Formative Assessment Process

What is the Formative Assessment Process?

What are Empowered or Assessment-Capable Learners?

What is the Formative Assessment Process?

Formative Assessment is a PROCESS not a product, rooted in a PARTNERSHIP between the teacher and student in which they COLLECT EVIDENCE of learning to inform their NEXT LEARNING steps.

The formative assessment process supports student learning by guiding them through four key questions: Where are we headed? (learning progressions), Where am I headed? (teacher clarity with learning intentions, success criteria, and modeling), Where am I now? (effective feedback through self and peer assessment), and Where to next? (goal setting and revision). When implemented effectively, this process creates the conditions necessary for students to build self-efficacy and take ownership of their learning.

Three Impact Questions.pdf

What are Empowered or Assessment-Capable Learners?

What are Self-Empowered Learners?

An empowered learner takes ownership of their learning by asking and answering key formative questions: Where am I headed?, Where am I now?, and Where to next? This process fosters self-regulation, self-advocacy, and self-efficacy—key traits of learners who believe in their ability to achieve. Empowered learners demonstrate a growth mindset by putting forth effort, embracing challenges, learning from mistakes, and accepting feedback. Beyond academics, empowered learners build social and emotional capacity by identifying and managing their emotions, collaborating effectively, and leveraging their strengths alongside others. They are equipped to take ownership of both their academic success and personal growth.

Evidence-Backed Strategies

In 2009, John Hattie published his groundbreaking Visible Learning research to identify what has the greatest impact on student learning. By analyzing 14,000 meta-analyses, 80,000 case studies, and data from 300 million students, Hattie placed various factors affecting learning on a common scale. He found that an effect size of 0.4 represents a year’s worth of learning in a year’s time. Factors below 0.4 yield less growth, while some can even reverse learning (e.g., depression at -0.32). Typical teacher effects range from 0.2 to 0.4, but practices within the “zone of desired effects”—those with effect sizes above 0.4—are the most impactful and worth prioritizing.