Formative Assessment - Best Practices

Best Practices:  Formative Assessment

Formative Assessments Should…	Formative Assessments Should Often…
Align with the learning target and success criteria	Result in Differentiation
Give both the teacher and student information about student’s progress towards learning target.	Include “no opt out” or “total participation” strategies so that information can be gathered from each student
Result in the teacher making an informed decision on next steps in instruction	Provide information on individual students or on patterns in the classroom
Result in feedback that moves learning forward.	Provide structures so that students frequently use assessment data to assess their own learning, determine learning goals and monitor progress over time.
Be used throughout the lesson and as a part of closure.	Result in an immediate change in the instruction or in creating a pre-planned intervention strategy
Reinforce a growth mindset	Be embedded in the learning activity or may be separate

Tracking Student Growth with Data

Have you ever considered using your valuable classroom wall space to create an interactive student growth data board?   Imagine the power of always having a goal in mind and knowing where you are in relation to that goal.  Making our data-gathering practice public and using the data with students is a powerful tool to engage our learners and to help them assess their own learning, determine goals and monitor these goals over time.

What impact might a data board like this have in your classroom?

You would be able to modify this example to reflect your Student Growth Goals and could update it as you have data.  Imaging incorporating a student reflection piece and having the students each set personal goals and the positive impact on growth this could have.

This idea comes to us from the blog: My Teacher Friend  Click the link for more information about the data grid.  Wondering how this teacher created this board...she use students!

Read on for more: "How we got the graph done without making me pull my hair out: Each kid was in charge of using their own report. Each report was structured from highest to lowest percentage on each standard. They looked at each standard and used the percentage of questions correct for that standard to decide what color post-it to use. They then placed the post-it on the correct color for that standard. They did this for all 19 standards."

This example is from the blog Third Grade Bookworm

Click the link for more information and examples.  The blogger, Abby, says "GROWTH is the focus for us as a team, and as individuals."

 “Progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turning, then to go forward does not get you any nearer.  If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road...”   ― C.S. Lewis

Two Quick Formative Assessment Strategies

Are you exhausted from your end-of-semester responsibilities? Here are two quick and fun formative assessment strategies (3.5, 6.3)  that you can incorporate tomorrow in your classroom.

Back-to-back and face-to-face

Partners stand back-to-back and wait for a question or prompt.  After listening to the prompt and being given time to think about the response, students face one another and take turns responding. For formative assessment purposes, the teacher can cold-call on one team to respond, and then ask everyone who had the same response to raise their hands.  The teacher can then call on those with different responses to share, and would have a clear picture of the level of understanding and the diversity of thought.

To add interest, this could be done with an inner circle and outer circle. The inner circle could rotate, so students would have a new partner for each prompt.

RSQC2

Give each student a 3 x 5 card.  Allow two minutes for them to students recall and list in rank order the most important ideas from today’s lesson (or they could write evidence of reaching the learning target); in three more minutes, ask them to summarize those points in a single sentence, write one major question they want answered, make a comment about their level of understanding, and make a connection to either the unit or course goals or to an analogy outside the course.  The teacher now has information on those students who may need more help with the learning target and which questions they need to have answered.

TPEP Resources

Happy Wednesday!

Many of you are thinking about TPEP and mid-year TPEP conferences this time of the year, especially if you are on comprehensive. In this week’s coach tip, we want to be sure to acknowledge that. We have attached links and documents that you might find helpful as you reflect on what you and your students have accomplished so far, as well as areas that you are looking to provide more evidence for.

Did you know that we have a Tahoma TPEP Google Site? One thing you might find helpful is found under the tab titled “Evaluation Criteria & Example Evidence”. There you will see details and examples of each criteria. 

Click here to explore the TPEP Google Site 

Additionally, a very helpful document to have handy is the District TPEP timeline as well as a helper sheet reflecting all dates and components of TPEP for teachers both on the comprehensive and focused models.

Helper Sheet

District TPEP Timeline

Of course, we do what we do not because of TPEP, but because it is good instructional practice! Please let us know how we can support you along this journey!

Smiles, 

Nicole, Kristin and Shelly

Maximizing Effectiveness of Slides for Learning

Many of us use PowerPoint or Google Slides to help with instruction.  But, do we always utilize them in the most effective way?

Research shows that learners cannot read and listen at the same time because the cognitive load for learners is too high.

Cognitive load describes the capacity of our brain's working memory to hold and process new pieces of information.  We have a limited amount of working memory, so when a learner is faced with trying to read and listen at the same time, the cognitive load can become too much for the brain to manage.

When the cognitive load is just right, the brain maximizes its ability to retain new information.

Many of us have been guilty of overloading our student's brains and actually hindering their learning at some point.  What can we do to change?

• Use pictures or limited words to enhance the presentation of information, not replace it.
• Make slides that reinforce your words, not repeat them.
• No more than six words on a slide.  Less is more.  (An exception to this rule would be slides that provide directions that students can refer to during an activity.)
• Avoid cheesy, boring images.
• Keep slides simple.
• When you need to provide large chunks of text, give learners a handout.  Printing is free at the Print Shop!

There are exceptions, of course, such as directions for an activity or a direct quote.

Want to read more?  Check out "Why Your Students Forgot Everything on Your PowerPoint Slides" by Mary Jo Madda.

Want a resource for yourself and/or your students?  This handout condenses information from Garr Reynolds book Presentation Zen.  It was created for use with students, but it's also a concise summary of some of the key ideas from the book regarding presentations that you might find useful.

I Can Statements - CCSS style

We know our Learning Targets should be specific, personal to the student, in kid-friendly language and have a verb that communicates the desired student performance.  As we have learned more in recent months, many teachers are fine tuning Learning Targets to be sure they are reflecting the type of thinking (DOK) we are wanting students to do during our lesson.  It's more about what follows the verb than the verb itself.  

Recently, an amazing resource was brought to our attention that showcases "I can" Learning Targets aligned to the CCSS.  It just so happens that the ELA message Shelly H sent yesterday references the same website!  The Curriculum Corner is a wealth of resources, be sure you carve a chunk of time out to explore.  

Specifically, be sure to send some time here perusing the "I can..." CCSS edition.  It is organized by grade level, K-8 and content area (there are even options for cute backgrounds!).  Best of all, it's FREE.

Student to Student Feedback

Supporting students in creating effective peer feedback is one of teachers' greatest challenges.

This three-minute video shows an easy-to-implement strategy called "I Noticed and I Wondered" that generates incredibly sophisticated feedback  for students in grades 4-5. Just imagine the feedback it could elicit in older students and

 Student to Student Feedback