Formative Assessment and the Core Curriculum

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Formative Assessment and the Core Curriculum

• Where does it fit?

Colleen Anderson
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In this session, we will

• Show the connections between formative assessment
  and the instructional component of Core
  Curriculum
• Provide the operational definition of formative
  assessment.
• Look closer at the attributes of assessment for
  learning

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More Than Just Content
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Formative Assessment(Assessment for Learning

• Formative Assessment is a process used by
  teachers and students as part of instruction that
  provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and
  learning to improve students achievement of core
  content.
• As assessment for learning, formative assessment
  practices provide students with clear learning
  targets, examples and models of strong and weak
  work, regular descriptive feedback, and the
  ability to self-assess, track learning, and set
  goals.

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5 ATTRIBUTES OF EFFECTIVE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

• Learning Progressions
• Learning Goals And Criteria For Success
• Descriptive Feedback
• Self- And Peer-assessment
• Collaboration

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5 Attributes Activity 10 minutes

• Independently
• If you are at a table of less or more than 5
  move to create tables of 5.
• Number off at your table 1 5.
• Read your attribute identify key points of the
  attribute.
• In table groups
• Share All 5 Attributes
• Ask Each Other Clarifying Questions

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Learning Progressions What Are They?

• a carefully sequenced set of building blocks that
  students must master en route to mastering a more
  distant curricular aim
• constructed on the basis of some sort of backward
  analysis
• What do students need to know and do to master
  the skill or understand the concept?
• What are the pre-requisite skills and concepts
  students should have?

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Learning Progressions What They Are NOT

• Unerringly accurate
• The same sequence for all students not all kids
  learn in the same way.
• Some need small increments
• Some learn in different order
• Some bring more or less prior knowledge and
  skills
• Not necessarily better if more complex
• Needs to be user friendly and doable

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How Are They Used?

• Learning progressions provide the framework for
  pre-assessments, formative assessments,
  differentiation tasks, and summative assessments.
• They keep the unit developer focused on the
  learning targets essential concepts and skill
  sets when designing instructional activities.
• Help focus on what MUST be taught essential
  concepts and skill sets / the big ideas
  rather than the insignificant when designing
  instructional activities.

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Clear Learning Targets

• Kid friendly language
• Defined success criteria
• Examples of good work
• Examples of not-so-good work
• Rubrics/Scoring Guides
• Exemplars

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Descriptive Feedback

• Focused on learning goal
• Non-judgmental
• Indicates areas of strength
• Identifies where improvement is needed
• Indicates how or what a student might do to make
  the improvements

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Self- And Peer-assessment

• Metacognitive thinking
• Focused on one aspect of learning target
• Students must be trained
• Students must clearly understand the learning
  target being assessed
• Non-judgmental

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Collaboration

• Classroom climate
• Safe
• Everyone can learn
• Rapport
• Partnership in learning

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Formative Assessment, SoWhat is it?

• Assessment for learning
• It is a PLANNED process.
• It is used by both teachers and students
• Takes place DURING instruction.
• It provides assessment-based feedback to both
  teachers and students.
• It helps teachers and students make adjustments
  that will improve student achievement.

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Four Levels of Formative Assessment

• Teachers instructional adjustment
• Students making their own learning tactic
  adjustments
• Classroom climate shift
• Systemic implementation
• school-wide
• district-wide
• state-wide

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SoWhat it is NOT

• It is not another graded test.
• Not benchmark assessments
• Not end-ofcourse assessments
• Not a matter of looking at test data and deciding
  what to do next time/next year
• It is most effective when it is not a part of the
  grading system.
• It is not probing and charting.
• It is not random observations.
• It is not just good instruction.

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Formative Assessment in Legislation

• SF 2216
• (May 1)
• HF 2700
• (May 15)

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State-wide Initiatives Targeted to Increase
Proficiency Levels

• Literacy
• Reading First
• Every Child Reads
• Concept Oriented Reading Instruction
• Collaborative Strategic Reading
• Adolescent Literacy
• Second Chance Reading
• Univ. of Kansas Strategic Instruction

• Mathematics
• Every Student Counts
• Cognitively Guided Instruction
• Science
• Every Learner Inquires
• Concept Oriented Reading Instruction
• English Language Learners
• Our Kids
• Instructional Decision Model

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The Promise of FA

• Effect sizes of 0.4 to 0.7 (Black Wiliam, 1998)
  
• No report of negative effects following an
  enhancement of formative practice
• Helps lower achievers more than other students
  reducing the gap
• Effective instructional procedure
• It represents evidence-based IDM or just good
  sense.
• Conclusively, formative assessment does improve
  learning.

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The Promise of FA

• Kids who are taught in classrooms with formative
  assessment will learn more than kids who are
  taught in classrooms without formative assessment.

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5 Whys Analysis

• Why would a teacher benefit from identifying the
  learning progression?
• Why would a student benefit from knowing the
  learning goal and the criteria for success?
• Why would a student benefit from descriptive
  feedback?
• Why would a student benefit from self and
  peer-assessment?
• Why promote a collaborative classroom climate?

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Where does formative assessment fit?
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Colleen Andersoncolleen.anderson_at_iowa.gov
515-281-3249
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(No Transcript)
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Formative Assessment Data Collection for Activity
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• http//www.literacyprogressions.org.nz/