Formative Assessment Cycle

After giving a pre-assessment and analyzing the work, I established a learning goal for a small intervention group to help them learn additional strategies that may be more efficient and to help increase their confidence in math. 

While analyzing student work, I used the Trends in Student Thinking: Multiplication & Division Data Tool that is linked below on the left.  This allowed me to look deeper into how students were solving their work rather than just checking their accuracy.  This helped me develop what steps I was going to take in my intervention group to move student thinking, (III.c.vii, III.c.viii). While working with students, I was able to adapt lessons to meet their needs and keep the focus for this group in mind which was to build confidence and learn more efficent strategies for multiplication.  Using the learning trajectory, I was able to sequence activities and design instructional tasksto move their thinking, (II.c.i, II.c.ii, , III.c.iv).

On the right I examined how students initially solved a multiplication problem on their pre-assessment and then how they were solving problems during our intervention group after introducing them to other representations they may had not known about prior.

Mathematics Specialist Standards 

Pedagogy Standards, from AMTE, 2013:

Curriculum and Assessment. Mathematics Specialist professionals are expected to:

II.c.i.  Know learning trajectories related to mathematical topics and use this knowledge to sequence activities and design instructional tasks.

II.c.ii.  Use multiple strategies, including listening to and understanding the ways students think about mathematics, to assess students’ mathematical knowledge.

II.c.iv.  Select, use, adapt, and determine the suitability of mathematics curricula and teaching materials (e.g., textbooks, technology, manipulatives) for particular learning goals.

II.c.vii.  Use the formative assessment cycle (administer a formative assessment task, analyze student responses to the task, and design and reteach lessons based on this analysis) and be able to find or create appropriate resources for this purpose.

II.c.viii. Analyze formative and summative assessment results, make appropriate interpretations and communicate results to appropriate and varied audiences.