Teaching in the Present Part A

8/18/2019 Teaching in the Present Part A

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Teaching in the Present—Empowering Teachers and Students through Formative Assessment

April 16, 201 ! 11"#$am % &'nthia ('an

Topics"

Assessment , )ormative assessment,

Te*t

Formative assessment practices support both teachers and students in becoming purposeful

decision makers. This article from The &ouncil &hronicle (March 2014) published b! the

"ational #ouncil of Teachers of $nglish shares insights from educators #ath! Fleischer

and %cott Filkins about ho& educators can use formative assessment effectivel!. Fleischer

and Filkins are respectivel! chair and member of the "#T$ task force that produced the

position statement Formative Assessment That Trul' +n)orms +nstruction

Formative assessment practices support -oth teachers and students in -ecoming purpose)ul

decision ma.ers

/ood teaching is engaged teaching As teachers we are invested in more than ust test

scores and other measura-le end results, and our da's center on identi)'ing and responding

to teacha-le moments along the wa'—those times in our interactions with students when a

uestion, opportunit', or complication arises, opening the classroom or one!on!one

e*change to an unplanned, -ut )ruit)ul, learning e*perience

http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/fs_taxonomy/results/taxonomy%3A220http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/fs_taxonomy/results/taxonomy%3A1692http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/fs_taxonomy/results/taxonomy%3A233http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/formative-assessmenthttp://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/fs_taxonomy/results/taxonomy%3A1692http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/fs_taxonomy/results/taxonomy%3A233http://www.ncte.org/positions/statements/formative-assessmenthttp://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/fs_taxonomy/results/taxonomy%3A220


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Formative assessment grows out o) such teacha-le moments Thats wh' ta.ing this

approach to assessment can seem 3intuitive4 to man' educators, sa's &ath' Fleischer,

pro)essor in the 5epartment o) English anguage and iterature at Eastern 7ichigan

8niversit' and chair o) the 9&TE Tas. Force on Assessment which recentl' issued the

position statement Formative 'ssessment That Trul! nforms nstruction.

These teachers are 3decision ma.ers4 who 3assess in the conte*t o) teaching4 and 3ma.edecisions a-out student learning4 -ased on what the' o-serve )irsthand in the class! room

The' draw conclusions a-out how students are learning and where the're having trou-le

and then wor. to 3)eed :this in)ormation; -ac. into the curriculum4

What Does Formative Assessment Look Like?


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Formative assessment is a constantl' occurring process, a ver-, a series o) events

in action, not a single tool or a static noun

from Formative 'ssessment That Trul! nforms nstruction


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+ts a moment that o))ers an opportunit' )or -oth teaching and assessing since what the

teacher learns during this activit' will in)orm what happens ne*t in the lesson (ecogniing

and acting on these .inds o) ever'da' glimpses into students thin.ing processes increases

as teachers e*perience the variet' o) learning approaches going on in the classroom

Bne e*ample o) )ormative assessment Fleischer o))ers is o) a teacher who con)erences with

a student at the same time the student is composing a dra)t (ather than waiting until the

te*t is completed to assess the authors strengths and wea.nesses, this teacher committed to

)ormative assessment might as. the student uestions as the te*t evolves"

@hats con)using 'ou at this point in the te*tC Dow does this particular pro-lem

resem-le another 'ou e*perienced a )ew paragraphs earlierC

@hat do 'ou )eel most con)ident a-out as 'ou dra)t this essa'C


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Formative

assessment empowers -oth the teacher and the student As teachers are see.ing in)ormation

a-out how students are learning, students are also engaging in sel)!re)lection a-out their

reading, writing, and thin.ing processes oth are -ecoming purpose)ul decision ma.ers

Fleischer notes that one characteristic distinguishing a classroom in which )ormative

assessment is occurring )rom one )ocused on summative assessment is the ac.nowledgment

that students do learn di))erentl' +n order to teach to these di))erences in how students

understand concepts or acuire s.ills, the teacher must .now something a-out the

particularities o) each students learning process


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The search )or in)ormation to help in)orm curriculum and pedagog' goes -e'ond the

classroom as well 3Famil' mem-ers are de)initel' pla'ers in the assessment game,4

Fleischer remar.s, 3whatever )orm o) assessment might -e ta.ing place4

+ts important, then, to involve the )amil' in the education o) the child Some o) the

creative approaches to widening the circle that Fleischer has used or o-served in others

classrooms include 3port)olio nights4 during which students show their wor. to )amil'

mem-ers and e*plain what the've -een learning, as well as encouraging parents to provide

their own assessments o) their childrens progress in learning environments at home and at

school

How Can We Manage Challenges to Formative Assessment?

These acts o) decision ma.ing, in)ormed -' student response to purpose)ul or

intuitive prompts, are the threads out o) which s.ill, .nowledge, and

understanding are woven colla-orativel' -' teachers and students

Formative 'ssessment That That nforms nstruction


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The 3internal,4 3conte*t!speci)ic4 nature o) )ormative assessment is central to its

e))ectiveness 5ecision ma.ing is necessaril' )ueled -' 3purpose)ul or intuitive prompts,4

as stated in the position statement, and these prompts— whether writing e*ercises devised

)rom student uestions or a selection o) supplemental readings that -est address students

particular strengths—rel' on the perspectives o) an in)ormed, engaged teacher and his orher students

A revealing contrast to test!lets is the strateg' o) inviting students to complete 3e*it slips

when the' leave the classroom each da',4 Fleischer o))ers Students can ot down a note

a-out their e*periences in the class that da'" 3something the' learned or a uestion the'

have4

A second o-stacle to the use o) )ormative assessment is the assumption that )ormative

assessment is at odds with core curriculum standards ' e*plaining what a t'pical class

period in which )ormative assessment is at wor. might loo. li.e, Fil.ins re)utes this

assumption

&lass would -egin with 3clearing up an' misconceptions4 )rom the previous class, so ever'

class is 3a continuation o) what happened in the last meeting4 The important thing, he

sa's, is that 3'oure alwa's wor.ing toward a goal and, -orrowing )rom the wor. o) 5oug

Fisher and 9anc' Fre', these goals provide cues )or the teacher and the students a-out what

'oull -e assessing4

+ts in the -est interests o) all o) us to encourage students to 3see themselves as learners4

and 3their e*perience in li)e as -eing a learner,4 she adds Providing a d'namic learning

environment is the -est wa' to accomplish this goal

Understanding What Is and Isn’t Formative Assessment

The 9&TE position statement includes a chart, 3&hoosing a Formative Assessment Stance4

to assist teachers and others in understanding the di))erences -etween )ormative and other

sorts o) assessments @hen the assessment tas. )orce created the statement and the chart,

Fil.ins notes, the intent was to 3give language, a reminder, and )ran.l', he)t, to what

teachers alread' .now the're doing4


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(e)lecting on current trends, he adds that theres much tal. a-out 3single!trac. curriculum4

that treats all students as the same .inds o) learners The statement grew out o) a desire to

assure teachers that engaging with students as individuals is pedagogicall' solid and to

provide them with some tal.ing points )or ma.ing that argument more convincingl' in

discussions with other institutional decision ma.ers

3@e want teachers to loo. down the list :o) what meets the reuirements )or )ormative

assessment; and sa', + alread' do some o) these things,4 and -e a-le to ta.e that

in)ormation to administrators who might -e considering purchasing a )ormative assessment

pac.age )rom a testing compan', Fleischer e*plains

The hope is that decision ma.ers un)amiliar with )ormative assessment will also -e a-le to

loo. at the chart and recognie what the' have to gain -' placing decision ma.ing in the

hands o) teachers who are engaged in the classroom as opposed to e*ternal parties creating

assessment tools )rom a)ar

Throughout the class period, the teacher and students are engaged in assessing their

progress toward the goals and ac.nowledging -oth successes and challenges to reaching

them ' rel'ing on speci)ic goals to )rame class activities, a )ormative assessment

approach can coincide with o-ectives articulated through core curriculum standards

Fleischer adds that those concerned a-out not meeting reuired standards through testing

need to understand that our primar' underta.ing as educators is to prepare our students to

-e critical thin.ers, the .inds o) 3readers and writers the'll need to -e in the world the'll

inha-it4 And, i) we 3help them to -ecome critical readers and writers, the' are more li.el'

to do well on standardied tests4

Teaching in the Present Part A

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