12
ASSESSMENT as a
Catalyst
for LEARNING
Assessment Informs Teachers of Immediate Needs
Because of this truth, teachers must constantly observe and collect data on the class’s needs in order to quickly adjust their instruction based on emerging evidence. The word immediate reiterates the fact that assessment is not an event but a process. Formative assessment for the purpose of determining immediate needs could come in the form of conversations, observations, think-pair-shares, turn-and-talks, or other unobtrusive classroom activities. (We will cover this type of formative assessment in more detail in chapter 4, page 73.) The critical elements are that teachers keep the end goal in mind and they are comfortable being agile in their instruction based on these classroom observations and formative data. Reflecting on the previous examples of the assessment truths, notice that each time the teacher is using the data in a formative manner. There is a focus on feedback, student ownership and response, and teacher agility to address student needs. Assessment should inform teachers of their next steps to maximize learning. Let’s take a moment to make sure we are clear on how formative assessment differs from summative assessment.
Definitions of Formative and Summative Assessment Assessment in the classroom setting generally falls into three categories: (1) preassessment (assessment to determine readiness), (2) formative assessment (assessment to inform next steps), and (3) summative assessment (assessment to verify learning). Preassessment can be considered as a part of the formative paradigm because its use guides decisions about future teaching and learning. Assessment should not be
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Think about a fifth-grade student who is working on a project for science. This project asks students to create a model to describe how the energy in an animal’s food comes from the sun. The teacher has developed a feedback routine where each student receives recognition of a strength, information about an area that needs strengthening, and a brief description of what comes next. This student’s feedback indicates that a clear description of an animal’s food is present, but the connection to the sun is missing. It also provides a resource the student can use to learn more about this connection. The teacher devotes the first few minutes of work the next day to reading and preparing to respond to the feedback. She reminds students to look for explicit information in their feedback that describes next steps to improve their work. Students receive time to collaborate and improve before resubmitting their work to the teacher. The fifth-grade student is now empowered to gather information from that resource to further develop her project. This assessment process informs students of what comes next and gives them time to take action.
