Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment is a process used by teachers and students during instruction in every class throughout the school year.
Formative Assessments:
- are embedded by teachers within learning activities as a quick check up to gauge student learning and understanding.
- are aligned to grade-level standards and linked directly to current instruction.
- provide immediate information on important skills and concepts that the student learned and those concepts in which extra teaching is needed.
The Components of the Formative Assessment Process:
- Clarify Intended Learning
- Elicit Evidence
- Interpret Evidence
- Act on Evidence
How do these components help teachers?
- Establish Learning Routines: Consistent use of the strategies helps students internalize and take ownership of their learning and know what to expect so more time can be spent on instruction.
- Use Across Different Grade-Levels and Content Areas: These strategies can be implemented across content areas and outside of Tools for Teachers resources.
- Accelerate Learning: Using the formative assessment process iteratively during instruction helps students and teachers identify where they are and what to do next.
- Build Student Agency: Incorporating strategies into instruction can provide students with an opportunity to have a voice and a choice in their learning.
Resources for Formative Assessment – English Language Arts/Math
- Tools for Teachers
- An online collection of resources was written and vetted by educators nationally.
- All resources are aligned with the Common Core State Standards in math and ELA and were designed to support K-12 teachers in their use of the formative assessment process.
- Browse a list of Formative Assessment strategies that can be easily included in lessons.
- Each ELA and math Interim Assessment Block has a corresponding Connections Playlist, created to support struggling students and to enhance learning for students who are scoring above standard as well.
- Instructional resources include lessons that can be used as a follow up to an interim, or they can be used to supplement existing curriculum.
- What is Tools for Teachers Video?
- Smarter Balanced Tool for Teachers Video
- Smarter Balanced Tool for Teachers Formative Assessment Flyer
Resources for Formative Assessment – Science
- Seeing Students Learn Science: Integrating Assessment and Instruction in the Classroom | Next Generation Science Standards
- How Teachers can Develop Formative Assessments that fit a Three-Dimensional View of Science Learning – STEM Teaching Tools
- The Feedback Loop: Using Formative Assessment Data for Science Teaching and Learning
- Formative Assessment for Equitable Learning
- Formative Assessment in the Science Classroom
- Formative Assessments in Science - Educational Innovations Blog
- Formative Assessment in a Science Classroom
- Webinar 7 - Formative Assessment in the Science Classroom