Balanced
Assessment
in the
Classroom
Balanced Assessment
Learning Objectives will answer the following
essential questions:
• What is balanced assessment?
• Why is balanced assessment necessary?
• What is the difference between Formative and
Summative Assessments?
Assessments have various purposes,
provide answers to different questions,
address different users, and have varying
implications for an assessment system.
What is a balanced
assessment system?
“A balanced assessment system is a
set of interacting assessments focused
on serving the needs of different
consumers of assessment
information for the common purpose
of improving education.”
-Pearson
Why is Balanced
Assessment important?
A balanced assessment system is important to
determine if a student is benefitting from
the instruction and what changes might
be needed to enhance his or her
education.
A balanced assessment system helps
answer these four questions:
▫ What do we expect all students to
be able to know and do?
▫ How do we know if students are
meeting the expectations?
▫ What do we do if students are not
meeting expectations?
▫ What do we do if students exceed
expectations?
◦
(DuFour, 1998)
Balanced Assessment
Types of Assessment:
Formative
and
Summative
Formative Assessment
What is Formative
Assessment?
Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is a process used
by teachers and students during
instruction that provides feedback to
adjust ongoing teaching and learning to
improve students’ achievements of
intended instructional outcomes. (FAST
SCASS, October 2006)
Formative Assessment
• occurs moment-to-moment as part of instruction
• is used frequently by teachers and students and
is embedded in the current unit of instruction
• are small scale, short cycle assessments given
in the classroom to diagnose where students are
in their learning
ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING--Stiggins,
Arter, Chauppuis and Chauppuis, 2006
Uses of Formative Assessment
• Guide student learning on a daily basis by
providing information about what critical
skills were and were not learned
• Provide extra learning opportunities to
students who are struggling academically
• Report student progress to students,
parents, and other educators
The Formative Assessment Process
What It Is…
What It Isn’t…
A planned process
Unplanned
Based on assessment evidence
Individual strategies
Using evidence to make
Moving on regardless of student
instructional adjustments and/or
evidence
verifying learning
Reflective feedback for students
Grading
Formative Assessment Process
ETS, 2009
Formative and summative assessment are
interconnected.
The vast majority of genuine formative
assessment is informal, with interactive and
timely feedback and response.
It is widely argued that formative assessment
has the greatest impact on learning and
achievement.
School Improvement
• Assessment for learning, when done well, is one
of the most powerful, high-leverage strategies
for improving student learning that we know of.
Educators collectively become more skilled and
focused at assessing, disaggregating, and using
student achievement as a tool for ongoing
improvement.
Michael Fullan
Assessment
FORMATIVE is
for learning
Taken at varying intervals
to provide information and
feedback that will help
improve
▫ the quality of student
learning
▫ the quality of the
instruction
SUMMATIVE
is an assessment
of learning
Taken by students at the end
of a unit or semester to
demonstrate the "sum" of
what they have or have not
learned.
Must be reliable, valid,
and
free of bias
Forms of Summative Assessment
Performance Assessment
Portfolio
Traditional Tests
Summative Assessment
Evaluates student learning at the end of an
instructional unit by comparing it against some
standard or benchmark.
Examples:
Performance Assessment
final project
senior recital
Portfolio
a research paper
Traditional Tests
mid-term/final exam
Formative Assessment Techniques and Tools
Exit pass
Extended wait time
Find the errors and fix them
Generating test items
Group-based end-of-topic
questions
Group-based test prep
Hand signals
Hot-seat questioning
Journal entry
If you did know what would
you say?
If you don’t know, I’ll come
back to you
If you have learned it, help
someone who hasn’t
Index card
summaries/questions
I-you-we checklists
Learning logs
Learning portfolios
Mini white boards
Observation
One sentence summary
One word summary
Oral questioning and
interviews
Popsicle sticks
Practice Presentations
Questionnaires
Self/peer assessment
Ranking exemplars
Think-pair-share
Two stars and a wish
What did we learn today?
Rick Stiggins
“If we wish to maximize student
achievement in the U.S., we must pay
greater attention to the improvement of
classroom assessment. Both assessment
of learning and assessment for learning
are essential. But one is currently in
place, and the other is not.”