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"An assessment functions formatively to the extent that evidence about student achievement is elicited, interpreted, and used by teachers, learners, or their peers to make decisions about the next steps in instruction [or learning] that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the decisions they would have made in the absence of that evidence" (p. 48).
Wiliam, D. (2018). Embedded Formative Assessment, 2nd ed. Solution Tree Press.
formative
formative
Teachers and students can use formative assessment practices to adjust and modify their instruction or learning strategies during a unit of instruction. The feedback makes student thinking visible and occurs daily and weekly to support student learning.
summative
summative
Teachers can use classroom summative assessments such as end-of-unit tests to "sum up" what students have learned about a particular set of content standards to that point in time. This information is then communicated to students and parents typically using grades or other written marks.
Four Formative Assessment Strategies
Clarifying learning goals and success criteria within a broader progression of learning (starts and ends of lessons)
Clarifying learning goals and success criteria within a broader progression of learning (starts and ends of lessons)
A few practical techniques below to get you started -- click here to access additional resources
Today, we are learning or we learned...Write the learning goals for the lesson and unit in student-friendly language and ask students to discuss with a partner, say back in their own words, etc.
You will know you have learned if...Discuss success criteria with students at the beginning of a lesson and unit. One way to do so is to show examples of previous student work and ask students what they think made the work successful (or not) and use that to create a list of success criteria.
Eliciting and analyzing evidence of student thinking or understanding
Eliciting and analyzing evidence of student thinking or understanding
A few practical techniques below to get you started -- click here to access additional resources:
Write out some questions ahead of time you can use during the lesson to gauge students' level of conceptual understanding.
Use techniques to hear from more students more often (e.g., think-pair-share, white boards, random calling on students).
Ask students to work in groups on a complex task, prompt, or problem. Listen in on group conversations and probe the level of student understanding as you circulate across the room. Write down anecdotal comments and notes.
Self and peer assessment
Self and peer assessment
A few practical techniques below to get you started -- click here to access additional resources:
Model how to give and receive feedback using examples and fishbowl activities.
Use a gallery walk with post-it notes so students can leave feedback to their peers.
Ask students to self assess during a lesson about what they feel most confident about and what they want to know more about.
Using evidence and feedback to move learning forward by adjusting learning strategies, goals or next instructional steps
Using evidence and feedback to move learning forward by adjusting learning strategies, goals or next instructional steps
A few practical techniques below to get you started -- click here to access additional resources:
Use an exit ticket to gauge the level of student understanding. Sort the exit tickets into piles and add a sticky note to the top of each pile with bulleted points about why you sorted the students' work as you did and what you will adjust instructionally based on the students' work.
Ask students to review feedback from a partner and/or teacher and write down three things they want to improve in the next iteration of their work.
Pro Tip: The Walk-Through Protocol provides observational 'look fors' associated with each of these four formative assessment strategies.
Everything on this website is CC-BY 4.0 licensed, which means it can be reused and adapted as long as there is attribution and the materials are not sold.
Attribution: Dr. Carla Evans & Dr. Caroline Wylie (2024). Formative Assessment Resources and Math Learning Progressions. The National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment (Center for Assessment).
This work was funded by the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence.
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