Formative AssessmentBrindlee Mountain February 27, 2013

Presented by Jeanne SimpsonAMSTI Math Specialist

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Outcomes for Today

To understand the meaning of formative assessment

To understand the purpose of formative assessment

To learn Formative Assessment Classroom Techniques for the mathematics classroom

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K – W - LWhat do you know about Formative Assessment?

KThis is what I already KNOW

WThis is what I WANT to find out

LThis is what I LEARNED

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What’s Your Style?

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What We Know About Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Point of Most Significance

Read the article in your handout

Highlight the significant points of the article

Choose your top three POMS

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Formative Assessment is…

…assessment FOR learning.

…to inform instruction and provide feedback to students on their learning (Keeley, 2008).

…any assessment for which the first priority in its design and practice is to promote students’ learning (Hodgen & Williams, 2006).

…so intertwined with instruction and learning that it occurs at the same time.

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These informal checks for These informal checks for understanding are short and understanding are short and quick!quick!

Think of it as a ‘hit and run’!Teachers can use questions to check on student understanding before continuing the lesson. We call this a ‘hinge point’ in the lesson because the lesson can go in different directions depending on student responses.

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Since the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, most of the assessment focus has been directed at preparing all students to perform well on state accountability tests. In many states, this led to tests and instruction that narrowed the curriculum to focus on lower-level procedural skills which are only a part of a balanced vision of the CCSS.

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Formative vs. Summative

Checkup Autopsy

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The first step in formative formative assessment assessment is being clear about learning goals.

Teachers not only must be clear about whatwhat they want students to learn; they also must know typical student steps and missteps because what the teacher is looking for in formative assessment is evidence of where students are on their journey toward mastery of the learning outcome.

Advancing Formative Assessment in Every Classroom. Moss and Brookhart 2009.

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How Powerful are Formative How Powerful are Formative Assessments?Assessments?

“When well-implemented, formative assessments can effectively double the speed of student learning” (Wiliam, 2007-2008, p. 36)

Note: Wiliam looked at a body of research from four thousand studies spanning 40 years.

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It is not enough to It is not enough to administer administer formative assessments.formative assessments.

These assessments must be:•Carefully constructed•Student results must be thoughtfully analyzed•Inferences must be accurately made•Subsequent instruction must be differentiated to meet student learning needs accordingly

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Sutton (1998)Sutton (1998)

Sutton suggests effective feedback should:Sutton suggests effective feedback should:• be specific – both positive and constructive• be descriptive, rather than evaluative• be offered as soon as possible after the event• offer alternatives or ask the learner to do so• look forward to the specific next steps to improve

performance• encourage and plan for opportunities for the feedback to

be used as soon as possible• involve the learner wherever possible, to improve the

chance of feedback being understood and acted upon.

Common Formative Common Formative AssessmentsAssessmentsProvide “Snapshots” of Provide “Snapshots” of Student Understanding of Student Understanding of Priority Standards and Priority Standards and Supporting Standards. Supporting Standards.

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“Formative feedback only happens if students take action. The

feedback must give students insight on

how to think or act.”

Timothy Kanold

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Create a Frayer Model Poster

Essential Characteristics

Purposes

Examples of Formative Assessment

Non-examples Of Formative

Assessment

Formative Assessment

• Work with a table group • Complete the Frayer Model

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F.A.C.T.Formative

Assessment

Classroom

Technique

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Fist to Five

  

 

Description: Students hold up their fist and/or fingers to show their level of understanding of a question or concept. Fist represents no understanding. Five fingers represent full understanding. When to use: Can be used at any time. Can be used to check for understanding after teacher gives directions. Students can initiate at any time this when they are confused. Why: Quick dipstick assessment of entire classes level of understanding.

(Keely, 2008)

What Color is Your Cup?What Color is Your Cup?

Red cup: the group has a question that needs to be answered before they can continue

Yellow cup: the group has a question, but can continue working for now

Green cup: all is well in the group

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Agreement Circles 

 Description: Students are asked to form a large circle. A true or false statement is read to the group. The group is given about 10 seconds of wait time before they are asked to move into the center of the circle if they agree with the statement. If they disagree, they remain outside. Students are given a few minutes to defend their thinking within their groups. The teacher calls time and students may change their position if they have changed their minds or remain where they are. The teacher notes the changes and the process is repeated with another statement. When to use: Can be used at the beginning of a unit or in the middle to reinforce concepts. Why: Students must have a deep understanding to defend their thinking 

(Keely, 2008)

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Agreement Circles 

Statements:1.Formative assessment should be done daily.2.Teacher pay should be based on student performance.

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Four Corners

Description: Teacher poses a multiple choice question. Students go to one corner of the room with students that have the same answer. Students share their justification for their answer with their group. They may move to another group if they change their minds. When to use: Best used after a lesson or series of lessons. Why: Gives students an opportunity to compare their thinking with that of their classmates. Teacher can get a quick visual of where the entire class stands. 

(Keely, 2008)

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Four Corners

 Example: Which shows the associative property of addition?a.3 + 4 + 2 = 2 + 4 + 3b.( 3 + 4 ) + 2 = 3 + ( 4 +2 )c.3 + 4 = 5 + 2d.3 + 4 = ?

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Justified List  Description: Students are given a statement about a concept. Examples are given that fit and do not fit the statement. Students check the examples that fit the statement and provide justification for their thinking. When to use: Can be used at the beginning as a pre-assessment.  Why: Teacher may use the information to plan lessons. Can show the level of student understanding. (Keely, 2008)

Justified ListJustified List

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All of the objects are geometric shapes. Mark the ones that are polygons.

____ _____ _____ _____

_____ _____ ______ ______

What rule or reasoning did you use to decide which objects to check?

___________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

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K-W-L Variations  Description: Students record what they know about a concept (K). Describe what they want to know (W) and then detail what they have learned (L). When to use: This strategy is used through a unit.  Why: Students are invested in their learning. Teachers can use chart to plan to address misconceptions, plan lessons that students are interested and ensure that desired outcomes are being met. 

(Keely, 2008)

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K-W-L Variations  Variations: K-W-F: What I know, what I wonder, this is how I will find out K-T-F: What I know for sure, this is what I think I know, this is how I found out O-W-L: This is what I observed, this is what I wonder, this is what I learned P-O-E: This is what I predict, what I observed, this is how I can explain it

KLEW – Get a KLEW about evidence   

(Keely, 2008)

Comments-only Marking

Provide comments in the margin of student work without giving a grade. Research has shown this to be very effective in getting students to use feedback to improve their work. Comments can be in code:

Met success criteria (SC)Unclear process (UP)Computation error (CE)Replace Term (RT)Number Correct (NC #)

Keely, 2011

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Pass the Problem

Students begin by working together in pairs to respond to a rich problem, partially completing the solution.

When time is up, exchange their partially completed solution with another pair to finish – modifying, adding to, or changing it as the pair deems necessary.

Teacher listens carefully to student discussion of work to gather information about student understanding.

Debrief the problem in class discussion about the solution.

Keely, 2011

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Strategy Harvest

Students complete a problem-solving task and then circulate among their peers to find students who used a strategy different from their to solve the problem.

Students record other strategies and describe how the strategy differs from the one they used.

My Strategy

_______’s Strategy

_______’s Strategy

_______’s Strategy

Keely, 2011

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Ten-Two

For every 10 minutes of instruction, there should be 2 minutes of debriefing or sharing of notes by students.

Students work individually or in teams to summarize, fill in gaps, and help each other clarify concepts.

The teacher asks if students are ready to move on after they have had a chance to summarize; or, by circulating through the room and examining students’ notes or discussions, they teacher may discover areas of difficulty.Keely, 2011

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Thinking LogsThis is a type of

writing journal used during problem solving or other conceptual activities in which students react to a series of sentence stems as thinking starters.

I was successful in…

I got stuck…

I figured out…

I got confused when… so I…

I think I need to redo…

I will understand this better if I…

The hardest part of this was…

I figured it out because…

I stopped… because…

Keely, 2011

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Traffic Light Dots

Used by students to self-assess their work and get feedback from peers or the teacher.

Students place stick-on dots in the margin of their work to indicate areas where they feel they successfully completed the task (green), areas where they aren’t sure about their work and would like feedback(yellow), and where they feel they didn’t understand or perform well on the task and need help (red).

This helps the teacher scan work quickly and look for problem areas.

Keely, 2011

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Two or Three Before Me

At least two or three students must have an opportunity to talk before the same person can speak again.

This provides opportunities for more students to share their ideas during class discussion and prevents individual students from dominating the responses to questions.

This is also a strategy to use in small group work. A student must ask two or three other students for help before asking the teacher.

Keely, 2011

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Two Thirds Testing

Provide an opportunity for students to take an ungraded practice test two thirds of the way through a unit.

Students can work individually, in pairs, or in small groups on the items.

Use comments-only marking for feedback, not grades.

Keely, 2011

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Volleyball, Not Ping-Pong!Instead of a back-and-forth style of questioning

between the teacher and a student (like ping-pong), use “volleyball” questioning.

The teacher asks a question, a student responds, and other students build off the response until the teacher “serves” another question.

This motivates students to consider the ideas of others.

Share the ping-pong and volleyball metaphor with students before using this strategy.

Set a minimum number of responses, use a ball to pass among students.

Keely, 2011

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Commit and Toss  Description: Students are given a question to answer on a piece of paper. They are told not to put their name on it. When the teacher sees that all students have completed the sheet, they are asked to crumple their sheet and toss it into the middle of the room. Students are asked to pick up one crumpled ball from the floor and share the ideas on that paper with a partner. Engage all students in class discussion. When to use: Can be used at any time in a unit. Why: Helps teacher get a snapshot of the whole class’ thinking. Helps students to see there are other ideas besides their own. It is nonthreatening. All ideas can be shared.

 (Kelly, 2008)

Will the Alabama College and Career Ready Standards prepare Alabama students to be more competitive globally? Why or why not?

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map.mathshell.org/40

Outcomes for Today

To understand the meaning of formative assessment

To understand the purpose of formative assessment

To learn Formative Assessment Classroom Techniques for the mathematics classroom

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Three-Two-OneThree-Two-One

Description: Three-Two-One provides a structured way for students to reflect on their learning. Students respond in writing to three reflective prompts; providing six responses (three of the first, two of the second, and one final reflection) that describe what they learned from a lesson or instructional sequence.

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Formative AssessmentFormative Assessment

3 things I learned

2 things I liked

1 thing I want to know more about

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