Formative Assessment Institute

1
Formative Assessment Institute
FAI Survey Results February 2008
2
Please identify your position
Choice Count Percentage of Total Sample
Teacher 28 40.6
Instructional Facilitator 21 30.4
Administrator 15 21.7
Other 5 7.2
3
District Name
Choice Count Percentage of Total Sample
Campbell 1 0 0.0
Carbon 1 2 2.9
Fremont 1 13 18.8
Fremont 14 2 2.9
Laramie 1 0 0.0
Natrona 1 1 1.4
Washakie 1 2 2.9
Big Horn 4 0 0.0
Converse 1 0 0.0
Fremont 24 2 2.9
Fremont 25 5 7.2
4
District Name
Choice Count Percentage of Total Sample
Johnson 1 1 1.4
Lincoln 1 1 1.4
Lincoln 2 1 1.4
Park 1 10 14.5
Park 6 7 10.1
Platte 2 2 2.9
Sheridan 2 3 4.3
Sublette 1 1 1.4
Sweetwater 2 6 8.7
Weston 1 2 2.9
Sheridan 1 7 10.1
5
Topic Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree NA
The strategies used by the presenters were appropriate in helping me attain the goals(s) and/or outcomes of this professional development experience. 9 55 3 1 1
This professional development offered sufficient and appropriate opportunity for networking. 21 42 4 0 2
I gained knowledge and skills to implement this professional development into my job. 15 47 3 1 3
The level of difficulty of the content was appropriate. 12 51 4 1 1
The presenters were knowledgeable and effective. 15 50 2 1 1
The handouts and materials were adequate and useful. 17 46 2 0 4
The Formative Assessment Institute Wikispace (website) is useful to me. 15 36 4 0 14
6
Keynote Speakers
Topic Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree NA
Jim Pophams presentation was beneficial to me as a participant of the Formative Assessment Institute. 14 31 9 4 11
Scott Marions presentation was beneficial to me as a participant of the Formative Assessment Institute. 12 33 14 9 1
I would like to have additional keynote speakers for next years Formative Assessment Institute. 18 33 9 4 5
7
Please list any suggestions you might have for
additional keynote speakers.

• I have no suggestions, as I don't feel keynotes
  are important (I disagreed above)
• None at this time (This was stated many times)
• I would like to explore the research and
  information on brain research as it applies to
  timely assessment and re-teaching.
• Rick Stiggins or possibly the DuFour's on PLC's
• My suggestion would be to eliminate the keynote
  speaker and give us more time to work with our
  teams and the content.
• Must be type of speaker that will encourage our
  group to participate and really get involved.
  Not one that fights for words to get his/her
  point across.
• How much money do you have? Is Stiggins
  available, or any of the other authors of the
  book we are using for the institute? Our
  district also read the book "Checking for
  Understanding." What about one of those authors
  - Douglas Fisher or Nancy Frey? Is there anyone
  for ASCD that can address formative assessments?
• If we have keynote speakers, they need to be at
  our level of work...we were at a practical level
  and Scott was at a theoretical level causing
  cognitive dissonance.
• Mary Thrasher, Janie Pollock
• Someone more charismatic.

8
Please list any suggestions you might have for
additional keynote speakers.

• I would like to have keynote speakers that are
  actually engaging.
• I would be OK w/another speaker, but not for 3
  1/2 hours. I felt that this time could have been
  better used.
• Make sure the views of the speaker don't conflict
  with what we have been doing.
• Marzano? Wiggins? McTighe?
• Bob Marzano.
• Just not as long
• Four hours of a keynote speaker is too long. I
  would like a keynote speaker, but only if it is
  shorter.
• It would be beneficial to have someone come in to
  instruct us on writing good formative assessments
  in a variety of areas and levels.
• Stiggins
• How about John Metcalfe, FCSD1 Curriculum
  Assessment Director?
• The superintendent from Alaska who now does
  Reinventing Schools on setting learning goals
  with student and stakeholder input from the
  standards.
• Stiggins Reeves Gusky Marzano Schmoker
  Schlechty Jacobs.
• Jane E. Pollack/Marzano

9
Please list any suggestions you might have for
additional keynote speakers.

• Scott really created a lot of turmoil for me. He
  did not have any answers and really confused the
  issues.
• Rick Stiggins
• Give us a better understanding of what direction
  the state is headed.
• Marzano . . . Daggett . . . any brain-based
  speakers.
• Having real administrators, instructional
  facilitators, and teachers who are effectively
  using FA would be great. There was just a Public
  Education and Business Coalition conference in
  Denver where participants met with collaborative
  teams from real schools who were fully engaged in
  formative assessment and integrated instruction.
  It was great having the leading researchers
  present the theory, now I would like to hear from
  people who are actually "doing" FA.
• Scott's hands-on group activity and part of his
  information was helpful and useful however, some
  of it seemed hyper academic and intended to
  impress us with his research. I could have done
  with less of than.
• I have mixed feelings about having keynote
  speakers. One maybe to get us going might be
  good and one later on to help get the drive back
  but many times the keynote speakers come, talk,
  and leave without making that much impact on the
  group. Assistance with what we will be
  undertaking will have more impact and better
  results than keynote speakers.

10
Please list any suggestions you might have for
additional keynote speakers.

• Scott Marion's message was useful - but he needs
  to beef up his presentation. What he said was
  impressive, but the presentation was blah. Hard
  to listen to.
• Is it possible to get Rick Stiggins or Ken
  O'Connor?
• Someone from the PLC/Solution Tree group.
• Relate your material to the classroom, not just
  theory.
• Classroom Management Speakers for IF peer help
• Better sound system
• Please list any suggestions you might have for
  additional keynote speakers. I don't have any
  suggestions.
• Motivational

11
If you are an administrator, please tell us the
most important thing you would like to get out of
the session with your colleagues.

• How to wrap up the four conferences and how to
  incorporate. How other districts are doing and
  their recommendations. I personally like new
  things like the story skeleton.
• I would like to know how formative assessment
  will look in the teacher's classroom.
• State Review of District Proficiencies
  (BOE)-April 2009
• implementation strategies in our buildings
• I am very interested in learning more about the
  BOE and formative assessments.
• Finding out what others are doing in their
  districts.
• The importance of the Instructional facilitator,
  and to be used by most teachers.
• How administrators can support the work of
  teachers and instructional facilitators in
  formative assessment. Our role...
• I would like to continue with the planning and
  dialog about how we will begin to train the rest
  of our staff where what we have learned will fit
  into our needs and basically how we make the
  most use of our new knowledge.

12
If you are an administrator, please tell us the
most important thing you would like to get out of
the session with your colleagues.

• The most important thing I would like to get out
  of the session with my colleagues is a common
  understanding of how we must proceed with the
  assessment plan, targets, and formative
  assessments in our district.
• A better understanding of our building plan for
  next years staff development.
• Your advisory panel determined needs of the
  group. I would like to be included in this
  activity.
• Strategies on how to implement the Formative
  Assessment into the day to day teachers
  classroom.
• How do administrators plan to implement what they
  Dave learned FAI in their districts. Big
  picture.
• I would like to have a discussion/sharing time to
  see how other principals are implementing the
  different pieces of the institute within their
  buildings, identifying which pieces are a higher
  priority than others.

13
If you are an administrator, please tell us the
most important thing you would like to get out of
the session with your colleagues.

• The time to visit with other administrators about
  how they are implementing formative assessment in
  their buildings is invaluable. Having adequate
  time budgeted for networking is important.
• Implementation strategies and ideas from all. I
  think we need to look at how we are all working
  on alignment, assessments, and time for staff to
  do this work without getting drained. There
  really is a lot on their plates and it seems that
  we need to find ways to help them so they do not
  get so frustrated.

14
If you are an Instructional Facilitator, please
tell us the most important thing you would like
to get out of the session with your colleagues.

• How to encourage teachers the importance of
  continual formative assessments.
• I image that something needs to be here too.
• How are other IF's working with admin teachers
  on formative assessment?
• More tool box strategies to share with my
  faculty. Learning to assess every day to direct
  our instruction is very useful to facilitate
  change in our school.
• I would like to gain adequate knowledge so that I
  might be able to assist my teachers when we
  return to our district.
• How to help teachers develop useable, effective
  formative assessments.
• A "laundry List" of formative assessment
  strategies.
• How are IF's helping teachers with formative
  assessments? Does your district have formative
  assessments already made in a curricular area?
• Ideas on how to effectively share the information
  with my staff in "shorter" sessions.
• I would love to know what the other IF's are
  doing in their districts and how their
  administrators are using them to help their
  districts grow.

15
If you are an Instructional Facilitator, please
tell us the most important thing you would like
to get out of the session with your colleagues.

• Accountability working and continue a
  instructional awareness
• To gain information on progress monitoring using
  a variety of formative assessments...maybe create
  a bank of formative assessments in our break out
  session.
• I would like to be able to plan and/or design
  where we will go from here as a district. In
  order to do that I think we need some specifics
  about what we will be working on in FAI in March
  and next year so we can bring the necessary
  materials to make a doable and worthwhile plan.
• How does a BOE affect middle school students? Is
  it coming for 6-8 grades?
• Ideas and examples of what good formative
  assessment looks like. What forms of
  assessment they are using to progress monitor in
  their Districts and how they help teachers
  implement them.
• Complete understanding of the steps that we need
  to take to develop formative assessments.
• I would like to know how to help teachers unpack
  standards.

16
If you are an Instructional Facilitator, please
tell us the most important thing you would like
to get out of the session with your colleagues.

• Practical and tried formative assessments to
  share with our teachers on all levels primary -
  high school.
• How are instructional facilitators across the
  state measuring their effectiveness? Do any of
  them have evaluation forms and/or formal job
  descriptions? Do the IF's keep logs of their work
  with teachers? How are they spending their time?
  Related to assessment How do they promote good
  assessment practices in their work with teachers?
• I would like to discuss/develop a clearer picture
  of what the role of an instructional facilitator
  should be in the formative assessment scheme of
  things for our district. Right now, it feels as
  though we have not had a conversation in which we
  all know exactly what our goals are, and
  consequently, we do not seem to have a clear idea
  of what our roles should be.
• I would love to really identify our district
  action plan and my role in that plan as a
  facilitator.
• See what others are doing.
• Knowing good assessments when I see it, and
  helping teachers build learning targets.
• Just having people share what they are doing and
  how it is working in their district would be
  beneficial.

17
If you are an Teacher, please tell us the most
important thing you would like to get out of the
session with your colleagues.

• I would like to see actual formative assessment
  tools, especially a management system to keep
  records for individual students.
• Unpacking standards so we are consistent around
  the state.
• How to best integrate formative assessment in the
  classroom regularly.
• Time to work on implementation and bringing the
  ideas back to the rest of our building.
• Work on pre and post assessments for
  PLC's/Intervention.
• Just the talking and sharing are tremendous help.
  What are others doing, where do they struggle,
  where are their successes?
• Ideas for learning targets.
• I would like to get a good, clear, and concise
  wrap up of each of the components of formative
  assessment. A quick multiple-choice response
  with some discussion afterwards would be great.
  Things become a bit muddled, and I'm pretty sure
  that I know more than I think I know. It would
  be interesting to see how much we really do know
  and have learned (of course, in a non-threatening
  fun way!).
• Mainly how to successfully implement these
  strategies in my school.
• More toolbox strategies. A potential lining out
  of assessments for each grade level. What works
  best.

18
If you are an Teacher, please tell us the most
important thing you would like to get out of the
session with your colleagues.

• I would like to see actual examples of how other
  teachers break down their standards or use
  formative assessments.
• I would like to look at samples of good formative
  assessments so we can make the transition to
  writing our own assessments a little less
  painful. It would be helpful to have them at all
  areas and levels. (k-12)
• Networking and sharing the ideas with other
  districts then coming together with ours was
  really an eye-opener and educational.
• Assessment accountability
• Examples of effective formative assessments we
  saw some examples in individual school handouts
  that did not look like the represent what we are
  learning am I correct? Did any of the
  presenters look at those materials?
• We are going to plan our staff development for
  next year we already have discussed what we are
  going to do when we are there.
• Practice matching learning goals to test
  questions or evaluating tests to see if they
  match learning goals. I am struggling with that
  aspect.
• If I were teaching, I would want to know where I
  was in teaching students with effective teaching
  practices and what I needed to do. Questions to
  be asking myself when planning good instruction.

19
If you are an Teacher, please tell us the most
important thing you would like to get out of the
session with your colleagues.

• How, why and when to use formative assessments
  and the value of them.
• Some samples of formative assessments teachers
  are currently using and how they are fitting them
  in around all the summative assessments we have
  to complete. I would like something to bring
  back to the other teachers to share with them.
• Ideas of formative assessments they have used
  with success.
• More practice with the activities
• I enjoy seeing how other districts are handling
  the state's body of evidence with common
  assessments and some of their specific formative
  teaching tools.
• I would like to do more work on actually
  unpacking the standards and understanding what
  learning targets are.

20
If you are an Teacher, please tell us the most
important thing you would like to get out of the
session with your colleagues.

• How to actually implement some of this stuff or
  share it with my fellow teachers.
• How are other districts using formative
  assessment with writing? I would like examples of
  how these assessments are implemented.
• Formative assessment strategies that are content
  specific or maybe grade level specific (elem, ms,
  hs)
• Useful ideas I can implement ASAP.
• Working with my group. It is much more valuable
  than listening to the same information being
  repeated over and over again.
• Immediate classroom usage of material.

21
Do you feel it would be beneficial to have a
short presentation on BOE requirements.
22
Please give us some feedback about the logistics
of the Institute (training room, food, breaks,
etc).

• It was great being back at the Inn in Lander.
• The logistics were fine. If I was cold, I
  dressed warmer. The food was sufficient, and if
  it wasn't to my taste, I will bring my own.
• The Inn at Lander is the best place to be. We
  are saddened that we have to return to the hard
  chairs at the community center. It's nice to be
  able to be comfortable for 2 days, especially for
  those of us with physical health issues.
• The Institute is very comfortable now. All of
  our needs are met and the group size is great.
  Keep up the good work!!!
• The Best Western was Awesome! I wish we could
  all meet there. The sound system was much better
  at the convention center this time.
• In March, could we spend 1/2 of the time at the
  community center and 1/2 of the time at the Inn?
• The February session was just fine. Do not
  change anything.
• The training room at the hotel is great. The
  food was excellent as usual.
• Bringing lunch to the Community Center on the
  second day was great!

23
Please give us some feedback about the logistics
of the Institute (training room, food, breaks,
etc).

• Good environment
• Need more Diet Pepsi at the community center and
  a few more snacks.
• Everything is going well.
• It would be nice if you could provide food for
  the folks at the Community Center so we don't
  have to drive back and forth.
• People seemed to get up and take breaks whenever
  they needed them. there should be more of a
  variety of food/snacks so that those with food
  allergies can find something they can eat
• The community center is not the best. It is hard
  to see and hear. The food is very good. The
  breaks are sufficient.
• It was much better with internet at the center.
• Much better! However, the extra long day was very
  difficult. It was beneficial due to the weather,
  but I'm not so sure I want to do it again.
• I think all of the logistics are great. I am
  pleased that we have been broken into two
  different groups, it is much better this way.

24
Please give us some feedback about the logistics
of the Institute (training room, food, breaks,
etc).

• Please and fruit if possible.
• As professionals, I think we're there to learn
  rather than to be provided with every comfort.
  It was fine. We could see and hear and had some
  elbow room, and that was great. No one was cold
  and hungry to my knowledge.
• Both places are good, but it would be nice to at
  least have some muffins/doughnuts/fruit for
  breakfast at the Community Center for those who
  do not wish to stop at the other building.
• Maybe shorter breaks and longer breakout sessions
• Hard to travel for lunch and breakfast back and
  forth.
• Great! The hotel staff feeds us very well.
• The community center is a horrible place to meet.
  It is dark, difficult to hear, and cold. I did
  not get anything out of the time there because I
  couldn't see or hear. The hotel is a much better
  place to meet.
• The food as always been awesome! You have done a
  great job of fixing all of the other logistical
  problems since the first meeting.
• All good

25
Please give us some feedback about the logistics
of the Institute (training room, food, breaks,
etc).

• Great!!
• Nice to be in the Lander Inn rather than the
  community center with it's poor acoustics and
  uncomfortable chairs and the bathroom so close to
  the tables (ppphhhew) We do wonder though what
  the larger school district are doing? Are there
  ideas that the other group should hear?
• Keep doing what you are doing.
• IT went nicely this time...no complaints
• The food has been great. You might want to think
  about when you allow districts collaboration time
  as often times if we have collaboration time at
  the end of the day team members leave and we do
  not use the time as effectively as we could if it
  were scheduled differently.
• I think you have it down!!
• It was very nice in the Inn with the fewer number
  of people. The breaks, the food, everything was
  very nice.
• Everything was great this time.

26
Please give us some feedback about the logistics
of the Institute

• You are doing an amazing job with the number of
  participants!
• Fine
• The facility at the Inn is much more conducive to
  large group presentation along with small group
  collaboration.
• Food great but I always go for protein like the
  eggs and bacon. I liked having just drinks or
  fruit for breaks. The room was comfortable and
  the sound good.
• I really like the atmosphere at the hotel better
  than the convention center. The food has been
  wonderful.
• Just fine.
• The Inn at Lander is wonderful! I do not like
  the room at the community center. It's not a
  good room to conduct a meeting in all day long.
  Chairs are really uncomfortable and it's hard to
  see and hear presenters.
• Fine
• I do not like going to the community center. Not
  enough restrooms for the women. The Lander Inn is
  great. Food is always good.
• Community center chairs are uncomfortable and
  sound system lacking. Food is great! Can we get
  Diet Coke? Cold cans better than that soda
  machine.

27
Please give us some feedback about the logistics
of the Institute.

• It is fine
• Great Chef! She deserves a huge round of
  applause! Thanks for the wireless Internet at
  the Community Center.
• Overall it is okay.
• The hotel is significantly better than the
  community center. The lighting, sound,
  temperature, and chairs are much more conducive
  to learning. Personally, I'd rather be crowded in
  a good learning environment than spread out in a
  poor facility.
• You are doing well with handling a large group.
  I appreciated the effort to allow some thinking
  and interaction time with those of other
  districts. The training room rotations seemed
  fair and workable. The breakfast mixed fruit was
  disappointingly soft and seemed unfresh. Running
  out of pop in the dispenser might have been
  avoided.
• I have been fine with all the logistics.
• I really felt that everything was very nice and
  Lander is doing a great job of finding ways to
  make this a success for all attending. My hat is
  off to Paige, John, and the others for all they
  have done. As for the question about the BOE
  work, I think people need to know where it fits
  in with what we are doing here and it does. I
  think knowing the direction both are heading and
  how this will compliment that process would be
  worth the time. I would not spend a large amount
  of time on it at this time.

28
Please give us some feedback about the logistics
of the Institute

• No environmental concerns.
• The host facility has done a good job
  accommodating the many needs of the institute
  participants.
• Everything was really great, especially the boxed
  lunches.
• I absolutely LOVED being at the Hotel and not
  having to travel anywhere throughout the day.
• The Hotel site was much better than the lodge.
• I prefer to have our sessions meet at the Inn (of
  course), and it seems to me that it would be
  better if meals could be served at the venues
  where our teams are working (instead of traveling
  to the Inn from the community center).
• Since we are breaking in to two groups I feel the
  logistics are fine.
• Worked well
• Split up again
• The Best Western does an awesome job.
• The motel is so much more conducive to learning
  than the center.
• The community center and overall schedule worked
  well for our team, and as always, the food was
  great.
• Need water during every session and small snack.

29
What area offered you the greatest learning
opportunity?

• Writing Learning Targets
• I experienced the greatest learning opportunity
  during the FEBRUARY (not November) FAI training
  during the networking of other districts during
  the sharing of our homework.
• I think this is supposed to say February FAI
  training, the time to work as a district on our
  plans.
• Creating learning targets.
• Time to work with the concepts presented so that
  we could internalize them for use back in our
  district.
• The five kinds of learning targets.
• Unpacking standards.
• Conversations with other administrators and
  instructional facilitators
• Unpacking standards
• Learning targets Unpacking the standards
• Time to work/discuss with colleagues.
• Networking
• Sharing information with colleagues on where
  everyone was and what they were doing.
• Time to work in our team on our implementation
  ideas.

30
What area offered you the greatest learning
opportunity?

• In February, I especially found the assessment
  breakdown beneficial.
• I really enjoyed listening to Scott Marion. It
  was also beneficial to work with the standards
  and the learning targets.
• Back to November? If this is a typo, and if you
  are asking about February, I would say that the
  keynote speaker gave me the greatest learning
  opportunity. The speaker was encouraging as he
  expressed that there are different opinions even
  among experts about several areas regarding
  formative assessment - even down to the basic
  definition. He was easy to listen to and he made
  sense. He offered some basic knowledge and
  addressed some concerns/issues that I was feeling
  in regard to the whole area. I especially
  enjoyed his comments about embracing the
  confusion.
• Do you mean February? Looking at our own
  assessments with someone there to talk to.
• Break out sessions
• The toolbox strategies.
• Do you mean January? It was so helpful sharing
  our "homework." I needed more time. Also, it
  was very helpful meeting with the other
  instructional facilitators.

31
What area offered you the greatest learning
opportunity?

• Unpacking standards
• I enjoyed being able to learn from people in
  other districts as well as share ideas with
  people in my own district.
• Assessment value and testing curriculum
• Working in groups
• The separate break out sessions were more
  beneficial than the group. Feb. training was
  great...I liked it the best.
• Team working time after the presentation
  sessions.
• Descriptive feedback.
• Descriptive feedback.
• February's meeting left me confused. It did not
  have the clarity and focus that the other
  meetings had. Scott may have been the cause of
  this.
• Actual time to talk to people in our own
  District. I really like the big sheets with the
  Dist. Classroom and building level. They are
  very helpful and help us to focus.
• Chance to work together as a team.
• Networking
• Looking at our district-wide assessments and
  setting up a plan.
• Breaking into groups

32
What area offered you the greatest learning
opportunity?

• Networking with other districts.
• The understanding of unpacking standards
• I appreciated the work on assessments and the
  sharing opportunity (homework) with other
  districts
• The greatest learning opportunity in February was
  the collaborative group times both in mixed
  groups and with colleagues. Unfortunately, both
  groups were extremely rushed which limited the
  effectiveness.
• Time to visit and interact with people outside
  our own district to learn what and how they do
  things.
• I was able to learn and work in the rooms we were
  given.
• If so the assessment work was great and the
  feedback meeting with all the different Districts
  was great.
• Unpacking standards Target learning
• Work on teacher assessments.
• In the February training the best part was the
  sharing of the homework activities. We learned
  so much from each other.
• At the February training it was so helpful to
  look at our own students' work and analyze the
  learning targets. The discussion generated
  helped teachers better understand the connection
  between learning targets and assessment. It also
  helped them understand the role of formative
  assessment in guiding instruction.

33
What area offered you the greatest learning
opportunity?

• Time for team collaboration with specific tasks
  in mind.
• The time spent with our group looking at learning
  targets.
• Community sharing with other districts.
• To see what others were doing.
• If so I enjoyed the break out session were I was
  able to here how different districts are
  utilizing the FAI training.
• Discussing similar concerns with other districts
  and finding we have common issues.
• Learning Target Information
• It was great being able to see what is being
  implemented in different districts, so I would
  say the homework sharing time.

34
If you could change one thing what would it be?

• Not being able to work with our team, but this
  was remedied in the Feb. training.
• The FEBRUARY training was fine as was.
• Nothing, the February training was a great
  opportunity.
• The Learning Target Analysis remains confusing to
  me. I need more practice looking at student
  work.
• More time to work within our own school groups.
• Not have Scott Marion there
• More breaks in the morning.
• Get better chairs at the convention center!
• I know Scott Marion knows his stuff, but it was
  way too long.
• I wonder if we could put the smaller schools
  together and see if they could make a plan to get
  together with their staffs to unpack the
  standards instead of working by themselves to
  reinvent the wheel...maybe in the summer.
• Weather!)
• The first day was really long, but I understand
  the guidelines and the required of hours.
• Perhaps breakout sessions with a defined
  assignment in our district teams.
• The guest speaker was long and boring.

35
If you could change one thing what would it be?

• I would have the keynote speaker keep talking and
  to a QA time with him.
• After we have looked at our assessments, give us
  time to have a table/panel look at them with us
  to give ideas for what looks good, what needs
  improvements, etc.--a fresh face. We need more
  time to do this.
• Nothing (this was listed several times)
• Worked for me.
• More hands-on activities and more practical tools
  and models for formative evaluation in the
  classroom. Many of our team felt disappointed
  with the level of theory and lack of applications
  that we could use now.
• I would not like to meet at the community center
  anymore
• The keynote speaker, Scott Marion, was hard to
  track. Thank you for arranging the meeting
  times to accommodate us who had to drive a
  farther distance. It really helped to get out
  earlier on Tuesday in order to drive in the
  daytime.
• All ok
• Jim Popham was a poor speaker and was not funny!
• I thought it went well this time around.
• I have no suggestions for improvement.
• The one keynote speaker seemed a bit wanting too
  many atta boys.

36
If you could change one thing what would it be?

• The guest speaker needs to address the issues of
  formative assessments and work towards those
  goals. I felt his presentation was about
  something totally different.
• Location...the Community Center was not the best
  environment. It was very difficult to hear and
  it was cold.
• Collaborative time was limited and very rushed,
  which limited the effectiveness. I haven't really
  gained much from the presenters because it is all
  in the book. Personally, I can read it and
  comprehend it, but I want to learn how to
  implement it in real schools. I feel we are
  receiving information presented by professional-
  professional developers not necessarily teachers
  or educational leaders who have effectively
  implemented Formative Assessment in their
  buildings.
• It would be helpful to bring in people who have
  used FA "in the trenches." Experiences of others
  and anecdotal observations that could expedite
  the process would be very helpful. I think the
  TIE ladies are friendly, personable, and
  professional, but I don't feel I am learning
  nearly as much as I anticipated from this
  Academy. The format will definitely need to
  change in order for me to participate in 08-09.
  Ten days is a long time to be gone from a
  building for marginal professional development.
  Maybe ! we could look at compacting the
  curriculum into a 2-3 day intensive session next
  year?
• I found it very difficult to follow Scott
  Marion's speech. I would leave it out.
• It was just fine
• Too much too fast

37
If you could change one thing what would it be?

• I am not sure I would change much of anything.
  Maybe more time with the other Districts when we
  had the trading of ideas.
• Would have liked to work more with Scott M. on
  the hands on use of data and not just taking
  about data.
• More energized keynote address. During the
  actual class present better useful materials and
  ideas. We need to take useful easy options back
  to our district and teachers, for them to make
  this a part of their instructional practices.
• If I could change one thing about the February
  training it would be the breaks. Our group is a
  large group and every time we're given time to
  discuss as a team, we always run out of time!
  This discussion has been particularly beneficial
  to our group and I think if discussion time was
  followed by breaks, those with smaller groups
  could be excused, while those of us needing more
  time, could spill into the break period.
• I would suggest to break up groups by
  position/job so the administration, teachers and
  instructional facilitators could all participate
  within their role in the professional development
  process. I do like to see what teachers are
  doing but to move a school in a new direction
  needs to have PD just for an administrator.

38

• Survey created and administered by Technology and
  Innovation in Education
• For further questions, please contact Pam Lange
  at plange_at_tie.net