Formative Assessment: A

Process to Improve Student

Achievement

Dr. Ellen Vorenkamp

Wayne RESA
 Essential Question
• How can I better understand and
implement the process of Formative
Assessment to positively impact student
achievement in my classroom?
 Outcomes/Purpose
• Explain and understand the need for balanced
assessment systems
• Define the components of a balanced
assessment system
• Review the research concerning formative and
summative assessment
• Introduce the elements within the formative
assessment process
 Activating Prior Knowledge
• What do I already know about formative
assessment?
– Write two or three things….
• What more do I hope to learn?
– Walk Around Share
 Our Charge
• Need to do something different….
 Our Charge…
We have reached a tipping point:
We either change our
assessment beliefs and act
accordingly, or we doom
struggling learners to
inevitable failure.
---Rick Stiggins
 Need for Balanced Assessment
Systems
• Text as Expert…
• Read the article “Assessment Through the
Student’s Eyes” by Rick Stiggins
• Engage in the “First Turn; Last Turn”
Protocol
 First Turn; Last Turn
– First Turn; Last Turn
• Read Text; Highlight 2-3 statements
• In your groups, starting with the person whose
name is last alphabetically, share one of your
ideas. The First Turn. Do not comment on your
statement, just read it to the group.
• Group members comment on the statement in
round-robin order. (No Cross Talk!)
• The person who read the statement shares his or
her thinking on the item and gets—The Last Turn.
• Repeat.
What is a Balanced Assessment
System?
• Assessment is the process of gathering
evidence of student learning.
• A balanced assessment system includes both
formative and summative assessments that
are used intentional and purposefully to
support teachers and students both during the
teaching and learning process and at the end of
the teaching and learning process.
 Summative
Annual
Did the students learn
Key Question
what they should have?
When Asked End of unit/ term/year
After instruction ends
Use of Results (curriculum & instructional
leaders)
Formative
Program Classroom
Is the class/student on track What comes next in the
for proficiency? student’s learning?
Multiple times per year Ongoing in the classroom
Between instructional
During Instruction
cycles
(instructional leaders &
(teachers & students)
teachers)
 What do assessments tell us?
Information on individual
student learning

National State District Classroom

Assessments Assessments Assessments Assessments

Adapted from R. J. Marzano & J.S. Kendall. (1996). A comprehensive guide11 to

designing a standards-based district, school, or classroom. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
 A Balanced Assessment Program
Assessment “OF” Assessment “FOR”
•Summative •Formative
•Norm Referenced / •Often teacher-made
Standardized
•A moving picture
•A snapshot in time

Essential Question:
Essential Question:
•How can we help students
•What have students learn more?
already learned?
A Balanced Assessment System
Summative
 An event after learning
 Document individual or group achievement
or mastery of standards
 Use to report student progress to school or
state
 Achievement standards used to hold
schools, teachers, and students accountable
 Certify student competence/achievement
information to students, teachers, parents,
and administration
 Administer test to ensure accuracy, use to
help students meet standards, and interpret
results for reports
 Study to meet standards, take tests avoid
failure
 Threat of punishment for poor achievement
or the promise of rewards
 Achievement tests, final exams, placement
tests, short cycle assessments
Formative
 A process during learning
 Support ongoing student improvement to
meet more standards
 Use for personal feedback
 Specific targets used to help students build
towards standards
 Provides student/teacher insight to diagnose
and respond to student needs
 Transform the standards into classroom
targets that use student-friendly language
 Provide students with time to self-assess to
keep track of personal progress, set goals,
and act upon what is needed to do better
 Believe that success in learning is
achievable
 Rubrics used by students to self-assess and
descriptive feedback provided by teacher
Assessment: Comparing Purposes
Assessment of learning..(Summative)
 strives to document student
achievement.
 diagnoses a program’s strengths and
weaknesses by providing comparable
results.
 provides summative results at the end
of a unit or course of study.
 informs others (teachers, parents,
administrators, community members)
about students and their achievement.
 assumes the teacher’s role is to gauge
student success.
 reflects the standards themselves.
Assessment for learning…(formative)
 strives to increase student achievement
 diagnoses a student’s strengths and
weaknesses by providing results that are
unique to individual students.
 provides data throughout a unit or
course of study that allows tailoring
instruction and motivation for
improvement.
 informs students about themselves
and helps them learn how to take charge
of their own progress.
 assumes the teacher’s role is to
promote student success.
 reflects the knowledge, skills, and
understandings that underpin standards.
 Become an Expert
• Partners A/B
• A – Summative Assessment
• B – Formative Assessment

• List three main points on your topic and explain

to your partner.
 Analogy Activity

 Formative assessment is like

_________________ where as Summative
assessment is like
_____________________________________
A Quick Review of the Research on
Assessment
• Summative Assessment
– Little to no research that shows any correlation between
giving students high-stakes summative assessments and
student achievement or growth.
» Changing Classroom Practice (Wiliam, 2007)

• Formative Assessment
– “Five reviews of the research in this area (Black & Wiliam,
1998; Crooks, 1988; Kluger & DeNisi, 1996; Natriello,
1987; Nyquist, 2003) synthesized a total of more than
4,000 research studies undertaken during the last 40
years. The conclusion was clear: When implemented well,
formative assessment can effectively double the speed of
student learning.”
» Changing Classroom Practice (Wiliam, 2007)
 Research on Formative
Assessment
Perhaps the most compelling research is summarized by
Black and Wiliam in their 1998 Phi Delta Kappan article…

“Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards

through Classroom Assessment,” which
documents the strong link between
improved student achievement and the
use of formative data.
 Research
They discovered that…

“…good formative assessment as a treatment has “effect

sizes from .4 to .7 standard deviations, larger than most
effects of intended instructional programs which are
usually considered impressive with a .25 effect size.”
Research on Effects of Formative
Assessment
Research on Effects of Formative
Assessment

Largest Gains for Underachieving

Students!
 What does the more recent
research say?
• Research by John Hattie
• Meta Analysis—1200 Research Projects
– .60 and above considered a high leverage
strategy
– .30 to.60 considered a medium leverage
strategy
– .30 and below considered a low leverage
strategy
Hattie Research 2016
 High Leverage Strategies
• 1.44 Student Expectations
• .90 Formative Evaluation for Educators
• .90 Teacher Credibility in the Eyes of the Students
• .82 Classroom Discussion
• .75 Feedback
• .75 Teacher Clarity
• .74 Reciprocal Teaching
• .72 Teacher-Student Relationships
• .69 Metacognitive Strategies
• .67 Vocabulary Programs
• .64 Self-Verbalization/Self-Questioning
• .61 Problem Solving Teaching
 “Formative Assessment can
double the speed of learning”
Dylan Wiliam

Making the learning intentions and success criteria

transparent, having high, but appropriate,
expectations, and providing feedback at the
appropriate levels is critical to building confidence in
taking on challenging tasks.”

» John Hattie, Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing

Impact on Learning, 2012
What is Formative Assessment?
• Formative Assessment is not an add-on…
– It is an integral part of the teaching and
learning cycle.
What is Formative Assessment?
• Formative assessment is a planned
process in which assessment-elicited
evidence of students’ status is used by
teachers to adjust their ongoing
instructional procedures or by students to
adjust their current learning tactics.

» James Popham, 2008

 Essential Questions
• Essential Questions:

– Where are the learners now?

– Where do they need to be?
– How do I close the gap?
Requires a Shift in the Use of
Assessment
Four Attributes

Evidence Gathering Tools

 Evidence Gathering Tools
• Traffic Lights
• Learning Continuum
• Parking Lots
• Essential Questions
• Practice Work
 Evidence Gathering Tools
• I have; who has?
• Stoplights
• Tickets in the door
• Tickets out the door
• 6 word summaries
• Voting Cards
• Bump in the Road
• No opt outs
• Clickers
Evidence Gathering Tools
Evidence Gathering Tools
 SS Specific Ideas
• http://nau.edu/uploadedFiles/Academic/CA
L/History/History-
Social_Studies_Education/Formative%20
Assessment%20in%20Social%20Studies.
pdf
 Caution!!!!
“We must keep in mind, however, that
educators will not achieve the benefits of
formative assessment for learning simply by
implementing a string of promising
techniques [tools] or by using them
mechanistically.”
— Lorrie Shepard, 2005
36
5 Pillars of Formative
Assessment
Video
 Reflection Moment
• I used to think about formative
assessment….

• Now I think and will do in relation to

formative assessment….
The Formative Assessment
Process
FA in Action
 Article Read
– Read Article on Formative Assessment by
Margaret Heritage

√ = Makes sense; affirms my thinking

! = “aha”; new insight.
? = Raises a question, challenges my thinking.
 Summing it Up
– Write a Text…
What is your MITA? In 140 characters or less
 A Final Thought…
• “Remember, formative assessment works,”
says Popham. “When it is used, students
learn better. By using this assessment-rooted
instructional process, teachers can increase
the test-based achievement of their
students… ‘Student growth’ will be
demonstrated on the tests because, in fact,
student growth will have occurred.”
– “Formative Assessment’s ‘Advocatable Moment’” by
James Popham in Education Week, Jan. 9, 2013 (Vol. 32,
#15, p. 29)
 Pillar One
Using Clear Learning Targets
 Learning Target Use
• How are teachers using learning targets in
the classroom?

• How are students using learning targets in

the classroom?
 Learning Target Use
“Students can hit any target they
can see and that holds still for
them”
Rick Stiggins
Classroom Assessment for Learning
 Learning Target Use
Anticipating Approaches
• How do we make the learning targets clear
and accessible for students?

• Setting Success Criteria for Students

• Using Exemplars

• Self/Peer Assessing
 Two Parts to a Learning Target

Learning Goal Success Criteria

●The ‘what’ is to be ●The “how” to
learned recognize success
●WALT ●WILF “I can…”
 Definitions

Learning Goal
What students will learn

(lesson aim, lesson objective, learning goal,

teaching objective, learning intentions, WALT)
Success Criteria
How students will demonstrate their learning

(learning outcome, evidence, expected learning

outcomes, criteria for achievement, lesson
outcomes, WILF)
 The Difference Between Learning
Goals and Success Criteria

Learning Goal Success Criteria

• Broad statements • Specific
• General intentions • Concrete
• Describe what is to be • Describes what success
learned looks like when the
• Connect to “big ideas” learning goal is reached
and prior learning • Measureable
• Often not measureable
 Learning Goal

The learning goal is

like the target.

It defines, for
students, what
learning is intended.
Success Criteria

These are the arrows

that help the learner
achieve the target and
demonstrate mastery.
 Examples
What this looks like varies greatly…
 Learning Goal and Success
Criteria

Write a complete sentence

• I can:
– include a subject
– include a verb
– Ensure agreement between subject and verb
– Begin sentence with a capital letter
– End sentence with correct end punctuation
Learning Goals and Success
Criteria
Learning Goal and Success
Criteria
 Example of Learning Goal and
Success Criteria
Social Studies, Geography, Grades 6-8
• Essential Concept: Understand how geographic and human
characteristics create culture and define regions.
• Big Idea: Geographers have developed regions as tools to
examine, define, describe, explain, and analyze the human
and physical environment.

Learning Goal Example: Success Criteria Examples:

Understand that
geographic regions
define both convenient
and manageable units
upon which to build our
knowledge of the world.
I can describe a region by its
defining characteristics.
I can explain how
geographers use regional
information.

Iowa Core, 2015

Learning Goal and Success
Criteria

Learning
Goal:
Write a letter
to parents
about bears.
 Learning Goals and Success
Criteria

Myron Dueck, 2016

 Definition of Exemplars
• Exemplars are examples and models of
student work.

• They can be used to give students a

clear understanding of what excellent
work can look like and provide
opportunities for students to improve.
Learning Target Use
Self Assessing
Learning Target Use
Self Assessing
 Learning Target Use
Self Assessing
• Redo/Retakes—Summative/Interim
 Learning Target Use
Self Assessing
Redo/Retakes—Summative/Interim
 Learning Target Use
Peer Assessing
• Read either the Science Case Study
beginning on page 157 or the English
Case Study beginning on page 158. After
you read, discuss and reflect on how
effective this kind of activity can be in
moving students forward.
 Pillar Three
Feedback
 Formative Feedback
• Formative feedback is descriptive and
actionable…”

— W. James Popham, 2008

 Formative Feedback
Feedback needs to be specific,
aligned to criteria or learning targets,
and in reference to students’ current
levels of achievement.
 Feedback

– Debrief
 Formative Feedback
What Formative
Feedback IS
• In relation to learning
targets
• Identifies strengths and
areas for growth
• Timely - can be immediately
used to improve progress
• Descriptive/Actionable –
specific, in the form of
questions
What Formative
Feedback is Not
• General comments
• Edits of mistakes
• Provided after learning is
over – at the end
• Coded – grades, scores,
checkmarks, judgments
 Formative Feedback
• Review the feedback statements in blue
on page 132. Dialogue with a neighbor
about the quality of these statements and
how they would (or would not) impact
student learning.
 Using Questions as Feedback
Questions to Stimulate Student Thinking

What was your goal when you…

To what extent does your strategy, ____________, link to the learning

target…?
When thinking about your summary of ___________, what process did
you use to guide your thinking?

What might be some similarities and differences between your strategy

on ____________ and _____________?
How did you know to…?
Feedback Use Example
View of Back of the Card
Feedback Use Example
 Standing Partner Dialogue
• When giving feedback, what will you need to
pay attention to in yourself?
• If you have a large number of students, how
might you effectively provide formative
feedback?
• How might your students use the feedback
provided?
 Wrapping it Up
• What did I learn? — summary of MIPs
• How did this relate to what I thought about
formative assessment before today?
• What was confirmatory? What was
surprising?
• Learning is about change in the way I think..
What will I change based on what I learned
today about formative assessment?
 Ticket out the Door
• Action Plan…Implementation
 Contact Information
• Ellen Vorenkamp, Ed.D.
– vorenke@resa.net
– 734-334-1318