Designing Common Formative

AssessmentsPresented by:

Elizabeth Marsilielizabeth.marsili@cobbk12.org

Betsey Kennedy-Olotkaelizabeth.kennedy@cobbk12.org

Where will we go today?1. What are Common Formative Assessments?

2. Why do we need Common Formative Assessments? What are the benefits to US as teachers? What are the benefits to our students?3. How do we CREATE Common Formative Assessments?

Source: Larry Ainsworth & Donald Viegut, Common Formative Assessments: How to Connect Standards-based Instruction and Assessment (Corwin Press, 2006).

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Ideas SortTrue of Common

Formative AssessmentsNOT True of Common

Formative Assessments

Key points…• Periodic, SHORT assessments• Collaboratively

designed• Pre- and post-• Should represent

power (essential) standards• Administered to ALL students in the grade level or course

Key points…• Combinations of

test-type questions including:

Selected-response and constructed-response• Results analyzed in DATA TEAMS/PLC’s to guide instruction

What are the benefits of CFAs?

• Regular feedback aligned with the most important standards allowing teachers to adjust instruction to meet the diverse needs of the students

• Ongoing collaboration with teachers in order to determine strategies that will lead to success for all students

“Team-developed common

formative assessments are more

efficient, more equitable, more

effective in monitoring and

improving student learning, can

improve and inform the practices of

individual teachers and teams, and

are essential to systematic

interventions.”

-Eaker, Dufour, &

Dufour, 2007

What are the benefits of CFAs?

• Consistency in expectations across the grade level• Agreed on expectations for different levels of proficiency• Deliberate alignment of classroom, school, district and state assessments to better prepare students for success on state assessments.

Why should we use CFAs?

“The true purpose of

assessment must be, first

and foremost, to inform

instructional decision

making.”

~ L. Ainsworth and D. Viegut, Common

Formative Assessments, 2006, p. 21

How do we create them?

“It is critical that all of the assessed standardsbe truly significant. From an instructionalperspective, it is better for tests to measure ahandful of powerful skills accurately than it isfor tests to do an inaccurate job of measuringmany skills.”

~ W. J. Popham, Test Better, Teach Better, 2003, p. 143

1. Pick an essential standard.

2. Unwrap the standard collaboratively. Divide

it into knowledge and skills.

3. Determine what type of questions you want to

use and how many.

K Directions

Rubric

1st Directions

Rubric

2nd

Directions

Rubric

3rdDirections

Rubric

4th Directions

Rubric

5thDirections

Rubric

4. Collaborate to create your questions and assessment.

5. Create a scoring guide or rubric.

6. Keep the testing environments consistent

when administering the assessment.

common

brief team

standards

aligned

consistent

periodic

assess

essential

One question I still have…

or

One action I plan to take…

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