Formative Assessment- The Journey

ContinuesPershing Elementary

August 2011

Formative vs. Summative

It is essential to know and understand how these differ

Summative: Assessments that provide evidence of student achievement for the purpose of making a judgment about student competence or program effectiveness. @ SJSD these include…..

Formative: A collection of practices with a common feature-They all lead to some action that improves learning. It is not the instrument that is formative; It is the use of the information gathered, by whatever means, to adjust teaching and learning, that is truly formative work.

Recall what the Black Box Article said……

Framework for thinking about Formative Assessment/A for L

Where Am I GOING?

Where AM I NOW?

What Do I Need To Do To Get THERE?

Formative Assessment is Assessment for Learning

Seven Strategies include: Clear Targets Strong & Weak Work Student Feedback Students self-assessing & goal

setting Lesson design Teaching students focused revision Students self-reflect while tracking

and sharing their own learning

Where are we in the journey?

2010-2011 Work involved: Intense focus on CA Clear Targets Wrote “I Can/This Means”

Statements for CA Wrote numerous CA checkpoints Focus on student-friendly language Student Assessment Binders &

Students began tracking more of their learning

Think CHECKPOINTS:

The CP truly aligns with the objective (CT) to be learned/the objectives taught

All of the items on the CP truly match what has been taught

The CP is designed in a way that it will truly pinpoint specific problems so that teachers can easily analyze and decide what action to take

Assessment results are available right away-to students and teacher

Teachers and students honestly take action based on the results

Checkpoints are “on grade level”

Student Assessment Binder Contents-Let’s TALK!

What might be included?

Partner Share

Please reflect on the following question with a partner….Be prepared to share your thoughts with the group

Why is it essential for learning goals (CT) to be presented in student-friendly language? Think of your “I Can” & “This Means” Statements

Artifact Share

Let’s reflect on artifacts from last year’s implementation….It truly was a great year of implementation!

Remember-Buildings that make gains have a commitment from ALL to implement certain practices.

Student Feedback-This Year’s Piece

Anchor Texts include: Seven Strategies of Assessment for

Learning by Jan Chappuis (Chpt. 3) How to Give Effective Feedback to

Your Students by Susan M. Brookhart (coming in February)

Please read Brookhart article, Brookhart chapters 1-3, and Stiggins chapter 3 this semester.

This Year’s Thread…

The Feedback Strategy truly complements our focus this year on: Teaching to the students ON grade

level

Teaching to the students ABOVE grade level

Teaching to the students BELOW grade level

The Research on Feedback

Kluger & DeNisis’ overall research finding indicated the groups receiving feedback on average outperformed their respective control groups by .41 standard deviations-the equivalent from moving from the 50th to the 66th percentile on a standardized test.

The effectiveness of Feedback can be effected by a number of things, especially the way in which the student experiences the comment.

Student Feedback-An Overview (SB text) Think MOTIVATION

Feedback says to a student, “Somebody cared enough about my work to read it and think about it!”

Good feedback gives students information they need so they can understand where they are in their learning and what to do next-the cognitive factor. Once they feel they understand what to do and why, most students develop a feeling that they have control over their own learning-the motivational factor.

Don’t discount this strategy-When used ineffectively, it can actually be harmful to achievement!

What does Susan Brookhart have to say???

Focus on:

Timing

Amount

Mode

Audience

Brookhart & Feedback Content: An Introduction

Outcome Feedback is important, but don’t stop there. Yes it’s right or sorry, it’s wrong, is not near enough feedback.

Good feedback includes next steps to improve learning.

Giving feedback about the process used to accomplish a task is important. Feedback about processes shows connections between what they did & the results the student achieved.

Feedback needs to be presented in a way that can be used in future learning & tasks.

More Brookhart & FB Content

COMPARISON FEEDBACK Criterion Referencing: Compare the

students work with the established criteria. Allows students to see what the learning target looks like and what they need to do to close the gap. (Scoring guides & Anchor Papers before work begins)

Norm Referencing Feedback: Comparing a student’s work to other students work-Can create winners & losers

DESCRIPTIVE VS. EVALUATIVE FB-Grades on papers can be detrimental

STIGGINS’ WORK

Providing EFFECTIVE feedback requires sophistication….The presence of feedback does not always improve learning. The QUALITY of the feedback determines effectiveness.

Characteristics of Effective Feedback (Stiggins)

FB directs attention to the intended learning (CT), pointing our strengths and offering specific information to guide improvement.

SUCCESS FEEDBACK: POINTING OUT WHAT THE STUDENT HAS DONE WELL

INTERVENTION FEEDBACK: GIVES SPECIFIC INFORMATION TO GUIDE IMPROVEMENT

WHAT IS WRONG HERE?

Try these again Incomplete Keep studying More effort needed Redo Get a parent signature

Characteristics of Effective Feedback (Stiggins)

OCCURS DURING LEARNING WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME TO ACT

Before the graded event Cultivate the mindset that it is ok to

make mistakes!

Characteristics of Effective Feedback (Stiggins)

ADDRESSES PARTIAL UNDERSTANDING

Feedback is not always appropriate; It is most effective when it addresses faulty understanding rather than a total lack of understanding.

Providing feedback when a student is not ready can lead to a student feeling failure TWICE

If you are unable to offer any success feedback, more actual teaching may be necessary. Offering the same feedback many times may mean this also.

Characteristics of Effective Feedback (Stiggins)

EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK DOES NOT DO THE THINKING FOR THE STUDENT

Start by asking, “Do you know what you need to work on?”

A hallmark of good feedback is that it spurs thoughtful action-not just following directions or using someone else’s ideas. It can be easy to “over-feedback” or do it for them.

Characteristics of Effective Feedback (Stiggins)

EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK LIMITS CORRECTIVES TO WHAT STUDENTS CAN ACT ON

How many pieces of advice can a student handle?

Don’t offer feedback about things students know truly know how to do

Feedback Implementation in the Classroom

We would expect to see…..

Individual conferences & Small group conferences

Discussion about where students are in relation to the learning

targets

Feedback logs/tools & Scoring Guides with feedback

CHOOSE A CONTENT AREA IN WHICH YOU ARE GOING TO WORK THIS FA STRATEGY

Monitoring our Implementation

Choose a subject area and work the feedback process

I would expect to see a “dialogue process” that has occurred between the teacher and student

Students need to be able to refer to the feedback you provided them (on paper)

Find a system that works for you..Stars & Stairs and etc.

This will be part of the Walk-Through process