Formative Assessment

What is formative assessment?

assessment done throughout the learning process to better gage students understanding of the given subject matter

What is the CENTRAL purpose of formative assessment?

To identify where students have a clear understanding, or difficulty in an area of learning.

Connect a best practice in formative assessment to one research-based strategy.

Timing- students should be given enough time (but not too much time) to complete an assignment, test, or assessment in general... likewise, positive or negative reinforcement should be giving promptly and in a timely manor as well. Timing is key! Feedback needs to be done in a timely manor to increase understanding of where they went wrong, or even confirm they were right about something they were unsure about.

Give an example of how a specific assessment can be used formatively and summatively.

A rubric could be used for both. If you want to evaluate a writing assignment, list the criteria so the students understand what is expected, and then use it to assign a grade at the end (summatively)

Give an example from your field placement related to formative assessment and timing.

Every morning, as soon as students walk in the door, they have a journal entry to make. There is a prompt on the board. The teacher checks the journal entries to make sure the students are properly making complete sentences (including starting with a capitol letter and ending with a period) and it's basically making sure they are capable of writing a few sentences consecutively that make sense... and this assesses that they are following directions. As soon as they finish, they read their entry to her, and she later reads them.. by the end of a few days, she has them graded with feedback. 

What are some strategies to help formative assessment be more effective when providing students with feedback?

The article states the following: 

 emphasizes the quality rather than the quantity of 

student work; 

 prizes giving advice and guidance over giving grades; 

 avoids comparing students in favor of enabling individual students to assess their own learning; 

 fosters dialogues that explore understandings rather 

than lectures that present information; 

 encourages multiple iterations of an assessment cycle, 

each focused on a few issues; 

 provides feedback that engenders motivation and 

leads to improvement.  

Name two advantages to high quality formative assessment.

Teachers are able to identify struggling students and therefore better help them. And students can get a sense of confidence and control- when students get feedback, they understand the area and can relate it and make connections.

What are some challenges to implementing high quality formative assessment?

Constantly thinking of, creating and implementing formative assessments can become really time consuming for the teacher.