Using formative assessment to shape instruction

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Objectives

Participants will develop several strategies for using formative assessment in the classroom.

Now what?

Good question! You have a wealth of knowledge now about new strategies to assess students in a way that increases that help shape their learning. Here are some ideas on how to put those strategies into practice in your classroom.

One of the leaders in the field of formative assessment is Rick Stiggins, featured in the following video. Now that we have a new view of assessment, this video will give us some ideas on how to take the next steps.

Assessment for Learning

The assessment strategies that are described in this article by McTighe and O'Connor address three factors that influence student motivation to learn. Students are more likely to put forth effort when there is:

• Task clarity – when they clearly understand the learning goal and know how teachers will evaluate their learning (practices 1 and 2)

• Relevance – when they think the learning goals and assessments are meaningful and work learning (practice 1)

• Potential for success – when they believe they can successfully learn and meet the evaluative expectations (practices 3 – 7) (McTighe, p 15 – 16)

Media:Seven_practices.pdf

Your Turn

Refer back to the KWL chart that you created in the first unit of this course.

What assessment strategies did you use prior to this learning experience? What did you already “know”?

What are some important new ideas that you have learned from this learning experience?

Assessing for Success!

Let’s take the next step…the media above gives a wealth of ideas on how to improve our assessment strategies to increase student motivation and mastery of learning goals.

Set some goals for yourself; what are two ideas/strategies that you could implement in your classroom? Make some specific plans as to how you will do this.

Thank you

Thank you for your interest in learning new strategies for student assessment. As several articles have proposed, assessing formatively and providing feedback are key factors in increasing student motivation and achievement. I hope you will find success as you begin to adopt these strategies in your own classroom practices.

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