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Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo and LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS). 8474 1

Session Goals:• Create a common understanding of

formative assessment• Understand key findings on formative

assessment’s power to impact achievement

• Know what the seven strategies are, how they connect to research findings, and how they connect to current practice


Classroom Assessment Guiding Principles:

• Gather accurate information about student achievement– Competencies 1, 2, & 3

• Use assessment process and results effectively to promote maximum student learning success– Competencies 4 & 5


Discuss with a partner:

What is your understanding of the term

formative assessment?

How would you define it?


What forms does assessment information take in your

classroom?


Assessment in Your Classroom?

• Grade• Symbol• Number• Percent• Raw score• Comment• Other


“Innovations that include strengthening the practice of formative assessment produce significant and often substantial learning gains.”

—Black & Wiliam, 1998b, p. 140


Review of Research on Effects of Formative Assessment

• Read the excerpt from the article “Inside the Black Box” by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam.

• Note the reported gains in student achievement.

• Note important points about effective formative assessment practices.

• Share them with others at your table.


What were the effect sizes they reported?

• .4 to .7 gain• .7 standard deviation score gain =

25 percentile points on ITBS (middle of score range)

70 SAT score points 4 ACT score points

Largest Gain for Low Achievers


What gives formative assessment its power?

What practices do Black & Wiliam recommend as

necessary?


• Provision of descriptive feedback, with guidance on how to improve, during the learning

• Development of student self- and peer-assessment skills


• Use of classroom discussions, classroom tasks, and homework to determine the current state of student learning/understanding, with action taken to improve learning and correct misunderstandings


• Increase descriptive, reduce evaluative feedback

• Increase self- and peer-assessment

• Increase opportunities for students to communicate their evolving learning during instruction


Refining Our Definition of Formative Assessment

• Review the definitions of formative assessment offered by other researchers.

• Taking into account these definitions, and the practices Black & Wiliam identified, revisit your own definition. How might you change it?

14Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo and LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS). 8474

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTFormal and informal processes teachers and students use to gather evidence for the purpose of improving learning

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTAssessments that provide evidence of student achievement for the purpose of making a judgment about student competence or program effectiveness


It is the use we make of the assessment

information, not the instrument itself,

that determines whether it is formative or

summative.


Formative or Summative?

• With a partner, read through the chart.

• Spend a few minutes determining which assessment uses are formative and which are summative.


Where do the high-impact formative assessment practices show up on the “Formative or

Summative” chart?


Balancing Formative and Summative Uses (page 6)

1. Referring to the chart, identify which assessment uses are present in your school and district.

2. Are formative and summative uses in balance? If not, what modifications might you recommend? With whom might you share your recommendations?


Formative or Summative?

1. Working with a partner, review your lists of the forms assessment information takes in your classroom.

2. Label each as either formative (F) or summative (S).

3. Select one marked F and share what makes it formative.


Formative Assessment in Teachers’ Hands

What are teachers’ information needs?

What formative assessment practices address these needs?


Formative Assessment in Teachers’ Hands

• Who is and is not understanding the lesson?• What are this student’s strengths and needs?• What misconceptions do I need to address?• What feedback should I give students?• What adjustments should I make to

instruction?• How should I group students?• What differentiation do I need to prepare?

—Chappuis, 2009, p. 9


Formative Assessment in Students’ Hands

What are students’ information needs?

What formative assessment practices address these needs?


Formative Assessment in Students’ Hands

• Comes to hold a concept of quality roughly similar to that held by the teacher

• Is able to monitor continuously the quality of what is being produced during the act of production itself

• Has a repertoire of alternative moves or strategies from which to draw

—Sadler, 1989, p. 121

The indispensable conditions for improvement are that the student


Assessment for Learning:

Formative assessment designed to meet teachers’ and students’ information

needs


To attain the achievement gains promised by

formative assessment, the ultimate user of

formative assessment information must be the

student.


Links Between Formative Assessment and Student Achievement

The student • Comes to hold a concept of quality roughly

similar to that held by the teacher• Is able to monitor continuously the quality of

what is being produced during the act of production itself

• Has a repertoire of alternative moves or strategies from which to draw– Sadler, 1989, p. 121


• Where are you trying to go? – Identify and communicate the learning goals.

• Where are you now? – Assess or help the student to self-assess

current levels of understanding.

• How can you get there? – Help the student with strategies and skills to

reach the goal.– Atkin, Black, & Coffey, 2001, p. 14

28Copyright © 2008 by Educational Testing Service. All rights reserved. ETS, the ETS logo and LISTENING. LEARNING. LEADING. are registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS). 8474

Seven Strategies of Assessment for LearningWhere am I going?

1. Provide students with a clear and understandable statement of the learning target.

2. Use examples and models of strong and weak work.

Where am I now?3. Offer regular descriptive feedback.4. Teach students to self-assess and set goals.

How can I close the gap?5. Design lessons to focus on one learning target or

aspect of quality at a time.6. Teach students focused revision.7. Engage students in self-reflection, and let them keep

track of and share their learning.


Activity Directions:• Assign one of the seven strategies to

each person at your table.• Review the explanation of your assigned

strategy.• Be ready to explain the main idea of

your strategy and how it addresses the key question.

• Share your explanation with your table.


1. Make an inventory of practices and activities you currently use that match up with the seven strategies.

2. Which strategies do you currently use most often? Least often?


Conclusions• These ideas are not new—they have been part of good

teaching all along.

• The progression of strategies builds success intentionally (e.g., Strategies 1, 2, & 3 are necessary for success with Strategy 4).

• The strategies offer a sequence of research-based practices that develop capabilities in students to improve their own achievement.


Next Steps

• Continued learning in teams using Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning

• Accompanying study guide for teams to use

• College credit available

copyright © 2008 by educational testing service. all rights reserved. ets, the ets logo and...

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