Designing Quality Formative Assessments

Designing Quality Formative

Assessments

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Twitter: @cjakicic

Targets for Today

• Understand the difference between formative and summative assessments.

• Understand how to find and use learning targets to create formative assessments.

• Learn the types of assessment items that work best with formative assessments.

• Understand how to plan formative assessments so that they provide high- quality information.

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Track Your Progress• At the top of page 1, the

learning targets for this unit are listed.

• For each target, identify your current understanding by shading the rectangle somewhere between “Starting” and “Got it!”

• Complete first box at the bottom with questions you have as we begin the day.

© Jakicic 2013. solution-tree.com Do not duplicate.

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Definitions

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What Is the Difference Between Formative and Summative?

“Terms travel easily ... but the meaning of the underlying concepts does not.”—Fullan, Leadership and Sustainability:

System Thinkers in Action (2005)

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Can You Define and Give an Example of:

• Formative assessment• Summative assessment


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From “Measuring” to “Diagnosing” …

• Summative data measures students’ progress, e.g., proficient, exceeds, not proficient.

• Formative data helps teachers diagnose student learning needs.

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Traditional Instruction-Assessment Model

Assign Grades

TeachTeach

TeachPosttest

Pretest

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Formative Assessment?

Assign Grades

Teach

TeachTeach

Posttest

Pretest QuizQuiz


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Summative Assessment

• Summative assessment is the attempt to summarize student learning at some point in time.

• Summative assessments are not designed to give feedback useful to teachers and students during the learning process.

Did they learn what was taught?

(FairTest Examiner, “The Value of Formative Assessment,” January 1999)

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Formative Assessment

An assessment functions formatively to the extent that evidence about student achievement is elicited, interpreted, and used by teachers, learners, or their peers to make decisions about next steps in instruction that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the decisions they would have made in the absence of evidence.

(Wiliam, Embedded Formative Assessment, 2011)

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Formative Assessment Is …

“A planned process in which teachers and students use assessment-based evidence to adjust what they’re currently doing”

—Popham, Transformative Assessment (2008), p. 6


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To Determine If an Assessment Is Formative, Ask:

• Is it used to identify students who are experiencing difficulty in their learning?

• Are students who are having difficulty provided with additional time and support for learning?

• Are students given an additional opportunity to demonstrate their learning?

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What Makes a Quality Formative

Assessment?

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Standard Being Unpacked

Prior Grade-Level Standard

Learning Target

Learning Target

Learning Target

Learning Target

Learning Target

Learning Target


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Big Idea #1

Formative assessments are based on targets (not standards) that are clear to both the teachers and students.

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What Are Learning Targets?

• Learning targets are the increments of learning that make up the journey to achieving the overall standard.

• They include all of the skills and concepts students must acquire to master the standard.

• Learning targets may be written as “I can” statements in student-friendly language.

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Finding Targets in Standards(Unwrapping, Unpacking, Deconstructing)

• Circle all verbs (skills we expect them to be able to do).

• Underline nouns (concepts they need to know).

• Put [brackets] around the context clues.

• Add any implied learning targets.


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For Example

The student will know and apply the rules of the road, and will skillfully and safely drive a car in a variety of situations.

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For Example

The student will know and apply the rules of the road, and will skillfully and safely drive a car in a [variety of situations.]

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For Example

The student will know and apply the rules of the road, and will skillfully and safely drive a car in a variety of situations.1. Know the rules of the road.

2. Apply the rules of the road.

3. Skillfully drive a car in a variety of situations.

4. Safely drive a car in a variety of situations.


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In Demand Events Innovative Publishing Inspired Professional Development www.solution-tree.com

Fourth-Grade Informational Text

Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.


Fourth-Grade Informational Text

Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account [of the same event or topic]; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.


1.Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic.

2.Know the difference between firsthand and secondhand account.

3.Describe the difference in focus each account provided.

4.Describe the difference in information each account provided.


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Higher-Order Thinking in Teacher-Made Tests

• 72% of items on knowledge level• 11% of items on comprehension• 15% of items on application• 1% of items requiring analysis• Less than 1% on synthesis or evaluation• Nearly 50% of questions beyond knowledge

level were on math tests• 98% of questions beyond knowledge level

were on social studies tests

(Marso & Pigge, “An Analysis of Teacher-Made Tests,” Contemporary Educational Psychology, 1991)

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Are Verbs Important?• The verb often indicates the “level of

thinking” we are expecting from students.

• The verb may be ambiguous (“understand”).

• Be cautious! Discuss what this will look like if students can do it (what is proficiency?).

• Teams can use any taxonomy they are familiar with: Bloom’s, Marzano, Depth of Knowledge.

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For ExampleCompare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and information provided.

1. Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic.

2. Know the difference between a firsthand and secondhand account.

3. Describe the difference in focus each account provided.

4. Describe the difference in information each account provided.


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Application

2. Know the difference between a firsthand and secondhand account. Understand (Compare)

3. Describe the difference in focus each account provided. Analysis

4. Describe the difference in information each account provided. Analysis

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Your Turn!

• Choose one of the Common Core Standards on page 5.

• On the top of page 6, unwrap the standard to find the learning targets. List each one separately.

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Types of Assessments

Selected Response

Constructed Response

Performance


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Performance Task

Performance tasks can best be described as collections of questions and activities that are coherently connected to a single theme or scenario.

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For ExampleThe student will apply the rules of the road and correct safety procedures while driving a car [in a variety of situations].

Learning Targets Formative Assessments

1. Know the rules of the road.

2. Apply the rules of the road.

3. Apply correct safety procedures.

4. Drive a car in a variety of situations.

1.

2.

3.

4.

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Big Idea #2

The type of assessment item must “match” the level of thinking expected in the learning target.


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Assessment Design:Gathering Valid and Reliable Data

by Developing a Quality Plan

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Validity of Teacher-Made Assessments

Validity—Does the assessment assess what we wanted it to assess? Will it tell me whether or not the students learned the material I wanted them to learn?

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Reliability of Teacher-Made Assessments

Reliability—Can I rely on the information to make decisions about what to do next for my students? Does it tell me with confidence whether the student is ready to move on or if (s)he needs more time and support?


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Making Assessments Valid• Unwrap standards into the learning

target to clearly uncover the important knowledge and skills we want to teach and assess.

• Create an assessment planning chart to ensure that we have assessed each of those targets at the level we expect students to reach.

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Assessment Planning Chart Content/ Targets Knowledge

Retrieval Application

Comprehension Analysis Evaluation

Knowledge Utilization

Total

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Assessment Planning Chart

• Identify the specific target(s) to be assessed. – One or two work best.

• Determine the level of cognitive demand.– What kind of thinking?

• Decide what type of assessment items and how many to use.– Selected response for knowledge, application,

analysis– Constructed response for higher level

• Consider how much time the assessment will take.


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Application




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For Formative Assessments• Based on a few learning

targets that are clear to teachers and students

• Should be targets that are essential for student learning:– Targets that are often

difficult or lead to misconceptions

– Targets that are prerequisite to future learning

– Targets that are absolutely necessary for students to know

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Application





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Fourth-Grade Informational Text Standard #6

Assessment Planning Chart Content/ Targets Knowledge Comprehension/

Application Analysis Evaluation Total

Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event.

Describe the differences in information provided between the two

focus

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Assessment Planning Chart• Identify the specific target(s) to be assessed.

– One or two work best.• Determine the level of cognitive demand.

– What kind of thinking?• Decide what type of assessment items and

how many to use.– Selected response for knowledge, application,




Fourth-Grade Informational Text Standard #6



Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event.


focus


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Assessment Planning Chart

• Identify the specific targets to be assessed (one or two work best).

• Determine the level of cognitive demand (what kind of thinking?).

• Decide what type of assessment items and how many to use.– Selected response for knowledge, application,






Compare a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event.

4 multiple choice


1 constructed response

focus

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Big Idea

To be valid, the assessment must assess the learning targets that are understood by both teachers and students at the level of thinking they were taught.


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Making Assessments Reliable

• Review the assessment specifications chart to ensure that we have an adequate number of assessment items to feel confident with our results.

• Construct questions with good format and clear directions to minimize systematic error.

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Claim Specific Details/ Page or Quote Supported?

1. What is the author’s argument? (Quote the text that you believe states the argument.)

2. What claims does the author make to support the argument? For each claim, provide the specific details the author provides or list the page number or quote. Determine if the claim is supported or not and indicate by saying yes or no in the third column.

Thank You

To schedule professional development at your site, contact Solution Tree

at 800.733.6786.


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Designing Quality Formative Assessments

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