Formative Assessment
Monitor and Adjust Instruction for Student Success
Charles A. Dana Center
Bill Hopkins, Research Associate
Ann Roman, Senior Program Coordinator
Emma Trevino, Program Coordinator
2013
Creating a vision for assessment
•  What does formative assessment look like in your district?
•  Create a graphic organizer to summarize your table
discussion.
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2
Types of Assessment
•  Formative assessment
•  Summative assessment
What’s the difference?
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3
The assessment continuum
Where do typical assessments fall on the continuum?
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4
A Look at Research
We use the general term assessment to refer to all those
activities undertaken by teachers—and by their students in
assessing themselves—that provide information to be used
as feedback to modify teaching and learning activities. Such
assessment becomes formative assessment when the
evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching to meet
student needs.
Black and Wiliam (1998). Inside the Black Box.
Phi Delta Kappan, 2, 139-144.
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What is Formative Assessment?
Formative assessment is…
“…a planned process in which assessmentelicited evidence of students’ status is used by
teachers to adjust their ongoing instructional
procedures or by students to adjust their learning
tactics.”
W. James Popham, Transformative Assessment,
ASCD, 2008, page 6
Formative assessment depends on collecting data and on
taking action based on the data collected.
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Applications of Formative Assessment
The Formative Assessment Process
Classroom
Climate
Immediate
Instructional
Adjustment
Shifts
Students’
Near-Future
Instructional
Adjustment
Last-Chance
Instructional
Adjustment
Learning Tactic
Adjustments
Adapted from Popham, Tranformative Assessment in Action
2013
7
Applications of Formative Assessment
The Formative Assessment Process
Teachers’ Instructional
Adjustments
Immediate
Instructional
Adjustment
Near-Future
Instructional
Adjustment
Last-Chance
Instructional
Adjustment
Adapted from Popham, Tranformative Assessment in Action
2013
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Applications of Formative Assessment
The Formative Assessment Process
Intended Outcomes of
Effective Formative
Assessment
Classroom
Climate
Shifts
Students’
Learning Tactic
Adjustments
Adapted from Popham, Tranformative Assessment in Action
2013
9
Applications of Formative Assessment
The Formative Assessment Process
Classroom
Climate
Immediate
Instructional
Adjustment
Shifts
Students’
Near-Future
Instructional
Adjustment
Last-Chance
Instructional
Adjustment
Learning Tactic
Adjustments
Adapted from Popham, Tranformative Assessment in Action
2013
10
The Teacher’s Role in Formative Assessment
To tap the full potential of formative assessments, teachers
must:
•  Clarify and share learning intentions and criteria for success
with students.
•  Engineer effective classroom discussions, questions, and
learning tasks.
•  Provide feedback that moves learners forward.
•  Activate students as owners of their own learning.
•  Encourage students to be instructional resources for one
another.
D. Wiliam, “Changing Classroom Practice”
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Revisit your assessment vision
Based on our discussions:
•  What would you change about your graphic organizer?
•  How would you revise the assessment continuum?
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Moving into action
•  How are you thinking about assessment in your district
based on the research?
•  What would you change?
•  What is your role in this change?
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Learning Progressions
Formative assessment is a planned process, and a key
component of this planning is the learning progression.
“A learning progression is a sequenced set of sub-skills or
bodies of enabling knowledge that, it is thought, students
must master en route to mastering a more remote target
curricular aim.”
W. James Popham, Transformative Assessment,
ASCD, 2008, page 25
Learning progressions indicate to teachers when to collect
assessment evidence.
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Components of a Learning Progression
There are two key components in a learning progression:
•  Target curricular aim – an important curricular goal that is
preferably a higher level cognitive skill. It can be an
objective for an extended duration teaching unit or a key
learning goal for an entire course.
•  Building blocks – knowledge and skills that students must
master before they can reach the target curricular aim (i.e.,
what students must know and be able to do)
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Building a Learning Progression
Target Curricular Aim
Building
Block
Building
Block
Building
Block
Knowledge
Knowledge
Skill
Skill
Skill
Skill
Knowledge
2013
Knowledge
Knowledge
16
Learning Progressions and Assessment Design
Target Curricular Aim
Knowledge
Skill
Skill
Building Block #1
Formative
Assessment
Knowledge
Skill
Knowledge
Building Block #2
Formative
Assessment
Skill
Knowledge
Knowledge
Building Block #3
Formative
Assessment
2013
Summative
Assessment
17
Formative Assessment Cycle
Study
Standards
Make
Instructional
Adjustments
Determine
Criteria
Develop
Learning
Progression
Interpret
Evidence
Capture
Evidence
2013
Plan the
Assessment
18
Reflection
What insights did you gain from this discussion that may have
applications for your district?
What questions do you have about our work for formative
assessment?
2013
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