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“Informed by assessment” is one of the six IB’s ATTs (Approaches to Teaching). Assessment is an ongoing process, embedded in learning and te…

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Peer-feedback and how it can be used to exercise agency in the early years, based on Austin's butterfly video (Ron Berger, 2012) Imagine you have an incredible learning experience with your class. All students are engaged in learning and developing their approaches to learning. You feel ecstasy while being part of this beautiful process. Suddenly, you [...]

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assessment | Search Results | SharingPYP Blog

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Peer-feedback and how it can be used to exercise agency in the early years, based on Austin's butterfly video (Ron Berger, 2012) Imagine you have an incredible learning experience with your class. All students are engaged in learning and developing their approaches to learning. You feel ecstasy while being part of this beautiful process.

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A blog about the ways that educational technology can transform teaching and learning.

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by TeachThought Staff

There are great books about assessment (Tomlinson's on assessment in the differentiated classroom are good, for example).

What about articles, essays, and blog posts?

Below we've gathered 12 of what we consider 'must-read' articles about assessment. They purposely cover a variety of different angles, from purpose to function to assessment strategies. We could come up with another 12 tomorrow, and the next day, and so on, so we don't intend for this to be an exhaustive (it's only 12) list that is the final word on assessment. It is-hopefully-a good start.

The list features TeachThought content, but the vast majority (8 of the 12) come from other sites and resources.

See also 12 Strategies For Teaching Literature In The 21st-Century

Let us know in the comments if we've missed one you consider something your colleagues should know about and we'll consider it for any follow-up posts we do.
12 Must-Read Articles About Assessment
1. The Most Important Question Every Assessment Should Answer by Terry Heick

Excerpt: "The benefit of assessments for learning isn't merely a clear picture of understanding; Used properly, it can also inform the rest of the learning process, from curriculum mapping (what do we learn when?) to instruction (how will it be learned?) to assessment design (how should future learning ideally be measured?)"

2. 7 Key Characteristics Of Better Learning Feedback by Grant Wiggins

Excerpt: "The more I can get such timely feedback, in real-time, before it is too late, the better my ultimate performance will be - especially on complex performance that can never be mastered in a short amount of time and on a few attempts. That's why we discuss powerful feedback loops in a sound learning system."

3. Why I Won't Be Using Common Formative Assessments This Year by Peter Anderson

Excerpt: "By reducing students to data points and teachers to impotent technicians, the PLC model aligns itself with what Paulo Freire called 'the banking model of education.'... I'm arguing that PLCs are yet another form of the banking model of education. I don't believe Richard Dufour created PLCs out of a malevolent desire to shortchange teachers and students. I do believe, however, his desire for accountability and results through shared instructional methods has been misguided."

4. Culturally Responsive Differentiated Instructional Strategies by Metropolitan Center For Urban Education

Excerpt: "The disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically diverse students in high-incidence special education programs (mental retardation, learning disabilities, and emotional disturbance) has been a concern for more than three decades (Klingner, Artiles, et.al, 2005). Extensive research suggests many factors are at play in the disproportionate representation of minority students in special education including a teacher's lack of knowledge about culturally and linguistically diverse children (Villegas & Lucas, 2002), and their propensity to label the behavior of these students' as negative and inappropriate (Klinger, Artiles, et. al. 2005)."

5. Dipsticks: Efficient Ways to Check for Understanding by Todd Finley

Excerpt: "'When the cook tastes the soup,' writes Robert E. Stake, 'that's formative; when the guests taste the soup, that's summative."

6. Assessment For Learning, the Achievement Gap & Truly Effective Schools by Rick Stiggins

Excerpt: "Yet, paradoxically, assessment as conceived, conducted, and calcified over the past has done as much to perpetuate the gap as it has to narrow it. This must change now and it can. As it turns out (again paradoxically), assessment may be the most powerful tool available to us for ensuring universal student mastery of essential standards."

Excerpt: "Madaus, West, Harmon, Lomax, and Viator (1992) determined that only three percent of assessment items on tests represented high-level conceptual knowledge and only about five percent of the total items sampled assessed higher-level thinking skills of any type. The other ninety-five percent of items sampled involved low-level skills of recalling information, calculating, and using formulas to solve routine problems similar to problems worked in the textbook or in class."

8. Teachers Going Gradeless: Toward a Future of Growth Not Grades by Arthur Chiaravalli

Excerpt: "For others, gradeless means without grades, that is, avoiding the damaging and demotivating effects of grades entirely. These teachers are trying to put the focus squarely on learning, eliminating grades in favor of feedback and growth. Some may even work in schools that have replaced traditional report cards altogether, using portfolios or descriptive evaluations instead."

9. How Should Learning Be Assessed? by Luba Vangelova

Excerpt: 'High-stakes tests concern Zhao the most, because he says they represent more than misspent time and money. He faults them for suppressing creativity and innovation, and creating narrowed educational experiences because everything that is not measured becomes secondary or is dismissed entirely. Moreover, "constant ranking and sorting" creates stress and makes students less confident.'

10. The Inconvenient Truths About Assessmentby Terry Heick

Excerpt: "It's an extraordinary amount of work to design precise and personalized assessments that illuminate pathways forward for individual students-likely too much for one teacher to do so consistently for every student. This requires rethinking of learning models, or encourages corner-cutting."

11. What Is Understanding? by Terry Heick

Excerpt: "Perhaps the most powerful thing you can do to combat the slippery notion of understanding is to use numerous and diverse assessment forms. And then - and this part is important - honor the performance on each assessment with as much equity as possible."
12. 6 Common Misunderstandings About Assessment Of Learning
Excerpt: "Over the past two decades there has been a lot written, and much discussion, around the effective use of assessment in the classroom.

Unfortunately, many educators, particularly at the secondary school level, continue to cling tenaciously to 'traditional' practices which are, at best ineffective and at worst, counterproductive to the goals of modern education."
12 Must-Read Articles About Assessment

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12 Of Our Favorite Articles About Assessment

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We've gathered 12 of our favorite articles about assessment. They cover a variety of angles, from purpose to function to assessment.

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Social & Emotional Learning (SEL)

Guiding students to create an ongoing cycle of growth in self-regulation starts with having them set explicit goals for themselves.

Self-regulation is a skill that takes a long time to learn and may take a lifetime, in truth, to really master. We can get better at it with practice, and our students' social, emotional, and character development requires that we provide routine opportunities in classrooms and schools for them to work on this skill.

1. Have students determine their goal-the aspect of self-regulation they'd like to improve. You can ask them to work on up to two out of the four areas below at any given point in time.

2. Have them create a plan for how they will improve in that area in the short term.

3. Ask students to review their goal and plan with a classmate who will act as their support partner and then get final approval from their support team-a small group that includes classmates and you.

4. Students should periodically evaluate the plan against the goal they set and determine whether their plan needs adjustment. They should finalize this adjustment after review and approval by their support team.

5. When students meet one goal, have them set another and create a new plan to share with the support team.

Developing self-regulation as a skill is for everyone, not just those who are experiencing difficulty in some area of their life. The concept here is one of continuous improvement. Self-regulation means identifying and taking steps to help one get better at things that are important for that person's individual development. Everyone, at all ages, no matter their degree of accomplishment or shortcoming, can participate in an improvement process.

In helping students learn to self-regulate, consider following these five steps, which are to be repeated in an ongoing cycle for continued growth and improvement.

Four Areas for Self-Regulation Improvement

While improvement plans can be made in any area, I suggest focusing on study skills, social and emotional competency, physical health, or citizenship. I've designed improvement plan worksheets for these four areas .

Study skills: Everyone, no matter how committed or organized, can improve their study habits. Perhaps that means learning to take notes better, or finding the most suitable space in which to read, or developing ways to remember unfamiliar vocabulary words, or improving one's grip on a pencil. When studying is less burdensome, we're more likely to do it.

Character-social-emotional competencies: Everyone, no matter how virtuous or socially and emotionally skilled, can be kinder, more responsible, more appreciative, more empathic, and more solution focused. As more and more schools adopt social and emotional learning competencies and character virtues, students will benefit from learning to improve in these aspects of their lives.

Physical health: As a complement to what is learned in health classes, students can set goals around fitness, nutrition, and healthy habits. By learning self-management as a part of health education, students will come to understand that improving their health is an ongoing responsibility, as is helping others become healthier.

Community member: What better way for students to understand that they can and should be positive assets to their community than to have them participate in that community? In preschool, all children have jobs and understand, at their level, that the class needs and benefits from them learning to do those jobs, doing them well, and helping their classmates become better at their jobs. After all, if the cups are not put out right-side up and flat, the juice pourer will not do his or her job very well.

Sometimes these important lessons are lost in secondary education. All students, preschool to 12th grade, need opportunities to develop at being good citizens-in the classroom, in extracurricular programs, on teams and in performance groups, and in their communities.

The improvement plan worksheets are meant to be modified so as to meet needs specific to different groups of students. They can and should be tailored to students' developmental levels and current status in each of the four areas. There is little point in setting objectives that are clearly beyond a student's capacity. The point is to set up a process and mindset of gradual improvement and self-efficacy, as well as to promote an attitude of helping classmates and colleagues as a way of making them, and ourselves, better. And this applies to the adults in a school as well as students.

While the examples provided are geared toward students, every aspect of the process applies to staff members (and parents and caregivers). There's no better way to encourage improvement in young people than the visible modeling of improvement strategies by adults.

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Guiding students to create an ongoing cycle of growth in self-regulation starts with having them set explicit goals for themselves.

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Carol Ann Tomlinson Again, not an IB authorized text so cannot be used but can be referenced. An easy to access but worthwhile read

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I created this document as a draft template (we also have a blank version that the teachers develop with students) to be used to help students consider why they are posting an artefact on Seesaw and what it says about them as a learner.

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Examines implementation of Assessment for Learning at three levels: policy enactment, professional learning of teachers and school leaders, and practices in classrooms and schools

Highlights challenges of implementation encountered in various contexts around the world

Provides a wealth of ideas, suggestions and recommendations for effective implementation of Assessment for Learning

Is a valuable sourcebook for educational leaders and professionals wishing to develop assessment in support of student learning

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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About this book

This book provides new perspectives on Assessment for Learning (AfL), on the challenges encountered in its implementation, and on the diverse ways of meeting these challenges. It brings together contributions from authors working in a wide range of educational contexts: Australia, Canada, England, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Israel, Philippines, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States. It reflects the issues, innovations, and critical reflections that are emerging in an expanding international network of researchers, professional development providers, and policy makers, all of whom work closely with classroom teachers and school leaders to improve the assessment of student learning.

The concept of Assessment for Learning, initially formulated in 1999 by the Assessment Reform Group in the United Kingdom, has inspired new ways of conceiving and practicing classroom assessment in education systems around the world. This book examines assessment for learning in a broad perspective which includes diverse approaches to formative assessment (some emphasizing teacher intervention, others student involvement in assessment), as well as some forms of summative assessment designed to support student learning. The focus is on assessment in K-12 classrooms and on the continuing professional learning of teachers and school leaders working with these classrooms.

Readers of this volume will encounter well documented accounts of AfL implementation across a large spectrum of conditions in different countries and thereby acquire better understanding of the challenges that emerge in the transition from theory and policy to classroom practice. They will also discover a wealth of ideas for implementing assessment for learning in an effective and sustainable manner. The chapters are grouped in three Parts: (1) Assessment Policy Enactment in Education Systems; (2) Professional Development and Collaborative Learning about Assessment; (3) Assessment Culture and the Co-Regulation of Learning. An introduction to each Part provides an overview and presents the suggestions and recommendations formulated in the chapters.

Reviews

"This book makes an original contribution to the field in a number of ways. The three-part structure of the volume beginning with assessment policy enactment at a system level, moving to professional development and collaborative learning at the district or school level and closing with explorations of assessment culture and co-regulation at the level of individual classrooms, teachers and/or students is unique and highly effective in capturing the inherent complexity and multi-faceted nature of AfL. In addition, ... the volume has considerable coherence while also communicating an intense sense of the deeply contextualized nature of AfL practice." (Dr. Martha Koch, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada)

"We needed to develop our understanding of keys to success in classroom assessment and assessment for learning through sharply focused research ... . We needed to create and bring into action high-quality professional development experiences for teachers, school leaders and policy makers. And we needed to promote the kinds of assessment and educational policies that guide practices that we know will promote each student's academic and emotional well-being. As you read on in this volume, you will see that these same themes provide the organizational structure ... used to pool our collective wisdom". (Rick Stiggins, in: Preface to this book, Assessment Training Institute, Portland, Oregon, USA)

Bibliographic Information

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Assessment for Learning: Meeting the Challenge of Implementation

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Examines implementation of Assessment for Learning at three levels: policy enactment, professional learning of teachers and school leaders, and practices in classrooms and schools Highlights challenges of implementation encountered in various contexts around the world Provides a wealth of ideas, suggestions and recommendations for effective implementation of Assessment for Learning

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by Terry Heick

How can you tell if a student really understands something?

They learn early on to play the game-tell the teacher and/or the test what they 'want to know,' and even the best assessment leaves something on the table. (In truth, a big portion of the time students simply don't know what they don't know.)

The idea of understanding is, of course, at the heart of all learning, and solving it as a puzzle is one of the three pillars of formal learning environments and education.

1. What do they need to understand (standards)?

2. What (and how) do they currently understand (assessment)?

3. How can they best come to understand what they currently do not (planning learning experiences and instruction)?

But how do we know if they know it? And what is 'it'?

On the surface, there is trouble with the word 'it.' Sounds vague. Troublesome. Uncertain. But everyone somehow knows what it is.

'It' is essentially what is to be learned, and it can be a scary thing to both teachers and students. 'It' is everything, described with intimidating terms like objective, target, proficiency, test, exam, grade, fail, and succeed.

And in terms of content, 'it' could be almost anything: a fact, a discovery, a habit, skill, or general concept, from mathematical theory to a scientific process, the importance of a historical figure to an author's purpose in a text.

So if a student gets it, beyond pure academic performance what might they be able to do? There are many existing taxonomies and characteristics, from Bloom's to Understanding by Design's 6 Facets of Understanding.

The following actions are set up as a linear taxonomy, from most basic to the most complex. The best part about it is its simplicity: Most of these actions can be performed simply in the classroom in minutes, and don't require complex planning or an extended exam period.

By using a quick diagram, concept map, t-chart, conversation, picture, or short response in a journal, quick face-to-face collaboration, on an exit slip, or via digital/social media, understanding can be evaluated in minutes, helping to replace testing and consternation with a climate of assessment. It can be even be displayed on a class website or hung in the classroom to help guide self-directed learning, with students checking themselves for understanding.
How This Understanding Taxonomy Works
I'll write more about this soon and put this into a more graphic form soon; both of these are critical in using it. (Update: I'm also creating a course for teachers to help the, use it.) For now, I'll say that it can be used to guide planning, assessment, curriculum design, and self-directed learning. Or to develop critical thinking questions for any content area.

The 'Heick' learning taxonomy is meant to be simple, arranged as (mostly) isolated tasks that range in complexity from less to more. That said, students needn't demonstrate the 'highest' levels of understanding-that misses the point. Any ability to complete these tasks is a demonstration of understanding. The greater number of tasks the student can complete the better, but all 'boxes checked' are evidence that the student 'gets it.'

36 Thinking Strategies To Help Students Wrestle With Complexity
The Heick Learning Taxonomy Domain 1: The Parts Example Topic
The Revolutionary War
Sample Prompts
Explain the Revolutionary War in simple terms (e.g., an inevitable rebellion that created a new nation).

Identify the major and minor 'parts' of the Revolutionary War (e.g., economics and propaganda, soldiers and tariffs).

Evaluate the Revolutionary War and identify its least and most important characteristics (e.g., caused and effects vs city names and minor skirmishes)
Domain 2: The Whole Domain 3: The Interdependence Domain 4: The Function

1. Apply it in unfamiliar situations

2. Create accurate analogies to convey its function or meaning

3. Analyze the sweet spot of its utility

4. Repurpose it with creativity

5. Know when to use it

6. Plausibly theorize its origins

Domain 5: The Abstraction Domain 6: The Self Advanced Understanding

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6 Domains Of Cognition: The Heick Learning Taxonomy

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The Heick Learning Taxonomy can be used to guide planning, assessment, curriculum design, and self-directed learning.

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Differentiated Thinking Tools and Strategies (Public)

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With possible Visible Thinking Routines

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Learning Stories and Assessment of Children’s Learning - My ECE

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What Learning Stories are, why many teachers and educators use this method of assessment of children’s learning and forms it can take.

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Listen to my interview with Joe Hirsch (transcript):
Sponsored by Kiddom and Pear Deck

As teachers, we pretty much give feedback all day long. We tell students how they can improve on assignments, we praise them for things they're doing well, we correct their incorrect responses, and we redirect them when they behave in ways that aren't helpful to learning.

And that's just the students. We also give feedback to our colleagues, although in most cases, these exchanges don't happen as often or as freely as they probably should. We receive plenty of feedback as well, from our students, their parents, our administrators, and our peers. And we encourage our students to give feedback to each other, albeit with pretty uneven results. Really, the experience of school could be described as one long feedback session, where every day, people show up with the goal of improving, while other people tell them how to do it.

And it doesn't always go well. As we give and receive feedback, people get defensive. Feelings get hurt. Too often, the improvements we're going for don't happen, because the feedback isn't given in a way that the receiver can embrace.

It turns out there's a different way to give feedback that works a lot better, a way of flipping its focus from the past to the future. It's a concept called "feedforward," which was originally developed by a management expert named Marshall Goldsmith. As far as I can tell, not a lot of educators are familiar with the practice of feedforward, and I really think if we learned how to do it and started using it more consistently, it could make a huge difference in how our students grow and how we grow as professionals.

In this week's podcast, I interview Joe Hirsch, author of The Feedback Fix: Dump the Past, Embrace the Future, and Lead the Way to Change. ( Bookshop.org | Amazon). In the book, Joe digs deep into the practice of feedforward and shows us how and why it works. You can listen to our full conversation in the player above, read the full transcript, or stay right here-I'll give you a quick overview.

What's Wrong with the Way We Give Feedback?

When we give feedback to our students, or when our co-workers or administrators give feedback to us, the focus is on the past. "People can't control what they can't change, and we can't change the past," says Hirsch. "And that happens to be the focus of most of the feedback that we give or receive."

More specifically, backward-looking feedback doesn't often get good results for three reasons:

It shuts down our mental dashboards. "When we get negative feedback about something that we can't change or control," Hirsch says, "our brains flood with stress-inducing hormones, cortisol, that trigger our threat awareness and put us on the defensive. The parts that are responsible for executive function, for creativity, the parts that allow us to sort of set our agendas and make rational decisions, essentially we are in a state of mental paralysis."

It focuses primarily on ratings, not on development. Most of feedback's time and energy is spent on looking back and rating (or grading) performance that's already over, rather than focusing on what can be done from now on. "When feedback consists of an impersonal set of performance standards, we're overlooking the essential goal of feedback, and that's to create positive and lasting improvement."

It reinforces negative behaviors. "When we hear about flaws that we can't fix anymore-because they're in a past that we can't change-it creates a feeling of learned helplessness, the feeling that we are unable to do anything about our future. Instead of committing ourselves to improvement, which is what we would hope would happen, we hold onto this debilitating view of who we are instead of focusing on who we are becoming."

What is Feedforward?

When we give feedforward, instead of rating and judging a person's performance in the past, we focus on their development in the future.

Suppose my student is writing an essay. Instead of waiting until she is finished, then marking up all the errors and giving it a grade, I would read parts of the essay while she is writing it, point out things I'm noticing, and ask her questions to get her thinking about how she might improve it.

In his book, Hirsch takes this broad concept of feedforward and defines six components of it, six specific characteristics of feedforward that make it so effective. He refers to these by the acronym REPAIR (regenerates, expands, particular, authentic, impact, refines).

So let's take a look at each of these. If you want to implement feedforward well, it should have these attributes:

It REGENERATES talent.

The most effective kind of feedforward helps people see opportunities for growth-ways they could take on new opportunities and roles. "At the simplest level," Hirsch writes in his book, "it leads to the unmistakable feeling that we're moving forward in our professional and personal lives. Getting positive feedback about our performance may feel good, but it doesn't break new ground. It merely confirms what we already know about ourselves and our talents, essentially holding our growth in check. But when feedback gets us thinking about how to spread that talent to others, it has a multiplying effect."

So when we notice that a student is developing a strength or an interest in an area, instead of just pointing that out, we might give the student an opportunity to enter their work in some kind of competition, publish it in some way, or share it with others in a presentation, rather than simply keeping it to themselves. This helps students see themselves in a new light and gets them thinking about ways they could grow.

It EXPANDS possibilities.

Effective feedback starts with what is and helps add to it, expanding what's possible, rather than simply pointing out problems. In his book, Hirsch describes a concept used by Pixar studios called "plussing." When Pixar's creators get together to review a day's work, they are expected to give each other feedback to improve the work. What makes these sessions so effective is one important rule: Participants can't point out a problem without proposing an alternative, saying "What if?" to a problem.

This concept of "plussing" could work wonders in staff or committee meetings: When we are discussing possible solutions to an issue, rather than shooting down ideas that might not work, we could add to them by making small tweaks. "That's an interesting idea. What if we made this small change and tried that?" This technique would also work beautifully with project-based learning tasks, when students may need to come up with several ideas for solving a problem before arriving at the best solution.

It is PARTICULAR.

Far too often, feedback is given in an "information dump," with lots of criteria being measured and reported on at the same time. This can be a pretty ineffective way to help people grow. "There's a limit to how much we can absorb and operationalize in any given time," Hirsch says. "Feedforward is really about picking your battlegrounds strategically and selectively." He advises us to make feedback an ongoing process that is embedded in the day-to-day work, and to only focus on a few things at a time.

So rather than wait until an assignment is done to point out all the ways a student can improve, find ways to give them specific pointers while they work, and only one thing at a time, so students can process and act on it right away.

It is AUTHENTIC.

No one particularly likes giving criticism. "We see problems, we see pitfalls in other people, and we know it's a problem," Hirsch says, "but we don't want to be mean, right? We don't want to crush them. So the tendency is to either avoid giving feedback altogether or to disguise it as a praise sandwich, where we basically slip one piece of criticism in between two very, very surface level gauzy praises."

The problem with that approach, Hirsch explains, is what's called the recency effect: People remember most the thing they heard last. So when you tack on some praise after delivering constructive feedback, the person doesn't really absorb the critical part as well as they would if you'd just given it to them more directly.

Hirsch recommends a more direct approach: Describe what's happening, explain why it's a problem, then prompt the person for a solution. "When delivered this way," Hirsch explains, "it puts people at ease, it takes them off the defensive. It is clear, it is concise, it's locating the problem, it's looking for solutions together. People don't want a praise sandwich. People want the truth."

This approach could work with academic situations or classroom management problems: If you're dealing with a student who is disrupting class, describe the behavior you're seeing, explain why it's a problem, then ask the student for ideas on how to solve it. It sounds really simple, but if what you're doing right now isn't giving you the results you want, it's worth a try.

It has IMPACT.

One of the reasons people don't make progress after receiving feedback is that they don't necessarily know what to do with it. "If you want feedback to make an impact," Hirsch notes, "you have to put it in terms that people can operationalize." In his book, he cites studies showing that regular feedback doesn't typically result in a transfer of new skills or habits, but when that feedback is combined with coaching, the transfer skyrockets to 95 percent.

So if a student regularly forgets to bring materials to class, rather than simply telling him to change, help him make a specific plan for improvement. Ideally, that plan should have lots of small steps to make it achievable, and the student should take the lead in developing that plan.

It REFINES group dynamics.

"Feedback is a team sport," Hirsch says. "It is not just something that happens one to one. It happens in groups and across and within organizations. And when we dump that command and control nature of traditional feedback, we make room for something much more collaborative and shared."

So rather than give feedback in a top-down, hierarchical model, open up more pathways for people to get feedback from their peers, even those whose jobs might on the surface have little in common with our own. In his book, Hirsch borrows a term from management circles known as "creative abrasion," which is what happens when people with opposing views work on the same task together. Although it can result in more conflict, the contributions from different points of view usually produce a higher-quality product in the end.

This idea can play out in a lot of educational settings: Instead of just having our department head observe our teaching, why not get feedback from someone who teaches a completely different subject? When students go to the same peers for feedback on their work, have them seek out the opinion of someone new, or consider getting the input of a group of students from a different class or grade level entirely.

There's nothing simple or straightforward about telling people how to improve. So it's no surprise that we're still figuring it out and finding new ways to refine it. If the feedback you're giving to your students, your coworkers, and even the people at home isn't having quite the effect you intend, try shifting to a feedforward approach. Doing so can help us, as Hirsch says, stop seeing ourselves just as who we are, but who we are becoming. ♦

Learn more about Joe Hirsch on his website or visit his LinkedIn page. Teachers who read The Feedback Fix should also grab this free Discussion Guide for Teachers to help apply the book's principles to your own work.

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Instead of rating and judging a person's performance in the past, feedforward focuses on their development in the future.

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Not an official IB resource but one to refer to during the workshop.

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Vol. 70

No. 1

Abstract

What Is Feedback, Anyway?

Feedback Essentials

Progress Toward a Goal

"But There's No Time!"

Advice, evaluation, grades-none of these provide the descriptive information that students need to reach their goals. What is true feedback-and how can it improve learning?

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Abstract

What Is Feedback, Anyway?

Feedback Essentials

Progress Toward a Goal

"But There's No Time!"

Who would dispute the idea that feedback is a good thing? Both common sense and research make it clear: Formative assessment, consisting of lots of feedback and opportunities to use that feedback, enhances performance and achievement.

Yet even John Hattie (2008), whose decades of research revealed that feedback was among the most powerful influences on achievement, acknowledges that he has "struggled to understand the concept" (p. 173). And many writings on the subject don't even attempt to define the term. To improve formative assessment practices among both teachers and assessment designers, we need to look more closely at just what feedback is-and isn't.

What Is Feedback, Anyway?

The term feedback is often used to describe all kinds of comments made after the fact, including advice, praise, and evaluation. But none of these are feedback, strictly speaking.

Basically, feedback is information about how we are doing in our efforts to reach a goal. I hit a tennis ball with the goal of keeping it in the court, and I see where it lands-in or out. I tell a joke with the goal of making people laugh, and I observe the audience's reaction-they laugh loudly or barely snicker. I teach a lesson with the goal of engaging students, and I see that some students have their eyes riveted on me while others are nodding off.

Here are some other examples of feedback:

A friend tells me, "You know, when you put it that way and speak in that softer tone of voice, it makes me feel better."

A reader comments on my short story, "The first few paragraphs kept my full attention. The scene painted was vivid and interesting. But then the dialogue became hard to follow; as a reader, I was confused about who was talking, and the sequence of actions was puzzling, so I became less engaged."

A baseball coach tells me, "Each time you swung and missed, you raised your head as you swung so you didn't really have your eye on the ball. On the one you hit hard, you kept your head down and saw the ball."

Note the difference between these three examples and the first three I cited-the tennis stroke, the joke, and the student responses to teaching. In the first group, I only had to take note of the tangible effect of my actions, keeping my goals in mind. No one volunteered feedback, but there was still plenty of feedback to get and use. The second group of examples all involved the deliberate, explicit giving of feedback by other people.

Whether the feedback was in the observable effects or from other people, in every case the information received was not advice, nor was the performance evaluated. No one told me as a performer what to do differently or how "good" or "bad" my results were. (You might think that the reader of my writing was judging my work, but look at the words used again: She simply played back the effect my writing had on her as a reader.) Nor did any of the three people tell me what to do (which is what many people erroneously think feedback is-advice). Guidance would be premature; I first need to receive feedback on what I did or didn't do that would warrant such advice.

In all six cases, information was conveyed about the effects of my actions as related to a goal. The information did not include value judgments or recommendations on how to improve. (For examples of information that is often falsely viewed as feedback, see "Feedback vs. Advice" above and "Feedback vs. Evaluation and Grades" on p. 15.)

Decades of education research support the idea that by teaching less and providing more feedback, we can produce greater learning (see Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Hattie, 2008; Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001). Compare the typical lecture-driven course, which often produces less-than-optimal learning, with the peer instruction model developed by Eric Mazur (2009) at Harvard. He hardly lectures at all to his 200 introductory physics students; instead, he gives them problems to think about individually and then discuss in small groups. This system, he writes, "provides frequent and continuous feedback (to both the students and the instructor) about the level of understanding of the subject being discussed" (p. 51), producing gains in both conceptual understanding of the subject and problem-solving skills. Less "teaching," more feedback equals better results.

Feedback Essentials

Whether feedback is just there to be grasped or is provided by another person, helpful feedback is goal-referenced; tangible and transparent; actionable; user-friendly (specific and personalized); timely; ongoing; and consistent.

1. Goal-Referenced

Effective feedback requires that a person has a goal, takes action to achieve the goal, and receives goal-related information about his or her actions. I told a joke-why? To make people laugh. I wrote a story to engage the reader with vivid language and believable dialogue that captures the characters' feelings. I went up to bat to get a hit. If I am not clear on my goals or if I fail to pay attention to them, I cannot get helpful feedback (nor am I likely to achieve my goals).

Information becomes feedback if, and only if, I am trying to cause something and the information tells me whether I am on track or need to change course. If some joke or aspect of my writing isn't working -a revealing, nonjudgmental phrase-I need to know.

Note that in everyday situations, goals are often implicit, although fairly obvious to everyone. I don't need to announce when telling the joke that my aim is to make you laugh. But in school, learners are often unclear about the specific goal of a task or lesson, so it is crucial to remind them about the goal and the criteria by which they should self-assess. For example, a teacher might say,

The point of this writing task is for you to make readers laugh. So, when rereading your draft or getting feedback from peers, ask, How funny is this? Where might it be funnier?

As you prepare a table poster to display the findings of your science project, remember that the aim is to interest people in your work as well as to describe the facts you discovered through your experiment. Self-assess your work against those two criteria using these rubrics. The science fair judges will do likewise.

2. Tangible and Transparent

Any useful feedback system involves not only a clear goal, but also tangible results related to the goal. People laugh, chuckle, or don't laugh at each joke; students are highly attentive, somewhat attentive, or inattentive to my teaching.

Even as little children, we learn from such tangible feedback. That's how we learn to walk; to hold a spoon; and to understand that certain words magically yield food, drink, or a change of clothes from big people. The best feedback is so tangible that anyone who has a goal can learn from it.

Alas, far too much instructional feedback is opaque, as revealed in a true story a teacher told me years ago. A student came up to her at year's end and said, "Miss Jones, you kept writing this same word on my English papers all year, and I still don't know what it means." "What's the word? " she asked. "Vag-oo," he said. (The word was vague!)

Sometimes, even when the information is tangible and transparent, the performers don't obtain it-either because they don't look for it or because they are too busy performing to focus on the effects. In sports, novice tennis players or batters often don't realize that they're taking their eyes off the ball; they often protest, in fact, when that feedback is given. (Constantly yelling "Keep your eye on the ball!" rarely works.) And we have all seen how new teachers are sometimes so busy concentrating on "teaching" that they fail to notice that few students are listening or learning.

That's why, in addition to feedback from coaches or other able observers, video or audio recordings can help us perceive things that we may not perceive as we perform; and by extension, such recordings help us learn to look for difficult-to-perceive but vital information. I recommend that all teachers videotape their own classes at least once a month. It was a transformative experience for me when I did it as a beginning teacher. Concepts that had been crystal clear to me when I was teaching seemed opaque and downright confusing on tape-captured also in the many quizzical looks of my students, which I had missed in the moment.

3. Actionable

Effective feedback is concrete, specific, and useful; it provides actionable information. Thus, "Good job!" and "You did that wrong" and B+ are not feedback at all. We can easily imagine the learners asking themselves in response to these comments, What specifically should I do more or less of next time, based on this information? No idea. They don't know what was "good" or "wrong" about what they did.

Actionable feedback must also be accepted by the performer. Many so-called feedback situations lead to arguments because the givers are not sufficiently descriptive; they jump to an inference from the data instead of simply presenting the data. For example, a supervisor may make the unfortunate but common mistake of stating that "many students were bored in class." That's a judgment, not an observation. It would have been far more useful and less debatable had the supervisor said something like, "I counted ongoing inattentive behaviors in 12 of the 25 students once the lecture was underway. The behaviors included texting under desks, passing notes, and making eye contact with other students. However, after the small-group exercise began, I saw such behavior in only one student."

Such care in offering neutral, goal-related facts is the whole point of the clinical supervision of teaching and of good coaching more generally. Effective supervisors and coaches work hard to carefully observe and comment on what they observed, based on a clear statement of goals. That's why I always ask when visiting a class, "What would you like me to look for and perhaps count?" In my experience as a teacher of teachers, I have always found such pure feedback to be accepted and welcomed. Effective coaches also know that in complex performance situations, actionable feedback about what went right is as important as feedback about what didn't work.

4. User-Friendly

Even if feedback is specific and accurate in the eyes of experts or bystanders, it is not of much value if the user cannot understand it or is overwhelmed by it. Highly technical feedback will seem odd and confusing to a novice. Describing a baseball swing to a 6-year-old in terms of torque and other physics concepts will not likely yield a better hitter. Too much feedback is also counterproductive; better to help the performer concentrate on only one or two key elements of performance than to create a buzz of information coming in from all sides.

Expert coaches uniformly avoid overloading performers with too much or too technical information. They tell the performers one important thing they noticed that, if changed, will likely yield immediate and noticeable improvement ("I was confused about who was talking in the dialogue you wrote in this paragraph"). They don't offer advice until they make sure the performer understands the importance of what they saw.

5. Timely

In most cases, the sooner I get feedback, the better. I don't want to wait for hours or days to find out whether my students were attentive and whether they learned, or which part of my written story works and which part doesn't. I say "in most cases" to allow for situations like playing a piano piece in a recital. I don't want my teacher or the audience barking out feedback as I perform. That's why it is more precise to say that good feedback is "timely" rather than "immediate."

A great problem in education, however, is untimely feedback. Vital feedback on key performances often comes days, weeks, or even months after the performance-think of writing and handing in papers or getting back results on standardized tests. As educators, we should work overtime to figure out ways to ensure that students get more timely feedback and opportunities to use it while the attempt and effects are still fresh in their minds.

Before you say that this is impossible, remember that feedback does not need to come only from the teacher, or even from people at all. Technology is one powerful tool-part of the power of computer-assisted learning is unlimited, timely feedback and opportunities to use it. Peer review is another strategy for managing the load to ensure lots of timely feedback; it's essential, however, to train students to do small-group peer review to high standards, without immature criticisms or unhelpful praise.

6. Ongoing

Adjusting our performance depends on not only receiving feedback but also having opportunities to use it. What makes any assessment in education formative is not merely that it precedes summative assessments, but that the performer has opportunities, if results are less than optimal, to reshape the performance to better achieve the goal. In summative assessment, the feedback comes too late; the performance is over.

Thus, the more feedback I can receive in real time, the better my ultimate performance will be. This is how all highly successful computer games work. If you play Angry Birds, Halo, Guitar Hero, or Tetris, you know that the key to substantial improvement is that the feedback is both timely and ongoing. When you fail, you can immediately start over-sometimes even right where you left off-to get another opportunity to receive and learn from the feedback. (This powerful feedback loop is also user-friendly. Games are built to reflect and adapt to our changing need, pace, and ability to process information.)

It is telling, too, that performers are often judged on their ability to adjust in light of feedback. The ability to quickly adapt one's performance is a mark of all great achievers and problem solvers in a wide array of fields. Or, as many little league coaches say, "The problem is not making errors; you will all miss many balls in the field, and that's part of learning. The problem is when you don't learn from the errors."

7. Consistent

To be useful, feedback must be consistent. Clearly, performers can only adjust their performance successfully if the information fed back to them is stable, accurate, and trustworthy. In education, that means teachers have to be on the same page about what high-quality work is. Teachers need to look at student work together, becoming more consistent over time and formalizing their judgments in highly descriptive rubrics supported by anchor products and performances. By extension, if we want student-to-student feedback to be more helpful, students have to be trained to be consistent the same way we train teachers, using the same exemplars and rubrics.

Progress Toward a Goal

In light of these key characteristics of helpful feedback, how can schools most effectively use feedback as part of a system of formative assessment? The key is to gear feedback to long-term goals.

Let's look at how this works in sports. My daughter runs the mile in track. At the end of each lap in races and practice races, the coaches yell out split times (the times for each lap) and bits of feedback ("You're not swinging your arms!" "You're on pace for 5:15"), followed by advice ("Pick it up-you need to take two seconds off this next lap to get in under 5:10!").

My daughter and her teammates are getting feedback (and advice) about how they are performing now compared with their final desired time. My daughter's goal is to run a 5:00 mile. She has already run 5:09. Her coach is telling her that at the pace she just ran in the first lap, she is unlikely even to meet her best time so far this season, never mind her long-term goal. Then, he tells her something descriptive about her current performance (she's not swinging her arms) and gives her a brief piece of concrete advice (take two seconds off the next lap) to make achievement of the goal more likely.

The ability to improve one's result depends on the ability to adjust one's pace in light of ongoing feedback that measures performance against a concrete, long-term goal. But this isn't what most school district "pacing guides" and grades on "formative" tests tell you. They yield a grade against recent objectives taught, not useful feedback against the final performance standards. Instead of informing teachers and students at an interim date whether they are on track to achieve a desired level of student performance by the end of the school year, the guide and the test grade just provide a schedule for the teacher to follow in delivering content and a grade on that content. It's as if at the end of the first lap of the mile race, My daughter's coach simply yelled out, " B+ on that lap!"

The advice for how to change this sad situation should be clear: Score student work in the fall and winter against spring standards, use more pre-and post-assessments to measure progress toward these standards, and do the item analysis to note what each student needs to work on for better future performance.

"But There's No Time!"

Although the universal teacher lament that there's no time for such feedback is understandable, remember that "no time to give and use feedback" actually means "no time to cause learning." As we have seen, research shows that less teaching plus more feedback is the key to achieving greater learning. And there are numerous ways-through technology, peers, and other teachers-that students can get the feedback they need.

So try it out. Less teaching, more feedback. Less feedback that comes only from you, and more tangible feedback designed into the performance itself. And, of course, send me some feedback on this article at gwiggins@authenticeducation.org.

Feedback vs. Advice

› You need more examples in your report.

› You might want to use a lighter baseball bat.

› You should have included some Essential Questions in your unit plan.

These three statements are not feedback; they're advice. Such advice out of the blue seems at best tangential and at worst unhelpful and annoying. Unless it is preceded by descriptive feedback, the natural response of the performer is to wonder, "Why are you suggesting this?"

As coaches, teachers, and parents, we too often jump right to advice without first ensuring that the learner has sought, grasped, and tentatively accepted the feedback on which the advice is based. By doing so, we often unwittingly end up unnerving learners. Students become increasingly insecure about their own judgment and dependent on the advice of experts-and therefore in a panic about what to do when varied advice comes from different people or no advice is available at all.

If your ratio of advice to feedback is too high, try asking the learner, "Given the feedback, do you have some ideas about how to improve?" This approach will build greater autonomy and confidence over the long haul. Once they are no longer rank novices, performers can often self-advise if asked to.

Feedback vs. Evaluation and Grades

› This is a weak paper.

› You got a C on your presentation.

› I'm so pleased by your poster!

These comments make a value judgment. They rate, evaluate, praise, or criticize what was done. There is little or no feedback here-no actionable information about what occurred. As performers, we only know that someone else placed a high or low value on what we did.

How might we recast these comments to be useful feedback? Tip: Always add a mental colon after each statement of value. For example,

"Good work: Your use of words was more precise in this paper than in the last one, and I saw the scenes clearly in my mind's eye."

"This is a weak paper: Almost from the first sentence, I was confused as to your initial thesis and the evidence you provide for it. In the second paragraph you propose a different thesis, and in the third paragraph you don't offer evidence, just beliefs."

You'll soon find that you can drop the evaluative language; it serves no useful function.

The most ubiquitous form of evaluation, grading, is so much a part of the school landscape that we easily overlook its utter uselessness as actionable feedback. Grades are here to stay, no doubt-but that doesn't mean we should rely on them as a major source of feedback.

References

Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L., & Cocking, R. R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Hattie, J. (2008). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York: Routledge.

Mazur, E. (2009, January 2). Farewell, lecture? Science, 323, 50-51.

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Advice, evaluation, grades-none of these provide the descriptive information that students need to reach their goals. What is true feedback-and how can it improve learning?

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Formative assessment and self regulation

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Formative assessment and self regulation

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Not an official IB resource but one to refer to during the workshop.

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Students work in feedback groups to present their driving and sub questions. We used the ladder of feedback to help structure constructive conversations. Students will check in with their group over...

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Prompts for assessment-capable students and self-regulated learners

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Prompts for assessment-capable students and self-regulated learners

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Prompts to develop assessment-capable students 

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contributed by Saga Briggs

The ultimate goal of teaching is understanding.

But sometimes it's easier to talk than to teach, as we all know, especially when we need to cover a lot of material in a short amount of time. We hope students will understand, if not now then before test time, and we keep our fingers crossed that their results will indicate we've done our job.

The problem is, we often rely on these tests to measure understanding and then we move on. There isn't always time to address weaknesses and misunderstandings after the tests have been graded, and the time to help students learn through strategies to ask great questions is gone.

Below are 22 simple assessment strategies and tips to help you become more frequent in your teaching, planning, and curriculum design.

Book TeachThought Professional Development for training on assessment practices that grow teachers
22 Simple Assessment Strategies & Tips You Can Use Every Day 1. An open-ended question that gets them writing/talking
Avoid yes/no questions and phrases like "Does this make sense?" In response to these questions, students usually answer 'yes.' So, of course, it's surprising when several students later admit that they're lost.

To help students grasp ideas in class, ask open-ended questions that require students that get students writing/talking. They can reveal more than you would've thought to ask directly.
2. Ask students to reflect
During the last five minutes of class ask students to reflect on the lesson and write down what they've learned. Then, ask them to consider how they would apply this concept or skill in a practical setting. Exit ticketsmake this easy to administer and review student answers.
3. Use quizzes
Give a short quiz at the end of class to check for comprehension.
4. Ask students to summarize
Have students summarize or paraphrase important concepts and lessons. This can be done orally, visually, or otherwise.
5. Hand signals
Hand signals can be used to rate or indicate students' understanding of content. Students can show anywhere from five fingers to signal maximum understanding to one finger to signal minimal understanding. This strategy requires engagement by all students and allows the teacher to check for understanding within a large group.
6. Response cards
Index cards, signs, whiteboards, magnetic boards, or other items are simultaneously held up by all students in class to indicate their response to a question or problem presented by the teacher. Using response devices, the teacher can easily note the responses of individual students while teaching the whole group.
7. Four corners
A quick and easy snapshot of student understanding, Four Corners provides an opportunity for student movement while permitting the teacher to monitor and assess understanding.

The teacher poses a question or makes a statement. Students then move to the appropriate corner of the classroom to indicate their response to the prompt. For example, the corner choices might include "I strongly agree," "I strongly disagree," "I agree somewhat," and "I'm not sure."
8. Think-pair-share
Students take a few minutes to think about the question or prompt. Next, they pair with a designated partner to compare thoughts before sharing with the whole class.
9. Choral reading
Students mark text to identify a particular concept and chime in, reading the marked text aloud in unison with the teacher. This strategy helps students develop fluency; differentiate between the reading of statements and questions; and practice phrasing, pacing, and reading dialogue.
10. One question quiz
Ask a single focused question with a specific goal that can be answered within a minute or two. You can quickly scan the written responses to assess student understanding.
11. Socratic seminar
Students ask questions of one another about an essential question, topic, or selected text. The questions initiate a conversation that continues with a series of responses and additional questions. Students learn to formulate questions that address issues to facilitate their own discussion and arrive at a new understanding.
12. 3-2-1
Students consider what they have learned by responding to the following prompt at the end of the lesson: 3) things they learned from your lesson; 2) things they want to know more about; and 1) questions they have. The prompt stimulates student reflection on the lesson and helps to process the learning.
13. Ticket out the door
Students write in response to a specific prompt for a short period of time. Teachers collect their responses as a "ticket out the door" to check for students' understanding of a concept taught. This exercise quickly generates multiple ideas that could be turned into longer pieces of writing at a later time.
14. Journal reflections
Students write their reflections on a lesson, such as what they learned, what caused them difficulty, strategies they found helpful, or other lesson-related topics. Students can reflect on and process lessons. By reading student work-especially -types of learning journals that help students think-teachers can identify class and individual misconceptions and successes. (See also
15. Formative pencil-paper assessment
Students respond individually to short, pencil-paper formative assessments of skills and knowledge taught in the lesson. Teachers may elect to have students self-correct. The teacher collects assessment results to monitor individual student progress and to inform future instruction.

Both student and teacher can quickly assess whether the student acquired the intended knowledge and skills. This is a formative assessment, so a grade is not the intended purpose.
16. Misconception check
Present students with common or predictable misconceptions about a concept you're covering. Ask them whether they agree or disagree and to explain why.
17. Analogy prompt
Teaching with analogies can be powerful. Periodically, present students with an analogy prompt: "the concept being covered is like ____ because ____."
18. Practice frequency
Check for understanding at least three times a lesson, minimum.
19. Use variety
Teachers should use enough different individual and whole group techniques to check understanding that they accurately know what all students know. More than likely, this means during a single class the same technique should not be repeated.
20. Make it useful
The true test is whether or not you can adjust your course or continue as planned based on the information received in each check. Do you need to stop and start over? Pull a few students aside for three minutes to re-teach? Or move on?
21. Peer instruction
Perhaps the most accurate way to check for understanding is to have one student try to teach another student what she's learned. If she can do that successfully, it's clear she understood your lesson.
22. "Separate what you do and don't understand"
Whether making a t-chart, drawing a concept map, or using some other means, have the students not simply list what they think they know, but what they don't know as well. This won't be as simple as it sounds-we're usually not aware of what we don't know.

They'll also often know more or less than they can identify themselves, which makes this strategy a bit crude. But that's okay-the goal isn't for them to be precise and complete in their self-evaluation the goal is for you to gain insight as to what they do and don't know.

And seeing what they can even begin to articulate on their own is an excellent starting point here.
This post was written by Saga Briggins and was first published by on opencolleges.edu.au; 20 Simple Assessment Strategies You Can Use Every Day

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22 Simple Assessment Strategies You Can Use Every Day

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Here are 22 simple assessment strategies and tips to help you become more frequent in your teaching, planning, and curriculum design.

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Formative assessment is a proven technique for improving student learning, and the strategies shared here by Jay McTighe work both in the classroom and remotely.

Bob Daemmrich / Alamy Stock Photo

Using formative assessments designed to check for understanding and provide students with feedback and support is one of the most effective ways to improve and enhance student learning. Yet because of the need to cover large amounts of information and develop many skills, teachers may not take time checking to make sure students understand a concept or can effectively apply a skill, and, if they don't, figuring out ways to improve their learning.

Thankfully, there are practical, proven formative assessment techniques that teachers can use as a quick "pulse check" to gauge students' understanding. The eight techniques here can be applied across grades and subject areas in virtual, hybrid, and in-person learning environments.

The results of these checks should not be graded since the purpose of formative assessment techniques is to obtain feedback to use in improving teaching and learning, not to evaluate learning. It's important that students understand the purposes of these techniques, that mistakes are OK-and even expected-and that they will not be graded on their responses.

Thumbs up: I understand _____ and can explain it in my own words.

Wave hand: I'm not completely sure about _____ and doubt I could explain it.

Thumbs down: I don't yet understand _____ and cannot explain it.

Ask students to display a designated hand signal to indicate their degree of confidence in their understanding of a concept, principle, or process. For example:

Self-assessment and self-reporting can be unreliable, so use a random calling technique to periodically select students with their thumbs up (e.g., pull names out of a bowl) and ask them to explain.

In virtual learning environments, students can signal on camera or post designated emojis to signal their understanding levels.

Present students with a few binary-choice statements or questions containing an understanding or a common misconception and have them select a response (e.g., True or False, Agree or Disagree) and share it via a whiteboard, cell phone app, or hand signal (e.g., thumbs up or down). This efficient technique is particularly effective to use in checking students' prior knowledge or potential misconceptions before beginning new instruction.

True/False: When dropped from the same height, a bowling ball will land before a marble.

Agree/Disagree: Is this an example of alliteration?

Here are a couple of "choosing" formats with examples:

In virtual learning environments, students can use the chat box feature to record their choices, or respond to a poll.

3. Picture It

Draw a visual web of factors affecting plant growth.

Develop a concept map to illustrate how a bill becomes a law.

Create a story map or sequence diagram showing the major events in the story.

Visual representations, such as graphic organizers and concept maps, are widely used to enhance learning, and can also be used as formative assessments. Have students create a visual or symbolic representation (e.g., a graphic organizer, web, or concept map) of information and abstract concepts and then be prepared to explain their graphic. Picturing techniques are especially useful to see if students understand how various concepts or elements of a process are related.

In virtual learning environments, students can post their visuals on a Google slide or Pinterest board, or in Nearpod or Jamboard.

4. Troubleshoot It

1. Identify the flaw or error, and (even better)

2. Correct it.

One of the most efficient and effective quick checks for understanding involves troubleshooting. Present students with a common misconception or a frequent procedural error. See if they can:

Present a rough draft of writing and ask students to serve as an editor to mark compositional and grammatical errors.

Have students review work on a multistep word problem to identify computational mistakes and reasoning errors, and correct them.

In a photography class, show photos reflecting common compositional errors or flawed exposure or lighting, and have students recommend needed corrections using photo editing software.

Their responses will provide a quick check of the depth of their understanding.

5. Summarize It

Compose a tweet in 280 characters or less answering the question: What is the big idea that you have learned about _____?

Record a one-minute podcast or vodcast using an app on a smartphone or tablet to summarize the key concepts from one or more lessons.

Prepare a weekly letter to your teacher (or parents) summarizing something that you now understand as a result of your learning during the past week.

Here are a few examples of this technique:

Create a "real life" word problem to see if other students understand how to calculate surface area.

Locate a news article or blog post that presents an example of the tension between individual rights and the common good.

Find examples of symmetry somewhere in our school or on the playground.

Understanding is revealed when students can transfer their learning to new situations. Accordingly, one of the best checks for understanding is to see if students can apply material in a somewhat novel context. This technique includes asking students to find or create new and novel examples to illustrate a newly learned concept.

Develop a five-minute lesson to teach a younger student about how supply and demand can affect the price of things. Use one or more specific examples that we have not discussed.

Your friend has been absent and missed the last two lessons where you learned about community helpers. Draw a picture of at least five helpers in our community to help them understand the concept of a community helper.

This is a more involved, but valuable, formative assessment technique. Ask students to teach a new concept or skill to someone else-a new student, a student who has just returned from absence, or a younger child. You'll be able to gauge their degree of understanding as you review or observe their lesson. Here are two examples:

In virtual learning environments, students can record a lesson using a laptop, tablet, or cell phone camera.

8. Analogize It

A more sophisticated technique invites students to develop an analogy or metaphor to illustrate a newly learned concept or skill. The effectiveness of their explanatory analogy or metaphor can give you insight into their understanding. However, be cautious when interpreting student responses to this technique-a student may very well understand a concept but be unable to generate an appropriate analogy. Asking students to explain their analogies will give you further insight into their understanding.

A fraction is a part of a whole like a wheel is a part of a bicycle.

Formative assessment is like tasting a meal while you're cooking because it provides feedback that a cook can use to make adjustments to improve the meal.

Here's a prompt for students: A _____ is like a _____ because _____.

Students can also create visual analogies (combining techniques 3 and 8). In virtual learning environments, students can post their analogies and metaphors in a chat box or on a Google slide or Pinterest board.

Note: Several of these techniques (especially 1, 2, 5, and 8) can be naturally used in conjunction with another popular formative assessment technique-an exit card-given to students at the end of a class period or end of the school day.

While these techniques can provide valuable information about the effectiveness of teaching and the quality of students' learning, they're not ends in themselves. Instead, they should be seen as the first step in a " feedback cycle." The next step is to act on that feedback-reteaching something that many students failed to learn; correcting misconceptions that may be revealed; and/or providing scaffolded support to students who need it. Moreover, when students are given feedback, they must also be given opportunities to use it, such as revising their work, practicing the skill, or correcting errors. (Getting feedback without a chance to use it is like eating without digesting!) Then, the formative assessment cycle reboots as revisions can be assessed again, with progress noted and new learning goals set.

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Formative assessment is a proven technique for improving student learning, and the strategies shared here by Jay McTighe work both in the classroom and remotely.

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G5 brainstorming big ideas explored in this this unit to write conceptual generalisations.

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G5 brainstorming big ideas explored in this this unit to write conceptual generalisations.

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Conferencing with students individually about their personal inquiries. Today revealed that previous written feedback about cross-referencing was not understood so we discussed how to do this with concrete examples.

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Conferencing with students individually about their personal inquiries. Today revealed that previous written feedback about cross-referencing was not understood so we discussed how to do this with concrete examples.

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Students reflecting on self-management skills to identify success and set goals to move their learning forward. Clear questioning and feedback needed to push students’ reflections beyond generic comments and recounts to evidence-based examples. (Part 1)

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Students reflecting on self-management skills to identify success and set goals to move their learning forward. Clear questioning and feedback needed to push students’ reflections beyond generic comments and recounts to evidence-based examples. (Part 1)

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Students reflecting on self-management skills to identify success and set goals to move their learning forward. Clear questioning and feedback needed to push students’ reflections beyond generic comments and recounts to evidence-based examples.  (Part 2)

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Students reflecting on self-management skills to identify success and set goals to move their learning forward. Clear questioning and feedback needed to push students’ reflections beyond generic comments and recounts to evidence-based examples.  (Part 2)

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Using a checklist with clear criteria to help students focus on how they are learning and the process of inquiry. This assessment tool was given at the start of their inquiry.Much clarification needed about when to interview, survey and use media! 

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Using a checklist with clear criteria to help students focus on how they are learning and the process of inquiry. This assessment tool was given at the start of their inquiry.Much clarification needed about when to interview, survey and use media! 

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Rubric to assess conceptual understanding using the IB command terms and Facets of Understanding. Students also co-constructed this criteria for success and use it in an ongoing way to self-assess where they are and plan for where they want to be. 

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Rubric to assess conceptual understanding using the IB command terms and Facets of Understanding. Students also co-constructed this criteria for success and use it in an ongoing way to self-assess where they are and plan for where they want to be. 

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Teachers and peers commenting on students' blogs to feedback and feed-forward. Students reflected on the comments they found helpful and unhelpful so we could all have clearer and more meaningful guidelines.

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Teachers and peers commenting on students' blogs to feedback and feed-forward. Students reflected on the comments they found helpful and unhelpful so we could all have clearer and more meaningful guidelines.

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Students looking back to look forward, reflecting on successes and identifying goals that will be useful in future learning. Students interviewing one another in pairs for video reflections! 

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Students looking back to look forward, reflecting on successes and identifying goals that will be useful in future learning. Students interviewing one another in pairs for video reflections! 

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Students revisit wonderings in groups about The Giver and think of new wonderings. Checking in on students’ understanding, listening for misconceptions and not making assumptions about their learning! Best read-aloud ever!

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Students revisit wonderings in groups about The Giver and think of new wonderings. Checking in on students’ understanding, listening for misconceptions and not making assumptions about their learning! Best read-aloud ever!

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Students listen to The Giver and for each chapter draw to capture what they find significant. Sharing with a partner, misconceptions revealed, clarifications sought. Tackling challenging texts/abstract concepts in concrete ways!

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Students listen to The Giver and for each chapter draw to capture what they find significant. Sharing with a partner, misconceptions revealed, clarifications sought. Tackling challenging texts/abstract concepts in concrete ways!

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Simple strategy of having students explain the mistake, gaining insight into their thinking. Students developed and shared their own strategies and learned from one another, moving on from misconceptions like “The denominator needs to be the same.” 

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Simple strategy of having students explain the mistake, gaining insight into their thinking. Students developed and shared their own strategies and learned from one another, moving on from misconceptions like “The denominator needs to be the same.” 

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Open-ended task to encourage divergent thinking. Responsive teaching based on needs. Peer and teacher feedback to support students’ ability to visualise and describe patterns. Best student question: What has this got to do with maths?

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Open-ended task to encourage divergent thinking. Responsive teaching based on needs. Peer and teacher feedback to support students’ ability to visualise and describe patterns. Best student question: What has this got to do with maths?

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P4C in response to The Dot by @peterhreynolds. Students developed and voted on questions, set a goal for the inquiry and reflected on this after, to then set a new goal.

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P4C in response to The Dot by @peterhreynolds. Students developed and voted on questions, set a goal for the inquiry and reflected on this after, to then set a new goal.

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“Good” and “bad” examples analysed by students to determine success criteria for why they care about an idea and then represent it through the arts. After difficulties yesterday, students then worked in pairs to revise their thinking.

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“Good” and “bad” examples analysed by students to determine success criteria for why they care about an idea and then represent it through the arts. After difficulties yesterday, students then worked in pairs to revise their thinking.

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“Feedback” in terms of what students feedback to us as teachers. Students changed the classroom into an artist’s studio based on ideas they had chosen to express. Before/after photos! “Kidwatching” to see what might be needed to enable progress.

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“Feedback” in terms of what students feedback to us as teachers. Students changed the classroom into an artist’s studio based on ideas they had chosen to express. Before/after photos! “Kidwatching” to see what might be needed to enable progress.

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Checking in with students about skills and techniques they need or might not even be aware of to be more successful in their inquiries... and then giving them time to play with these! Before and after photos! Progress!

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Checking in with students about skills and techniques they need or might not even be aware of to be more successful in their inquiries... and then giving them time to play with these! Before and after photos! Progress!

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Field trip to art gallery for students to observe, interpret, be inspired and identify principles of art! Exit cards to encourage students to consider how this experience might be used and applied to their inquiries in class!

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Field trip to art gallery for students to observe, interpret, be inspired and identify principles of art! Exit cards to encourage students to consider how this experience might be used and applied to their inquiries in class!

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Quick strategy of traffic light colour coding for students to self-assess their level of understanding and confidence so support can be given by teacher and/or peers to clarify misconceptions. 

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Quick strategy of traffic light colour coding for students to self-assess their level of understanding and confidence so support can be given by teacher and/or peers to clarify misconceptions. 

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Checking in on students’ understanding and misconceptions to inform next steps in learning. Students considering if statements about fractions, decimals and percentages are always, sometimes or never true.

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Checking in on students’ understanding and misconceptions to inform next steps in learning. Students considering if statements about fractions, decimals and percentages are always, sometimes or never true.

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Pairs brainstorming concepts explored so far in How We Express Ourselves, writing generalisations and then debating these. A useful way to see what students understand about big ideas and the relationships seen between them mid-way through a unit! 

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Pairs brainstorming concepts explored so far in How We Express Ourselves, writing generalisations and then debating these. A useful way to see what students understand about big ideas and the relationships seen between them mid-way through a unit! 

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“Reflection-in-action” using the lines of inquiry to structure questions, elicit evidence of learning and not make assumptions. Misconceptions revealed about what reflection really is and the many forms it may take, which will inform next steps. 

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“Reflection-in-action” using the lines of inquiry to structure questions, elicit evidence of learning and not make assumptions. Misconceptions revealed about what reflection really is and the many forms it may take, which will inform next steps. 

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Reflecting during the unit instead of waiting until the end! Two sentence starters modeled and then students added their own prompts and chose which one was most relevant to where they were in the creative process informing the next steps. 

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Reflecting during the unit instead of waiting until the end! Two sentence starters modeled and then students added their own prompts and chose which one was most relevant to where they were in the creative process informing the next steps. 

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Rubric for conceptual understanding for students to self-assess where they currently are and where they would like to be in two weeks’ time! 

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Rubric for conceptual understanding for students to self-assess where they currently are and where they would like to be in two weeks’ time! 

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Students working in pairs to clarify the sometimes subtle differences between assessment criteria and then engage in peer-assessment!

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Students working in pairs to clarify the sometimes subtle differences between assessment criteria and then engage in peer-assessment!

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Using a + - interesting reflection routine for students to engage in self-assessment!

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Using a + - interesting reflection routine for students to engage in self-assessment!

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A quick way to elicit evidence of all students’ thinking and misconceptions using choice cards with the possibility of there being multiple correct answers!

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A quick way to elicit evidence of all students’ thinking and misconceptions using choice cards with the possibility of there being multiple correct answers!

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The importance of feedback on what and how progress can be made! Conferencing and demonstrations based on shape, colour and shading to develop more realistic art.

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The importance of feedback on what and how progress can be made! Conferencing and demonstrations based on shape, colour and shading to develop more realistic art.

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Students reflecting on areas of strength and growth, with evidence to support their thinking in preparation for 3-way conferences. Goal setting will be part of the conference.

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Students reflecting on areas of strength and growth, with evidence to support their thinking in preparation for 3-way conferences. Goal setting will be part of the conference.

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Students developing useful questions to engage each other in reflection and feedback about their learning for How we express ourselves. Pairs asked these questions as peer assessment to help decide on next steps needed in the creative process. 

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Students developing useful questions to engage each other in reflection and feedback about their learning for How we express ourselves. Pairs asked these questions as peer assessment to help decide on next steps needed in the creative process. 

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After hours of collaboration, this is the latest draft of the rubric that students and teachers will use to assess the PYP Exhibition! Process over product!

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After hours of collaboration, this is the latest draft of the rubric that students and teachers will use to assess the PYP Exhibition! Process over product!

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Student-led conferences (with a twist!) in G5 a week before staging the Exhibition! Dream or nightmare?The average time spent in class by parents was 2 hours!  Some spent all day! Listening, asking, clarifying, probing, wondering, challenging...

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Student-led conferences (with a twist!) in G5 a week before staging the Exhibition! Dream or nightmare?The average time spent in class by parents was 2 hours!  Some spent all day! Listening, asking, clarifying, probing, wondering, challenging...

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Fascinating to see how G1 are assessing themselves as scientists using this rubric. This process transcends the lines of inquiry about living/non living things, interdependence and the effects of our own actions.

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Fascinating to see how G1 are assessing themselves as scientists using this rubric. This process transcends the lines of inquiry about living/non living things, interdependence and the effects of our own actions.

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Some examples of assessments using the GRASPS method.

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Some examples of assessments using the GRASPS method.