(IN)FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT:
CHANGING CLASSROOM
PRACTICE
Define Formative
Assessment
Session
Goals
Identify the Elements of
Formative Assessment
Explore Formative Learning
and Assessment Tasks
Operationalize Formative
Assessment in the
Classroom
Are teachers assessment
savvy?
•  Skilled in gathering
accurate information
about student learning?
•  Using that data
effectively to promote
further learning?
Or…do teachers
TEACH, TEST, AND HOPE
FOR THE BEST?
Wiggins, 1998
http://www.alite.co.uk/readings/black.htm
Assessment Cycle
Formative Assessment:
•  Teachers gather and interpret evidence
to create a roadmap for optimal student
learning.
Finding “Just the Right Gap”
Formative assessment is the means to identify the “gap”
between a learner’s current status and the desired goal.
Different students will have different “gaps.”
Sadler, 1989
Matching Action to the “GAP”
•  The zone of proximal development
•  Scaffolding instruction
Matching Action to the “GAP”
DISTAL ZONE
PROXIMAL ZONE CURRENT KNOWLEDGE
A student who will
be challenged to
learn the material
or lacks the prerequisite
knowledge.
A student who is
ready to learn this
or is on grade level.
A student who is ready to
move beyond this or is
above grade level.
Justin
Monica
Marisol
Paul
Robert
Jack
Mary Ann
Jennifer
Jon
Travis
Carol
Michelle
Joseph
Daniel
Melissa
Developing Learning
Progressions
Giving FEEDBACK to Students
•  Clear, descriptive, criterion-based
feedback to students that indicates:
√ where they are in the learning
progression
√ how their response differed from that
reflected in desired learning goal
√ how they can move forward
Rubrics and the Feedback
Process
http://flenj.org/CAPS/?page=147
Sharing Ownership
•  Teachers and students share
understanding and ownership of the
learning goals
•  Students self-assess progress toward
specific goals
•  Teachers give feedback to students;
students give feedback to teachers
•  Students make more knowledgeable
decisions about learning strategies
Good learning tasks are
good formative assessments.
Teaching/Learning Process
–  On-going, day-to-day classroom assessment
• Informal
–
–
–
–
–
–
Class discussions
Teacher – student dialogues
Observations
Student groups
Bell-work and/or exit strategies
Self- and peer-assessments
• Formal
–  Quizzes and/or tests – graded or non-graded
–  Writing assignments w/descriptive feedback
–  Presentations, speeches, etc.
Pre-Assessment
Surfacing Learners’ Prior Knowledge
Concept Maps
Drawing related to topic or content
Guess Box
Surveys/Questionnaires/Inventories
Interest survey
KWL charts and other graphic organizers
Open-ended Questioning
Prediction
Student interviews
Teacher observation/checklists
Writing prompts/samples or any Prewriting activity
Mind Mapping
Pre-Assessment: Mind Mapping
Formative Assessment
Interpretive Mode
Comprehension of words, concepts, ideas,
meaning of written and oral texts that are
culturally authentic and produced for native
speakers
••
Text, poem, film, work of art, song, poem,
advertisement, music video, book
••
Translation is not an Interpretive mode task.
Sample Formative Tasks in the
Interpretive Mode
• Fill in graphs, charts, forms, graphic organizers
• Follow a route on a map from oral/written
directions
•  Check-off items in a list
•  Draw what is described
•  Put events from a story in logical order
•  Listen for the gist—identify main idea
•  Create questions from info in the piece
• Compose a title or headline for a reading or
listening selection
Sample Formative Tasks in the
Interpretive Mode
-“Traffic Light” Cards – Red,
Yellow, Green
–  White boards
–  Stand up if…
–  Finger Signaling
–  Ripped Vocabulary
Ripped Vocabulary
Sample Formative Tasks in the
Interpretive Mode
•  After searching online about events in Munich,
create a two-day itinerary for you and your
family.
•  Create a web or a cinquain poem that captures
what we’ve learned today about…
•  Draw a symbol that best portrays this story’s
character as you now understand him (her),
and write a brief explanation as to why you
chose that symbol.
•  ?
Sample Formative Tasks
•  Exclusion Brainstorming
Ras-le-bol des mots qui blessent !
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Appartenir à un groupe
L’individualisme
préjugé
Grosse tête
L’injustice
Protester
Le bouc émissaire
insulter
une enquête
l’affaire du foulard
des moqueries
l’ambiance positive
le silence
la solidité
le look
être nul
le jugement
l’apparence
les ados
la bonheur
blesser
Directions: Cross out the words you don’t think will be found in this
selection and circle the words you think you will find.
Sample Formative Tasks
•  Exclusion Brainstorming
The student identifies the word/concept that does not
belong with the others, then orally or in writing
explains his reasoning:
•  My Carbon Footprint – pollution, land usage,
overpopulation, geography
•  Living a Healthy Life – food pyramid, texting, leisure
activities, allergies
•  Getting Ready for School – doing homework, playing a
video game, packing a school bag, taking a shower,
•  ?
Interpersonal Mode
Spontaneous exchanges that involve negotiation of
meaning between people.
They are unrehearsed, non scripted.
Come with information the other learner does not have,
creating an info gap to provide and obtain information
Memorized, scripted dialogue readings, or skits are not
Interpersonal Mode tasks.
••
Interpersonal Mode
• Info Gap
• Socratic Circle
• Pick roles from a story and have a conversation
between the two characters
• Blog with teens in the target culture
• Share information on a Facebook page
• Make a purchase
• Order in a restaurant
• Obtain directions
• Converse Face to face or by telephone
• Debate issues
• Make plans
Sample Interpersonal Tasks
Sample Interpersonal Tasks
Ask your partner
questions to find 5
differences between
your pictures.
Remember that you
cannot look at each
other’s pictures.
Presentational Mode
Learners solve problems, create a new
product, use the content for a real world
purpose other than display for the teacher or
classroom.
Learners have time to rehearse, revise,
rewrite, consult sources, or otherwise prepare
ahead of time.
Presentational Mode
• Demonstrate how to prepare a recipe
• Create a guide or school/town for an exchange student
• Write a letter of introduction to a school in the target
country
• Develop a web page (mock facebook or my space page)
• Design an advertisement or classified ad
• Write a new beginning or ending of story, song
• Solve a problem
• Take part in a TV or radio spot
• Design a survey and present findings
• Create a Public Service Announcement
• Write Poem, Song, Rap
• Design a Storyboard
Presentational Mode
You are a travel agent with clients who have different
interests and need. Create an itinerary suited for each
group, keeping in mind the possible interests and needs of
the client.
1. A family of 5 with young
children.
2. A businessperson who is a
history buff.
3. Three college students with a
limited budget.
4. Grandparents who love small
towns, local crafts, and music.
••••
Sample Presentational Task
•  3-2-1
-Identify 3 characteristics of Formative
Assessment that differs from Summative.
-List 2 important ideas about Formative
Assessment that you will share with colleagues
-Provide one good reason why teachers should
alter their classroom practice to include
formative tasks.
Checking for Understanding
Definition (in own words)
The ideas, beliefs, and ways of
doing things that a group of
people who live in an area share.
Characteristics
* Shared ideas
* Shared beliefs
* Shared practices
(CULTURE)
Examples (from own life)
* What my friends and I wear
* Music we listen to
Non-Examples
* Color of my hair
* Color of my eyes
* Nature
* Weather ..........................
Checking for Understanding
More effort has to be spent in framing
questions that are worth asking: that is,
questions that explore issues that are
critical to the development of student
understanding.
(Black et al., 2003)
s
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Bl
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Taxon
Questions (Tuffin, 2003)
Original
Reframed
Strategy
Which words are used
to describe the main
character in the story?
Why is the word
“ambitious” used to
describe the main
character?
Providing the vocabulary,
asking why it is
appropriate or how it was
arrived at.
Why do you think
there are so many
people interested in
reducing pollution in
large cities?
What argument would
car drivers in Los
Angeles have against
the wishes of the antipollution campaign
who are trying to
reduce the number of
cars in the city?
Asking a question to be
answered from an
opposing standpoint.
Closure
EXIT PASS: Please fill out COMPLETELY and THOUGHTFULLY and turn in before
you can leave.
What are four things that really squared in your head today?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Name one question that you have going around in your head
from what you learned today.
Q:
What are three things you want to remember from the
lesson/presentation today?
1.
2.
3.
Priscilla Russel
Supervisor of World Languages, ESL, and Bilingual
Education
Princeton Regional School District
Priscilla_russel@monet.prs.k12.nj.us
Rosanne Zeppieri
Supervisor of World Languages K-8
West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District
Rosanne.zeppieri@ww-p.org