High Quality Formative Assessment

What is formative assessment?
A formative assessment is an on-going review, observation, and assessment within a classroom. Formative assessments are used by teachers to improve their instructional methods throughout the teaching and learning process.

What is the CENTRAL purpose of formative assessment?
The central purpose of a formative assessment is to help teachers and students ensure that they have a complete understanding of specific goals and objectives.

Connect a best practice in formative assessment to one research-based strategy.
Teachers can use journaling or an online blog for students to record their answers to certain questions. The teacher, along with peers, can comment on the blog postings to provide the author with feedback.

Give an example of how a specific assessment can be used formatively and summatively.
A rubric can be used both formatively and summatively. The rubric can be used as a reference so that students know what is expected of them. The teacher can then use the rubric to grade the actual assessment.

Give an example from your field placement related to formative assessment and timing.
My clinical placement is in a third grade classroom. They have been doing a lot of writing getting ready for benchmark testing. They are given a specific topic to write about and the teacher helps them create an idea web to get their thoughts flowing. Then, they write their responses on notebook paper. We read their responses and give them feedback on how to improve their writing and also point out areas they are strong in. The students are then given time to go back and improve, edit, and correct their writings.

What are some strategies to help formative assessment be more effective when providing students with feedback?

In order for feedback to be effective it should be given in a timely manner. It should also be direct and to the point. The comments should be given in a positive manner that will motivate the students.

Name two advantages to high quality formative assessment.
1. Formative assessments are a good way for students to monitor their own work. It keeps them on task while providing timely feedback.
2. Formative assessments give teachers an opportunity to look at a students work and see what they need to improve on. It allows them to offer better one-on-one feedback.

What are some challenges to implementing high quality formative assessment?
High quality formative assessments can be challenging to implement. They are very time consuming and require more planning on the teachers end.