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 Iowa Core Curriculum
• Provide the operational definition of formative
  assessment.
• Look closer at the attributes of assessment for
  learning
• Discuss Next Steps

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More Than Just Content
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Variety of Assessments

• National summative
• Screening
• Diagnostic
• State-wide summative
• District-wide summative
• Classroom summative
• Formative assessment for learning

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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

• Meta-cognitive 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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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 just probing and charting to report at
  parent conferences.
• It is not random observations.
• It is not just good instruction.

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The Promise of FA

• Effect sizes of 0.4 to 0.7 in meta-analysis
  (Black Wiliam, 1998)
• No report of negative effects following an
  enhancement of formative practice was found.
  (Black Wiliam, 1998)
• Formative assessment helps lower achievers more
  than other students reducing the gap. (Black
  Wiliam, 1998)
• Even a single FA practice used in a 15-week unit
  of study can result in an effect size of 0.34.
  (Brangart-Drowns, Kulik Kulik, 1991)
• If a teacher used formative assessment practices
  twice a week, they resulted in an effect size
  gain of 0.85, or a percentile gain of 30 points
  on a standardized test. (Fuchs Fuchs, 1986)
• In a study of over 500 students, those students
  who practiced self assessment strategies as a
  part of formative assessment practices in the
  classroom, outperformed students who did not use
  self-assessment strategies (effect size of 0.40).
  
• 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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Where do we find PD focused on formative
assessment?

• EAG-Grant Sioux City, Anamosa, Keokuk,
  Louisa-Muscatine, and Calamus-Wheaton.
• ICC Network Modules in characteristic of
  effective instruction
• Embedded in state-wide initiatives such as
• IDM (Instructional Decision Making)
• ELI (Every Learner Inquires)
• ESC (Every Student Counts)
• CORI (Concept Oriented Reading Instruction)
• QAR (Questioning as Thinking/Question-Answer
  Relationship)
• Adolescent Literacy
• KU Strategies
• Conferences Our Kids, IASCD, High School
  Summit, Iowa Culture and Language Conference, IA
  Association of School Librarians
• Workshops
• Jim Popham Jan. 16 in Des Moines
• Margaret Heritage Feb. 12 at AEA 14
• Margaret Heritage June 18 or 19 (IDM)
• AEA and LEA initiated PD

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Work in Progress

• Modules for future use Iowa Core Curriculum
  Assessment Modules with CRESST and McRel.
• Model unit protocol for evaluating formative
  assessment within a unit of study. This is for
  use in professional development.
• Capacity building at the DE.
• White paper on formative assessment.
• Additional brief on formative assessment.

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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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