Formative Assessment
"The purpose of formative assessment is to provide feedback to teachers and students during the course of learning about the gap between students' current and desired performance so that action can be taken to close the gap."
(From Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading (2010) by Robert J. Marzano.)
(From Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading (2010) by Robert J. Marzano.)
Ongoing evidence of implementation - formative assessment
Above is a series of pictures showing choice in formative assessment. Mrs. Hooper and I have begun our exploration of Stone Soup. She designed a How To lesson based on recipes and directions. We wanted to see if the students could list the steps in making a peanut butter and jam sandwich. Students were given the choice of using pictures or words to show the steps. We listened for language (first, then, next, finally) as they sequenced the steps. As we work on these skills of recipe building, we will be focusing on devising a recipe as a class for stone soup and making a recipe book as a final project. Below is student who is describing the steps on how to make the sandwich.
The example below shows choice in a follow up activity during a Guided Reading lesson. After students were finished reading the book, they were asked to sequence the story. Students chose between sequencing sentence strips and making a poster or sequencing pictures cards and writing a sentence or two to make a book.
After a lesson on compound words, students were able to choose from two activities (fold book or a cut and paste) to show their learning. This is an example of formative assessment - did they all understand the concept of compound words? Yes!
What impact did choice in formative assessment have on student learning?
Giving choice to the students is important. Students were able to choose how they wanted to show their learning in the activities above. During the compound word lesson, students that enjoyed drawing were able to use their talents/interests to show what they knew. The others who weren't inclined to draw, were able to show their thinking via cutting and pasting. Their evidence of learning wasn't "hindered" by the activity given to them and choice allowed for ownership.
Reflections on choice in formative assessment:
![Picture](/uploads/1/0/8/6/10868608/5490138.png?1433197297)
I have been learning to give more control to the students. I have also learned that it takes more planning to provide opportunities for choice within activities, but the engagement and outcome of what they can come up with is worth it. Choice in activities allow children to use their talents and interests to show what they know.
I have also been keeping track of formative assessment using the app SeeSaw. Students and I are able to document their work via pictures, videos, drawings, or notes. It's a great way to keep the students accountable during literacy and math centers and I am able to document their progress. I can also have a conversation with the students, sharing specific feedback using the picture as evidence. There is even an option that allows parents to access their child's work to see how they are doing.
I have also been keeping track of formative assessment using the app SeeSaw. Students and I are able to document their work via pictures, videos, drawings, or notes. It's a great way to keep the students accountable during literacy and math centers and I am able to document their progress. I can also have a conversation with the students, sharing specific feedback using the picture as evidence. There is even an option that allows parents to access their child's work to see how they are doing.
Summative Assessment
Summative Assessment is the final assessment of what students know about that topic or outcome. It's the final evaluation of student learning based on bench marks. We often see summative assessments in the form of exams, papers or projects at the end of a period of time. Summative assessments don't have to be one way, or one size fits all - below is a graphic matching assessment with students' strengths. I've also attached a performance interview I use with students to assess number sense.
This is a sample summative assessment for math. It is an interview done with the student. I took the specific outcome and created questions based on the illustrative examples.
![](http://www.weebly.com/weebly/images/file_icons/rtf.png)
term_2_assessment_interview.doc | |
File Size: | 28 kb |
File Type: | doc |