Common Formative Assessments in the Middle School Setting
Scott Reamer
Concordia University Portland
An Action Research Report Presented to
The Graduate Program in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Masters in Education/Continuing Teaching License
Concordia University Portland
2009
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Abstract
The action research will be based on the question, “What is common formative
assessment? Is it being practiced in the middle school classroom, and how could it be
incorporated in the middle school setting?” The methods used to answer the question
will be comprised of three units. The first unit will be made up of a teacher’s
questionnaire, the second unit will focus on teacher observations, and the third will
conclude with teacher interviews. The research provides the definition of common
formative assessments. It shows that teachers at the middle school are practicing those
assessments in their classrooms and that the use of common formative assessments is
increasing. The research also shows a list of common formative assessments used in the
incorporation of those strategies.
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Table of Contents
Abstract ………………………….……………………………………………………… 2
Table of Contents ………………….……………………………………………………. 3
Chapter 1 - The Introduction ………….………………………………………………... 4
Chapter 2 - The Problem or Issue …..…………………………………………………... 8
Literature Review …………………………..……………………………………10
Chapter 3 - Goals of the Action Research Project ……….……………………………. 20
Chapter 4 - Action Plan …………….………………………………………………….. 22
Possible Solutions…….……….……………………………………………….. 25
Chapter 5 - Results and Next Steps …………….……………………………………… 28
Unit One Results: Staff Surveys ………………………………………………. 28
Unit Two Results: Observations ………………………………………………..33
Unit Three Results: Teacher Interviews………………………………………...42
Summary of All Three Units ………….…………………………………………………50
Conclusion .………………...……………………...…………………………………….53
Suggestions for Further Study…………………………………………………………...53
REFERENCES ………………………………………………………………………….54
Appendix A, B, and C…………………………………………………………..……55-57
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Action Research Proposal
Chapter One – The Introduction
The district and school are facing several challenging issues. As one drives
toward the researcher’s school district, one cannot seem to shake the feeling that one has
entered an area in need of any kind of help. If one can overlook the number of strip clubs
and drive-through liquor stores, one’s eye tends to focus on the numerous gang tags and
run down apartment complexes. One can imagine the number of children in the
neighborhood, and one’s heart soon gives in to the struggles that many of the student’s
face. Most of the children deal with serious issues in their lives outside of school and
search for a peaceful place to feel like they’re part of something whole and good. Many
an employee of the district has commented on the fact that they are amused with the new
and complex type of business found in the district. In the school, itself one can find, in
the eighth grade alone, at least three students who openly say they plan to work in a stripclub at some point in the future. In relation to that, the school district has slowly become
trapped in the middle of the growing low poverty and high multi-person housing area.
The history of the school district is rather interesting and plays a part in the
culture of the community. The district used to be part of a larger district, spread out over
a wide area. The old district had a wide variety of families and income levels. Then,
recently, for reasons not fully understood, the community and the school board elected to
split into a smaller district with more control over its operations. Apparently, the
community felt they needed to break off from the larger school district and was able to
provide more funds to this smaller district than it could have before. The new smaller
district had a successful history of approving and passing school improvement plans that
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could not have been accomplished before. The new district had higher community
involvement and more funds to implement community-developed plans.
Over the course of four years, the number of individuals moving into housing
units increased from 3538 to 18,006. The total population of this community has
increased by 28% in the last decade. As the population becomes more and more dense,
the number of larger multi-family housing units has increased. The community itself is
an older community with the majority of the housing built in the early 1900’s. New
construction is in the form of apartment buildings or condominiums. Homes are not
being built into the surrounding neighborhoods. The type of housing also plays a role in
the school’s culture. There have been a number of drug busts and shootings in complexes
close to the school. At least once a year, the district “locks down” to protect the students
inside.
The average local per household income in 2006 was estimated at $38,320, which
was slightly lower than the state average. Also, the percentage of families below poverty
level was reaching 20%, which is twice the state average. The district’s percentage of
students on the free and reduced lunch program is at 50%. The school district community
is becoming very diverse. The educational level of the community also plays a role in the
implementation of change in the school. The percentage of individuals with a high
school diploma is 86%. Also, the percentage of the school district’s community that
speak another language is 18%. The percentage of ethnic groups that make up the
district is as follows: 85% white (including a large percentage of many other “white”
ethnic groups – mainly German), 13% Hispanic, 3% Asian, and 2.5% black. The
researcher is one of two minority teachers on staff at the research school.
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Another large issue facing the researcher’s school district is the influence of the
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) regulations on the culture of the school. The overall
school culture has changed from personal grading philosophies to the pressures of having
students score well on the state tests. The local news media has classified the school
district as failing, and the majority of teachers feel that needs to change. The largest
change happing in the researcher’s school is the focus on Professional Learning
Communities. The school is currently implementing steps or phases to align the school’s
culture with those schools that have proven to succeed, based on standards-based test
scores.
The school has a total population of approximately 1100 students and is
comprised of only 7th and 8th grade. The school is divided into interdisciplinary teams of
five core teachers, one learning specialist, and between one to three instructional
assistants. The school is on a nine-period block schedule, with two and one-half block
classes per day, an advisor class, an elective class, and PE/Health. The school itself is a
mix of student ability level. There are approximately 25-30 special education students on
each team of 160 students. There are also approximately 12 talented and gifted students
on every team of 160 students. If they are classified as ESL, students travel out of the
teams to receive assistance in language development. Six of the eight teams in the school
are considered special education teams and work with all of the special education
students and a few ESL students. Two of the teams in the school are comprised of the
majority of ESL students and very few special education students.
The researcher is currently a teacher at the middle school found in this district.
The researcher is a science teacher and has been teaching at the school for almost 10
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years. The teachers in the science department are relatively young, with the average age
around 30 years old. The researcher is also the current chair of the department and the
interdisciplinary team leader.
The research question to be investigated at the research school is “What is
common formative assessment? Is it being practiced in the middle school classroom, and
how could it be incorporated in the middle school setting?” In order to research that
question the author plans to develop a questionnaire asking how many of the staff
currently feels comfortable with the assessment process and how often they use formative
student-led assessments in the classroom. Then, there would be a time during the
aligning of curriculum where teachers would develop common formative and summative
assessments. The researcher would observe teachers to note whether or not formative
assessments are given during the classroom time and also to list types of formative
assessments offered. Then, the researcher would interview teachers to see if they are
implementing formative assessments and how they are doing that.
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Action Research Proposal
Chapter Two - The Problem or Issue
The question to be researched is: “What is common formative assessment? Is it
being practiced in the middle school classroom, and how could it be incorporated in the
middle school setting?”
The middle school felt the need to research strategies for improving school culture
and practice. As part of that strategy, the researcher attended the Professional Learning
Conference in Los Angeles with other department chairs and was asked to attend the Rick
Stiggin’s assessment workshop in Portland. In addition, the research site has initiated a
plan to become a school that prides itself on the Professional Learning Community
Model (Dufour, 2006). The Professional Learning Community Model is a program
developed to structure all school related programs around the interaction of department
teaching teams. All content departments are asked to develop SMART goals (specific,
measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and time-bound), align curriculum, analyze
current teaching practices, and develop common formative and summative assessments.
The middle school is in the beginning phase of this model. Each department has used its
entire staff meeting time to develop a SMART goal that will guide students to high
achievement on the state tests. The departments are currently using their time to develop
key standards that all students must know before leaving the middle school. These
standards will be aligned by grade level and be taught parallel to one another in order to
determine teacher’s instructional strengths and weaknesses. Eventually all departments
will work on the development of common formative assessments that will lead to data on
the performance of all students at the middle school. The assessment model developed
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by Rick Stiggins is used in the Professional Learning Community Model (2006). At this
point in time, the middle school is focused on development of SMART goals, and
aligning curriculum. The development of current assessment strategies has not been
completed and will not be a focus for the current year. Year two will add the
development of the assessment piece into the learning communities. The researcher will
align his project to follow the current projected application of common assessment
practices.
The specific study will take place within the middle school. The study will focus
on all teachers in the middle school. There are approximately 60 full-time certified
teachers on staff. With the integration of the Professional Learning Communities, the
researcher will focus on the current assessment practices of the teachers. With the
implementation of a learning team, teachers will be asked to share how and why they use
specific assessments in their classroom. As teachers will be expected to integrate
common formative assessments in the classroom it would be helpful to know the general
definition of a formative assessment. Along with the definition, teachers would benefit
from having a list of different formative assessments and how to implement them into the
classrooms. In addition it will be informative to know what “student led” assessment
techniques, as well as what they look like, are being practiced in the classroom? In
summary, the focus will be on formative assessments, how they are practiced, and
strategies used to incorporate them into the classroom.
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Literature Review
The question is: What is common formative assessment? How is it being
practiced in the middle school classroom, and how could it be incorporated in the middle
school setting? When researching this multidimensional question, one striking fact
became apparent. The exact definition of a common formative assessment varies with
each new author and new article. Many researchers have placed their own marks on the
definition, but all agree, as do the texts, that there needs to be a greater agreement on the
definition of formative assessment and greater coverage of formative assessments
(Wininger, 2005).
The research makes it clear that in the growing age of the summative assessment
and the emphasis on no-nonsense, right-answer, norm-referenced state tests, that there
needs to be some debate on the purpose of testing in our schools (Farr, 1991). Another
common agreement is that the lack of courses focusing on formative assessments leaves
school districts lacking when it pertains to effective administration with knowledge of
how to implement formative assessments. According to Stiggins, in an article written in
1998, only three of 50 states required principals to be competent in assessment. On the
National level, politicians routinely ask, “How can we use assessment as the basis for
doling out rewards and punishments to increase teacher and student effort?” (Stiggins,
2002, p. 760). It is unclear in the researcher’s school what types of assessments are given
in the classrooms.
The drive in the researcher’s district is to provide a Professional Learning
Community and focus greater emphasis and time on the development of common
formative assessments for each and every department. With that in mind, there needs to
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be a clear consensus on what a common formative assessment is because it remains
unclear about how much the students really are learning and uncertain about how
effective teachers really are (Stiggins, 1998). On June of this year, 2006, Olson stated,
“States are proposing a new initiative which intends to shift attention to assessment”
(p.12) and The Council of Chief State School Officers will form a state collaborative on
formative assessment. Their first stated goal is to define formative assessment. This
literature review will focus on the current definitions of common formative assessments
and try to summarize and narrow the current definition. The researcher will then focus
on current types of formative assessments used in the classroom and how teachers
currently incorporate student involvement. Finally, the researcher will provide a list of
strategies schools could use to increase the emphasis from traditional assessment methods
to formative assessments and provide examples of how other schools have implemented
those strategies into their own system.
As far back as 1993, the emergence of formative assessment was noted as a new
assessment paradigm (Wininger, 2005). For the last 10-15 years, educators have been
learning that formative assessment enables the students some sort of useful feedback in
place of summative assessments. Summative assessments, as defined by Wininger, are,
“the type of evaluation used at the end of the term, course, or program for the purpose of
grading, certification, evaluation of progress, or research effectiveness of a curriculum,
course of study or educational plan” (p.19). Stiggins and Chappius, in an article written
in 2005, define summative assessments as, “tests administered after learning is supposed
to have occurred to whether it did” (p.16). In both definitions of summative assessment,
there is no mention of whether or not it helped the students learning process. Summative
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assessments are more formal and involve a right or wrong response and a scale that
places students in some sort of rank order. Summative assessments show students
inadequacies and, to some extent, have been found to influence their self-esteem and
overall motivation.
Formative assessments, as defined by Wininger, are, “the use of systematic
evaluation in the process of curriculum construction, teaching, and learning for the
purpose of improving any of these three processes” (p.19). Stiggins and Chappius refer
to formative assessment as, “conducted during learning – those that inform teachers’
instructional decisions along the way to student success” (Stiggins & Chappius, 2005).
Formative assessments have also been defined in a number of other ways. Popham wrote
in 2006, that formative assessments were frequent, continual use of both formal and
informal assessments. Farr broke down the definition of formative assessment into a
number of steps (Farr, 1996).
•
a means to help teachers plan instruction
•
based on trust in teachers judgment
•
will guide students to identify their own strengths
•
support students, not judge
•
emphasize what students will do, not know
Formative assessments involve motivating student learning and require more feedback
provided to the students. Formative assessments assess the strength of each individual
student and compare their overall learning to an ideal goal, rather than to each other.
Formal assessments should be reflective, constructive, and self-regulated (Davies, 1999).
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Another issue that stems from the questions above is the ability to comprehend
what types of formative assessments are already being given in the classroom. A large
number of teachers already focus their time on formative assessments, but do not
understand it. There is a huge difference between using formative assessments to
motivate a student to learn and using formative assessments to solely focus efforts on
modifying instruction. Can educators see the line between an assessment used for
information versus an assessment used to foster student learning? In a paper entitled,
“Classroom assessment: pervasive, pivotal, and primary,” Brookhart suggests a number
of ways to focus on student learning (1997). Assessment should be both formal and
informal. It should involve observing student behavior, academic work, and student
interaction. Teachers should look at work habits, evidence of conceptions and
misconceptions. Work should be based on performance assessments and verbal
communication. Hollingsworth, in 1992, stated that teachers need to, “have contact with
students, encourage active learning, and provide prompt feedback” (p.385). Teachers
should spell out the goal of the class and help students understand the ability levels they
should be ready to demonstrate prior to and as a result of the course experience. Also,
teachers should explain what the evaluation procedures are, with frequent interviews or
consultations. Most researchers focusing on assessment agree that teachers need to know
how to assess for learning. Rick Stiggins outlines some assessments for learning
(Stiggins, 2002):
•
understand and articulate in advance achievement targets
•
from the beginning, inform students about learning goals
•
become assessment literate through exercise
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 14
•
use assessment to build confidence
•
translate assessment results into frequent and descriptive feedback
•
adjust instruction based on assessment results
•
engage students in regular self assessment
•
involve students in communicating with their teacher, their achievement status
and improvement.
In order for formative assessment to work, teachers need to take part in a cyclical
process that includes assessment, diagnosis, feedback, goal setting, and instruction that
involves students every step of the way (Stiggins & Chappuis, 2005). Some examples of
formative assessments include: portfolios, teacher-student conferences, think-alongs,
work-samples, student self assessments, performance assessments, cooperative learning
groups, peer teaching, exit cards, journals, exhibitions, demonstrations of understanding,
simulations, and observations (Farr, 1991; Davies, 1999).
The next phase of the research will be to understand the amount of student
involvement in the classroom, pertaining to assessment. Are students being incorporated
in the assessment process? There are a number of questions that need to be asked
throughout the day to establish the correct atmosphere. McTighe, in an article written
this year, asked the following questions:
•
What knowledge and skills are assessed?
•
What kinds of thinking are required?
•
Are these the results I expected?
•
In what areas did the student perform the best?
•
What weaknesses are evident?
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 15
•
What misconceptions are revealed?
•
Are there any surprises?
•
Is there evidence of improvement or decline?
•
What patterns are evident?
•
What questions does this work raise?
•
Is the work consistent?
•
What teacher actions are needed to improve learning and performance?
Are teachers continually asking these types of questions throughout the day? That would
depend on if the focus were formative or summative assessment.
For the majority of teachers, high stakes standardized tests are believed to be good
for the students because they motivate them to learn (Stiggins, 2004). Teachers are
entangled in a system where the highest priority of a school is to perform well on the
state tests. Limited focus is placed on whether or not students are learning the strategies
they will most need. The idea that instructional decisions of the adults lead to learning
and school success is flawed (Stiggins). Students need to believe that they can learn, and
need to be part of the decision-making. Also, the trend that the greatest learning comes
from the preparation of high stakes tests offered once or twice a year is limited.
Teachers’ day-to-day instruction leads to the greatest learning (Stiggins). If the system
continues to head in the present direction, school systems will continue to deprive
students of the opportunity to reach their target goals. Students will continue to wonder
what will be on the next exam, what grade they will receive at the end of class, worry
about state assessments, and eventually forced to cheat in order to receive high scores
(Stiggins, 1999). “Formative assessment must act as a thermostat, not thermometer, and
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 16
student feedback must provide corrective procedures” (Wininger, 2005 p.19). Teachers
will need to allow students to know the goal, must compare actual performance to an
ideal performance, and must help find ways to close that gap between the two.
Assessment needs to serve the students, not the teachers. In the past, the educational
system has used assessment as a type of behavior management and used it to either
reward or punish the students as the sole way to motivate.
Chung stated in an article written in 2004, that there are three main phases to
incorporate student involvement. The instructor must gain insight into the students’
learning experiences and perceptions of learning, must redesign the learning subject, and
must implement and evaluate the new subject. Students noted in the research that, “they
were better organized, had a more reasonable workload, and used a more appropriate
assessment method to promote learning” (p. 160). In this study, students had better
learning outcomes, were motivated to learn, and received better interaction and more
feedback from the teachers. In another study by Olina in 2004, students exposed to some
sort of self-evaluation had a more positive attitude toward the content. Teachers need to
help students succeed and grow confident about their learning, not show how they
compare to other students around them.
The research has shown that educators must learn the relationship between
motivation and student learning. Educators can use assessments to guide and modify
instruction. The literature search has shown that educators need to publicize clear
standards that all students will understand (McTighe, 1996). Educators need to provide
models of excellence as a comparison, teach strategies explicitly, use ongoing
assessments for feedback and adjustment, and document and celebrate growth. The last
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variable in the literature search is the incorporation of formative assessment strategies
into the school system. Stiggins and Chappuis, in 2005, outlined three steps to increase
formative assessment in the classroom. Educators need more frequent testing, effective
data management, and assessment for learning. Educators need to set students up for
high-stakes success by helping them believe in themselves as learners. In an article
written by Guest (2005), there needs to be, “a shift to more student-centered approach to
teaching and learning that gives students greater choice over their learning environment”
(p. 287). Staff needs to learn to plan their assessments backwards, beginning with what
they want to accomplish in terms of learning and learners (Guskey, 2003). Educators
have held onto those strategies that have been around and are deep in tradition and are
apprehensive about new and unfamiliar assessment practices. Students should work
jointly with teachers, and assessment should be a part of instruction. Also, schools need
to collectively plan to implement common formative assessments in order for it to
succeed. All teachers and educators must work together to develop common formative
assessments. Bellanca, in an article written in 1998, stated, “Even the teacher most
excited about the possibilities of a newly acquired program needs the right school
environment to sustain it” (p. 658).
Schools need to initiate the right steps to make formative assessments successful
in the system. Pedigo states, in 2002, that there needs to be a number of preliminary
steps for a school to become successful. There needs to be
•
a monthly school-based decision-making council,
•
a biweekly classified staff meeting,
•
teacher teams with common concepts,
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 18
•
team leaders,
•
long term planning,
•
content leaders,
•
support from community groups,
•
parent involvement, and
•
student participation (p. 26)
All of these steps are found in the researcher’s school. Now would be the time to outline
the details for the incorporation of the strategies into the classroom. The Dufours have
outlined those detailed steps in an article titled, “Promises kept” (2006). They have
outlined eight steps in the process:
•
Identify common school wide standards and practices that promote both high
achievement and equity.
•
Set high expectations for student achievement and conduct.
•
Collaborate with one another on a regular basis.
•
Develop and administer quarterly common assessments in each content area
of every grade level.
•
Align assessments with state and national tests.
•
Use the results of assessments to make informal decisions about curriculum
and pedagogy.
•
Create an early intervention system to ensure any student experiencing
difficulty receives additional time and support for learning.
•
Assess teachers’ individual and collective success as educators as the basis of
student success.
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The researcher will determine at what level the school is at in terms of teaching
and learning practices in the classroom.
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Action Research Proposal
Chapter Three - Goals of the Action Research Project
Research on current assessment strategies suggests that teachers may not be
incorporating formative assessments in the classroom, and students are not benefiting
from being a part of the assessment production. Also, current trends suggest that many
schools are incorporating the use of Professional Learning Communities, and the use of
common formative assessments aids in the ongoing development of these learning
communities. The goal of this action research project is to investigate formative
assessment practices in the research middle school site.
The researcher will meet with the school’s administration to receive permission to
conduct this action research project. The researcher will also be working with two
teachers who have volunteered their cooperation on an assessment team in the
development of assessment strategies for the middle school. Once permission has been
given, the researcher will meet with the assessment team to develop a set of staff
development presentations, detailing the use of common formative assessments in the
classroom. There will also be a proportion of the staff development covering the new
research on assessment for learning (Stiggins, 2006), in which all staff will be informed
of how the school plans on developing some new assessment models.
Over the course of the study, several data collection techniques will be used. One
technique will involve the development of a sequence of surveys given in the staff
meeting. Each survey will focus on the proportion of common formative assessments
given in each teacher’s classroom, and will end with data showing progress toward the
incorporation of common formative assessments in the classroom. The researcher will
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 21
also plan on several observations, in which the researcher will observe the time allotted
for assessment practices in the classroom. After each lesson, the researcher will tally up
the data on the amount of time spent on assessment and the types of assessment strategies
utilized. These observations will help the researcher develop an average amount of time
teachers are spending on assessment in their classrooms. The researcher will also
develop a list of common formative assessments used in all the classrooms.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 22
Action Research Project
Chapter Four - Action Plan
The literature review led the researcher to one glaring and monumental
conclusion. Students’ decisions about their academic success are formulated in the basis
of classroom assessment evidence. Teachers need to utilize common formative
assessments to increase the students’ perceptions of their skills. The use of studentinvolved classroom assessments should turn the students thinking in a more positive
direction. The evidence shows that achievement gaps decrease, and almost disappear, if
common formative assessments for learning are used in the classroom.
The goal of this action research is to define what common formative assessments
are and see if teachers have developed those assessments for use in the classroom.
Possible Solutions
Richard and Rebecca Defour, Damen Lopez, and Anthony Mohammed wrote one
of the most relevant articles found on formative assessments in 2006 entitled, “Promises
Kept.” These researchers outlined how to create a school that will focus on student
achievement and success. In their article, these researchers suggested multiple steps on
how to develop a school that will show positive culture and overall achievement on
student’s scores. The researcher’s school, for instance, has started to align itself with
those strategies that will lead to a professional learning community focused on student
success. The article states that schools need to follow the same initial steps. The first is
to create a school that is committed to a collaborative effort. This was the focus of the
researcher’s school in 2005. The second step is to create a collective commitment to the
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 23
success of each student. The third is to close the achievement gap using a collective
commitment to high levels of learning for all. The researcher’s school is in the process of
identifying common school-wide standards and practices that promote high achievement
for all. The school has increased the amount of time collaborating with department
teams, and is in the process of developing common assessments in each content area of
every grade level.
The article then continues with a fourth step, which includes finding a common
ground. As a school, educators need to
•
use data to build shared knowledge,
•
create a guaranteed and viable curriculum for all students,
•
monitor progress on a timely basis,
•
provide additional time and support for students who are struggling,
•
create collaborative teams that work together to achieve common goals
focused on student learning, and
•
use evidence of student achievement to guide professional practice.
The researcher’s school has not attempted to address the last issue and has not developed
a plan as to how they will use student achievement to guide professional practice. The
article outlines some possible strategies. First, teachers should use common assessments
to identify strengths and weaknesses in both their students’ learning and in their teaching.
Second, administrators need to allow extra time for teachers to collaborate and dialogue
with each other about what was learned or not learned. In the opinion of the author, the
article focused too much effort in “selling” the idea of the importance of assessment and
not enough information was relayed to how, in detail, the switch would take place. The
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 24
research school site has a structured time frame for department meetings and increasing
the amount of time spent for department meetings might or might not help teachers learn
how to use formative assessments correctly.
Another possible solution for addressing the issue of formative assessments in the
classroom, or lack thereof, could be refocused on a larger scale. An article written by
Rick Stiggins in 2002 suggested an action plan that would help increase the amount of
common formative assessments for learning in the classroom. In this article, Stiggins
suggests that every dollar invested in assessments in general be matched with another
dollar for the development of assessments for learning. He suggests a comprehensive,
long-term professional development program be launched at the national, state, and local
levels to foster literacy in classroom assessments for teachers, allocating sufficient
resources to provide them with the opportunity to learn and grow professionally. He
suggests the same program for state, district, and building administrators be developed,
teaching them how to provide leadership in this area of professional practice. The article
states that the teacher and administrator licensing standards be changed in every state and
in all national certification contexts to reflect an expectation of competence in assessment
both of and for learning. Last but not least, all teacher and administrator preparation
programs be required to ensure that graduates are assessment literate, in terms of both
promoting and of documenting student learning.
This broad view of how to incorporate formative assessment practices in the
classroom is unreachable for the researcher on many levels. Funding issues for
assessment development and preparation are not within means of control. The
requirements for each state are varying and can be different based on where the
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 25
researchers’ school administrator received his/her administrative license. There needs to
be a more reachable solution to the incorporation of formative assessments in the
classroom. The researcher will base his solution on a school-wide strategy and leave the
politics up to the politicians and school boards.
Action Plan
The researcher will begin by meeting with the middle school principal to receive
permission to conduct this action research project. After receiving permission, the
researcher will meet with the middle school’s assessment team to seek collaboration and
help in analyzing and observing students and their attitudes towards formative
assessments. Permission and collaboration will both be sought in early January of 2008,
following Christmas vacation.
During the rest of January, and continuing through the beginning of June, 2008,
the data will be collected using the formative assessment strategies formulated to focus
on informing instruction. The lessons observed will focus on the researcher’s strategies
to help inform instruction. Students will follow a set procedure utilizing formative
assessments to motivate the students and provide effective feedback for the teacher.
After which, the researcher will utilize the feedback to help inform the instruction that
follows. All classes will follow the same procedure. The researcher will use the
feedback to either continue on with the lesson of the day, or re-teach the content in a new
and different way. Those students who have mastered the content will be directed to
work on enrichment activities provided by the instructor.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 26
Observations of the teachers will be made in an attempt to understand if the
assessments that lead to informed instruction will help students better understand the
material. Observations of the formative assessments, at the beginning of the class, will
help determine if students understand the concepts provided in the previous lecture. The
researcher will make reflective notes on how the formative assessment worked and
overall perceptions of students understanding.
Also, in January, the researcher will ask the teachers to complete a survey about
formative assessments and how they have been utilized to help re-teach content in the
classroom. This survey should reflect whether or not teachers feel that the formative
assessments are used to help them understand what is being taught. The surveys will be
used to help the researcher recognize the effectiveness of using formative assessments to
inform the instruction.
After the survey has been given, the researcher will observe teachers in their
classrooms in an attempt to obtain data on the types of common formative assessments
given, the amount of time spent on formative assessments, and how the teachers have
incorporated them into their classrooms.
After the observations have been given, the researcher will interview individual
teachers, to gain first-hand understanding of their attitudes towards formative
assessments as a tool for informing instruction. The researcher will look for specific
instances when teachers did or did not feel that the formative assessment did not inform
instruction.
At the end of the project in June of 2008, all data will be categorized and analyzed
to seek patterns about the effect of using formative assessments to inform instruction.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 27
The researcher will attempt to find out if formative assessments, and the ability to use
formative assessments for informing instruction, provide a more effective form of
instruction.
The goal of this action research is to discover if and how formative assessment is
being implemented in the research middle school. The researcher also intends to find
tools that teachers can use to increase the amount of common formative assessments used
in the classroom as well as strategies that schools can use to incorporate them. The
review of the literature presented varying definitions of common formative assessment
and gave insight on how to switch from summative assessment to formative assessments
in the classroom. In this chapter, the researcher will explore specific strategies for
incorporating common formative assessments in the classroom, and outline a plan for
meeting the goal of this project.
An extensive search through the literature suggests that one current trend in
education is developing Professional Learning Communities and that educators will
switch to using more formative assessments in the classroom. In this specific action
research, the researcher wants to find out if the switch to common formative assessments
will include a switch to formative assessments “for” learning, as described in previous
chapters.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 28
Action Research Project
Chapter Five – Results and Next Steps
The objective of this action research is to determine what common formative
assessments look like, how they are being practiced in the middle school classroom, and
how they are being incorporated in the middle school setting. The research consisted of
three parts:
•
Unit One - Survey
•
Unit Two - Classroom Observations
•
Unit Three – Teacher Interviews
Data was gathered pertaining to the question of how the middle school was
incorporating and practicing formative assessments in the classroom to understand if the
school was actually implementing formative assessments on a regular basis. The tools
teachers used to implement formative assessments were tabulated. The rate of formative
assessments used in the classroom was measured over the last year-and-a-half, and the
overall culture and attitude about formative assessments were addressed in the research.
Unit One Results: Staff Surveys
The researcher developed a staff survey that was given out at October, 2007. The
survey asked five essential questions focused on the incorporation of formative
assessments in the middle school (Appendix A). The questions focused on
•
teacher attitude
•
student engagement
•
class time allocated to formative assessment
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 29
•
student involvement in self-assessment, and
•
whether formative assessment would be fully implemented at the research site.
Question #1 focused on the attitude of the staff about which type of assessment,
formative versus summative, they viewed was more valuable in showing student
learning. Thirty-four of 48 (71%) teacher responses favored formative assessments in
providing greater assistance in understanding student learning. Teachers view formative
assessments as more valuable in determining what the students have learned versus
summative assessments according to this information.
Question #2 focused on the question of whether or not teachers see students
actually involved in assessing their own knowledge on a daily basis. Only 12 of 48
(25%) teacher responses viewed students as actually involved in assessing their own
knowledge on daily assignments. It appears that teachers in this survey view formative
assessments as valuable tools for understanding student knowledge, but do not access
student’s knowledge of formative assessments for their own benefit.
Question #3 focused on the amount of time teachers spent on formative
assessments in the classroom. On average, each teacher spent approximately eight
minutes per 80-minute class period (10%) focusing on formative assessments. Traditional
modes of teaching, including direct instruction, used up most of the remaining class time.
Question #4 focused on what teachers felt was “the most effective way for a
student in their classroom to be involved in his or her own assessment.” This part of the
survey was used to formulate a list of formative assessments used in the classroom that
would allow for students to be a part of their own assessment. The list is as follows:
•
Compare work with examples
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 30
•
Correcting daily work
•
End of class review
•
End of period assessments
•
Go over graded tests
•
Group correction
•
Immediate feedback
•
Knowing how and why work will be scored
•
Mini-assessments
•
Peer evaluation
•
Personal response techniques
•
Pre and post tests
•
Understanding objectives and daily goals
•
Using rubrics
•
Participation
•
Read aloud assessment feedback
•
Review of individual work with group
•
Self assess skills within a larger assignment
•
Self checks
•
Self rating of objectives
•
SIOP
•
Students create the assessments
•
Teacher – student conferences
•
Teaching the “idea” of learning
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 31
•
Ticket out the door
•
Time for “how” and “why” questions
•
Weekly assessments to compare growth
Question #5 focused on the question of when teachers felt that formative
assessments would be totally implemented at the middle school. Teachers at the middle
school felt that formative assessments would fully be implemented within 3.2 years.
Summary: Teacher Survey
This unit of the action research was completed within the first month of a
yearlong research project. The staff of this school was already learning how to become
Professional Learning Communities as part of their professional development. The
current research states that the PLCs will need approximately five years to be fully
implemented (Dufour, 2006). The addition of a fully implemented formative assessment
plan should correlate to the implementation of the PLCs. The data shown in the graph
below shows the attitude that current school staff have about whether or not formative
assessments are more valuable than summative assessments in student learning. The
graph also shows if teachers feel that formative assessment are offered in a way that
students are assessing their own knowledge on a daily basis. Teachers overwhelmingly
stated that formative assessments were the most important way to understand what
students learned. In the interviews that follow, teachers stated specifically that formative
assessments are an essential part of understanding what the students understand and what
the teachers need to teach. On the other hand, more than a quarter of the teachers do not
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 32
feel that formative assessments are crucial in understand students learning. Maybe, in
time, with the incorporation of the professional learning communities, all teachers will
find formative assessments valuable and needed as a common theme in their classrooms.
Also, the data shows that teachers feel students are not using scores on formative
assessments to help them understand what they individually need to learn. In the
researcher’s opinion, students should focus on how to utilize their formative assessments
to help them understand what skills and concepts they still need to master. In addition,
the data shows that approximately 10% of the class time is dedicated to formative
assessments. Whether or not that percentage should be increased to help in students
learning remains to be seen.
Formative Assessments in the Middle School Classroom
100
100
78
%
66.67
25
33.33
10
0
Formative assess.
Time on formative
more valuable
assess.
Student assess their
# of total formative
own knowledge
assess. (out of 27)
Unit Two Results: Observations
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 33
The observations conducted were based on the actual implementation of
“formative assessments” in the classroom. The observation guidelines (Appendix B)
included
•
effective feedback and communication,
•
signals for showing that students are learning,
•
a checklist of various instructional techniques that informs instruction such as preand post tests,
•
SIOP (for ELL students) and teacher conferences, and
•
any artifacts such as lesson plans or written feedback showing formative
assessment.
The researcher started with a practice observation. This observation was an initial
attempt to understand how to recognize what effective feedback and communication
looked like, what the signals for showing that the students learned looked like, how many
informs-instruction examples were present, and artifacts that showed effective feedback.
The 7th-grade science teacher, “Mrs. Smith,” (all names have been changed to protect the
identity of the research participants), was deemed a leader in formative assessments and
has had numerous trainings involving formative assessments. There were a number of
procedural clues that the class was transitioning into review versus direct instruction.
Mrs. Smith said a number of times, “clap if you can hear me,” in which the students
clapped. She said, “time out,” when she felt the class was becoming too loud, and she
showed the highest scored assignment and compared it to the class data. According to
the instructional strategies checklist, Mrs. Smith demonstrated the following formative
assessments:
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 34
•
SIOP
•
Personal response techniques
•
Go over assessment
•
Review of individual work
•
Self-assessment
•
Group correction
•
Compare and contrast work
•
Participation
•
Immediate feedback
•
Comparison of weekly work to show growth
•
“How” and “Why” questions
This practice lesson was used to give the observer an exemplar of what the “cap” was
on formative assessments in the classroom. Mrs. Smith used the widest variety and
largest number of formative assessments and strategies used of all teachers observed. I
learned how to record the data throughout the lesson, how to look for and indicate what
types of formative assessments were utilized, and I gauged the amount of student
participation and overall classroom behavior.
“Mr. Write” was the first teacher observed. The first lesson observation was 80
minutes in length, and the topic was on writing. In terms of effective feedback and
communication, Mr. Write showed borrowed examples from the students about the
lesson for clarification on how the students were to complete the assignment. He then
used additional posters explaining and showing what the assignment was and what is
should look like when the students were finished. He started a timer and told students to
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 35
work. Mr. Write gave positive feedback by asking a specific student if the assignment
was completed on his own and recognized the student. He also gave examples of an “A”
level paragraph and a “B” level paragraph to show the students what they should turn in.
He also asked students to share their first paragraph.
In terms of signals showing that the students are learning, Mr. Write told his students
that they would be showing their evidence to him. He told students that he was looking
for “3-points of evidence.” These 3-points of evidence were a list of evidences used to
begin the student’s introduction thesis paragraphs. Mr. Write asked numerous short
questions like, “Do you have …”, “Do we have the …”, “Do you understand …” to list a
few. To end the period, he said, “You have the rest of the period today to start your
paragraph.” Throughout the period, Mr. Write asked specific students if they needed
help, and circulated around the room. From the checklist, Mr. Write completed the
following formative assessments:
•
SIOP
•
Understanding of objectives and daily goals
•
Go over assessment
•
Self-assessments
•
Compare and contrast work
•
Peer evaluation
•
Participation
•
Knowing how and why they scored their work
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 36
For this teacher, of the nine artifacts of student work collected, eight of them had written
feedback for the students to review. Here is an example of feedback written, “Not every
sentence needs one. It gets to sounding repetitive. Space them out with other
details/sentences.”
Mr. Write had the highest number of formative assessments compared with the
observed teachers. His class was the most on task and engaged classroom, with little
behavioral issues seen. He is, in this researcher’s opinion, highly integrated with
formative assessments and his classroom “feels” like it is highly functional and on task.
Mr. Write’s class is comparable to Mrs. Smith’s classroom in the number of formative
assessments given and overall classroom engagement.
“Mr. Social” was the second teacher observed. The second lesson observation
was 80 minutes in length and focused on social studies. Mr. Social’s classroom was less
structured and students were talking continuously while he was in front of the class. In
terms of effective feedback and communication, this teacher told the students that they
would have an economics test on Thursday. He made humorous remarks and a few of
the students were engaged. In terms of signals that the students were learning, there were
none. The teacher stated, “Here is what you are doing. Fill out the packet. Get started.”
From the checklist, this teacher completed the following formative assessment:
•
Participation
This teacher is on a team of teachers that all started a class with some sort of points
warning. The students’ grades are dependent on the points given out. None of the three
student work artifacts collected during this observation had written feedback for students
to review.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 37
Mr. Social did not incorporated formative assessments as any part of the lesson on
that day. Unfortunately, in comparison to Mrs. Smith’s and Mr. Write’s classroom, this
observation showed that all areas of classroom practices were missing. There were no
signed of formative assessments, behavior of the students was poor, instruction was not
used, and students did not know what the assignment should look like when finished.
The researcher was forced to wonder what the class would be like if there were some
structure based on the PLC model and formative assessments.
“Mrs. D” was the third teacher observed. The third lesson observation was 80
minutes in length and focused on science. Mrs. D’s classroom was on the same team as
Mr. Social, so the start of the class began with a point warning. In terms of effective
feedback and communication, this teacher referred to a large poster on the board of her
classroom. She used the poster to show what the students were required to complete by
the end of the class. She was effective at using direct instruction and refocused the
students who were not engaged by using their names. In terms of signals for showing that
the students were learning, there were none. From the checklist, this teacher completed
the following formative assessments:
•
SIOP
•
Understanding of objectives and daily goals
•
Participation
One of six student work artifacts collected during this observation contained
written feedback. Two of them had positive stickers saying, “Glowing Work” and
“Brilliant.”
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 38
Mrs. D has a relationship with the students that is based on respect. Students
respond to her positively and look like they want to please her. Both she and Mr. Social
have positive personalities, but lack the number of formative assessments needed to
understand what the students need to focus on. In both lessons the researcher could not
see what the students needed help with. There were no clear indications of student
learning. Overall, Mrs. D’s classroom seemed to be more engaged that Mr. Social’s, but
no were near the level of engagement as Mrs. Smith’s and Mr. Write’s.
“Mr. Tough” was the fourth teacher observed. The fourth lesson observation was
80 minutes in length and focused on math. The students in Mr. Tough’s classroom were
well behaved and seemed to be engaged the entire class. In terms of effective feedback
and communication, students seem to be following a classroom procedure already taught,
because they immediately formed a line to get classroom “clickers,” which were all used
to send electronic responses to questions asked by Mr. Tough to his computer for
analysis. Students participated in a math review assignment that was all based on
formative assessments. When one student was off-task, the teacher immediately
recognized the student and asked, “Do you want to turn around?” in which the student
immediately refocused. Students asked multiple questions about how they interpreted the
answers. Mr. Tough spent time going over each problem before he showed them their
results and the answer. Then he explained how to answer the question like it was a test.
In terms of signals for showing that the students were learning, this lesson used “clickers”
that projected to a large screen to show percentage of correct answers. The program for
the “clickers” also showed graphs of student answers and how well they were answering
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 39
each question. From the checklist, Mr. Tough completed the following formative
assessments:
•
SIOP
•
Understanding of objectives and daily goals
•
Teacher conference
•
Mini in-class assessment
•
Group correction
•
Participation
•
Immediate feedback
•
“How” and “Why” questions
Additional informs-instruction examples include the use of “Interwrite” program for
review game. This class used the entire 80 minutes for formative assessments. There
were no artifacts gathered from this lesson.
Mr. Tough’s classroom used a number of formative assessments to engage
students in the learning of math content for a state test. Mr. Tough’s classroom was
actively engaged and the students asked a greater number of questions about the content
than any other observation. The use of formative assessment through the entire class
allowed the students to ask multiple questions related to the math content covered.
Overall, Mr. Tough’s lesson should be used as the exemplar for the PLC model and
incorporation of formative assessments in the classroom.
“Mr. Nice” was the fifth teacher observed. The fifth lesson observation was 40
minutes in length and focused on social studies. This classroom had a large number of
students that were off-task and disruptive. At one point, a student stood on top of his
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 40
desk while the teacher was collecting papers from the other side of the room. Mr. Nice
used a discipline system where students not quiet were asked to stay after class for one
minute. He stated “___, ___, ___, and ___ will be staying with me after class.” The
communication between teacher and students was not clear. At one point, Mr. Nice gave
out coupons for answering questions correctly. He talked over and with a number of
students during his lecture. In terms of signals showing that students are learning, he
asked students to make a poster with a title and a picture. At the end of class, the
students were to turn in the assignment. From the checklist, Mr. Nice completed the
following formative assessments:
•
SIOP
•
Mini in-class assessment
•
Participation
Additional informs-instruction examples for this teacher included reviewing previous
knowledge. One artifact was gathered from this lesson with no written feedback.
Mr. Nice is a second year teacher and remarked that he is still learning tricks for
classroom management. In the researcher’s opinion, the incorporation of more formative
assessments will help alleviate some of the classrooms issues. Behavior in Mr. Nice’s
classroom made it difficult to engage students and some types of formative assessments
he could have offered would have met with limited success.
“Mrs. Mom” was the sixth teacher observed. The sixth observation was 80
minutes in length and focused on reading. Mrs. Mom is on the same team as Mr. Social
and Mrs. D. This teacher showed a number of effective feedback and communication
signals. Before addressing the students, she raised her hand and showed five fingers.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 41
The students responded by raising their hands and counting back to one. After the class
was silent, Mrs. Mom began the lesson. Before the instruction, the she said, “You have
two minutes to clarify what did or did not work in class yesterday.” Feedback from the
previous class helped inform her of what worked and did not work. When instruction
started, Mrs. Mom rang a bell and stated, “Sustained silent reading,” and rang the bell
once again. All students were engaged. In terms of signals for showing that the students
were learning, she said, “I am glad that you are actively reading.” Students were reading
from their books. Some students were reading to themselves, and some were reading to
each other. From the checklist, this teacher completed the following formative
assessments:
•
Understanding of objectives and daily goals
•
Personal response techniques
•
Teacher conference
•
Peer evaluation
•
Immediate feedback
•
Students create assessments
Additional informs-instruction examples included the teacher asking students what would
work better for them next time. Of the four artifacts gathered from this observation, all
four had written responses, such as “He was wonderful,” “Super,” and “A great
observation.”
Mrs. Mom was on the same team as two observed teachers that struggled with the
students. Mrs. Mom had a number of formative assessments offered and her class was
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 42
completely engaged. Having formative assessments offered in the classroom, in the
researcher’s opinion leads to engagement of the students.
This second research Observations Unit focused on what types of formative
assessments were offered in each classroom. Each teacher used a variety of formative
assessments and the amount and frequency of formative assessments used in each class
was tabulated. In the researcher’s opinion, the staff members with the highest
functioning classrooms had the greatest number of formative assessments offered. As the
graph below demonstrates, Mrs. Smith’s lesson (Pre) had the most formative assessments
offered, with Mr. Write (1), Mr. Tough (4), and Mrs. Mom (6), with more than
observations Mr. Social (2), Mrs. D (3), and Mr. Nice (5).
Unit Three Results: Teacher Interviews
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 43
The third unit focused on teacher interviews (Appendix C). The interviews
followed the same format as the teacher surveys, with one additional question. The
interview questions focused on:
•
the type and value of formative assessment used by teachers,
•
the extent of student self-assessment,
•
time spent on formative assessment during a class period,
•
the extent of student involvement in own assessment,
•
estimate when formative assessment will be implemented at the research site as a
routine part of lesson plans, and
•
increase in use of formative assessment from the previous year.
All interviews were given after the first quarter of the 2008-2009 school year.
The first question asked was, “Do you feel that formative assessments are more valuable
than summative assessments in understanding student learning”? The first teacher
interviewed stated that formative assessments provide greater assistance than summative
assessments. She stated that there is “less pressure,” “there is more time to ask questions
and problem solve,” and “they can tell me what they do not understand.” The next
teacher interviewed stated that she could not tell me which type of assessment provides
greater assistance in understanding student learning. She stated, “They are different –
that’s hard.” The next teacher stated that formative assessments provide more information
if you need to re-teach, and is more helpful prior to the problem, while summative
assessments show if the students “know it.” The fourth teacher interviewed stated that he
feels that formative assessments provide greater assistance in understanding student
learning versus summative assessments. This teacher stated, “Formative assessments
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 44
help students prepare for summative assessments.” This teacher also stated that both
types of assessments give the same information, and that formative assessments review
what the kids know. The fifth teacher interviewed stated that formative assessments
provide “a little more understanding” than summative assessments, and he uses them
more. The last teacher interviewed stated that he felt formative assessments did not
provide greater assistance in understanding student knowledge versus summative
assessments. This teacher felt that formative assessments only addressed isolated skills.
He felt summative assessments addressed multiple skills. This teacher also stated that he
felt using both types of assessments equally would be the best practice.
Overall, five of six teachers stated that formative assessments are more valuable
than summative assessments in understanding student learning. Formative assessments
provide information as students are learning the content and show teachers what areas
need to be covered in each of the content areas that would be passed over if summative
assessments were used alone.
The second question asked was, “Do you feel that students are actually involved
in his or her own knowledge on daily assignments?” The first teacher felt that the
students were involved in their own assessment by answering warm-up questions about
prior knowledge and answering end-of-class questions. She also felt that giving
student’s time to share was a good way to allow students involvement in their own
learning. The second teacher felt that her students were involved in assessing their own
knowledge. Students highlight sentence types, draw pictures and discuss, have check-off
stamps, talk about why they have good sentence fluency, identify comparisons of good
writing, and they have individual show and tell. They complete white-board practice,
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 45
partner writes on the overhead with show and tell, and sentence strips with hands-on
group work. The next teacher was asked if her students are involved in assessing their
own knowledge, and the third teacher said “Yes, but she could use some more work.”
This teacher felt the most effective way for a student in her classroom to be involved in
his or her own assessment was a “ticket out the door.” The fifth teacher, when asked if he
felt the students are actually involved in assessing their own knowledge, responded, “I
hope that they are.” The next teacher allows students in his classroom to correct their
own assignments. The teacher projects the problems in black and the steps to solve the
problem in color. When asked if he felt that students are assessing their own knowledge,
this teacher said, “I ask the students if the content objectives were met,” and he provides
exit slips. The last teacher, when asked if he felt the students were involved in their own
assessment, replied, “Yes, students interact with their own work.”
All teachers, after waiting a few minutes, responded “Yes, students are involved
in assessing their own knowledge” even though the survey given out earlier showed only
25% of teachers felt this was true. The researcher believes that if asked a direct question,
all teachers would locate an acceptable strategy for answering yes to that question. There
is a difference between formative assessments that the teacher uses to change his or her
instruction, and formative assessments that the students are taught to use to understand
their own learning. In most cases, the teachers interviewed stated formative assessments
assuming that the students could use them to understand their own knowledge, but there
was no clear indication that the students were taught the strategies to use the assessments
for their own benefit.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 46
The third question asked was, “Please estimate the time spent on formative
assessments through your class.” In terms of the amount of time spent each lesson on
formative assessments, the first teacher stated “about five minutes for an 80 minute
lesson.” In terms of amount of time spent on formative assessments, the second teacher
stated that her department (of four teachers) each spends approximately 80 minutes every
three classes (240 minutes), or one-third of the time on them. The next teacher estimates
about 20 minutes per week (160 minutes). In terms of amount of type spent on formative
assessments, the fifth teacher spends approximately 20 minutes every other block (which
translates to 20 minutes out of 160 total minutes). In terms of amount of time spent on
formative assessments, the last teacher stated “50-60 %.”
All teachers’ state between 8% and 50% of their time is spent on formative
assessments per week. The amount of time teachers spent of formative assessments
varied greatly based on the teacher asked. Some teachers have a PLC goal to spend at
least one-third of their class time on formative assessments, while other teachers offer
formative assessments as an after thought to their already make up lesson plans. The
researcher feels a discussion of amount of time spent on formative assessments needs to
be included for effective incorporation of formative assessments in the classroom.
The fourth question asked in the interview was, “What do you feel is the single
most effective way to see if a student is learning?” The first teacher felt that the single
most effective way to have students involved in their own assessment is through
identifying errors and highlighting in their own work. The second teacher uses strategies
like “thumbs-up-thumbs-down,” “ticket out of the door,” and checking their own
homework at stations. The third teacher felt the most effective way for students in her
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 47
classroom to assess their own knowledge is through verbal explanations. The most
effective way for students in the next teacher’s classrooms to be involved in their own
assessment is the use of “clickers,” which provide immediate feedback to a projected
screen. Each student has a “clicker” with four choices (1,2,3, and 4) in which they
answer review questions. The answers are immediately fed to the teacher’s software and
projected on a screen that the class reviews. When asked what the most effective way for
a student in his classroom to be involved in their own learning, this fifth teacher stated,
“Provide formative assessments often,” but did not state a specific example. The last
teacher stated the most effective way for a student in his classroom to be involved in his
or her own assessment was through knowing expectations for an A and consistently
trying to meet.
The answer to this interview question proved to be completely random. The
researcher wanted to see if there were any strategies used that were used by more than
one teacher. Each teacher questioned had a different strategy they felt is the most
effective way to see if students are learning. Schools and teachers should share effective
strategies for formative assessments.
The last question asked was, “When do you feel that your department will have
formative assessments fully implemented in your classrooms?’ The first teacher felt that
her department would have formative assessments incorporated as early as two years, “if
we stay consistent.” As a department, this second teacher felt that formative assessments,
as part of a routine lesson plan, have already been implemented. He stated that his
department made an effort to have one of every three classes focused on formative
assessments. The next teacher felt that she had increased the amount of formative
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 48
assessments to about twice as much as last year. Also, from the last year, this teacher felt
that the use of formative assessments switched from 20 minutes every block to 80
minutes every third block class. The third teacher felt that formative assessments would
be incorporated in her lesson planning in less than a year. As compared to last year, this
teacher felt that she incorporates two to three times as many formative assessments this
year. The fourth teacher felt that his department was incorporating formative assessments
as a regular part of lesson planning up until the present year. A new curriculum adoption
has forced all teachers in his department back “a couple years,” and this teacher felt that
it would take at least two years to have formative assessments incorporated into their
department lessons. Compared to last year, this teacher felt that, despite the new
curriculum, he is using formative assessments in his classroom “a little bit more” than
last year. The fifth teacher stated that he felt that his department had already
implemented formative assessments into their lesson planning. He stated they have at
least one formative assessment per unit, but the department “wants to increase the amount
of formative assessments per unit.” When asked to compare the amount of formative
assessments offered this year to last, this teacher responded that he offers at least twice as
many formative assessments this year. When asked when the last teacher interviewed felt
formative assessments would be implemented in his classroom, he stated that they
already were. Compared to last year, this teacher feels that he offers at least twice as
much formative assessments.
This last Unit asked the same questions from the questionnaire to the teachers
themselves in order to compare data from the questionnaires to actual beliefs toward the
incorporation of formative assessments in the classroom. One question was added to
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 49
show that incorporation of formative assessments has increased over the last year. The
chart below shows that, 66% of teachers interviewed felt that formative assessments were
more valuable than summative assessments for understanding student learning, dropping
from 78% in the staff survey. Question #2 was the most informative. 88% of teachers
interviewed felt that students were assessing their own knowledge on a daily basis
compared to only 25% from the staff surveys. Staff members were able to think of
specific strategies when interviewed, but could not or choose not to during the surveys.
Lastly, the staff felt that the time spent on formative assessments was at least twice as
much as the staff felt from the surveys. All teachers interviewed felt with the addition of
PLCs in the school, that the amount of formative assessments offered in the classroom
has increased. All teachers stated that they have increased the amount formative
assessments used and are planning to keep adding to the amount of time dedicated to
formative assessments. The use of formative assessments incorporated in the classrooms
has increased significantly from the start of the research to the present date. All of the
teachers interviewed stated that the use of formative assessments in the classroom will
increase in the next few years, and the incorporation of the formative assessments is an
ongoing process that requires the help of a professional learning community. However,
teachers interviewed also seemed to have a distorted idea of what a formative assessment
was. All assessments offered can be used as formative assessments, if the teachers use
them to aid in the development of their future lesson plans. Teachers interviewed, when
asked to state which formative assessment was the most effective one, randomly named
strategies that they used regularly in their classroom, without taking the time to formulate
which formative assessment was the most effective.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 50
Summary of All Three Units:
This action research focused on answering the question, “What is common
formative assessment? Is it being practiced at the middle school classroom, and how
could it be incorporated in the middle school setting”? All three units were developed to
help answer the question, and each section allowed the researcher data that supported the
research. Before the action research began, the researcher collected articles defining
what common formative assessments are. Common formative assessments include, but
are not limited to, “the use of systematic evaluation in the process of curriculum
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 51
construction, teaching, and learning for the purpose of improving any of these processes”
(Wininger, p. 19). Common formative assessments can also include teacher planning,
teacher judgment, a guide to student strength, support, and emphasis on what students
will do, not know.
The second part of the research question focused on whether or not formative
assessments were being practiced in the middle school setting. The teacher surveys and
interviews above focused on the staff’s perception of whether or not formative
assessments are being practiced in the middle school. Some common patterns emerge
when comparing each unit together. The staff surveys showed that 75% of the staff
thought that formative assessments provide greater assistance in understanding student
learning as compared to 83% of the teacher interviews. Both units showed that teachers
at the middle school valued formative assessments as a way to understand student
learning. The staff survey asked if the teachers felt that students were actually involved
in assessing their own knowledge during their class time. The staff overwhelmingly said,
“No.” Only 25% of the staff felt that students assessed their own knowledge. The
interviews, on the other hand, provided different results. When asked the same question,
100% of the interviewed staff felt as though students were assessing their own
knowledge. When asked the question through a survey, the researcher felt that the
teachers were more honest when answering. Teachers in a one-on-one interview
searched for ways that the students assessed their own knowledge, and then explained
how the students showed that. As for the amount of time in classrooms spent on
formative assessments, teachers responded in the survey at about 10% of the time, where
responses for the interviews averaged about 24% of the time. The increase in amount of
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 52
time spent on formative assessments between the survey and interview could have been
due to the length of time between both. The middle school staff has been working in
professional learning communities and is consistently asked to work on and provide
greater numbers of formative assessments through their department teams. Also, the
teachers interviewed seemed to understand the need for formative assessment
opportunities and the times spent in their classrooms on formative assessments have
increased over the last year. Teachers have stated that they will continue to increase the
amount of formative assessments offered in the classroom with the increase in the
development of formative assessments in the classroom.
The third part of the research question asked how formative assessments could be
incorporated in the classroom. The Unit #2 focused on the types of assessments offered
to show how teachers in the middle school are incorporating formative assessments in
their classroom. First of all, according to the survey and interview, teachers changed
their perception of how long it would take the school to fully incorporate formative
assessments in the classroom from the time the research was started to the present date.
When first asked in the survey, the average time it would take to fully implement
formative assessments in the classroom was approximately three-and-a-half years. The
same question was asked in the interviews and the average time dropped to less than a
year, with three of the teachers stating, “formative assessments are already implemented.”
The Unit #2 list of formative assessments generated from observations shows that
formative assessment are incorporated in the middle school. Each teacher has a number
of formative assessment strategies and it is clear to the observer that the “master”
teachers incorporate more formative assessment strategies than the teachers that looked
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 53
like they were struggling and had classroom management issues. The researcher was
fascinated will all of the formative assessment strategies observed and understands that
all teachers should be exposed to as many strategies as possible.
Conclusion
The goal of this research was to answer what formative assessments are, was it
being practiced in the middle school classroom, and how could it be incorporated in the
middle school setting. It is clear from the surveys, interviews, and observations that the
middle school is practicing and has incorporated formative assessments in the classroom.
The use of formative assessments in the classroom is vital in understanding student
learning and is the framework for developing a highly functional classroom.
Suggestions For Further Study
This research showed that teachers at the middle school are starting to fully
incorporate formative assessments into their classrooms. The research generated a list of
formative assessment strategies that all teachers could use in their classroom. One
suggestion for future study might be to see if the middle school becomes fully
implemented with formative assessments. Also, do the teachers in the middle school
have access to the list of formative assessments, and are they using them in their
classroom?
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 54
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FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 55
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FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 57
Appendix A. Staff Survey
1.
Formative assessments provide greater assistance in understanding student learning versus
summative assessments.
Agree
2.
4
3
2
Disagree
Do you feel that your students are actually involved in assessing their own knowledge on daily
assignments?
Always
3.
5
5
4
3
2
Never
Please estimate the amount of time, in minutes, spent on the following activities over the course of
an average class period:
_____ = pre-knowledge (warm-up activities)
_____ = whole group instruction
_____ = group activities
_____ = individual work time
_____ = formative assessments
_____ = other - ____________________________________________________________________
4.
The most effective way for a student in my classroom to be involved in his or her own assessment
is:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
5.
When do you feel that formative assessments will be totally implemented at Centennial Middle
School?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 58
Appendix B: “Formative Assessment” Observation
Class: ___________________________________________ Date/Time: ___________________________
1.
Effective feedback and communication:
2.
Signals for showing that the students are learning: (Ex. Thumbs up, 1-5 fingers, showing examples
of appropriate assignments, etc.)
3.
Informs Instruction examples from √-list:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
SIOP
Understanding of objectives and daily goals
Self-rating on objectives
Personal response techniques
Teacher conferences
Go over assessment
Mini in class assessment
Correcting daily work
Review of individual work
Self assessment
Group correction
Read aloud
Pre- and post-test
Compare and contrast work
Peer evaluation
Participation
Immediate feedback
Using rubrics
Comparison of weekly work to show growth
“How” and “Why questions
Knowing how and why they scored their work
Ticket out the door
End of period assessment
Students create the assessment
Additional informs instruction examples:
_________________________________________________________________________
4.
Gather Artifacts: (Copies of graded work)
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 59
Appendix C: Interview Questions
1. Do you feel that formative assessments provide greater assistance in
understanding student learning versus summative assessments? Which type of
assessment helps you understand that the students are learning?
2. Do you feel that your students are actually involved in assessing their own
knowledge on daily assignments? Can you give me some specific examples?
3. Please estimate the amount of time, in minutes, spent on formative assessments
over the course of an average class period.
4. What do you feel is the most effective way for a student in your classroom to be
involved in his or her own assessment?
5. When do you feel that formative assessments will be a routine part of your lesson
planning at Centennial Middle School?
6. In the last year, do you feel that you have increased the amount of formative
assessments you have given in the classroom? By about how much?