Definition of Formal Assessment

Group work for formative assessments: 

What?

Definition:

As assessment that allows the students to improve mistakes and it dictates future instruction from the teacher.  

In other words, formative assessment is not a tool or an event, but a variety of strategies that involve acting on the assessment data to improve learning.

What makes formative assessment formative is that it is immediately used to make adjustments so as to form new learning.” (Shepard, 2008).

Characteristics:

frequent, flexible, variety, precedes summative assessments,

building toward the summative’s skillset

answers 3 questions:

“Where am I going?”

“Where am I now?”

“How can I close the gap between the two?”

So What?

Examples:

Google Form, exit ticket, thumbs-up, quiz, essay feedback (nongraded), Socratic discussions, “Socrative” website, 3-minute paper

Misconceptions/Non-examples:

Final test, no chance to improve, Gotcha Quiz, big impact, no feedback, grading on participation,

What is the difference between formative and informative assessments?

Quick guages are informative, whereas formative is more concrete (on essays / papers, comments, feedback, etc.)

Now What?

1.  Create a Checklist to Assess ANY Informative and Formative Assessment

2.  Post your Assessment Checklist below as a comment.

3.  Create 6 or more formative/informative assessments for the unit that you have written a performance summative assessment.

4.  Be ready to share how your informative and formative assessment embody the items on your checklist.

1. Analyzing their content standards to identify and agree on a limited number of essential standards and learning targets…those that students must master to ensure continued academic success.
2. Creating assessment maps for each unit of study that include planned flexible time for intervention, sequence effective learning of the essentials and provide consistent formative assessment experiences prior to summative, evaluative assessments.
3. Agreeing on student-friendly versions of the essential standards and sharing them with students.
4. Collaboratively developing short, targeted formative assessments that directly align to the essential standards being learned and match what has been taught.
5. Analyzing the assessment results, as a team, to pinpoint specific learning problems and agreeing on instructional actions to address such problems with those students who need additional time and support.
6. Taking action in a timely fashion…providing students with feedback, more practice, and additional opportunities to demonstrate their learning…prior to summatively evaluating student mastery of the essential standards and targets.