The five articles presented common themes about educational learning. They illustrate the need for teacher reflection and adjustment to meet students’ needs, establishing quality rapport and providing students strategies become an active learners and involved in the learning process through and monitoring their own understanding. In the articles there is research quoted that illustrates how they can dramatically impact student learning and achievement.
In (Kaftan, Buck, & Haack, 2006), it states formative assessment is a tool teachers can use to probe students understanding, inform instructional decisions and develop relationships. Unlike a summative assessment which measures student competency at the end of a unit, formative assessment is done daily. It informs both the student and the teacher "about student conceptions, misconceptions, skills and knowledge." (Heritage, Kim, Vendlinski, & Herman, 2009)
Formative assessment works when you as a teacher reflect on your teaching style and methods. Good teachers possess flexibility. (Heritage, Kim, Vendlinski, & Herman, 2009) research addresses the ability to adapt your teaching style to better meet the needs of the students. As a teacher, once you begin assessment for student’s learning you must become like a detective. You gather the evidence to fully understand why a student is not understanding and being an effective learner. Once this happens, you must decide what action is needed, whether it is re-teaching, changing your teaching style/method, or give additional feedback. (Andrade & Valcheva, 2009) stated that re teaching of concepts helped students to address their own misconceptions and helped them to better understand the concept.” As the research demonstrates, your knowle...
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...hrough Self-Assessment. Theory into Practice , 12-19.
Bakula, N. (2010). The Benefits of Formative Assessments for tteaching and Learning. Science Scope , 37-43.
Fluckiger, J., Tixier y Vigil, Y., Pasco, R., & Danielson, K. (2010). Formative Feeback: Involving Students as Partners in Assessment to Enhance Learning. College Teaching , 136-140.
Heritage, M., Kim, J., Vendlinski, T., & Herman, J. (2009). From Evidence to Action: A Seamless Process in Formative Assessment. Educational Measurments: Issues and Practice , 24-31.
Kaftan, J. M., Buck, G. A., & Haack, A. (2006). Using Formative Assessments to Individualize Instruction and Promote Learning. Middle School Journal , 44-49.
Position Paper on Assessment from the Third International Conference on Assessment for Learning. (2009). Third International Conference on Assessment for Learning. Dunedin, New Zealand.
Elwood, J. (2006). Formative assessment: possibilities, boundaries and limitations. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 215-232, doi:10.1080/09695940600708653
Stiggins, R. J. (2006, November/December). Assessment for learning: A key to motivation and achievement. Edge, 2, 3-19.
...teacher see what their students know, wonder about and techniques they use to make sense of the world and the classroom. This information can then be used by the teacher to differentiate instruction. The teacher can recover material, present alternative activities that students are more receptive in order to foster student responsiveness and engagement. In Page Keeley’s article An Introduction to Formative Assessment Classroom Techniques (FACTs) she articulates the purpose and power of a classroom that frequently uses formative assessments by saying, “it organizes the entire classroom around learning and informs ways teachers can provide more effective learning experiences based on how their own” (10). Formative assessments foster a supportive classroom community where students and even teacher thoughts are encouraged and in turn shape the future of that classroom.
A key characteristic is that the assessment information used by both teacher and pupils to modify their work in order to make it more effective”. In a similar vein, Tunstall and Gipps (1996) wrote “formative assessment means teachers using their judgments of children knowledge or understanding to feedback into the teaching process and to determine for individual children whether to re-explain the task/concept, to give further practice on it or move on the next stage”. (cited in Harry Torrance and John Pryor, 1998, p389). In addition, Black & Wiliam (1998) adopted a more restrictive definition by limiting the term to assessment conducted while learning was taking place. They defined formative assessment as a concept that teachers use information from activities to determine the next steps in learning and teaching. In their viewpoints, the information from a formative assessment actually is used to adjust instruction ‘to meet students’ needs”. In other words, these adjustments were not only to be made in the instruction but they needed to work. Likewise, Brown (2004) also stated this point in his definition. He defines formative assessment as “evaluating students in the process of ‘forming’ their competencies and skills with the goal of helping them to continue that growth process”, (p
This article, initiated by the Assessment Group of the British Educational Research Association, focuses on how improving formative assessment raises standards and how there is still room for improvement. It discusses the importance of self and peer assessments and effective teaching. They also identified four ways to implement classroom policies to improve formative assessment.
Formative assessments inform instructional practices. If used correctly formative assessments can be an advantage that allows students to know what areas they should study further and what areas they are competent in. It also teachers valuable information that will help them in lesson planning. Again, they key use to use data from the formative assessments effectively. If teachers merely assign an exit ticket with three questions at the end of every class, but they never check them for understanding or use the information to guide instruction, then it is not truly a formative assessment.
Assessments have always been a tool for teachers to assess mastery and for a long time it was just to provide a grade and enter it into the grade book or report card. Through resources in and out of the course, there has been a breath of new life into the research on how to use assessments. They take many forms and fall within the summative or formative assessment category. Sloan (2016) addresses how formative assessments has traditionally been used by teachers to modify instruction, but when we focus on a classroom that is learner-centered “it becomes assessment for learning as opposed to assessment of learning” (slide 4). The fact is, the students are the ones that should be and are the ones using the data we collect through assessments, since it is our way of providing feedback in order
Teachers use formative assessments in the classroom to help determine when and how to modify adapt lessons to better serve students. Some examples of formative assessments are questioning, discussions, exit/admit tickets, bell ringers, homework, and quizzes. Formative assessments can be graded, but they are typically ungraded and do not effect a student’s grade. When ungraded they are for the sole purpose of monitoring student progress. It is important to be able to determine whether or not students understand a concept. Do you need to back up, try a different approach, or is it time to move on? Formative assessments
Formative Assessment is used in any classroom to check students understanding of a topic. The type of formative assessment used in each classroom is different, depending on the teacher and the student’s needs. Teachers should incorporate a variety of formative assessments to truly see if students are learning. Dixson and Worrell describe formative assessment as gathering data to improve student learning. They are correct but teachers also need to provide students with feedback. Feedback gives students a better idea of what concepts they need to work on in class. There are many ways to integrate formative assessment and feedback into the classroom.
However, a formative assessment is ongoing and is used to check for students’ understanding throughout a lesson. Both work samples “matched learning objectives” and I was able to identify the students’ strength and weaknesses. I was also able to “analyze assessment data to understand patterns and gaps in learning” to guide my future instructions. In the word problem assessment, I recognized where the student was struggling and gave “effective and descriptive feedback” to address the area that she needs work in.
The purpose of formative assessment is to find where students are in their learning. This type of assessment is carried out day-to-day, in every lesson. Its outcomes will help the teacher on making well-founded judgements about pupils' understanding of concepts, deciding what the next learning steps should be and, therefore on planning effectively. In addition, other purpose of formative assessment is to provide students with inmediate feedback about their performance.
Black, Paul. (2003). The Nature and Value of Formative Assessment for Learning. Improving Schools. 6 (3) 7-22
Stiggins, R., Arter, J., Chappuis, J., Chappuis, S., (2007). Classroom assessment for student learning: Doing it right -- using it well. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson.
Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a
Cauley, K.H. & McMillan, J.H. (2009). Formative assessment techniques to support student motivation and achievement. Clearing House, 83(1), 1-6.