Glossary of Terms
Assessment Types
Assessments – a classroom assessment is anything a teacher does to gather information about a student’s knowledge or skill regarding a specific topic. (Marzano 2006)
Formative vs. Summative Assessments – in general, a specific assessment is neither formative nor summative—it all depends on how the information is used. Theoretically then, the same assessment could be used in a formative sense or in a summative sense. John Hattie (2003) made this point quite eloquently:
As illustrated by Bob Stake’s maxim: when the cook tastes the soup it is formative, when the guests taste the soup it is summative. Thus a key issue is timing, and it is possible that the same stimulus (e.g., tasting the soup) can be interpreted and used for both forms of assessment. Hence it is NOT the instrument … that is formative and summative. It is the timing of the interpretation and the purpose to which the information is used. (Marzano 2010)
Obtrusive – assessments which interrupt the normal flow of activity in the classroom. Instruction stops while students “take the assessment”.
Student Generated – assessments in which students generate ideas about the manner in which they will demonstrate their current status on a given topic.
Unobtrusive – assessments which do not interrupt the flow of instruction. In fact, students might not even be aware that they are being assessed during an unobtrusive assessment. For example: In Physical Education a teacher observes a student stopping a soccer ball with his or her feet and then kicking it to a teammate during a game played in class. The teacher considers this an unobtrusive assessment of the student’s ability to stop a ball and kick it with accuracy.
Differentiated Instruction
Accommodations – supports put into place to help students achieve grade level expectations. These can be changes to how information is presented, how students are asked to respond, where instruction takes place, and the timing/scheduling of instruction. Accommodations do not change the level of proficiency.
Differentiation – refers to a wide variety of teaching techniques and lesson adaptations that educators use to instruct a diverse group of students, with diverse learning needs, in the same course, classroom, or learning environment.
Modifications – changes to students’ learning expectations. Expectations are shifted, up or down, from grade level expectations.
Scaffolds – a variety of instructional techniques used to move students progressively toward stronger understanding and ultimately greater independence of the learning process.
Scales
Critical Concepts – a narrow, focused set of content identified through a rigorous analysis process and articulated in sets of measurement topics and proficiency scales.
Critical Content – the most important content to which students should pay particular attention.
Proficiency Scale – a proficiency scale defines a learning progression with a set of learning goals for a specific topic, relative to a given standard.
Standards-Referenced Grading – is a system in which teachers give students feedback about their proficiency on a set of defined standards and schools report students’ levels of performance on the grade-level standards.
Resources:
Heflebower, T., Hoegh, J. K., Warrick, P. B., & Flygare, J. (2019). A teacher’s guide to standards-based learning. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research.
Marzano, R. J. (2010). Formative assessment & standards-based grading. Bloomington, IN: Marzano Research Laboratory.
Partnership, G. S. (2013, November 07). Differentiation Definition. Retrieved from https://www.edglossary.org/differentiation/
Senn, D., Rutherford, A. C., & Marzano, R. J. (2014). Identifying critical content: Classroom techniques to help students know what is important. West Palm Beach, FL: Learning Sciences.