Module 3: Formative Assessment: Supporting teachers as they create or select formative assessments during or after instruction
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Version 1.0 | Updated January 2022 | Developed By:�Carla Evans & Jeri Thompson�National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment
Micro-Course 3:
Supporting teachers to accelerate learning using formative assessment processes in the classroom
Warm-Up
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Which of these examples represent a formative assessment and why?
Defining the Formative Assessment Process
“…a planned, ongoing process used by all students and teachers during learning and teaching to elicit and use evidence of student learning to improve student understanding of intended disciplinary learning outcomes and support students to become self-directed learners.”
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Council of Chief State School Officers (2018, p. 2). Revising the Definition of Formative Assessment. Retrieved from https://ccsso.org/resource-library/revising-definition-formative-assessment
Embedded Formative Assessment Strategies
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Wiliam, D. (2018). Embedded Formative Assessment, 2nd ed. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
In this module, school leaders will examine learning intentions and engineering effective discussions, tasks, and activities in more detail in ways aligned to the teacher module.
The goal is to help school leaders support the implementation and change process around these practices in their schools and districts.
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Eliciting Evidence of Learning
There is no single way to elicit evidence of student learning.
Techniques can include:
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Questions
Observations
Representations
Explanations
Performances
Problem-solving
Exit tickets
Notes
Key point: formative assessment probes enable the teacher to access information about how the students are learning in order to better plan how to improve their learning.
A Note About Eliciting Evidence
Dylan Wiliam (2018) states that there are only two good reasons to ask questions in class:
William, D. (2018). Embedded Formative Assessment. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press, pp. 90-91.
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The formative assessments identified for a lesson should allow students’ thinking to be made visible and provide actionable information.
Strategic Questioning
Increase student accountability when responding to complex questions by
Example question stems:
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Additional resources:
Identifying ‘Look Fors’ & Supporting Best Practices
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Take a few minutes and identify what you could look for related to sharing learning intentions and success criteria as you do walk throughs or observe teaching in your school or district.
Then try it out. What did you notice after conducting brief walk throughs? Do teachers share lesson learning targets? Are these learning targets directly related to the standards? Do students understand the meaning of the learning targets and how it relates to the lesson activities?
What types of resources, conversations, or others supports might teachers need to build their professional practice in this area? How can you support that development?
Sharing learning intentions and success criteria | Is it clear what are students trying to learn? Has the teacher illustrated what success, or hitting the target, looks like? |
Using the Formative Assessment Rubrics, Reflection and Observation Tools to Support Professional Reflection on Practice (Revised)
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See Criteria for Success
(pages 42-44) in the following document:
Identifying ‘Look Fors’ & Supporting Best Practices
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Take a few minutes and identify what you could look for related to strategic questions and activities that elicit student learning as you do walk throughs or observe teaching in your school or district.
Then try it out. What did you notice after conducting brief walk throughs? Do they make students’ thinking visible? In what way? Do they provide the teacher with information about what students have learned? Do they provide the teacher with actionable information? How do you know?
What types of resources, conversations, or others supports might teachers need to build their professional practice in this area? How can you support that development?
Engineering effective discussions, tasks, and activities that elicit evidence of learning | How does the teacher use strategic questions, readiness pre-assessments, tasks/activities, and/or other formative assessment techniques to identify student learning progress before, during, and/or after instruction? |
Using the Formative Assessment Rubrics, Reflection and Observation Tools to Support Professional Reflection on Practice (Revised)
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See Tasks and Activities that Elicit Evidence of Student Learning, pages 46-48.
Selecting Formative Assessments-Scenario #1
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Unit Goals: Gr 3 Math
3.NBT.1: Use place value understanding to round whole numbers to the nearest 10 or 100.
3.NBT.2: Fluently add and subtract within 1000 using strategies and algorithms based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction.
3.MD.1: Tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure time intervals in minutes. Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of time intervals in minutes, e.g., by representing the problem on a number line diagram.
3.MD.2: Measure and estimate liquid volumes and masses of objects using standard units of grams (g), kilograms (kg), and liters (l). Add, subtract, multiply, or divide to solve one-step word problems involving masses or volumes that are given in the same units, e.g., by using drawings (such as a beaker with a measurement scale) to represent the problem.
Selecting Formative Assessments
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Selecting Formative Assessments: Gr 3 Math Example
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During Instruction
Label the 5-minute intervals.
Plot the time 5:31 p.m.
Work with a partner to find the difference between 5:31 p.m. and 5:43 p.m using the number line.
Selecting Formative Assessments: Gr 3 Math Example
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After Instruction
Selecting Formative Assessments-Scenario #2
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6.1 Light & Matter: Why do we sometimes see different things when looking at the same object?
NGSS Performance Expectation (PE) Standards:
MS-PS4-2: Develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.
MS-LS1-8: Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.
Selecting Formative Assessments
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In this lesson, students will:
1.A Develop a model to identify the important parts of the system and how those parts interact that could cause an object to look different in different light conditions.
1.B Ask questions that arise from observations of a phenomenon in which an object appears different depending on the light conditions within the defined system.
Selecting Formative Assessments
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Diagram interactions between the important parts.
Once students get all the important parts into the diagram and labeled, ask them to add pictures, symbols, and words to show how the parts work and interact to answer the two questions, as their initial attempt to explain the phenomenon.
Give students up to 5 minutes to work individually to diagram what they think is happening. Use this diagram as a formative assessment to monitor students’ initial ideas about how we see objects; specifically, the extent to which their models reflect a “line of sight” or a “path of light.”
Selecting Formative Assessments
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Specific Look Fors:
(1) Agreement on key components or parts to include, such as two rooms or sides, a mirror-window between the sides, one side being lit, one side being dark; (2) uncertainty or disagreement on whether the people or eyes are an important part; and (3) use of a “path of light” model, “line of sight” model, or combination, which can be indicated by the way students use or do not use arrows in their diagrams:
Arrows pointing away from the light source may be a representation of the “path of light” (POL). If students also include an arrow entering the eyes, this may indicate a clear understanding of the 4th-grade model of light, tracing the light from a source, then bouncing off objects and into our eyes. Arrows pointing away from the eyes may be a representation of what is seen, or the “line of sight” (LOS). A combination of arrows may map partially onto both POL and LOS models.
This curriculum even provides specific ‘look for’ recommendations to teachers.
Purposes of Student Work Analysis
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Student Work Analysis Process
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Download Tool: Student Work Analysis Protocol for Instructional Purposes
Quick Sort
Quick sort student work without scoring into high, average, and low proficiency groups.
Discuss & Create Rationale
Discuss with colleagues and write rationale for placing student work in each pile.
Diagnose Student Strengths & Weaknesses
Diagnose student strengths and needs.
Identify Next Instructional Steps
Identify next instructional steps for whole class and/or each level.
Example: Student Work Analysis
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HIGH | AVERAGE | LOW |
MV SS AP CR | LJ NS AH CD JG CT CG |
LW DM |
31% OF CLASS | 54% OF CLASS | 15% OF CLASS |
Compare the students at each level to where they began the year or unit. Discuss the students’ progress: Why do you think students are making progress? Why do you think they are not making progress?
All students have shown progress, though some are still on the same level (they have scored higher on the rubric). What I find most concerning is that LW and DM are in the low group. Typically, these students scored high. I am concerned that this topic was rather challenging for them and this tells me remediation is necessary.
Example: Diagnosing Student Strengths
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HIGH | AVERAGE | LOW |
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Example: Diagnosing Student Needs
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HIGH | AVERAGE | LOW |
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Warm-Up Revisited
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Which of these examples represent a formative assessment and why?
Micro-Course 3 Outline
Module 1
Module 2
Module 3
Module 4
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Introduction
Module 1
Module 2
Module 3
Module 4
Reflection Questions
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