her instruction.
3. Formative assessment is only meant to inform the teacher.
4. There is NO difference between formative and summative assessments – an assessment is an assessment.
5. Descriptive feedback is essential for students to answer the questions: Where am I going? Where am I now? How can I close the gap?

21. Resources WVDE Resource Page: ETS Resource:
html
ETS Resource:
ting_Program/ELLM2002.pdf