Introduction to Assessment

Assessment provides instruction and learning feedback to teachers and students. Information gained through informal assessments provides opportunities for teachers to make adjustments to the ways in which they deliver instruction.

Teachers use assessments both to provide feedback to students about their progress and to guide decisions about next steps in the learning process, thereby closing the gap between the learner’s current and desired states. Popham (2008) defines formative assessment as “a planned process in which teachers or students use assessment-based evidence to adjust what they are currently doing.”

The operative word in this definition is process, in that formative assessment happens throughout the learning, as opposed to summative assessment, which is often a one-time event that occurs at the end of a learning unit and is used to make judgments about student competence.

Web Links

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» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL54bfmZPzY

Welcome to REAL formative assessment! Measured Progress has created a DVD program that explores how REAL teachers implement REAL formative assessment in their classrooms. This clip documents teachers use of techniques and tools to bring about gains in student learning.

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» http://michelledriskell.blogspot.com/2011/09/formative-assessment-
in-first-grade.html

This is a blog of a first grade teacher.  She provides a definition of formative assessment, gives some ideas of strategies to use, and provides examples and excerpts from her first grade classroom.  The blog also provides the opportunity for dialogue with other teachers regarding the use of assessment.

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» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3HRvFsZHoo

Dylan Wiliam stresses the importance of assessment as a key process for increasing teacher quality whilst having the biggest impact on student outcomes. He looks at some of the popular initiatives that aim to increase student achievement, such as learning styles, and presents research that shows assessment practices have a much greater impact on educational achievement than most other reforms.

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» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxAXJEK--qk

Kim Slusher uses assessment as a barometer of student learning in a multi-age primary classroom at Norton Elementary in Jefferson County.

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» http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rL54bfmZPzY

the Formative classroom (Middle grade classroom used as example)

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» http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=jzWraXa2qF0&feature=fvwp

Summative vs. formative assessment