NC MODULE 5 Activity

Administrators Role in Formative Assessment

How is formative assessment used at your school?

My teacher implements formative assessment through learning targets, the use of standards, activities, and providing feedback.  Each day my teacher has the learning targets displayed on the board for all students to see.  This tells the students what they will be learning that day, and it tells the students where they are going. Formative Assessment is used in my classroom through hands on activities, read-alouds, and class discussions.  My teacher takes note while students are doing different activities in the classroom.  She makes note if a student asks a question, or has an interesting or confusing comment.  She takes notice when her students aren't grasping the material and she changes her lesson to fix the misconceptions.  During read aloud she takes mental notes when students answer her questions, make predictions, ask questions, or makes interesting observations.  My teacher always gives descriptive feedback to each student.  She also gives evaluative feedback such as "Good job! Nice work! Excellent!" repeatedly throughout the day.

NC MODULE 4 Activity:

Analyzing Evidence and Descriptive Feedback:

1. How do you determine gaps in student learning?

To determine gaps in student learning, you analyze the evidence of learning.  You identify where students are in their learning and determine how your teaching methods can be differentiated in order to move forward. To determine gaps, I would look for a student who is farther behind in the activity than other students.  I would ask them questions to assess if they understand the task at hand.  I would make notes of the students who ask many questions regarding the activity.  If the student finishes the activity and it isn't what I asked them to do, I would differentiate my lesson so that the student understands the objective more clearly, and be able to reach the learning target.  

2. How do you address learning gaps during daily instruction?

To address learning gaps during daily instruction, you give descriptive feedback.  Descriptive feedback gives students an understanding of where they are in the learning target, what they need to work on, and what they need to do in order to move forward.

3. Why do you think its important to anticipate obstacles and misconceptions and to identify strategies to address them while planning your lesson?

It is important to anticipate obstacles and misconceptions and strategies to address them while planing because there are most likely going to be some students who don't understand the lesson, or struggle to succeed in the activities.  Planning for these obstacles is important because you can address these obstacles or misconceptions quickly and differentiate the lesson.  It is important to plan so that we can close the gap efficiently and effectively. 

NC FALCON MODULE 3 Activity:

What part of formative assessment concerns you the most, and what are you going to do about it?

The part of formative assessment that concerns me the most is building a clear criteria for success that the students understand.  This worries me because I  struggle with understanding the difference between learning targets and the criteria for success.  I am nervous that my criteria for success will not meet the expectations of the learning targets.  In order to improve my planning of criteria for success I will need to make sure that the criteria for success meets the learning targets and states what is exactly expected of the students in order for the students academic success.  The "I will" statements need to be written in a way that students can understand so that they know where they are going and can take responsibility for active learning.  

Journal Activity: Article by Sarah McManus

Understanding the CCSSO Definition of Formative Assessment
By: Sarah McManus, Ph.D.


In the article, Dr. McManus spoke of Formative Assessment as an action. Write a brief description or sketch a picture of what this means or looks like to you:

Formative Assessment is an action, not a product.  It is a continual process that we do throughout each school day.  It is not something that we give to students like a summative assessment such as a test.  We are consistently doing it, and the students are actively engaged in doing it. It is an action because students and teachers are consistently doing activities that provide us with information about the progress of students and the effectiveness of the lessons. This allows us to adjust our teaching methods and it provides us information to use as feedback for the students.


Four key words are expressed in the CCSSO definition of Formative Assessment. What are those words and how do they relate to Formative Assessment?


PROCESS:  Process relates to formative assessment because formative assessment IS a process, not a product.  In formative assessment, the process includes providing clear learning targets and criteria for success for the students so that know where they are going; providing evidence of learning during instruction using an array of activities; determining the gaps in learning based on the information received from the evidence, providing students descriptive feedback on where they are in the learning process, and taking action to adjust instruction, the target, or moving to the next target.

DURING:  "During" relates to formative assessment because formative assessment occurs during instruction, not after the instruction is completed.

FEEDBACK:  "Feedback" is related to formative assessment because instead of distributing a grade to the students, it is important to provide descriptive feedback that is related to the criteria for success.  Descriptive feedback can come from the teacher, a peer, or the student.  This will help the students learn to self-assess and take responsibility for their own learning.

STUDENTS:  "Students" are related to formative assessment because students need to be actively engaged in their learning by participating in the formative assessments.  The students should be able to answer three questions; Where am I going, Where am I now, and How do I close the gap?.  Teachers cannot provide all of the answers for the students, the student must be a partner in the learning process.


Why is planning an essential part of insuring that Formative Assessment is
implemented during instruction every day?  

Teachers must plan ahead in order to understand the goal that all students are expected to achieve.  It's essential to understand what the ultimate goal is and how it will be measured in the summative assessment. Formative assessment occurs during the lesson, and students will be expected to make mistakes.  This is why it is important for teachers to plan ahead and anticipate those mistakes so that have a plan for addressing the learning gaps. When planning, teachers must break down the ultimate goal, the big idea, that will be measured on the summative test into smaller, reachable objectives.

Formative Assessment Module Goals

As a teacher, there are many goals that I would like to set for myself while instructing my students using formative assessments.  My first goal that I would like to set for myself is to really understand the process and purpose of formative assessment, and ways to implement it in the classroom.  Based on the self-reflection that we took to rate our levels of expertise, there were a few areas that stood out to me that I needed to work on.  One of theses things that I need to work on is to provide more opportunities for formative assessments in my future class.  I would like there to be a more general focus on the importance of formative assessments rather than summative assessments. Creating more opportunities for formative assessments will strengthen my students knowledge of the content; better preparing them for a summative assessment. One way to achieve this goal is to provide my students with more opportunities to give their feedback to their peers.  I can guide my students while they discuss and explain their opinions or perceptions of another students work; providing a basis for their feedback.  My overall goal is to create ways to use formative assessments, in a way that is most efficient, engaging, and beneficial for my students.