Unionville High School Faculty
January 11th 2010
“Assessment should always have
more to do with helping students
grow than with cataloging their
mistakes.”
Carol Tomlinson
Assessment in education is the
process of gathering, interpreting,
recording, and using information
about pupils’ responses to an
educational task. (Harlen, Gipps,
Broadfoot, Nuttal,1992)
#1- Formative assessment is a special kind of
test or series of tests to use to find out what
students know
◦ Formative assessment is an intentional learning
process teachers engage in with students to
gather information during learning. It is a
learning partnership that involves teachers and
students taking stock of where they are in
relation to their learning goals.
#2- Formative assessment is a program that
teachers adopt and add on to what they
already do
◦ It is not a prepackaged program or set of
techniques to add on. It is a philosophy of
teaching and learning in which the purpose of
assessing is to inform learning not just audit it. It
is a fundamental reframing of the work teachers
do day to day and minute by minute in the
classroom.
#3- Any practice that gathers information for
the purpose of improving programs or
improving teaching is considered formative
assessment
◦ If a teacher analyzes a test and decides to change
the lesson or emphasis next year- it is not
formative. Formative must be used to inform the
learning of current students
Feedback and Goal Setting
Diagnostic
(Finding Out)
Pre-test
Inventory
KWL
Anticipation Guide
Checklist
Observation
Self-evaluation
Questioning
Formative Assessment
(Keeping Track & Checking
FOR learning)
Conference
Exit Card
Peer evaluation
Portfolio Check
3-minute pause
Quiz
Observation
Journal Entry
Talkaround
Self-evaluation
Muddiest point
Questioning
Summative Assessment
(Making Sure)
Unit Test
Performance Task
Product/Exhibit
Demonstration
Portfolio Review
End of Chapter
Any method, strategy or process used to assess the knowledge
and skill of participants before the instruction is designed.
Diagnostic Assessment:
1.
provides data that can determine options for
students to take in information, construct
meaning, and to demonstrate understanding of
new information
2.
3.
helps teachers anticipate differences before
planning challenging and respectful learning
experiences
allows teachers to meet students where they are
A process of accumulating information about a student’s
progress to help make instructional decisions that will
improve his/her understandings and achievement levels.
Formative Assessment:
1.
Purpose: To improve learning and achievement
2.
Carried out while learning is in progress-day by day, minute
by minute
3.
Focused on the learning process and the learning progress
4.
Viewed as an integral part of the teaching-learning process
5.
Collaborative-teachers and students know where they are
headed and understand the learning needs.
6.
Fluid- an ongoing process influenced by student need and
teacher feedback
7.
Teachers and students adopt the role of intentional learners
8.
Teachers and students use the evidence gathered to make
adjustments and continuous improvement
Eliciting assessment information
 Interpreting elicited assessment
information
 Acting upon interpretations
Providing feedback to students
Reflecting upon & revising
teaching

* Adapted from Ruiz-Primo (2005)
A means to determine a student’s mastery and
understanding of information, skills, concepts, or
processes.
Summative Assessment:
1.
Purpose: To measure or audit attainment
2.
Carried out from time to time to create snapshots of what
has happened
3.
Focused on the products of learning
4.
Viewed as a separate activity performed after the teachinglearning cycle
5.
Teacher directed: teachers assign what the students do and
then evaluate how well they complete the assignment
6.
Rigid: An unchanging measure of what the student achieved
7.
Teachers adopt the role of auditors and the students assume
the role of the audited
8.
Teachers use the results to make final “success or failure”
decisions about a relatively fixed set of instructional
activities.
Formative
and summative assessment are
interconnected. They seldom stand alone in
construction or effect.
The
vast majority of genuine formative
assessment is informal, with interactive and
timely feedback and response.
It
is widely and empirically argued that formative
assessment has the greatest impact on learning
and achievement.
If we think of our children as plants …
Summative assessment of the plants is the process
of simply measuring them. It might be interesting
to compare and analyze measurements but, in
themselves, these do not affect the growth of the
plants.
Formative assessment, on the other hand, is the
equivalent of feeding and watering the plants
appropriate to their needs - directly affecting their
growth.

A tendency for teachers to assess quantity
and presentation of work rather than quality
of learning.

Greater attention given to marking and
grading, much of it tending to lower self
esteem of students, rather than providing
advice for improvement.

A strong emphasis on comparing students
with each other, which demoralizes the less
successful learners.
 Where
am I going?
 Where am I now?
 What strategies can help me get
to where I need to go?



Plan their lessons
Monitor their teaching
Help the students become self-regulated
learners
Teachers can post these questions in the room
and remind students to think about them
before, during and after each lesson
Teachers Adopt a Working
Assumption That…
Teachers Take Constructive
Action to…




Students learn more
effectively when they know
and understand the learning
goal
To help each student
succeed, I must know
precisely where that student
is in relation to the learning
goal
Effective feedback provides
specific suggestions for
closing the gap between
where students are and
where they need to be in
relation to the learning goal.


Bring precision to planning,
communicate learning goals
to students and the criteria
that they must meet to
succeed
Continuously collect evidence
of student learning to
monitor and adapt their
teaching during a lesson
Develop a repertoire of
feedback strategies that give
focused and descriptive ways
to meet the learning goal.
Teachers Adopt a Working
Assumption that…
Teachers take Constructive
Action to…




One of the most important skills
I can teach my students is how
to regulate their own learning
Meaningful learning happens
between minds, using strategic
conversations and when
students become models of
success for each other
Motivation isn’t something I can
give to my students; it is
something I must help them
develop.


Teach the students how to selfassess and use rubrics,
checklists and other
metacognitive tools for students
to use before, during and after
learning
Plan for and ask strategic
questions that will produce
evidence of student learning.
Align levels of challenge with
support and intentionally create
learning experiences in which
students learn what they do well,
what they should do more of and
how to focus efforts to maximize
success.