The more I read and study the more one term keeps showing up in everything I look at and that term is "formative assessment". Cited over and over again as "…one of the most powerful weapons in a teacher's arsenal." (Marzano, 2006), formative assessment is much more than a single act or activity, it is an "active and intentional process that partners teachers and students to continuously and systematically gather evidence of learning with the express goal of improving student acheivement( Moss and Brookhart, 2009).
Effective formative assessment assumes that learning goals (based on standards) have been established and summative assessments have been created with those goals and standards in mind. Formative assessment allows teachers and students to respond to the following three questions in relation to any particular learning goal or goals in the curriculum:
Based on the learning goals for this lesson/unit :
Where am I (the student) now? I get it, I don't get it, I already had it.
Where am I going? Am I ready to move forward? Do I need more practice, do I need more skills to understand material at this level? I could move on to more complex thinking about this topic.
What strategies will help me get where I need to go? This is the stage at which students engage in self assessment and with the teacher's support set goals for their learning. Understanding this helps teachers to plan to meet students' needs both during and outside of instruction.
Formative assessment can take many forms and functions, but the important thing to remember is that it serves as an assessment for learning learning rather than a measure of learning that generally signifies the end of a lesson or unit and culminates in a grade. Formative assessment can be viewed as part of the journey for students, providing them opportunities to give and receive feedback about their progress and the progress of their classmates. It should be part of the journey for teachers as well, allowing for opportunities to adjust instruction to meet individual needs within any particular unit of study.
As we continue our work in RtI , formative assessment and our response to the feedback we give and recieve about students' progress could be a very powerful tools at the Tier 1 and Tier 2 level. The resources below provide some basic information about formative assessment as well as some ideas about incorporating this structure into your planning and teaching.
As always I look forward to your feedback on this topic and would welcome the opportunity to discuss it further with individuals or groups who are interested.
http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/WebExclusive/Assessment/tabid/1120/Default.aspx
http://www.highlandschools-virtualib.org.uk/ltt/inclusive_enjoyable/formative.htm
