Five "Key Strategies" for Effective Formative Assessment

Formative Assessments are important.  It shows teachers where their students are in their learning.  it establishes where students are going and how to get there.  How are some ways to accomplish assessments?

1. Clarifying, sharing, and understanding goals for learning and criteria for success with learners.

By implementing a two stage process of first clarifying the learning goals, what is worthy and required understanding?, which is followed by establishing success criteria, what would count as evidence of understanding?  Then lead into activities to lead to and solidify the students understanding.  A backwards lesson plan design will help.  Start with what you want students to know and design lesson backwards from that goal.

2. Engineering effective classroom discussions, questions, activities, and tasks that elicit evidence of student's learning.

Craft questions that explicitly build in the under generalizations and over generalizations that students are known to make.  Then we have more information on where to go next.  This will help address confusion of students in the class discussion.  This is pre-assessment.

3. Providing feedback that moves learning forward.

Focus on the quality of work rather than the person to avoid ego-involving.  Tell students where to improve and how they go about doing it.  Write feedback so the students will find errors themselves and have a chance to correct.  I love the suggestions in the article.  In fifth grade at my school, the teachers will give a test or quiz.  If a student gets a question wrong, a pink paper is attached and the student has a chance to receive the points by reworking the problem on the pink sheet and turning it back into the teacher.  Students learn from their mistakes.

4. Activating students as owners of their own learning.

Students who are involved with monitoring and regulating their learning have increased learning.  Focus on personal growth of each student.  Students can assess their level of understanding by flashing red, yellow, or green cards or point to a number chart of 1-4.

5. Activating students as learning resources for one another.

Students work IN a group and are accountable for their individual contribution.  Having students work in a group allows for growth in learning and a resource for clarity or another point of view.