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Assessment for learning is the process by which assessment information is used to answer these questions for the student:

Where am I going?

How am I going?

What do I need to do to get there?

Assessment for learning positions the student at the centre of teaching and learning and enables independent learning.

Assessment and the student

Assessment, teaching, and learning are inextricably linked. For the student, assessment provides crucial evidence to support the learning process. Assessment focuses learning, provides evidence of progress, and reveals what works and what doesn't. Self-assessment is closely allied to metacognition: as students develop the capacity to self-assess, so they grow their metacognitive capabilities.

Students need regular indications of their progress in relation to the agreed goals or objectives. Feedback is the means by which they know whether they are on track or off. Feedback is essential for motivation.

Feedback may come from a formal assessment built into a unit of work; equally well, it can come from scaffolded peer assessment against agreed criteria or be in the form of regular teacher comments.

Students also need to reflect regularly on their own work, questioning and validating their thinking, and determining next learning steps.

For more on assessment for learning and assessment in the classroom, visit Assessment Online.

Assessment and the teacher

For the teacher, the collection and analysis of data is integral to teaching as inquiry.

Assessment information enables teachers to:

plan and modify teaching and learning programmes for students, groups of students, and the class as a whole

identify students' strengths and give specific guidance on how to further develop these

identify and address students' learning needs in clear and constructive ways

involve whānau in their children's learning.

Teaching as inquiry and assessment for learning

Assessment for learning feeds directly into teaching as inquiry: diagnostic assessment data informs the focusing inquiry; formative assessment informs the teaching inquiry and, along with summative assessment, is a chief informant of the learning inquiry.

While it can be useful to think of assessment under the headings diagnostic, formative, and summative, the fact is that assessment can often serve more than one of these purposes. What matters most is that all assessment is used to benefit the student by furthering their learning.

Assessment data can be gathered from observation, conversations, or by examining examples of student work. Formal assessment opportunities should engage students in worthwhile tasks and give them every reasonable opportunity to demonstrate their best skills or work.

This approach helps teachers and students to make connections between assessment and learning and helps teachers develop their understanding of student contexts. <link to the make connections section of the pedagogy section>

Assessment for NCEA

English programmes should be designed around the students and their learning, not achievement standards.

The Conditions of Assessment Guidelines Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 suggest a wide variety of English learning experiences that can be assessed against particular NCEA standards. The Conditions are in a Word document accessed from the right-hand menu on the linked page.

Providing effective feedback

The evidence is that feedback can have a strongly positive impact on student learning. But not all feedback is effective.

"To be effective, feedback needs to be clear, purposeful, meaningful and compatible with students' prior knowledge, and to provide logical connections. If feedback is directed at the right level, it can assist students to comprehend, engage, or develop effective strategies to process the information intended to be learnt. Thus, when feedback is combined with effective instruction in classrooms, it can be very powerful in enhancing learning."

John Hattie, Visible Learning (2009)

To learn more, download the Effective Feedback PowerPoint found on this page at Assessment Online.

While the teacher has primary responsibility for providing feedback, consider training your students to assess each other's work - and their own. Besides increasing the amount and timeliness of feedback going on in the classroom, when students become able to self and peer assess, they become less dependent on the teacher telling them how they are going.

Increasing students' assessment capability involves modelling the process and providing suitable scaffolding (for example, prompts) or frameworks.

For example:

Students identify specific strengths in their own or a peer's work and provide straightforward suggestions on how to develop these further. A simple pattern could be "Aim to do X by doing Y."

Students self-assess their own work and propose goals for further learning. These proposed goals become the focus of a conference with the teacher.

Students are paired up for the purposes of providing peer assessment and feedback. They use a series of prompts that have been well modelled on previous occasions.

Learn more:

Visit Assessment Online for information and resources related to assessment for learning.

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Assessment for learning is the process by which assessment information is used to answer these questions for the student: Where am I going? How am I going? What do I need to do to get there? Assessment for learning positions the student at the centre of teaching and learning and enables independent learning.

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I remember hearing the terms formative and summative assessment almost on a daily basis during my PGCE and in the 14 years since then, the terms may have slipped from everyday usage but their presence is still felt and feeds into almost every decision I make.

There can often be some confusion over how these two types of assessment compliment each other and in some cases people see the term assessment and assume that they are in fact interchangeable. They are not. Whilst they both focus on assessing pupils in some way, the methods can vary wildly. They are not isolated approaches, and when used together and with purpose, can have impact on the pupils in your classroom, their learning and their progress.

Summative assessment is the end goal, it is a task situated at the end of a unit of course of study which evaluates the learning. It is an assessment of the learning. This can be in the form of an end of unit test; an end of year test of external exams. Formative assessment on the other hand, is to do with evaluating pupil progress during a unit or course and then trying to close the gap between where they are and where they need to be. Formative assessment is part of the learning, whereas summative assessment is a way of asseing learning that has already taken place.

As a teacher, I view formative assessment as my way of intervening; re-visiting; re-working and supporting progress. I think it is vital to any classroom. And as a bonus, there are ways to make this a bit more fun!

I always want to ensure that my pupils have mastered a skill before I continue with the next task it stage of learning. But in order to feel confident they have mastered it, I need to find ways of evaluating their current knowledge and application of skills. This is where formative assessment comes in.

I often start with the summative assessment in mind and map out the skills required as well as what 'success' will look like. Then I track back and think about how to effectively prepare my pupils and structure their learning in order to provide them with the skills, knowledge and understanding they need. Some of my formative assessment is planned, whilst others are spontaneous and prompted by whatever the pupils do or say. I have tried to give as large a set of examples as possible here!

When I first set out to write this post I started to make a list of all the formative assessments strategies I use - quite often on a daily basis. However, due to the fluid nature of formative assessment, I could have filled 4 blogs with this list. So instead I decided to focus on what I thought would be more useful to a range of teachers and have divided the different types of formative assessment into categories: Quick and Easy; A Little Bit Fun; Planned.

Walkabout Talk - walk around and read what pupils are doing, read out examples as you go "Some great examples of short sentences for effect in Sonia's piece. She's written 'No one knew where he went' - great way of creating tension. " This reminds pupils of what their focus is but also gives real examples if they are struggling. It also let's pupils know what they have done well and gives them confidence.

On the spot - this is similar to Walkabout Talk, but I will do this more on a one to one basis. I would still tell Sonia she had used a short sentence correctly but then I would give her something extra to think about as she continues, "Could you now see if you could make a link back to this short sentence at a different point in your writing?"

Purposeful and specific feedback using relevant terminology - r epeat terminology linked to the skills they are using. This not only models how to use these but also alerts pupils to when it has been demonstrated "Good use of simile Joseph!". This is linked to Walkabout Talk but could also be used when pupils are offering an answer or reading work aloud.

High quality verbal feedback - use questions to clarify or develop pupil responses. Also take regular opportunities to point out successes and develop by questioning, "I like that you are thinking about what the character feels and you are correct in saying he's scared. Could you take this further and say how you know?" If they're not sure I will give them 1 minute to think about it or find the information they need while I move onto someone else.

Don't be afraid to keep the questions coming - I often follow questions up with another question to see just how far they can go. If we get to a point where no-one can answer, then I can use that as a springboard to do some further clarification or demonstration. Or it may be something that you think deserves a full lesson, so you may want to go away and prepare an extra activity to address this need.

Tell a partner, feedback on their best idea - pupils share ideas and together decide on which ones are the most relevant or specific. When they feedback I will ask why they chose this one and they must justify by thinking about what the task requirements were.

Add on tasks for particular targets - I have a list of 'add on tasks' that are based on common targets. Pupils are directed to work on whichever one they need based upon peer, self or teacher feedback. It's a good idea to collaborate in Departments on this as, whilst it is quick and easy once these tasks have been created, it will take some time to put them together. It's more time effective if you brainstorm the range of targets you give across your subject and then divide up the creation of these tasks between Department members.

Experts - use peers as a tool. When marking, I identity 'experts' (I make sure that everyone gets to see their name on the board at various points of the year) who can be questioned on how to fix a target. This helps those who need further instruction or modelling but also helps to consolidate this skill for the expert as they are required to explain how they did this and why.

Make links between units and skills - this kind of review also aids memory. Wherever you can, remind pupils where they have used these skills before. You could even revisit work they have done so they can see clear connections between tasks and skills. Sometimes they just need to be reminded that they can do it!

Peer and self Self checking using traffic lights - traffic lights help pupils to easily see what they have mastered, what needs to be reviewed and what is missing. This also helps you to see if there are any common skills missing if you notice a lot of red in the same box. You can also use this as a peer-self or peer-teacher task in order to compare traffic lights.

'How to Improve Tasks' added onto mark sheets for immediate correction - not only does this speed up marking but it gives pupils a specific task to work on depending on their target. For example, rather than giving the target 'use sophisticated vocabulary', you will highlight a task that addresses this 'go back and re-write one paragraph by replacing 3 average words with more sophisticated ones'.

Sharing and co-creating success criteria - this allows you to see how much pupils understand what the task requirements are rather than you just giving them this information - you may be surprised at how much they know! This also helps you to identify where any gaps are and address these. For example, I did this activity with my Y8s before a short story writing task and they managed to cover everything I had prepared on the next slide (just in case), but had forgotten to add 'links between paragraphs', which is something I really wanted them to work on based upon the previous assessment. Therefore I took some time to go through this and demonstrate how and why this is used. This task made it very easy for me to see what they were recalling from previous work as well as what had either been forgotten, misunderstood or overlooked.

Group work on a section or part then move around and share - a sk pupils to work in groups on a task then pass their work in a clockwise direction. The next group either: asks a question to elicit a better response, peer marks or adds to what is already there. You can do each of these three as separate tasks or mix it up.

Pupils making up the question - this helps pupils to understand how questions are constructed and why, this also helps with command words and subject specific vocabulary. You can do this as a small task and ask pupils to write their ideas on post-its and then post these on the wall for another person to come and collect and answer, or as a larger more structured task. I recently asked my Y11s to create a poetry question for the exam. Once they were happy they'd met the criteria for a good question (I had shown them a range of past exam questions first), they passed their question to another group who planned the answer. These were then photocopied into a revision booklet and handed back out. This task always produces lots of good discussion between pupils with regards to 'what makes a good question' and how to devise a question that effectively enables others to address the success criteria in their answer. They are actively assessing each other and themselves in terms of the task criteria, and there is always a lot of self correction and independent review to be seen!

Move > Stop > Talk > Move - I use this randomly and whenever I feel like the class needs a bit of shaking up! I begin by shouting, "stand up!". Then I ask pupils to move around (this is where I have fun as I shout out directions, 'turn 90 degrees to the right, walk, turn 180 degrees left, walk etc). When I shout "stop" pupils must share ideas on whatever the task was: they can make notes if they come across something they like. I will repeat this a few more times and then ask pupils to return to their seat and spend 3 minutes consolidating what they learned from others and improving their work if necessary. Then I will ask a few questions to determine what they learned from others and how this helped them with their own work.

Whiteboard Share - Pupils write their group idea on the main teacher whiteboard. We then work through each one with a thumbs up or down to see which ones meet our criteria. This task allows for lots of discussion, questioning and clarification in terms of task requirements and criteria. I give each group a board pen and when they are ready they can come up to the board and write their idea - this is the fun part for them!

'How far have you come' continuum at the end of a lesson - I usually put this up on the whiteboard and ask pupils to think about where they are and write 2 things on a post-it: 'what I need to do' 'what I want to know'. They then stick these on the board at the correct place in the continuum and give an explanation the rest of the class as they do so. I collect these in and give them back out either in the next lesson or whenever I feel they are ready. We they then review their place on the continuum and if I notice that they are in the same place, I can adapt and re-teach. If they have moved along the continuum, this is a good way of prompting them to reflect on how they got there or how they found the answers to their questions.

Listen and respond - I will quite often give pupils the job: 'listen and respond' to someone else's verbal contribution. They are allowed to ask a question; offer advice; give a comment about something that they liked. I then let this pair pick the next pair...which they hugely enjoy!

Gallery marking - place books or pieces of work around the room and give pupils a 'comment card'. They then walk around and 'view' the work as they would art in a gallery, then they pick 3 to write a comment card for. I limit the amount of cards allowed on any one piece so that the comments are evenly distributed. Then pupils can come up and collect their work and comments. They use these comments to improve their work before final submission or marking.

Pupils keeping track of their own progress - use a tracking sheet and glue into books or put on the front of assessment folders. I use one that focuses more on targets than grades. They write down targets from pieces of work and then check back to see if they've met it with the next piece. If they notice the same target twice they know they need to do extra work on this and can take specific tasks - see 'add on tasks'.

Self reflection at the end of a unit - ask pupils to consider their progress in this unit and spend some time reflecting on their success as well as their targets. They can then refer back to these in units that require similar skills.

In depth marking of one paragraph that displays errors across all work - when marking, focus on the in depth marking of one paragraph only. Identify the common errors that you have noticed across the rest of the work and ask pupils to go through the rest of the work themselves and replicate your marking. This helps pupils to identify and correct their own targets and hopefully will make them more aware of how to do this independently in the future. It also promotes the idea of being more active when it comes to self-correction, meaning a lot of errors could be fixed before the pupil hands in work or completes a summative task.

Explain - Demonstrate - Write - Check - Review - this process goes through the stages of learning a new skill and scaffolds this so pupils can be successful. It also builds in opportunities to check learning and assess the understanding of new skills.

Build independence by creating a bank of self-check sheets - I have lots of these in a drawer and will use these as a way of pupils doing some self assessment based on the skills they are trying to display. It gives pupils time to check their own work and reflect upon their targets. This also links to the 'add on tasks' as from the checklist pupils will be able to see what they have not yet demonstrated and may need to 'add on'.

I love diving into teaching and learning and not only trying to improve my own practice, but also the way in which pupils learn in my classroom. Formative assessment has long been one of my favourite topics of discussion with other teachers and is something that, over the years, I've worked hard to master. So I'll end with a summary of my takeaways on formative assessment:

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Formative Assessment Strategies for Use in Everyday Practice

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I remember hearing the terms formative and summative assessment almost on a daily basis during my PGCE and in the 14 years since then, the terms may have slipped from everyday usage but their presence is still felt and feeds into almost every decision I make.

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Over the past few years, the pressure on teachers and schools to provide accurate assessment of pupil progress has been racked up to a point which, some say, is almost unsustainable. With the advent of the SSEF, schools had to provide paper evidence trails to demonstrate their knowledge of the working practices and efficacy of every aspect of school life: including learning walks, work scrutiny, student voice activities - all this on top of Performance Management and other lesson observations.

Is it any wonder then, that some teachers have begun to view marking as just another means of demonstrating that they are doing their job? At some training that I was involved with recently, I asked the staff to answer honestly who the prime audience was for their marking. Was it the students, really? Or was it to satisfy the person with the tick-box who was going to be assessing their competence.

I'm sure you know what the answer was.

Dylan Wiliam is passionate about the value of formative assessment as a means of securing student progress. He talks with enormous common sense about how marking is one means of giving students what they need, which is honest, valid feedback on where they are and what they need to do to improve. Metacognition is fundamental to this process - involving students in the language of their learning and sharing the process with them.

At one school, this has been adopted by all staff with quite remarkable results. Marking has been limited to twice every half term at Key Stage 3 (at Key Stages 4 and 5 more often might be more appropriate). All marking is linked explicitly to the Assessment Focus, and teachers use the acronym P A T (Praise, Attainment/Achievement, Target).

The T for Target has been interpreted by this school to mean: 'now, you go and do'. The Head of English said he was becoming increasingly frustrated by the fact that he and his team spent hours giving students loads and loads of written feedback on their work, only for the students to just look at their attainment grade, compare it with whomever they felt in competition with, and then close their books. Dylan Wiliam would agree with this wholeheartedly - he has often advocated not giving students grades / levels as part of their feedback at all when in the process of developing a skill. This particular English department have decided to use 'target' to mean giving students a task to do to respond to the marking; a paragraph highlighted by the teacher for them to complete again, for example.

This department has recently received an 'outstanding' judgement from Ofsted: the level of student autonomy was sited as one of the main reasons for the judgement. Perhaps more significantly, teacher workload is reduced, student performance has made 'significant improvement', and parents value and support homework as they can see that it is for a specific purpose, rather than the 'tick-box' function it tended to serve in the past.
Sarah Darragh
English Teacher and author of A Bridge to GCSE English

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Secondary English - The value of formative assessment - Collins | Freedom to Teach

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Over the past few years, the pressure on teachers and schools to provide accurate assessment of pupil progress has been racked up to a point which, some say, is almost unsustainable. With the advent of the SSEF, schools had to provide paper evidence trails to demonstrate their knowledge of the working practices and efficacy of [...]

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In this study, we examined the enactment of formative assessment by administrator-selected master teachers in large, urban, public school districts in three regions of the United States. Furthermore, this study also included an investigation of the perceptions and frequency of use for all teachers within the same districts to gather a snapshot of the state of use of formative assessment within those settings overall. Currently, the research base is limited regarding how effective teachers implement formative assessment strategies in their classrooms and how teachers in general perceive formative assessment. Thus, the purpose of this study was to gain a broader understanding of how teachers conceptualize and enact formative assessment strategies in their classrooms with the aim of providing guidance to teacher educators, professional development providers, and policy makers about gaps in teachers' understanding of and use of formative assessment. Findings from classroom observations revealed that master teachers implemented some aspects of formative assessment effectively and other areas were used much less frequently and/or effectively. Teachers within the participating districts reported similar use frequencies. Implications for research and practice in the area of formative assessment are discussed.

References

Falchikov, N. (1995) Peer feedback marking: Developing peer assessment. Innovations in Education and Training International, 32, 175-187. doi:
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Johnson, C. C., Sondergeld, T. A. (2015a). Formative Assessment Classroom Observation Protocol (FACOP). Forney, TX: STEM Innovations, LTD.
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Johnson, C. C., Sondergeld, T. A. (2015b). Formative Assessment Educator Survey (FAES). Forney, TX: STEM Innovations, LTD.
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Popham, W. J. (2008). Transformative assessment. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Google Scholar

Wiliam, D., Thompson, M. (2007). Integrating assessment with instruction: What will it take to make it work? In Dwyer, C. A. (Ed.), The future of assessment: Shaping teaching and learning (pp. 53-82). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Google Scholar

Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Attaining self-regulation: A social-cognitive perspective. In Boekaerts, M., Pintrich, P., Zeidner, M. (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 13-39). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Google Scholar

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A Study of the Implementation of Formative Assessment in Three Large Urban Districts - Carla C. Johnson, Toni A. Sondergeld, Janet B. Walton, 2019

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In this study, we examined the enactment of formative assessment by administrator-selected master teachers in large, urban, public school districts in three regions of the United States. Furthermore, this study also included an investigation of the perceptions and frequency of use for all teachers within the same districts to gather a snapshot of the state of use of formative assessment within those settings overall.

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Assessment for learning is the process by which assessment information is used to answer these questions for the student:

Where am I going?

How am I going?

What do I need to do to get there?

Assessment for learning positions the student at the centre of teaching and learning and enables independent learning.

Assessment and the student

Assessment, teaching, and learning are inextricably linked. For the student, assessment provides crucial evidence to support the learning process. Assessment focuses learning, provides evidence of progress, and reveals what works and what doesn't. Self-assessment is closely allied to metacognition: as students develop the capacity to self-assess, so they grow their metacognitive capabilities.

Students need regular indications of their progress in relation to the agreed goals or objectives. Feedback is the means by which they know whether they are on track or off. Feedback is essential for motivation.

Feedback may come from a formal assessment built into a unit of work; equally well, it can come from scaffolded peer assessment against agreed criteria or be in the form of regular teacher comments.

Students also need to reflect regularly on their own work, questioning and validating their thinking, and determining next learning steps.

For more on assessment for learning and assessment in the classroom, visit Assessment Online.

Assessment and the teacher

For the teacher, the collection and analysis of data is integral to teaching as inquiry.

Assessment information enables teachers to:

plan and modify teaching and learning programmes for students, groups of students, and the class as a whole

identify students' strengths and give specific guidance on how to further develop these

identify and address students' learning needs in clear and constructive ways

involve whānau in their children's learning.

Teaching as inquiry and assessment for learning

Assessment for learning feeds directly into teaching as inquiry: diagnostic assessment data informs the focusing inquiry; formative assessment informs the teaching inquiry and, along with summative assessment, is a chief informant of the learning inquiry.

While it can be useful to think of assessment under the headings diagnostic, formative, and summative, the fact is that assessment can often serve more than one of these purposes. What matters most is that all assessment is used to benefit the student by furthering their learning.

Assessment data can be gathered from observation, conversations, or by examining examples of student work. Formal assessment opportunities should engage students in worthwhile tasks and give them every reasonable opportunity to demonstrate their best skills or work.

This approach helps teachers and students to make connections between assessment and learning and helps teachers develop their understanding of student contexts. <link to the make connections section of the pedagogy section>

Assessment for NCEA

English programmes should be designed around the students and their learning, not achievement standards.

The Conditions of Assessment Guidelines Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 suggest a wide variety of English learning experiences that can be assessed against particular NCEA standards. The Conditions are in a Word document accessed from the right-hand menu on the linked page.

Providing effective feedback

The evidence is that feedback can have a strongly positive impact on student learning. But not all feedback is effective.

"To be effective, feedback needs to be clear, purposeful, meaningful and compatible with students' prior knowledge, and to provide logical connections. If feedback is directed at the right level, it can assist students to comprehend, engage, or develop effective strategies to process the information intended to be learnt. Thus, when feedback is combined with effective instruction in classrooms, it can be very powerful in enhancing learning."

John Hattie, Visible Learning (2009)

To learn more, download the Effective Feedback PowerPoint found on this page at Assessment Online.

While the teacher has primary responsibility for providing feedback, consider training your students to assess each other's work - and their own. Besides increasing the amount and timeliness of feedback going on in the classroom, when students become able to self and peer assess, they become less dependent on the teacher telling them how they are going.

Increasing students' assessment capability involves modelling the process and providing suitable scaffolding (for example, prompts) or frameworks.

For example:

Students identify specific strengths in their own or a peer's work and provide straightforward suggestions on how to develop these further. A simple pattern could be "Aim to do X by doing Y."

Students self-assess their own work and propose goals for further learning. These proposed goals become the focus of a conference with the teacher.

Students are paired up for the purposes of providing peer assessment and feedback. They use a series of prompts that have been well modelled on previous occasions.

Learn more:

Visit Assessment Online for information and resources related to assessment for learning.

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Assessment for learning is the process by which assessment information is used to answer these questions for the student: Where am I going? How am I going? What do I need to do to get there? Assessment for learning positions the student at the centre of teaching and learning and enables independent learning.

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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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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.

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Summary

The value of assessment

Good assessment processes can inform effective programme design and encourage learners to pursue further study.

Accurate assessment of a person's needs assists the learner in making rapid progress and the tutor to tailor the learning to the needs of the student.

Learners will benefit if they are placed in learning programmes that closely meet their particular needs.

Effective assessment processes can assist providers to design a range of programmes that address specific learner needs.

Assessment explained

Although the ultimate purpose is to benefit the learner, there are generally three reasons why providers conduct assessment:

to report on learning progress

to improve teaching and learning

to promote lifelong learning

While promoting lifelong learning is the over-arching goal of all assessment and reporting on learning progress is the most common, good assessment should address all three assessment goals.

Providers address their assessment needs by conducting various forms of assessment. These are commonly grouped into diagnostic, formative or summative assessment. While formative assessment may do more to encourage lifelong learning, all three forms of assessment are equally valid and each has its purpose. Here is a general explanation of these three forms of assessment.

Initial/diagnostic assessment

Initial assessment is usually carried out at the beginning of a programme to identify learners' strengths and weaknesses but can also take place at any stage, even before the programme has begun. The assessment may be a specific check on a particular skill, understanding, or aptitude, or it may be a broad indicator of general areas that need attention. Diagnostic assessment is usually performed in order to place a learner in the most appropriate course or programme for their level of skill or to identify a learner's needs and strengths throughout a programme.

Initial and diagnostic assessments are sometimes also used to determine suitability for admission to a particular programme or to allow learners to be credited with all or part of a course or qualification.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is characterised by ongoing feedback from the tutor for the duration of a course or programme. It is often called "assessment for learning" because it is intended to provide feedback on progress to both the learner and the tutor. The feedback is used to plan the next learning steps for the learner.

Formative assessment can include some or all of these elements:

the learning intentions are clearly set out at the planning stage of each lesson and shared with the learners

learners are supported to carry out self-evaluations against these learning intentions

learners receive feedback from the tutor which is either formal (such as written tests) or informal (such as oral responses) and specifically related to their progress in meeting the planned learning outcomes; and

learners are supported to set their own next learning goals

Summative assessment

This term is used to describe any assessment that identifies and summarises achievement at a particular time. Such assessment may measure achievement for credit-for example for the award of a certificate, or to report results for all or part of a course or programme such as the completion of unit standards. Summative assessment may take place on one occasion at the end of a course, or be continual-for example, internal assessment throughout the course that is used to build a Record of Learning.

Good assessment

For the purpose of this study, six broad principles of good assessment practice in foundation learning settings were drawn up based on research evidence and discussions with experts in the field. The table below lists the six principles and provides a set of characteristics for each.

Assessment in New Zealand

The six principles of good assessment in teaching adult foundation learning were used to determine the effectiveness of current assessment practices in New Zealand .

The researchers were conscious of the wide range of different contexts in which foundation learning is taught in New Zealand and tried to encompass the full diversity of this provision in their study. Twelve providers representing private training establishments, polytechnics, adult and community providers, workplace training and universities took part in the study.

Initial/diagnostic assessment

All the providers participating in the study put considerable effort into initial or diagnostic assessment. While there was some variation in the strategies used, the researchers found all providers took great care to ensure that the purpose of the assessment was made clear to the learner.

Working together to construct individual learning plans meant that the learners were given a clear sense of assessment purposes (Principle 1 - transparent assessment goals and clarity of purpose) and a wide range of both formal and informal approaches and tools was used for this process (Principle 3 - valid, reliable, ethical, fair and manageable assessment).

Principle 2 (assessment is tuned to learners' needs and interests and the learning process) was also very much in evidence. Taking care of learners' emotional needs as their learning needs were assessed were key considerations for most providers. Most frequently mentioned was the importance of not further damaging learners' self-confidence. In workplace settings tutors recognised the importance of keeping learning needs confidential, whilst also reporting on overall progress to the workplace management, usually by aggregating data from all the programme participants. Acting in culturally appropriate ways was important in some programmes.

Principle 4 (assessment is authentic) was strongly in evidence at the initial stage-many providers mentioned the use of authentic contexts in which they carried out initial assessments.

Authenticity of context for assessing learners was interpreted in different ways by the providers. For example some programmes assessed literacy skills by asking learners to write and read out something about themselves. As well as assessing these skills, this exercise also allowed the tutor to find out more about the learner as an individual.

Initial assessment tasks in workplace programmes often required the learner to carry out activities that could be a normal part of their job. In these cases the tutors who design the initial assessments need a thorough working knowledge of the demands of the specific workplace, in addition to skills in diagnosing literacy and numeracy needs. One programme assessed learners as they worked on specifically devised group tasks. Occasionally learners were partially assessed in a heritage language so that they could more fairly demonstrate prior knowledge.

One concern was that in some programmes only the most experienced tutors carried out this initial assessment, and interpretation of the results in many cases was dependent on the tutor's professional knowledge. Unless there is good communication, there is the risk that the assessment process might not appear transparent to others, including the learners themselves. Finding ways to share assessment expertise more widely with other tutors is the challenge here (Principle 6 - Assessment is performed by experienced staff backed by ongoing professional development).

Formative assessment

When formative assessment was used, a greater emphasis on improving learning was evident.

A common theme was for assessment to be ongoing through continual observations that tutors made and recorded against the initial learning plan. Learning logs could form a "running record" with an emphasis on its use for "learning to learn". In some work-based settings some monitoring occurred as learners used their new skills while carrying out their routine work. This type of assessment obviously has strong validity (Principle 3 - valid, reliable, ethical, fair and manageable assessment). Despite this, tutors in some programmes were less specific about ways they identified, and shaped evolving learning goals as their programmes unfolded, or how they used these new insights to shape next learning steps (Principles 1 and 2 - transparent assessment goals and clarity of purpose tuned to learners' needs and interests and the learning process).

In formative assessment, the nature of what counted as a "meaningful context" shifted (Principle 4 - assessment is authentic). Compared to initial or diagnostic settings where the context was likely to be something of direct interest to the learner, in formative assessments the meaningful context often amounted to practice summative assessment. There is a danger here that "next learning steps" could be restricted to practising the assessment over again.

Few measures for strengthening tutors' shared understandings of assessments were reported (Principle 6 - assessment performed by experienced, trained tutors). Similarly, knowing the next learning steps often seemed to be dependent on individual tutors' own professional knowledge. Such assessment is likely to be reactive-the tutor recognises a learning need and gives feedback. Without transparent assessment criteria and being able to anticipate what might be found, it is not as easy to plan next steps, or to share ownership of formative assessment decisions with learners.

Summative assessment

There was much more similarity between the different providers for this type of assessment than for either diagnostic or formative practice. In part this is because so many of them used the National Qualifications Framework and especially the National Certificate of Employment Skills to assess learning that could count towards formal qualifications.

In most programmes Principle 3 (valid, reliable, ethical, fair and manageable assessment) - especially in relation to fairness and reliability and Principle 5 (assessment is credible to all stakeholders) become especially important because this is the "high stakes" part of the assessment process.

Research on lifelong learning makes it clear that learners need to be involved in making summative judgements about their learning, not just in making decisions about their progress during the learning. However, it was not clear how involved learners were in making judgements about how well they had met the performance criteria for the standards and tasks of the National Qualifications Framework and the National Certificate of Employment Skills.

There can be a tension between using the motivating power of summative assessment for qualifications and meeting the most important needs of learners with high literacy, numeracy, or language needs. Because a work-based learner needs to be signed up for at least 20 credits to get Industry Training Organisation funding the development of much needed basic skills may take second place to working to pass the unit standards relevant to the workplace.

The two polytechnic learning support courses in the study did not use summative assessment because learners were assessed in their formal course work. Several literacy providers did not use formal summative assessment either and no qualifications were at stake as the major focus was on addressing and meeting the evolving needs of the learners in the contexts of their daily lives. It is worth noting that the low-stakes summative assessments were likely to meet more aspects of the six principles than were the high-stakes assessments.

In conclusion

For learners to make real gains in literacy, numeracy or language, research evidence shows that purposeful assessment is crucial. Good assessment practices can help shape effective programmes and teaching methods, plan future learning, encourage further learning and measure programme effectiveness. Such practices put the learner at the heart of the assessment process.

This research study found that some tutors were very experienced in designing and using purpose-developed assessment tools. Wider sharing of this experience amongst tutors and managers in foundation learning programmes would help to build assessment capability and help to ensure that initial, formative and summative assessments are used to best advantage.

The researchers hope that this research study will encourage discussion by providers about improving their assessment practices.

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Good assessment processes can inform effective programme design and encourage learners to pursue further study. Accurate assessment of a person's needs assists the learner in making rapid progress and the tutor to tailor the learning to the needs of the student. Learners will benefit if they are placed in learning programmes that closely meet their particular needs.

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Formative assessment and the contemporary classroom: Synergies and tensions between research and practice on JSTOR

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Abstract Twenty teachers working in elementary and secondary schools were interviewed from 2 school districts in southern Ontario, Canada about their understanding and use of particular formative assessment strategies. Analysis of the interviews followed a constant comparison method and revealed a variety of emerging themes.

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Abstract

Formative assessment has been defined as any interaction that generates data on student learning and is used by teachers and students to inform teaching and learning, to address specific student learning difficulties and support learning growth over time.

A wide variety of assessment strategies, tools and resources currently exist to support and improve teachers' capacities to collect and analyse reliable data on student achievement and to adjust their teaching to meet each student's needs for enhanced learning outcomes. There is a widespread assumption in the academic literature that formative assessment leads to better learning outcomes for students.

Presently, we know little about the most effective ways of implementing formative assessment, including optimal school and educational system structures and supports. Systematic review of evidence is made more difficult by a lack of clarity and consensus regarding the nature and definition of formative assessment.
This review, commissioned by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), synthesises national and international research on the effective formative assessment practices of teachers and school leaders, including their current capacities, challenges and needs. It presents the findings of a review of peer-reviewed studies meeting robust experimental design criteria that examine formative assessment practices in Australian and international K-12 contexts. It further delivers an analysis and critical review of research relevant to formative assessment practices, including (but not limited to) the use of online assessment tools.

Cite this

Lane, R., Khosronejadtoroghi, M., Leaper, D., Pellicano, L. , & Skrebneva, I. (2019). Literature review: formative assessment evidence and practice . Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). https://www.lpofai.edu.au/media/u5ahfia0/literature-review.pdf

Lane, Rod ; Parrila, Rauno ; Bull, Rebecca ; Cavanagh, Michael ; Forbes, Anne ; Jones, Tiffany ; Khosronejadtoroghi, Maryam ; Leaper, David ; Pellicano, Liz ; Powell, Sarah ; Skrebneva, Iliana. / Literature review : formative assessment evidence and practice . Melbourne : Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), 2019. 174 p.

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Melbourne : Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), 2019. 174 p.

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AB - Formative assessment has been defined as any interaction that generates data on student learning and is used by teachers and students to inform teaching and learning, to address specific student learning difficulties and support learning growth over time. A wide variety of assessment strategies, tools and resources currently exist to support and improve teachers' capacities to collect and analyse reliable data on student achievement and to adjust their teaching to meet each student's needs for enhanced learning outcomes. There is a widespread assumption in the academic literature that formative assessment leads to better learning outcomes for students. Presently, we know little about the most effective ways of implementing formative assessment, including optimal school and educational system structures and supports. Systematic review of evidence is made more difficult by a lack of clarity and consensus regarding the nature and definition of formative assessment.This review, commissioned by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), synthesises national and international research on the effective formative assessment practices of teachers and school leaders, including their current capacities, challenges and needs. It presents the findings of a review of peer-reviewed studies meeting robust experimental design criteria that examine formative assessment practices in Australian and international K-12 contexts. It further delivers an analysis and critical review of research relevant to formative assessment practices, including (but not limited to) the use of online assessment tools.

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Literature review: formative assessment evidence and practice

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Formative assessment has been defined as any interaction that generates data on student learning and is used by teachers and students to inform teaching and learning, to address specific student learning difficulties and support learning growth over time.

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440 Formative Assessment Ideas in 2021 | formative assessment, effective feedback, teaching

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Mar 7, 2021 - Tips and ideas for giving fast, effective feedback to your secondary students. #formativeassessment #ela. See more ideas about formative assessment, effective feedback, teaching.

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Digital assessments that include elements of student choice encourage high school students to engage deeply with course content.

With the pandemic dramatically changing the landscape of education, many teachers are struggling to create authentic assessments that meet the needs of all students. In my own district, we've switched between virtual, hybrid, and full face-to-face classes throughout the year. Students and teachers must be adaptable to change at a moment's notice. How can we adjust the assessment process to keep pace?

Here are some ways I'm changing assessments this year to better meet the needs of my students. I anticipate using these not just this year but also in the future.

Approaching Assessment in Distance and Hybrid Learning

Virtual assessments: Instead of relying on paper documents, use digital modes of assessment. Not only can they easily be adapted to online settings, but also they ensure authenticity. One way to assess students virtually is to put a text-a chapter of The Great Gatsby, for example-into a Google doc and read it collaboratively as a class, sharing responses either out loud or by typing them in the text.

With this method of assessment, teachers can hold students accountable for actually reading the text, since teachers can see in real time if students have accessed the document and keep track of the comments and responses. Another advantage of this strategy is that students can attend class virtually and still be a part of the discussion.

Google HyperDoc is useful for authentic virtual cumulative assessments. For the English IV British Literature midterm, I gave students tasks that they accessed through HyperDoc. I chose a simple template and had students respond to a prompt about themes and texts from the semester and write a reflection on the class overall and their learning. Students were able to complete the assignment in their own time, and those who were quarantined were able to access the work from home.

Student choice: To create assessments that encourage students to think critically and not cheat, virtual assessments should require that students create a product of learning that is unique and individual to the student.

Letting students choose how they display their learning is especially important for authentically showing their learning during this time. Each student is different, and each deserves to demonstrate their learning in different ways. Offering choice also makes students more confident in their assessments, which eases emotional stress.

Another example of using student choice is my English III American Literature Unit 2 Assessment. In this unit, we studied Romanticism and Gothic literature, focusing on theme, imagery, symbolism, and setting. I asked students to produce a visual representation of how setting connects to imagery, symbolism, and theme, by creating a floor plan or a drawing, or by constructing a house or room based on a text, author, or idea from our unit. I also asked them to write about the connection between their visual and the text, and explain why they chose the elements and how their visual connected to their text, author, or idea, with evidence from a text.
Courtesy of Lauren Gehr
There are several elements of choice in this assessment. First, students weren't limited to a certain text from the unit, and they could also choose how they created their product. This is where students were most impressive. One utilized a digital floor plan program and created a visual of the "chamber" from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." Another student created a visual of the same chamber using the popular game Minecraft and recorded their game play. Another student chose The Sims to create what they thought Edgar Allan Poe's house would look like based on our readings. The variation of their responses reflected the variation of their learning styles and gave each student an individualized approach to showcase their learning.

Deadlines: When I assess students, I assess them on what they've learned, not on their ability to submit their work by a deadline. Students are free to submit their products of learning when they've truly mastered the content. If students are going to exceed the deadline of the assessment, I encourage them to let me know the status of their progress.

I use deadlines as a goal for students, which gives them the structure of a deadline. Students have the option to extend their deadlines if necessary, with no grade penalty. Being lenient and understanding with deadlines eases stress. Students also become more independent and responsible for their learning when you remove the pressure of deadlines.

Even though teachers need to be understanding during this unprecedented time, it doesn't mean that assessments and instruction shouldn't be rigorous. Teachers must be innovative in order to challenge their students in the appropriate way. Virtual assessments are the most effective and efficient methods for assessing student learning today and tomorrow.

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How Using Authentic Digital Assessments Can Benefit Students

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Digital assessments that include elements of student choice encourage high school students to engage deeply with course content.

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Use this. Lots of great links

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Effective Formative Assessment in English

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The latest blog by Zoe Enser looks at formative assessment and how teachers can make best use of the practice in the classroom during these times.

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Sometimes known as "Assessment for Learning", Formative Assessment has become a particularly celebrated feature of contemporary pedagogy and most students entering the profession for the first time will have gained considerable theoretical and practical experience of it through their teacher-training course. In simple terms, of course, it describes an attitude towards assessment that is more focused on process than...

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Click the free stuff button on the home page to access free pages or check the blog (which is also free).

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IB English A Literature: Formative Assessment

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Sometimes known as "Assessment for Learning", Formative Assessment has become a particularly celebrated feature of contemporary pedagogy and most students entering the profession for the first time will have gained considerable theoretical and practical experience of it through their teacher-training course. In simple terms, of course, it describes an attitude towards assessment that is more focused on process than...

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This is good for seniors

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Formative assessments are where students are quizzed periodically throughout a learning unit. Unlike traditional assessments, these insights provide you with regular and reliable feedback on student progress. Whether it's polls, discussions, debates or reflections, frequent, low-stakes assessments let students apply what they have learned thus far. At a time when students place increased value on frequent feedback from their educators, facilitating regular assessments is essential. Below, we share:

What formative assessments are

What the differences are between formative and summative assessments

How to engage students with formative and summative assessments

The tools you'll need to run formative assessments

The benefits of formative assessments

20 formative assessment examples for any course or discipline

What are formative assessments?

Formative assessments involve monitoring student progress regularly throughout a course so that educators can better gauge students' learning gaps and address those early on. Basic formative assessment strategies may include concept maps, responses posted to a discussion board and an ungraded quiz or poll.

Watch the video below to learn how formative assessments in the classroom can benefit both educators and students. You'll also get assessment ideas that Leslie Sprunger, Associate Dean for Professional Programs in the Faculty of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience at Washington State University, uses in her own courses.

How to engage students with formative assessments

Well-designed assessments encourage students to prioritize intellectual growth, while equipping them with marketable skills for their future careers. There are three main types of assessments instructors can incorporate into their higher educations courses.

Assessments as learning opportunities: The best assessments are educational opportunities in which students can practice different methods of synthesizing, analyzing, and communicating what they have learned. There are many ways students can demonstrate mastery of the course content that go beyond traditional papers, quizzes and examinations. Giving students choice in how they express their knowledge, such as unessays, short films, collaborative blogs and field work also enables students to build their personal portfolios and resumes.

Assessments that are self-reflective: Rather than objective assessments, instructors can create opportunities for students to reflect on their own progress. Consider asking students to students keep a journal throughout the class is a great way to create a record of their semester-long evolution. You can also ask students to evaluate their own work, as well as their peers. This way, instructors empower students to take ownership of the assessment process.

Assessments that happen over time: One popular method is incorporating "scaffolding" into assessments. Instead of a paper worth a large proportion of the final grade, students submit several smaller assignments throughout the course of writing their paper, each worth a fraction of the overall grade and building towards the final product. For instance, they might first submit a topic and thesis statement, followed by their outline, then a rough draft, and then the final paper. This method provides students with feedback at various points, prioritizes the process of writing, and lowers the stakes for each graded piece of work.

Formative vs. summative assessment: The difference

Formative and summative assessments can easily be confused. Summative assessment remains an essential part of every single college course being offered today. Despite its widespread use, however, an over-reliance upon it can turn the benefits into drawbacks:

Every summative assessment is a high-pressure situation for students.

Poor performance on an early assessment only increases the pressure on subsequent assessments. If a student earned a C on the midterm, they'll feel the need to ace the final just to end up with a B.

Poor performance on an early assessment undermines students' confidence in their ability to perform better in the latter stages of the course. This creates an incentive to cheat: if they need to ace the final, they'll find a way.

The best way to design any summative assessment is to make it an integral part of course planning.

Formative vs summative assessment: A structured approach

While formative assessment can take place informally through classroom discussion, it also benefits from a planned approach to its use. The challenge, for educators, is to strike the right balance between checking in on the progress of student learning and putting that learning to the test.

Choosing between formative and summative assessment for a particular course isn't an either-or proposition. Formative assessment can't substitute for traditional summative assessment, since exams and assignments remain essential as the best way to definitively measure student proficiency and assign a grade.

Some faculty who have embraced formative assessment choose to make the final exam worth 100 percent of their students' grades, conducting formative evaluations throughout the semester to the point where come exam day, they and their students are confident of success. This formula probably wouldn't work for every professor or every course, but it is a testament to the effectiveness of formative assessment, and to the value of making thoughtful use of both assessment types in every course you teach.

We share the key differences between formative and summative assessments in the table below.

Formative assessments Summative assessments

Monitor student learning throughout the course

Evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit

Are low-stakes or have no point value attached

Are high-stakes and are often cumulative

Offer more flexibility in how to assess students (examples of formative assessment may include think-pair-share activities or hands-on learning)

Aren't as flexible in assessment type (papers or essays are commonly used)

Are used to determine where to adjust lessons and remaining instruction

Are used to determine subject master

Tools you can use to run formative assessments

Depending on what type of assessment you're looking to run-whether a quiz or group discussion-the technology required will vary. Different disciplines, such as STEM or Humanities courses, may also require different formative assessment tools in order to run simulations or lab activities.

That said, plenty of the 20 formative assessment strategies we share later in this post can also be facilitated with pen and paper or simple tech tools. If you're looking to use ed tech to run your formative assessments, here are some platforms you may want to consider.

20 formative assessment examples for any course or discipline

Assessing course-related skills and knowledge

These formative assessment examples help evaluate learning of a given subject's content by assessing student understanding and information recall from previous courses. Assessing this knowledge is especially important for instructors at the beginning of the term, in order to provide a clearer understanding of how to proceed with course material.

1. Exit tickets/exit slips:

Rather than a formal assessment, students use exit tickets to answer one or more assessment questions at the end of a class period or online course module to demonstrate how well they've absorbed that particular lesson. Each question should focus on a single concept or skill taught in that lesson. Download your free exit ticket formative assessment template for your next course.

2. One-minute paper:

In this informal assessment example, students are prompted to write a short response answering two questions related to a given week's course content. Responses to one-minute papers can also be posted in online discussion forums to spur conversation between students. Questions can be as simple as: What was the most valuable, important or useful thing you learned in the lesson? What key questions, problems or issues remain unresolved?

Are you looking to further assess students in and out of your classroom? Top Hat's formative assessment capabilities can help. Facilitate the one-minute paper exercise in-app using an interactive discussion board. Platforms like Kahoot! and Socrative can also be used for running polls and discussions as a quick formative assessment example.

Developing critical thinking and analysis skills

Consider structuring formative assessment examples around the development of higher-order thinking skills that rely on metacognition. Various modes of analysis, including the ability to break down information, problems and questions help develop students' critical thinking skills. Students who think critically become instinctual problem solvers in class, engineering creative solutions to solve complex real-world case studies.

3. Think-pair-share:

Students work together in pairs or small groups to answer a question or solve a problem related to an assigned reading. These groups can use dedicated chat channels built into active learning platforms to communicate and discuss their ideas. First, the instructor asks an assessment question regarding the text for students to think about. Next, students pair up with one or more fellow students to discuss the question and their thoughts on the possible answers. Finally, each pair or group shares their conclusions with the rest of the class.

4. Defining features matrix:

Students categorize concepts based on whether or not they contain certain defining features. This is particularly useful for assessing how fully students understand certain factors distinguishing various concepts from one another and how well they can analyze whether a particular concept fits a certain category.

5. Socratic seminar:

Students help one another apply the ideas, issues and values reflected in a course text through a group discussion. Ask students to annotate the text in advance of class in order to familiarize themselves with the key themes and ideas discussed. Pose a general question and encourage students to share their responses with the group. Another student then responds to the last thought that was shared.

Encouraging students to think creatively

Quick formative assessments can involve creative expression. The following examples of formative assessments are used to understand student abilities when synthesizing information. By instructing students to express themselves creatively, students have the opportunity to think outside the box.

6. Word journal:

This assessment is conducted in two parts. In the first part, the student summarizes an entire lesson in a single word. In the second part, the student composes a short statement of one or two paragraphs explaining why they chose that particular word to summarize the lesson. These can then be submitted to the instructor for feedback directly through content delivery platforms or your learning management system (LMS).

7. Invented dialogue:

This strategy is particularly useful for demonstrating how well students have synthesized various historical or literary personalities, settings or themes. In this assessment, students compose a fictional dialogue between two real or fictitious personalities that demonstrate the students' understanding of the topic. Teachers can opt to instruct students to incorporate actual quotes from primary sources into the dialogue or to simply invent plausible quotes of their own based on their comprehension of the content.

Enhancing problem-solving skills

These formative assessment examples assess students' problem-solving abilities, including their ability to recognize the various types of problems and any causes and appropriate techniques to solve them. Learners can also use the time to draw similarities between various features of different problems, reflect upon them and adjust strategies for solving them accordingly. They are an important component for every educator to have on their formative assessment checklist.

8. Documented problem solutions:

Similar to a show-and-tell exercise or a how-to article, students write down each step they went through in solving a particular problem. This helps instructors understand how a student goes about thinking through problems and may highlight student obstacles when efficiently solving different types of problems. A variation of this is to document the student's problem-solving process through an audio-video recording of the student demonstrating their process.

9. Problem-and-solution type recognition:

Effectively solving any problem requires the ability to identify the type of problem and, subsequently, the most appropriate methods of solving it. Students are given a problem and must identify its type, such as routine or non-routine, well-defined or ill-defined, and the most likely type of solution to apply to it, such as algorithm, heuristics or trial and error. Students can answer these problems through a short-answer question and the results can be shown to the class using a word cloud display.

Assessing student performance and application abilities

These formative assessment examples assess students' understanding of how to apply the knowledge they've learned to specific situations. These informal assessment examples can stand alone as "temperature checks" or can be a part of a longer assessment, such as a scheduled test or quiz.

10. Directed paraphrasing:

Students take a lesson and paraphrase it with a particular audience in mind. This not only helps to assess a student's understanding of the topic, it also helps to assess their ability to reframe it in a way that people in a different context and setting can likewise understand and apply it.

11. Student-generated test questions:

As a form of role-reversal, students devise test questions and sample appropriate answers that demonstrate their ability to comprehend concepts that underlie assigned readings. Rather than simply requiring students to recall what they've read, it asks them to hone in on the key elements that would indicate to them another person's full comprehension of the concepts.

Understanding student self-awareness, attitudes and values

These formative assessment examples engage students and motivate them to develop their own attitudes, values, opinions and self-awareness through course-related activities. The three quick formative assessments below can be used as an exercise to generate discussion amongst students and ensure learning continues once class is over.

12. Opinion polls:

Students indicate how much they agree or disagree with a particular prompt or statement. This assessment data can help educators see how comfortable students are with regard to key objectives of learning activities and with specific course content in particular.

13. Profiles of admirable individuals:

This assessment in the classroom involves asking students to write a brief biography of a real person involved in a relevant field that highlights the admirable characteristics making them a role model. Instructors can use polling features for students to vote on which expert in the field they would like to research.

14. Everyday ethical dilemma: Students answer how they would go about solving a common everyday ethical dilemma related to the course or their discipline.

Activities that help develop individual awareness of self as a learner

These formative assessment examples help students clarify and express their self-concept and personal goals in ways that connect to the course content.

15. Focused autobiographical sketch:

Students write a brief memoir-style essay describing a moment or episode of their lives during the course in which they felt like they successfully reached a learning outcome.

16. Goal-ranking:

Students list three to five goals of their own that serve as their learning goals of the course, then rank them in order of priority. At the end of the course, instructors can go back to this exercise and have students evaluate their rankings and/or assess how well they did achieving each goal they set. Using Top Hat's heat map question functionality, instructors can show how the class performed as a group.

Understanding student learning behaviors, strategies and skills

These formative assessment examples help instructors assess students' learning habits. They can help create a more tailored learning experience.

17. Productive study-time log:

Students keep a log of all the time they spent learning and studying for a given course and, alongside each entry, the quality of that time. This acts as a form of self-assessment because it helps both students and educators see how effectively students are making use of their study time.

18. Punctuated lectures:

After listening to a lecture, students reflect (in writing) on how well they were concentrating on the material and, by contrast, how often they became distracted. They may also note how they brought their attention back to the material, if at all, so they can arm themselves with these tools in future lectures. They can even add how the lecture met their expectations and how they connected the lecture to knowledge they already possess. This can be submitted through the class's live chat while lectures are occurring, so students are able to view their peers' thoughts and opinions.

Assessing student reactions to learning

These formative assessment examples help instructors assess how well students can identify the key points and learning outcomes of a given lesson. These formative assessment ideas will let students thoughtfully reflect on a given reading or artifact.

19. Feedback forms:

There are several ways to solicit weekly feedback from students after a lesson. Educators can pose a series of questions, or even a single question, about the lesson's effectiveness. These can be multiple-choice, true/false, yes/no or open-ended questions.

20. RSQC2:

Students compose a brief statement regarding a particular lesson written in the following format: Recall, Summarize, Question, Connect, Comment. This can also take place in a discussion forum, so students can comment on each other's questions and ideas.
Resources:
Formative and Summative Assessments. (n.d.). Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/Formative-Summative-Assessments

What is the difference between formative and summative assessment? (n.d.). Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon University. https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative-summative.html

50 CATS by Angelo and Cross. (n.d.). University of California, San Diego. https://vcsa.ucsd.edu/_files/assessment/resources/50_cats.pdf

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20 Formative Assessment Examples For Classrooms

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Check out our list for the most effective formative assessment examples-and steps-to assess and engage students in person or online.

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This is good

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Marcus Guido

All Posts

Every educator wants to But to be effective and efficient, formative assessments should Accompanied by a Keep making the most of one-to-one device use by using Encourage physical activity while To plan, put a list of multiple choice questions together. Each should have four answers. Gather students in the middle of the room, reading each question and its possible answers aloud. Students then move to the corner that represents what they believe is the correct answer. For example, the top-left room corner can be option To check their understanding of a new idea, concept or content piece, ask them to write three summaries. The first should be 10 to 15 words. The second is 30 to 50 words. The third is 75 to 100 words. By asking students to vary the lengths of their summaries, they'll have to remember different details as they Allow students to evaluate their own work, Oversee a think-pair-share exercise to Organize this creative writing assignment to Put a spin on reflection-based assessments by improve their instruction and student learning, but it's challenging teaching a class or unit. This is when formative assessments come into play. You can use these evaluations to gather information about student needs, progress and comprehension, informing how you teach a skill or topic while doing so. align with content you're covering and your students' learning styles. For example, if your students don't hesitate to ask questions and share opinions, an assessment rooted in open discussion may be appropriate. It might not work for a reserved group. To easily find appropriate formative assessment ideas, below are 20 examples. downloadable list to keep at your desk for quick reference, choose ones that best suit your students and teaching style.

1. Prodigy
Prodigy to gauge students' math skills.
When they start the curriculum-aligned video game, they dive into a diagnostic test that identifies their strengths and skill deficits to pinpoint their levels of understanding. You can then deliver individualized in-game assignments, which generate progress and performance reports.

With these formative assessment features, it's worthwhile to try the free platform:

2. Four Corners
gauging general student comprehension through this aptly-named exercise. A, the bottom-left can be B and so on. Depending on how students move, you should gain an understanding of class comprehension.
3. Three Summaries
Challenge students to critically think by giving them this processing and review activity. refine their understandings. After, collect the summaries to see where knowledge gaps are.
4. Hand It In, Pass It Out

Run this short exercise to build topic comprehension.

It starts by posing a question with an objective answer that's explainable in a few sentences. Without writing their names down, students should answer the question on plain sheets of paper. As they hand the papers in to you, quickly distribute them back to students at random. Explain what the correct answer is, so that they can grade the paper they've received. In doing so, they'll improve their understanding of the topic. Conclude the exercise by taking a poll to measure how many papers had the right response.

5. Self-Evaluation
encouraging them to learn their own strengths and weaknesses.
Giving students time to formally review their own written assessments is an easy way of doing so. After completing the assessment, give each student access to an expanded rubric that details expectations. They should grade themselves accordingly. You can also ask them to hand in their completed rubrics, letting you note concerns that students may have about their own knowledge and comprehension.

6. Partner Quiz

Develop peer teaching skills in your class by running partner quizzes, which also allow students to assess themselves.

To launch a partner quiz, pair students together and provide an open question to tackle. As they work to solve it, encourage them to give each other corrective feedback -- identifying mistakes and explaining how to reach proper solutions. Once the pair has answered the question, each student can independently work on a question related to the same concept. You can collect responses to wrap up the exercise.

7. Highlighter
Assess student understanding of a text-based resource through this solo and small-group exercise.
Each student should read the same written passage or resource, highlighting sentences that stick out as important or interesting. Once everyone is done, divide the class into groups of three or four. Within his or her group, each student must share the sentences he or she highlighted. Each group should be able to pinpoint the text's main idea or theme in doing so, submitting an explanation so you can determine general comprehension levels.

8. Transfer the Concept

Help students grasp a new concept by having them apply it to a different area.

Let's say you've recently taught how to identify protagonists and antagonists in novels. After determining students have a strong command of the concept, watch a clip from a show, movie or perhaps shorter media such as advertisements. Individually, have them write down who the protagonists and antagonists are to ensure their understanding isn't confined to one medium .

9. Think-Pair-Share
deliver three content-processing activities in one, easily assessing student understanding during the last stage.
As the name of this differentiated instruction strategy implies, start by asking each student to think about a specific topic or answer a given question. Next, pair students together to discuss their findings. Finally, each pair should share their thoughts with the class and accept questions from classmates.

10. Jigsaw

Launch a jigsaw activity to teach accountability to each student while checking for understanding of a specific topic.

A mainstay part of co-operative learning , the method consists of dividing a task into subtasks and assigning one to each student in a small group. Group members then work to become "experts" about the information within their subtasks. For example, if the group is investigating multiplication, one group member may be in charge of learning more about the multiplication of negative integers. Each student returns to his or her group after this investigation process, sharing new knowledge. For assessment purposes, you can require each group to write a short report about the overarching topic you assigned.

11. Stop and Go
Allow students to give you real-time feedback as you teach with "stop and go" cards.
Purchasable or assignable as an art task, they're two-sided cards -- one green and one red. As you deliver a lesson, students should hold the green side toward you if they understand everything. If something's unclear, encourage them to turn the red side forward. When you see red, stop and clarify -- or expand upon -- your points until you see green again. This should help you quickly assess if students are processing content as you deliver it.

12. Virtual Classroom

Capitalize on one-to-one device use, if possible, by automatically sending questions to students as you're teaching.

With an online platform such as Socrative , you can write questions that correspond with your lessons, pre-scheduling them or sending them to students on-the-spot. Because they quickly and privately respond using devices, you shouldn't have trouble eliciting answers from those who don't typically raise their hands. And since you can send questions at any time using these platforms, they work for quizzes, activities, entry and exit tickets and many other forms of formative assessments.

13. Illustrations

Assess young students' reading comprehension, or listening, skills by delivering this interdisciplinary formative assessment.

The activity, Illustrations , starts by either reading a story passage out loud or having students read it individually. Irrespective of who reads, each student must draw the content depicted in the passage. If the passage already has an accompanying illustration, you can show it to students afterward. This way, they can see how close they were.

14. Letters through Time
gauge comprehension in history class.
Students assume the role of a specific historical figure, relevant to course content, and pair with a classmate from the same setting. Each student in the duo must write a series of letters to one another. These letters should discuss an event or isolated time period that's historically significant. As well as acting as a formative assessment, the exercise can effectively prepare students for essays, reports, long-answer tests and other summative assessments.

15. Entry and Exit Tickets

Gather information about how well students processed your most recent lesson by giving them five minutes to write an entry or exit ticket.
As a formative assessment, entry tickets should ask students to reflect on a specific class or exercise from the previous day. Exit tickets should involve students summarizing what they've just learned. Either way, you'll receive small products that let you easily see how well students processed and retained key content, indicating knowledge gaps.
16. Two Roses and a Thorn
Determine content for your next class by concluding a lesson, presentation or chapter reading with Two Roses and a Thorn -- a quick-to-deliver type of exit ticket and reflection exercise.
Each student must note two topics or concepts he or she enjoyed learning about, and another they didn't like or still have questions about. They must hand in their responses before leaving class. If students share the same difficulties or dislikes, it may indicate a need to re-explore a topic or shift your approach to teaching it.

17. Countdown

Deliver this activity if Two Roses and a Thorn doesn't provide enough insight, or you feel your students need a deeper exercise.

Best used to end the day, Countdown requires students to create three distinct lists. They must state and explain (a) three ideas or concepts they learned, (b) two ideas or concepts that surprised them and (c) one thing they intend to start doing based on what they learned. Collective responses should indicate if students generally grasped a day's material.
Inject variety into your end-of-day reflection exercises by asking students to complete one-minute papers.
18. One-Minute Papers
A solo writing task, you don't have to take one-minute papers literally. Students can have a bit more time as they work to answer a brief question about the lesson. It should be an open question, which allows you to easily assess understanding. For example, you can ask students about (a) the lesson's confusing areas, (b) any unaddressed queries they have or (c) what question from the lesson they think may appear on an upcoming test.
19. Metacognition Sheet
Pinpoint trouble spots and knowledge gaps before a summative assessment by having students answer specific questions about the given topic. This starts by distributing sheets of paper with the following questions: (a) "Can you summarize the topic?", (b) "How can you apply the topic?" and (c) "What questions do you still have about the topic?" Encouraging detailed answers should help you identify which students are struggling, and what their specific struggles are.
20. Roll the Die
asking students to vocalize instead of write them, quickly taking notes as they speak.
To end class, start the activity by placing a die at each student's desk. Each die face represents the beginning of a sentence that must be completed. Displaying or projecting them at the front of class, these sentences should be along the lines of: "I learned today that ..." or "I'm still confused about ..." Since there are six options and likely many more students in your class, you'll hear a range of answers as students roll dice one after another, completing the corresponding sentences aloud. As a result, you should get a grasp of what students do and don't understand about the day's lessons.

Downloadable List of the 20 Formative Assessment Examples
Click here to download the list of formative assessment ideas to print and keep at your desk.
Wrapping Up

These formative assessment activities differ, but all deliver the same underlying benefits.

Students should grow cognizant of their learning needs, styles, strengths and areas of improvement. You should improve your general understanding of student learning, and identify problem areas to address before summative assessments.

As a likely result, they'll be better equipped to self-assess and you'll deliver more engaging, targeted lessons.
>>Create or log in to your teacher account on Prodigy -- a free game-based learning platform that assesses student progress and performance as they play. Aligned with curricula across the English-speaking world, it's loved by more than 800,000 teachers and 30 million students.

Every educator wants to But to be effective and efficient, formative assessments should Accompanied by a Keep making the most of one-to-one device use by using Encourage physical activity while To plan, put a list of multiple choice questions together. Each should have four answers. Gather students in the middle of the room, reading each question and its possible answers aloud. Students then move to the corner that represents what they believe is the correct answer. For example, the top-left room corner can be option To check their understanding of a new idea, concept or content piece, ask them to write three summaries. The first should be 10 to 15 words. The second is 30 to 50 words. The third is 75 to 100 words. By asking students to vary the lengths of their summaries, they'll have to remember different details as they Allow students to evaluate their own work, Oversee a think-pair-share exercise to Organize this creative writing assignment to Put a spin on reflection-based assessments by improve their instruction and student learning, but it's challenging teaching a class or unit. This is when formative assessments come into play. You can use these evaluations to gather information about student needs, progress and comprehension, informing how you teach a skill or topic while doing so. align with content you're covering and your students' learning styles. For example, if your students don't hesitate to ask questions and share opinions, an assessment rooted in open discussion may be appropriate. It might not work for a reserved group. To easily find appropriate formative assessment ideas, below are 20 examples. downloadable list to keep at your desk for quick reference, choose ones that best suit your students and teaching style. Prodigy to gauge students' math skills. gauging general student comprehension through this aptly-named exercise. A, the bottom-left can be B and so on. Depending on how students move, you should gain an understanding of class comprehension. Challenge students to critically think by giving them this processing and review activity. refine their understandings. After, collect the summaries to see where knowledge gaps are. encouraging them to learn their own strengths and weaknesses. Assess student understanding of a text-based resource through this solo and small-group exercise. deliver three content-processing activities in one, easily assessing student understanding during the last stage. Allow students to give you real-time feedback as you teach with "stop and go" cards. gauge comprehension in history class. As a formative assessment, entry tickets should ask students to reflect on a specific class or exercise from the previous day. Exit tickets should involve students summarizing what they've just learned. Either way, you'll receive small products that let you easily see how well students processed and retained key content, indicating knowledge gaps. Determine content for your next class by concluding a lesson, presentation or chapter reading with Two Roses and a Thorn -- a Inject variety into your end-of-day reflection exercises by asking students to complete one-minute papers. quick-to-deliver type of exit ticket and reflection exercise. A solo writing task, you don't have to take one-minute papers literally. Students can have a bit more time as they work to answer a brief question about the lesson. It should be an open question, which allows you to easily assess understanding. For example, you can ask students about (a) the lesson's confusing areas, (b) any unaddressed queries they have or (c) what question from the lesson they think may appear on an upcoming test. Pinpoint trouble spots and knowledge gaps before a summative assessment by having students answer specific questions about the given topic. This starts by distributing sheets of paper with the following questions: (a) "Can you summarize the topic?", (b) "How can you apply the topic?" and (c) "What questions do you still have about the topic?" Encouraging detailed answers should help you identify which students are struggling, and what their specific struggles are. asking students to vocalize instead of write them, quickly taking notes as they speak.

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20 Formative Assessment Examples to Try [+ Downloadable List]

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Marcus Guido All Posts Every educator wants to But to be effective and efficient, formative assessments should Accompanied by a Keep making the most of one-to-one device use by using Encourage physical activity while To plan, put a list of multiple choice questions together. Each should have four answers.

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Lots of apps rec. Here

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Formative assessment-discovering what students know while they're still in the process of learning it-can be tricky. Designing just the right assessment can feel high stakes-for teachers, not students-because we're using it to figure out what comes next. Are we ready to move on? Do our students need a different path into the concepts? Or, more likely, which students are ready to move on and which need a different path?

When it comes to figuring out what our students really know, we have to look at more than one kind of information. A single data point-no matter how well designed the quiz, presentation, or problem behind it-isn't enough information to help us plan the next step in our instruction.

Add to that the fact that different learning tasks are best measured in different ways, and we can see why we need a variety of formative assessment tools we can deploy quickly, seamlessly, and in a low-stakes way-all while not creating an unmanageable workload. That's why it's important to keep it simple: Formative assessments generally just need to be checked, not graded, as the point is to get a basic read on the progress of individuals, or the class as a whole.

7 Approaches to Formative Assessment

1. Entry and exit slips: Those marginal minutes at the beginning and end of class can provide some great opportunities to find out what kids remember. Start the class off with a quick question about the previous day's work while students are getting settled-you can ask differentiated questions written out on chart paper or projected on the board, for example.

A quick way to see the big picture if you use paper exit tickets is to sort the papers into three piles: Students got the point; they sort of got it; and they didn't get it. The size of the stacks is your clue about what to do next.

No matter the tool, the key to keeping students engaged in the process of just-walked-in or almost-out-the-door formative assessment is the questions. Ask students to write for one minute on the most meaningful thing they learned. You can try prompts like:

What are three things you learned, two things you're still curious about, and one thing you don't understand?

How would you have done things differently today, if you had the choice?

What I found interesting about this work was...

Right now I'm feeling...

Today was hard because...

Or skip the words completely and have students draw or circle emojis to represent their assessment of their understanding.

2. Low-stakes quizzes and polls: If you want to find out whether your students really know as much as you think they know, polls and quizzes created with Socrative or Quizlet or in-class games and tools like Quizalize, Kahoot, FlipQuiz, Gimkit, Plickers, and Flippity can help you get a better sense of how much they really understand. (Grading quizzes but assigning low point values is a great way to make sure students really try: The quizzes matter, but an individual low score can't kill a student's grade.) Kids in many classes are always logged in to these tools, so formative assessments can be done very quickly. Teachers can see each kid's response, and determine both individually and in aggregate how students are doing.

Because you can design the questions yourself, you determine the level of complexity. Ask questions at the bottom of Bloom's taxonomy and you'll get insight into what facts, vocabulary terms, or processes kids remember. Ask more complicated questions ("What advice do you think Katniss Everdeen would offer Scout Finch if the two of them were talking at the end of chapter 3?"), and you'll get more sophisticated insights.

3. Dipsticks: So-called alternative formative assessments are meant to be as easy and quick as checking the oil in your car, so they're sometimes referred to as dipsticks. These can be things like asking students to:

write a letter explaining a key idea to a friend,

draw a sketch to visually represent new knowledge, or

do a think, pair, share exercise with a partner.

Your own observations of students at work in class can provide valuable data as well, but they can be tricky to keep track of. Taking quick notes on a tablet or smartphone, or using a copy of your roster, is one approach. A focused observation form is more formal and can help you narrow your note-taking focus as you watch students work.

4. Interview assessments: If you want to dig a little deeper into students' understanding of content, try discussion-based assessment methods. Casual chats with students in the classroom can help them feel at ease even as you get a sense of what they know, and you may find that five-minute interview assessments work really well. Five minutes per student would take quite a bit of time, but you don't have to talk to every student about every project or lesson.

You can also shift some of this work to students using a peer-feedback process called TAG feedback (Tell your peer something they did well, Ask a thoughtful question, Give a positive suggestion). When you have students share the feedback they have for a peer, you gain insight into both students' learning.

For more introverted students-or for more private assessments-use Flipgrid, Explain Everything, or Seesaw to have students record their answers to prompts and demonstrate what they can do.

5. Methods that incorporate art: Consider using visual art or photography or videography as an assessment tool. Whether students draw, create a collage, or sculpt, you may find that the assessment helps them synthesize their learning. Or think beyond the visual and have kids act out their understanding of the content. They can create a dance to model cell mitosis or act out stories like Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" to explore the subtext.

6. Misconceptions and errors: Sometimes it's helpful to see if students understand why something is incorrect or why a concept is hard. Ask students to explain the " muddiest point" in the lesson-the place where things got confusing or particularly difficult or where they still lack clarity. Or do a misconception check: Present students with a common misunderstanding and ask them to apply previous knowledge to correct the mistake, or ask them to decide if a statement contains any mistakes at all, and then discuss their answers.

You can use sticky notes to get a quick insight into what areas your kids think they need to work on. Ask them to pick their own trouble spot from three or four areas where you think the class as a whole needs work, and write those areas in separate columns on a whiteboard. Have you students answer on a sticky note and then put the note in the correct column-you can see the results at a glance.

Several self-assessments let the teacher see what every kid thinks very quickly. For example, you can use colored stacking cups that allow kids to flag that they're all set (green cup), working through some confusion (yellow), or really confused and in need of help (red).

Similar strategies involve using participation cards for discussions (each student has three cards-"I agree," "I disagree," and "I don't know how to respond") and thumbs-up responses (instead of raising a hand, students hold a fist at their belly and put their thumb up when they're ready to contribute). Students can instead use six hand gestures to silently signal that they agree, disagree, have something to add, and more. All of these strategies give teachers an unobtrusive way to see what students are thinking.

No matter which tools you select, make time to do your own reflection to ensure that you're only assessing the content and not getting lost in the assessment fog. If a tool is too complicated, is not reliable or accessible, or takes up a disproportionate amount of time, it's OK to put it aside and try something different.

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7 Smart, Fast Ways to Do Formative Assessment

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Within these methods you'll find close to 40 tools and tricks for finding out what your students know while they're still learning.

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Lots of further reading links here to explore

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Effective teaching and learning practices integrate ongoing assessment and feedback with high-quality instructional practice.

The practitioner leads and drives the learning program for their group of learners. The impact of effective teaching and learning practices on learner achievement in making progress along the learning continuum is significant regardless of family background. Effective teaching and learning practices impact learning potential and achievement when they are relevant to the community, individual characteristics and interests, family circumstances and cultural heritage. Effective teaching and learning practices integrate ongoing assessment and feedback with high-quality instructional practice.

The ongoing process of learning and development

Practitioners manage the ongoing process of learning and assessment. As part of this process, they need to provide a firm foundation in terms of the curriculum area including providing appropriate examples and practice in what is being taught and learned.

Effective assessment is integrated into ongoing learning from starting a developmental learning sequence, unit or topic, learning the curriculum and demonstrating progress and achievement, to planning the next steps in learning.

Strategies for integrating assessment into the learning and teaching process challenge and motivate the learner:

Discuss and clarify with learners what are the learning goals and the success criteria

Use effective classroom discussion, questioning, observation, activities and tasks to elicit evidence of how learners are progressing toward the learning goals

Provide feedback that assists learners to move their learning forward

Encourage learners to take ownership of their learning

Use learners as resources for one another.

Teaching practice ensures assessment supports learning when practitioners discuss with learners their existing knowledge and understandings and share with them the learning outcomes and success criteria for the activities in which they are participating.

This discussion enables learners to be clear about the nature and quality of work required to achieve success.

Classroom interaction and feedback provided by the practitioner should assist learners to review their progress and planning the next steps forward.

Classroom dialogue encourages and enables learners to think and talk about their thinking and learning and thereby deepening their understanding of this learning and developing their ability to act as independent learners.

Growing the ability in understanding how to learn in the curriculum area being studied will strengthen students' ability to review their learning and comment productively on that of their peers.

Further Reading

Visible Learning Part 1, Visible Learning Part 2,
John Hattie summarises the findings from his meta-analysis of research papers into what works and what does not to enhance learning achievement. He concludes by arguing for the importance of teachers collecting evidence about what is happening in their classrooms so that the learning occurring there becomes visible to them.

Classroom Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day, Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., & Wiliam, D.
Leahy, Lyon, Thompson and Wiliam elaborate on five strategies they regard as key parts of ongoing assessment and provide examples of how teachers have implemented them.

Working Inside the black box: assessment in the classroom, Black P., Harrison C., Lee C., Marshall B., Wiliam D.
This article continues the discussion by Black and Wiliam and others on the benefits of ongoing assessment. It also comments on strategies that teachers have developed as key parts of ongoing assessment, namely questioning, feedback by comment rather than grading and peer and self-assessment.

Differentiation: It starts with Pre-Assessment, Skinner E.
This article describes a classroom method whereby a teacher starts by determining where the students are at in their learning at the beginning of the start of a new topic and based on the evidence uncovered organises the next stages of the learning process.

Using student assessment for professional learning: focusing on students' outcomes to identify teachers' needs (pdf - 623.75kb) Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Paper No. 21, May 2011
Helen Timperley argues that the improvement of both student learning and teachers' professional learning is an interactive cyclical process. It begins with teachers examining assessment evidence about learners' knowledge and skills and considering what they need to know to improve the learning process. This reflection assists teachers to deepen their professional knowledge and refine their skills and enables them to engage students in new learning experiences. To close the cycle teachers gather assessment evidence again to consider the impact of their changed teaching. Timperley also discusses the essential role of school leaders in promoting the types of professional learning that will support teachers in improving students' learning outcomes.

Visible learning: what's good for the goose... Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Research article, April 2010
A summary of John Hattie's research into what influences work in schools to improve learning. It outlines Hattie's findings on the extent to which six basic factors; the child, the home, the school, the teacher, the curriculum and approaches to teaching contribute to achievement. It reports that Hattie's basic message is the importance of "visible learning" and 'visible teaching" whereby learning is the explicit goal for not only learners but also teachers.

"A parent who has triplets in different classes can rightfully expect the children to be assessed equitably, that is their teachers will develop similar assessment tasks and similar assessment criteria that will be applied consistently across classes."
Teacher, 2000

Moderation is how a school can ensure that teachers across classes make consistent and defensible judgements about learner achievement. Moderation begins with teachers sharing their understanding of the curriculum achievement standards and their expectations about the types and quality of learners' work that will provide evidence of learner achievement against the standards.

Making consistent, valid, evidence-based decisions

When teachers collaborate on assessment as well as planning the learning program they develop assessment tasks that provide more reliable evidence for making decisions about where a child is in their learning and what the next steps in the learning program should be.

Moderation improves understanding of learner achievement

Teachers engaged in moderation share and deepen their understanding of the curriculum standards, the learning intentions and the success criteria by which learner achievement will be measured. By sharing and discussing samples of learners' work they clarify expectations and develop a common understanding of the elements that define the work as being at a particular achievement standard.

Consistent assessments improve judgement of children's progress

When consistent, reliable assessments are made at different points in time and over time, judgements about anyone learner's progress and the learning progress of the whole cohort are more accurate.

Moderation means confidence

Reliable assessment data can be discussed confidently with learners and their parents. Adjustments to the learning program can be made more confidently as they are based on reliable assessment data.

Moderation is a process

A process for moderating assessments of learners' work that is agreed by all teachers of those learners will be most effective and produce the most consistent assessments. Teachers may meet to moderate:

one or two assessment tasks

a range of assessments to make overall teacher judgements

Participants in moderation

At the basic level, moderation is undertaken by all the teachers of a particular year level or subject at a year level.

Given that in any one grade or group, children may be spread across 5-6 levels along the learning continuum, it can be useful to invite teachers of another year level to participate in moderation. This can help develop a shared understanding of the qualities of student work expected at different levels on the learning continuum.

Moderation amongst teachers in neighbouring schools develops a shared understanding of student learning in a district. It also broadens the range of experience at the discussion table.

Moderation in practice

A useful resource to help put moderation into practice is Teacher moderation: collaborative assessment of student work. This handbook provides a step-by-guide and case studies illustrating how moderation works in practice.

Sound advice about managing moderation can be found on the New Zealand TKI site.

Assessing children's learning

Early childhood professionals assess children's learning in ways that:

inform their practice

include children's views of their learning

are authentic and responsive to how children demonstrate their learning and development

draw on families' perspectives, knowledge, experiences and expectations

consider children in the context of their families and provide support to families when necessary

value the culturally specific knowledge embedded within communities about children's learning and development

are transparent and objective, and provide families with information about their children's learning and development, and about what they can do to further support their children

gather and analyse information from a wide range of sources to help them assess and plan effectively

provide the best possible advice and guidance to children and their families.

source: VEYLDF p. 13

Further Reading

Ongoing assessment and associated feedback are essential elements in enabling learners to make progress in their learning. Effective strategies for integrating these essential elements into learning start with clear learning intentions.

In the early years (birth to eight years old), assessment for learning and development informs practice, includes learners' views, draws on families' perspectives, knowledge, experience and expectations and uses multidisciplinary approaches.

Practices that have the most impact on learner achievement

The impact of effective teaching and learning practices on learner achievement in making progress along the learning continuum is significant regardless of family background or socioeconomic status. Effective practices include high-quality instruction and ongoing assessment and feedback.

Hattie's research identified the effect size of a range of instructional practices:

Source: Hattie, J. Teachers make a difference, ACER, 2003.

An effect size of 0.40 is considered significant. Feedback is highly significant. The effective practitioner engages in high-quality instructional practices which include direct instruction were required along with frequent assessment and feedback to the learner that includes strategies for improving learning.

The McREL organisation's research led to the development of a set of nine essential instructional strategies that have been further developed by Marzano. Their research indicates that teachers who use these strategies improve student learning and achievement.

Further Reading

Teachers Make a Difference, What is the research evidence?
Download Hattie's paper, "Teachers make a difference" at the South Australian Department of Education website.

Introduction Marzano's Nine Strategies for Effective Instruction, Clark B, 2012 (video)
View a video about the nine instructional strategies, how they improve learning and the role of ongoing feedback in learning.

Nine essential instructional strategies" adapted from classroom instruction that works, R. J. Marzano, D. J. Pickering, J. E. Pollock, 2001
Read about the nine effective essential instructional strategies developed by McREL that if added to the practitioner's toolkit will improve learning.

Classroom instruction that works second edition Research report, Beesley AD & Apthorp HS, 2010
Read a report about the research into the nine effective instructional strategies.

Learning intentions

The planning for a semester, unit or lesson begins with determining the learning goals or learning intentions - what the learner should be able to know, understand and do as a result of the learning. The practitioner and learners take responsibility for the learning and they collaboratively develop the learning intentions.

Clarity of learning intentions and explicit sharing of them with learners are essential for learners to become engaged and motivated to achieve progress in their learning.

Success criteria

The next step is identifying the criteria by which achievement of the learning intentions will be measured. Involving learners in this step engages and motivates them to want to achieve. Useful success criteria are specific, they describe what success looks like and they are measurable.

Clarity

It is essential that the learning intentions and success criteria are explicit and understood by learners, their families and the practitioner. Providing models and examples of work that meet the success criteria enables learners to understand the depth and quality of work required to meet the expectations jointly set with the practitioner.

Checking clarity is shared

Learners should be able to answer these questions -

1. What are you learning?

2. Why are you learning this?

3. How are you learning this?

4. How will you know when you have learned it?

Practitioners should be able to explain to the learners -

What is to be learnt - the learning intentions

How the learning intentions are linked to the bigger ideas and understandings that the learners will learn

How children will be learning

How the learning activities are relevant to the success criteria

How learners will demonstrate their learning - what learners will say, make, write or do concerning sample assessment tasks

How this new learning will impact future learning

Differentiation

When the development of learning intentions is shared, the planning reflects learner needs and ensures the depth of learning required is appropriate for each learner. Deep teacher knowledge is essential when designing Learning Intentions. The practitioner must know well their learning domain and the progression of learning within that domain to appropriately assess where a learner is at in their learning and to identify the next steps in the learning.

The main purpose for developing effective learning intentions is to help answer the question, 'What knowledge, skill and understandings do I want the learners to acquire as a result of the learning?' Once the overall Learning Intentions are framed, then consideration can be directed to differentiating those Intentions whilst keeping the integral focus of the session.

Further Reading

Professional learning module, Assessment for Learning, ESA
A professional learning module about learning intentions that address the big picture, reflection, practice and evaluation and provides examples of learning intentions is available at Education Services Australia.

Differentiation: it starts with pre-assessment, Educational Leadership, ASCD
Emily Skinner in the article "Differentiation: It starts with Pre-Assessment", describes a classroom method whereby a teacher starts by determining where the students are at in their learning at the beginning of the start of a new topic and based on the evidence uncovered organises the next steps of the learning process.

Learning intentions and success criteria, John Hattie
Hattie explains the importance of linking success criteria and learning intentions and of showing students what success looks like.

Learning Intentions and Success Criteria, Sinclair C & Gallacher M, 2012
In this short webinar, Christine Sinclair and Murray Gallacher demonstrate how to use these two features of ongoing assessment in the classroom.

The value of the evidence

When used formatively, both formal and informal assessments provide valuable evidence of learning, misunderstandings or lack of understanding. Practitioners and learners analyse this evidence and use it to further learning for a whole group, a small group and individuals.

Further Reading

John Hattie - Visual Learning Part 1 John Hattie - Visual Learning Part 2
John Hattie summarises the findings from his meta-analysis of research papers into what works and what does not to enhance learning achievement. He concludes by arguing for the importance of teachers collecting evidence about what is happening in their classrooms so that the learning occurring there becomes visible to them.

Classroom Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day
In Classroom Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day, Leahy, Lyon, Thompson and Wiliam elaborate on the five strategies that are key parts of ongoing assessment and provide examples of how teachers have implemented them.

Reviewing and reflecting

Self-assessment involves learners reviewing their work and learning and reflecting on their progress against the success criteria they developed in conjunction with the practitioner. They consider how well they have performed the work being undertaken and the strategies they have used. It assists them to recognise and affirming their achievements and understanding what still needs to be learnt, what they need to do next and the type of assistance they may require to progress.

Self-assessment can build motivation and belief in learners' own ability to learn and motivate them to take more responsibility for their learning.

One popular strategy which students can utilise in everyday classroom activities is the adoption of symbols in the traffic light colours of red, yellow and green which they display to their teacher to indicate that they understand, are not quite sure, or do not understand what the teacher or another student has said.

Success criteria and reflection

Self-assessment against the success criteria encourages the learner to reflect on their learning of key concepts, understandings and skills in a learning domain and on their learning strategies (metacognition).

Peer Feedback

Peer feedback involves learners in feedback on one another's work about the success criteria collaboratively determined at the beginning of the semester, unit or lesson.

Learners discuss the extent to which each other's work meets the success criteria and learning outcomes established by the class at the start of the learning process.

Peers provide advice and help each other to improve their work. By thinking and discussing what needs to be improved in a piece of work learners begin to gain a deeper understanding of what constitutes a satisfactory realisation of the success criteria.

Peer feedback can assist learners to become teachers of each other and develop a growing understanding of how to learn in the learning domain area being studied.

Before engaging in peer feedback, it is helpful if learners develop self-assessment strategies and practise how to comment effectively on one another's work in a supportive manner.

Rubrics and self-assessment

Rubrics describe the quality expected in a learner's response to an assessment task. They enable the learner to self-assess against the assessment criteria, review their work and reflect on what needs to be learned to achieve the standard expected. When peer-reviewing other learners refer to the rubric to help them provide appropriate feedback to the learner.

What is effective learner self-assessment?

For formative assessment to be productive, pupils should be trained in self-assessment so that they can understand the main purposes of their learning and thereby grasp what they need to do to achieve. The practitioner can assist learners to reflect on what they have learned, how they learned that knowledge or skill and what they need to learn next by prompting some questions that will challenge the learners' thinking about learning. Black P. & Wiliam D. (1998).
Inside the black box: raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2)

The practitioner can assist learners to reflect on what they have learned, how they learned that knowledge or skill and what they need to learn next by prompting some questions that will challenge the learners' thinking about learning.

Prompts that can assist learners to reflect on their learning

These questions are useful prompts to assist learners to self-assess.

What did I learn today?

How do I know I learnt this?

What am I confused about?

How can I clarify this?

What do I want to know more about?

How am I going to find out more?

What am I going to work on next?

I was surprised by...

I was challenged by...

I was excited when I discovered...

As the learner is working through a learning activity they might assess their progress internally. If the learner can discuss or write down some of their self-assessments, the verbalisation and clarification of ideas that comes from interaction with others in oral or written form assist learners to remember their learning and their successful learning strategies.

Some useful self-assessment tools

Digital portfolio, learning reflection journal

Discussion, whole-class or small-group

Self-evaluation form

Self-assessment checklists and inventories

Teacher-student interviews

Teachers make a difference, Hattie, J ACER, 2003

Victorian Early Years Learning Development Framework, 2014. DEECD

Assessment through the student's eyes, Stiggins R. 2007
In this article, Rick Stiggins describes some strategies teachers may use to co-construct rubrics with their students, explain learning intentions, and involve students in self-assessment.

Linking formative assessment to scaffolding, Shepard, L. 2005
The author discusses the importance of determining prior knowledge, giving effective feedback and teaching students to self-assess.

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Effective teaching and learning practices integrate ongoing assessment and feedback with high-quality instructional practice. The practitioner leads and drives the learning program for their group of learners. The impact of effective teaching and learning practices on learner achievement in making progress along the learning continuum is significant regardless of family background.

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Formative assessment in the classroom and school | Unesco IIEP Learning Portal

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Teachers and schools need to check for learning throughout the school year, not just wait for final examinations. Formative assessment can improve student outcomes if part of a fair, valid, and reliable process of gathering, interpreting, and using infor­mation generated from methods used throughout the student learning process.

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In this course, we will examine what formative assessment is, why it is important, and how it can be implemented in our classrooms. As part of the course, you will encounter examples of practice, discuss and interact with peers, and prepare a lesson plan for use in your teaching.
As a participant, you will:

Understand what formative assessment is

Understand why formative assessment can help student learning

Understand how formative assessment can help develop personalised learning

Be able to plan activities which incorporate formative assessment strategies

Be able to identify and use formative assessment tools

Make connections to other course participants

Reflect about your own practice

This course is based on the work of the TeachUP project. You can follow it at your own pace; we will open one module at the beginning of each week, but the only deadlines you need to pay attention to are in the last module.
To get the most out of the course, you can join the Facebook group share your thoughts on Twitter using the hashtag #FormativeAssessment!

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In this course, we will examine what formative assessment is, why it is important, and how it can be implemented in our classrooms. As part of the course, you will encounter examples of practice, discuss and interact with peers, and prepare a lesson plan for use in your teaching.

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When it comes to teaching we must remember that it's only the learners, not the teacher, who create learning. The teacher's role in learning is guiding the process by responding to a learner's performance.

Ultimately the best way for that to happen is by designing the best and most authentic formative assessments possible. Using them to help students improve and excel as they learn is what mindful assessment is about.

One of the most passionate proponents of authentic formative assessment was the late Grant Wiggins. He penned an article in 1989 proposing a laundry list of student-centered qualities for defining the ideal formative assessment. It was called Teaching to the (Authentic) Test. In this article, he suggested there were 27 things that he considered the hallmarks of authentic formative assessments. In the spirit of the great man himself, we'd like to share them with you below.

The 27 Characteristics of Authentic Formative Assessments

The qualities Grant suggests below are broken down into 4 different categories for easier reference. Use these ideas as you visualize building authentic formative assessments for using with your learners.

Structure & Logistics

Authentic Formative Assessments:

1. Are more appropriately public; involve an audience, panel, etc.

2. Do not rely on unrealistic and arbitrary time constraints

3. Offer known, not secret, questions or tasks

4. Are not one-shot - more like portfolios or a season of games

5. Involve some collaboration with others

6. Recur - and are worth retaking

7. Make feedback to students so central that school structures and policies are modified to support them

Intellectual Design Features

Authentic Formative Assessments:

1. Are "essential" - not contrived or arbitrary just to shake out a grade

2. Are enabling, pointing the student toward more sophisticated and important use of skills and knowledge

3. Are contextualized and complex, not atomized into isolated objectives

4. Involve the students' own research

5. Assess student habits and repertories, not mere recall or plug-in

6. Are representative challenges of a field or subject

7. Are engaging and educational

8. Involve somewhat ambiguous (ill-structured) tasks or problems

Grading and Scoring

Authentic Formative Assessments:

1. Involve criteria that assess essentials, not merely what is easily scores

2. Are not graded on a curve, but in reference to legitimate performance standards or benchmarks

3. Involve transparent, de-mystified expectations

4. Make self-assessment part of the assessment

5. Use a multi-faceted analytic trait scoring system instead of one holistic or aggregate grade

6. Reflect coherent and stable school standards

Fairness

Authentic Formative Assessments:

1. Identify (perhaps hidden) strengths [not just reveal deficits]

2. Strike a balance between honoring achievement while mindful of fortunate prior experience or training [that can make the assessment invalid]

3. Minimize needless, unfair, and demoralizing comparisons of students to one another

4. Allow appropriate room for student styles and interests [ - some element of choice]

5. Can be attempted by all students via available scaffolding or prompting as needed [with such prompting reflected in the ultimate scoring]

6. Have perceived value to the students being assessed

These authentic formative assessments characteristics are from an article published on TeachThought.

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The 27 Most Crucial Qualities of Authentic Formative Assessments

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When it comes to teaching we must remember that it's only the learners, not the teacher, who create learning. The teacher's role in learning is guiding the process by responding to a learner's performance. Ultimately the best way for that to happen is by designing the best and most authentic formative assessments possible.

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What are the most popular assessment tools you'll find being used in today's modern classrooms? It's true that there are many to choose from out there. Some of them are quick and task-specific, and others, like the ones below, offer a wider range of tools that are basically part of a full learning management system.

Good digital assessment tools help us to truly understand our students.

They let us know where they are so that we can map out the process of getting them where they need to be in a way that motivates and inspires them to succeed. Good assessment tools also align students with the ways of learning that they connect with most, and that let them take the lead.

These four are probably the most popular assessment tools among teachers. You'll find them in use everywhere and at the top of lists all over the Web.

Socrative

prepared activities or on-the-fly questions to gauge student understanding. And it gets even better with Socrativeis still one of the top apps effective classroom engagement and assessment. Use Socrative PRO.

Schoology

Schoology offers a complete learning management system that lets teachers create engaging lessons and effectively assess student understanding. It's a worldwide community of lifelong learners, educators, and entrepreneurs dedicated to transforming education for the present and the future.

Kahoot!

Kahoot! lets you create online learning games that provide assessment data in ways that engage and entertain students. Add videos, diagrams, and images to make your games interactive. Students answer on their own devices integrated into the system.

Formative

Formative is fast, fun, easy, and works on all digital devices. Teachers love it because kids love it too. It features a number of interesting ways to gather assessment data. These include custom activities you build for true/false, multiple-choice, and short answer questions, and also one that lets students show their work by drawing or uploading images of their progress.

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The 4 Most Popular Assessment Tools Used in Modern Classrooms

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What are the most popular assessment tools you'll find being used in today's modern classrooms? It's true that there are many to choose from out there. Some of them are quick and task-specific, and others, like the ones below, offer a wider range of tools that are basically part of a full learning management system.

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When we wrote our bookMindful Assessmentour mission was to provide educators with the world over with a singular understanding that it is the learner, and not the teacher, who creates learning

As teachers, it's our responsibility to learn how to guide that learning by responding proactively to student performance. We do this by being present for our students and aware of what's happening with them and using the best assessment practices possible.

The student's brain is a complex mystery we may never fully understand. The best assessment practices we can use give us glimpses into that complexity. In doing so, we reach all students better.

Teachers are always looking for ways to check for understanding, which we practice through applying mindful assessment. Mindful assessment tools come in many shapes and sizes. They can be quick and light or more in-depth. In the end, assessment can happen anytime in any classroom.

The following 7 mindful assessment tools and best practices are quick and easy applications for any time/anywhere assessment.

7 Mindful Assessment Tools

Quick Summaries

Students can be asked to summarize important lessons or concepts. You can even add a summary challenge using social media. For example, have them Tweet their summaries; the challenge there is that the limit is 140 characters. Students must be concise and brief with their entries.

Open-Ended Questions

These are content questions that really get students thinking about what they've learned. They can chat about or write their responses. You should try to avoid closed questions like, "Did this make sense to you?" Instead, give students a chance to really think about the learning that took place. Use the Essential Questions Guide to help you form the right questions.

Student Interviews

This is similar to Think-Pair-Share and happens at the end of the class. Groups of 2 or 3 students take a few minutes at the end of class to discuss what they've learned. Next, each student takes a turn interviewing the other. You can give them guiding questions like:

What was the most useful thing you learned?

What did you struggle most with?

What will you ask for help with the next class?

What can you do to help somebody else learn better?

What's your learning goal for next class?

Daily Learning Journals

This is a daily brief reflection exercise that lets students privatize their experiences in their own words on a personal level. As far as assessment tools go, this is one that some students may resist since some may not enjoy writing daily reflections. If so, offer up some alternatives.

For instance, they could do it using screencasting or simple audio recording if they wish. Younger students can create vision boards or collages, relating imagery to what they've learned. They may also choose to share their excerpts on a class blog or web page. This is a great classroom community-building exercise.

Peer Teaching

Assessment tools used by other students are a great way to check for understanding. You know students have truly learned a concept when they can teach it to other students. This can be done in groups of 2 or 3, but that's a recommended limit. Bigger groups require the kind of attention-wrangling skills students don't yet possess.

Quick-Draw Showdown

This one is a fun competitive exercise. Square two students off against each other, and have them quickly write down a sentence or draw a quick sketch of a learning concept. It works better if they are both using the same thing. When you say "Go!" the fun begins. The first one to finish wins the quick draw.

Self-Grading

Students can use this one to grade their own progress. Have them give themselves a grade on the material covered. Afterwards, they must explain why they feel they've earned that grade.

7 Best Assessment Practices

The following best practices are taken from our bookMindful Assessment.

Transform the Test

The most common feedback we give students is usually a number. Unfortunately, this is a summative practice that does not identify strengths and weaknesses or provide feedback for learning and development. An example of how to change this is to shift our approach to quizzing and make it a rich and collaborative learning opportunity:

The students mark the quizzes themselves and then individually undertake the learning activity that reinforces the identified area of weakness.

The students mark the quizzes and identify which activities are needed, and then form learning groups to complete the activities identified.

Instead of a quiz, the teacher presents the questions one at a time, and the students attempt the answer. The students then break into groups and work collaboratively on the activity to reduce the gap, supported by their peers.

Consider Where You're Starting

There are several pieces of information that are critical when starting a journey, the most obvious being our destination. It's important to identify each learner's starting point rather than make assumptions about their prior knowledge and experience. In doing so, we avoid missed learning opportunities and time spent focusing on activities that they already understand and have accomplished.

Make a Diagnosis

Diagnostic assessment is a tool for use during class to quickly gain information about the students' understanding of the concept they are examining and how we as classroom practitioners are facilitating learning. Each question we write or task we develop must be deliberate and purposeful. For each and every question or part of the diagnostic task, we must ask the following questions:

What does this question or task examine?

Does it accurately identify existing knowledge?

Can it help differentiate the different depths of knowledge, skills, or processes?

What is the correct answer?

How can I use it to improve learning?

Is it suitable for the audience?

Is it suitable for the purpose?

Master Multiple Choice

Here are some guidelines for writing effective multiple-choice questions to diagnose prior learning of concepts or theory:

Keep it simpleby removing extra reading which may be confusing or distract from the questions.

Avoid using negativeslike "not" in the questions.

Organize your questionsalphabetically, in increasing size (numerical), or in time sequence. Present your answers vertically as this is easier to read than horizontally.

Hold Up a Mirror

Teachers should encourage students to self-question and self-verbalize their performance. Self-questioning and self-verbalizing are metacognitive strategies in which the student creates appropriate questions, then predicts the answers, validates these answers, and then summarizes them. Steve Dinham's research regarding powerful teacher feedback notes that, in our best assessment practices, mindful educators and students ask and answer three key questions:

Give Great Feedback

Feedback can be a hard pill to swallow; we all struggle to accept critique and find it uncomfortable. A positive, affirming, and honest relationship between both parties is necessary to enable this dialogue. Similarly, feedback from peers requires trust and understanding as well as clear ground rules for behavior, process, and so on. Use these feedback best practices to guide you.

Powerful Portfolios

Many think of an artist's portfolio as a collection of his or her best works. But such a collection would really be more of an exhibition than a portfolio. The truth is that a proper portfolio is a record of the development of one's thinking and ideas that provides background to the finished product. This not only allows for formative assessment but also clearly demonstrates the formation of ideas and understandings that are hard to measure any other way.

The Best Tool for Best Assessment Practices

If we're talking about best assessment practices for your classrooms, there's no better platform to assess and celebrate learning thanWabisabi. It's a tool that simplifies teaching and amplifies learning like never before.

Imagine a vibrant collaborative learning experience offering real-time reporting against your standards, rich media-driven student portfolios, top-notch unit plans from teachers around the world, and much more. Your best assessment practices just got better-exploreWabisabinow and see the new possibilities for teaching and learning.

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The 7 Best Assessment Practices and Resources You Can Use Right Now

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When we wrote our bookMindful Assessment our mission was to provide educators with the world over with a singular understanding that it is the learner, and not the teacher, who creates learning As teachers, it's our responsibility to learn how to guide that learning by responding proactively to student performance.

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Assessment happens every day in our classrooms, so it's got to be as simple and effective as possible. Simple daily assessment strategies like the ones from Saga Briggs in this TeachThought article fit the bill perfectly.

One of the highest goals of education is the achievement of understanding.

We live in a world of online information. This has transformed our students' expectations not only of learning, but also how it is assessed.

Educator Andrew Churches reminds us that today's learners "expect and demand transparency, adaptability, contextual and collaborative learning, and the opportunity to use technology. These changes shape the pedagogy we need to employ to engage and motivate our learners."

In our bookMindful Assessment we discuss the fact that in today's world, the only constant is change.

It is a world of adaptation, continuous adjustments, and incremental improvements.

That's precisely what the daily assessment strategies below are designed to enable teachers to do with their assessments.

Daily Assessment Strategies for Anytime and Any Classroom

Saga urges us to explore the versatility and endless applications for these daily assessment strategies in her article:

"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."

Examine the strategies below and see how you can make them fit into your instructional practices.

22 Daily Assessment Strategies

1. Ask open-ended questions:Stay away fromyes/no questions and devise questions that get students thinking and talking.

2. Ask students to reflect:Use quick debrief sessions to engage students inreflective learning.

3. Use quizzes:Try short quizzes to check for comprehension and understanding.

4. Ask students to summarize: Challenge students to use their Twitter-style smarts to summarize the main concept of a lesson in just a few short sentences.

5. Use hand signals: This is a quick indication of understanding and is one of the more popular daily assessment strategies out there. For example, thumbs up means they've got it, sideways thumb means they're unsure, and thumbs down means they need help.

6. Response cards:These can be index cards, signs, whiteboards, or other items. Have your learners indicate their response to a question or problem by holding up different cards.

7. Four corners: After you ask a question, learners each take a spot in a corner of the room. The corners might be "strongly agree," "strongly disagree," "agree somewhat," and "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 class.

9. Choral reading: This involves a learner marking text or a concept and then reading it aloud in unison with the teacher. Daily assessment strategies like this one exercise a number of different listening, reading, and comprehension skills.

10. One question quiz: A quiz made up of one single focused essential question. Learners can respond either orally or in writing.

11. Socratic seminar: Socratic seminars call for critical and independent thinking by both forming essential and herding questions about the discussion topic and responding to the questions of others. They also teach learners how to respond to questions with thoughtfulness and civility.

12. 3-2-1: Students debrief a lesson by answering the following: 3 things they learned, 2 things they want to know more about, and 1 question they have.

13. Exit tickets:Students write in response to a specific prompt. Afterward, collect the responses at the end of class to check for students' understanding of a concept.

14. Journal reflection: Students can reflect on and process lessons with a brief writing exercise either at the beginning or end of the day.

15. Formative pencil-paper assessment: Students respond individually to short, pencil-paper formative assessments of skills and knowledge taught in the lesson.

16. Misconception check: Present students with a common misconception about a concept you're covering. Ask them if they agree or disagree and then have them explain their reasoning.

17. Analogy prompt: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:Be sure to use a range of different individual and whole-group daily assessment strategies.

20. Make it useful: As Saga reminds us, "the true test is whether or not you can adjust your course or continue as planned based on the information received in each check."

21. Peer instruction: Letting students teach or explain a concept remains a powerful assessment tool. It teaches learning responsibility, communication, organizational and leadership skills. It's also one of the best measures of whether a learner truly understands a concept or not.

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.

Read Saga Briggs's full article on TeachThought, from the original articleon InformEd.

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22 Simple Daily Assessment Strategies That Really Work

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Assessment happens every day in our classrooms, so it's got to be as simple and effective as possible. Simple daily assessment strategies like the ones from Saga Briggs in this TeachThought article fit the bill perfectly. One of the highest goals of education is the achievement of understanding.

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A teaching team demonstrates how they use formative assessment with students in the classroom to make adjustments and respond to student learning and understanding. The teachers use informal and formal assessment practices with a range of strategies for students and teachers to communicate understanding.

Teachers combine a range of assessment methods to assess student learning and ensure multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding.

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A teaching team demonstrates how they use formative assessment with students in the classroom to make adjustments and respond to student learning and understanding. The teachers use informal and formal assessment practices with a range of strategies for students and teachers to communicate understanding.

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The examples of good practice for each of the evaluation questions have been drawn from data collected from schools for the evaluation report The Collection and Use of Assessment Information in Schools.

The findings of this report are structured under the following headings.

School-wide approach to assessment practices and information.

The demonstration of students' achievement and progress.

The interaction of assessment with teaching and learning.

Students' use of achievement information for further learning.

The use of school-wide information to improve student achievement.

Reporting student achievement information to the community.

These six key aspects of assessment overlap and complement each other. They work together and should not be thought of as discrete elements of good practice. For instance, the development of an integrated approach to assessment practice depends on the purposeful interaction of assessment with teaching and learning.

The following sections discuss the key aspects of good practice. Specific examples are also identified.

School-wide approach to assessment practices and information

Schools need good quality information on students' achievements - gained through effective assessment practice - in order to make good quality day-to-day and long‑term decisions for students. For assessment systems to work well schoolwide, all teachers need to develop an agreed understanding about the purposes of assessment and about appropriate learning and achievement expectations for their students.

In evaluating how effectively secondary schools had developed and implemented an integrated school-wide approach to assessment, ERO used the following indicators.

The extent to which the school:

The following sections highlight, through discussion and case studies, key aspects of good practice in secondary school assessment.

School-wide expectations and guidelines

Secondary schools demonstrating good practice had clear guidelines and school-wide agreement about assessment practices across learning programmes. They had developed and used existing tools to assess student progress and achievement in all curriculum areas, not just literacy and numeracy. Teachers were familiar with the appropriate administration of assessment tasks. The purpose and usefulness of these activities were also clear. A shared understanding about the value of tools such as achievement and unit standard exemplars, in moderating teacher judgements, was also reached. The analysis of moderated, school-wide data provided information about trends and patterns in students' progress and achievement. Strengths and weaknesses in teaching and learning strategies and initiatives were also identified, informing the next steps in school, teacher, or programme development as required.

The board of trustees developed high quality strategic plans that linked to detailed school-wide guidelines about the purpose of assessment. The board articulated its commitment to excellent teaching and academic success, and was supported by a clear direction for implementation of all operational areas that had an impact on student achievement. Specific data-based goals defined actions, responsibilities and performance indicators that provided a sound basis for monitoring progress. Student achievement targets focused on establishing school-wide literacy programmes to raise the academic achievement of students.

Strong curriculum management systems supported the school-wide development of good quality assessment. Assessment expectations were well documented and ensured consistency across all curriculum areas. There were robust internal and external moderation processes. Internal audit of departments and subjects conducted in the years that the NZQA did not conduct a Managing National Assessment review, ensured that assessment policies were followed consistently. The school used external moderation not only to gauge school progress against national means, but to provide rigour to critique the development of new internal curriculum programmes. This resulted in the development of alternative programmes that best met the diverse learning needs of students.

Assessment linked to learning priorities

Effective guidance, such as that provided by well-structured planning and assessment systems, helped teachers to link assessment information directly to the identified learning priorities for each student. These explicit connections were a strong feature at all levels in the schools and were well established in all curriculum areas.

Teachers worked together to develop school-wide expectations and goals for students, based on aggregated and analysed student achievement data. The expectations and learning priorities were meaningful and specific. They focused on educationally significant learning, and the priorities were challenging enough to raise student achievement.

The school had developed meaningful strategic targets for its school charter that clarified the learning priorities for students. Achievement levels in literacy and numeracy were clearly linked to developments such as the AtoL project. Professional development had an emphasis on aligning assessment to learning intentions.

Teachers regularly assessed student achievement. They used this information to determine student placement in flexible groupings within classrooms, to ensure learning needs were met in Years 7 to 10 and to guide course planning and programme implementation in the senior school. It provided a basis for reporting student progress to parents and the board of trustees and also guided decisions about resourcing. Results from Years 7 to 10 students and NCEA students were used as the basis for determining the long-term and systematic progress of students' achievement.

Clear rationale and appropriate systems

The schools in this study provided clear direction for teachers in their assessment and reporting policies. Careful consideration was given to the purpose of assessment and the most appropriate tools for gathering meaningful data about students' learning needs, strengths and progress. The schools had clearly documented their expectations and requirements for assessment. They often developed detailed manuals on the assessment practices to be used in schools. These included school-wide assessment timelines, long‑term plans, comprehensive evaluation frameworks, and indicators of progress in literacy and numeracy and national expectations for these learning areas.

Detailed plans set out summative assessments and records to be completed each year. These included cumulative record cards, standardised tests and samples of information to be collected in students' individual portfolios. The development of such systems made the collection and analysis of data manageable and gave teachers a chance to plan time management in advance.

Teachers analysed the data collected to support student learning and teaching. Students and teachers also used this information at 'three-way conferences'. These valuable meetings promoted strong partnerships in learning between the school and students' families or whānau, by allowing teachers, students, and parents to participate in discussions about progress, achievement and to set future goals.

The assessment policy was written to guide teachers' assessment processes. It contained useful strategies for monitoring and providing clear pictures of progress for each student and for groups of students school wide. The assessment manual included the principles of good assessment practices, school expectations, moderation guidelines and regular review and evaluation of procedures. Teachers consistently managed and moderated student assessment.

They related their assessment processes to curriculum levels and to progress within levels.

Staff professional development in the use of asTTle was ongoing, and supported departments and teachers in accessing and using comprehensive information about the literacy and numeracy levels of their students. Teachers of senior classes collated NCEA data for individual students to help them make more informed choices about course selection.

Processes to strengthen consistency and judgements

Effective schools developed and implemented systems for ensuring consistency of judgements between teachers. In these schools, key staff members said, that although establishing effective moderation processes for assessment tasks was a time‑consuming activity, the positive benefits were evident. The professional discussions required to arrive at consensus clarified the rationale for assessment in these schools, and the increase in teachers' knowledge of their students' abilities led to a deeper understanding of the curriculum area, and how well their students were learning.

The schools operated ongoing review processes. Teachers were engaged in high levels of professional dialogue about assessment consistency and judgements. They introduced moderation by using exemplars and by sharing portfolio entries. Teachers were involved in professional development in literacy and numeracy assessment.

The senior management team developed a curriculum leaders' handbook. Curriculum teams were continually reviewing their documentation and procedures to strengthen the consistency and judgements at each level across the seven curriculum areas. Teachers used computerised assessment records to collect student achievement information. Strong moderation procedures were evident as teachers moderated work among themselves and also sought opinions of teachers from other schools and advisors. Summative data were collected to show progress over time. Teachers collected formative assessment data and used the data to set planning targets. Years 7 to 9 students completed pre- and post-testing across curriculum and year levels.

The demonstration of students' achievement and progress

Teachers, school managers, parents, and students need rich and comprehensive information about what students know and can do. Information on students' progress and development is also necessary.

ERO evaluated how effectively assessment information demonstrated students' achievements and progress in relation to the following indicators.

The following sections discuss how the schools have developed their practices across these key aspects, and present some of the important features of good practice.

Use of assessment to demonstrate students' achievement and progress

Teachers used a range of locally developed and nationally referenced assessment tools to increase their knowledge of students' achievement. Key personnel, such as senior managers, reviewed the collection, analysis and use of this information to ensure students' achievements and progress were accurately recorded. The resulting records of learning gave a clear, comprehensive picture of student achievement across the curriculum.

A feature of these schools was the effort teachers made to create strong partnerships with students, and actively involve them in outlining their intended learning in straightforward language. As a consequence clear and appropriate goals guided the learning process.

The mathematics department had well-planned and timetabled assessment procedures. Teachers moderated student work with their peers, and results were shared to ensure consistency. Teachers conferred with students and strategies were put in place to either extend or provide targeted support. This was monitored and changes made to the programme if required. Teachers used a wide range of national and local tests including NCEA, asTTle, and tests developed by the department. Assessment was the focus in the senior school. Years 9 and 10 teachers focused on skill and knowledge development, with assessment integrated within teaching and learning processes.

Reference to national and local sources of achievement information

In schools demonstrating good practice teachers did not rely on single sources of information or single assessment activities to determine student progress or achievement. Informal strategies such as recording anecdotal comments from teachers, and parent and whānau observations were complemented by more formal assessments including testing and conferencing with individual students.

Schools had a large bank of assessments tools available in hard copy and electronic form, so teachers could choose appropriately for individual students. This included teaching and learning items as well as diagnostic tests. Specialist assessments were also used.

Schools collected information using a wide range of nationally referenced and school‑developed assessment tools including:

Supplementary Tests of Achievement in Reading (STAR);

Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning (asTTle);

systematic teacher observation reports and teachers' knowledge about their students;

formative assessment through the Assess to Learn (AtoL) project; and

National Certificates in Educational Achievement (NCEA) data, analysed at school-wide and department levels.

Teachers collected baseline and subsequent achievement information for literacy in Years 9 to 11, through the use of asTTle. Students were assessed in reading comprehension in May and November each year. The assessment information was used for individual diagnostic information and as an indicator of individual and group progress. Teachers used the information to show achievement trends and patterns within the school. Significant progress over three years could be shown for these year levels. As a consequence, students were in a much better position than previously to learn and succeed.

Professional development in the use of assessment was firmly established. Teachers were given professional development in formative assessment, using external support, internal expertise, focused workshops and staff sharing of ideas through 'bring and brag' sessions. One focus on formative assessment was through the introduction of the AtoL project. Teachers' professional learning was supported by coaching, in‑class observations, peer dialogue, faculty discussions, and targeted support. This led to a shared understanding of the use of assessment and observable changes in teacher assessment practices.

The interaction of assessment with teaching and learning

Assessment, teaching and learning are interdependent. Teaching activities should not be separate from assessment activities or from teachers' knowledge of their students' interests, needs and abilities. ERO evaluated how effectively teachers were using assessment information to responsively guide teaching.

ERO evaluated the interaction of assessment with teaching and learning using the following indicators.

The following sections discuss how schools have developed good practice across these key aspects, and give examples.

Identifying learning needs

Teachers had rich information about their students. They gathered both formative and summative achievement data in many different ways and from a variety of assessment tools, tests, observations, and conversations. Teachers could analyse this information to develop a useful picture of the progress of individuals and groups of students. Teachers were skilled at using this analysis to plan teaching and learning programmes.

The interaction of assessment with teaching and learning in literacy and numeracy, in particular, was well developed by teachers. They analysed and interpreted student information, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and what was mastered or not achieved. Specific learning needs for individuals and groups of students were identified and planned for, including the provision of studying at different levels for NCEA. Students received well-targeted learning experiences that were suitably challenging and achievable.

Expectations for learning were clearly stated. Assessments were linked to these expected learning outcomes, and reflections on teaching practice were identified in programme planning and evaluations. Students were given ongoing targeted oral and written feedback from teachers, which focused on these priorities. Teachers used this information to identify goals and next steps in learning.

Systems to support the management of assessment for the NQF school wide were established. Students were kept well informed of the policies and procedures for assessment, of the requirements at each level and the schools' prerequisites for entry to higher level courses. Teachers tailored NCEA programmes to students' needs. Teachers modified teaching programmes in response to assessment results by offering alternative mixed courses of unit and achievement standards in some curriculum areas. In addition, teachers proactively designed courses to help all students achieve NCEA Level 1.

Decisions about learning experiences and programmes

Assessment formed the basis for planning and teaching. Sound practices included:

modelling processes, activities and quality work to show what a completed task would look like and what the expectations for achievement were;

asking questions that assessed students' levels of understanding so teaching was building on prior knowledge and students' personal experiences;

involving students in developing clear statements that outlined the intended learning, in straightforward language;

establishing individual goals with students;

developing relevant activities and learning experiences based on the needs and abilities identified for the individual or the group;

modifying programmes to meet student needs; and

concluding a lesson by revisiting expected outcomes and discussing students' progress and understanding.

Systems and structures were developed to support the planning and provision of programmes included:

Learning needs of individual and groups of students

Analysis of data from a range of sources identified where additional support or extension was needed. Teachers used information obtained in individual conferencing to identify where students needed to improve and to determine the next learning steps. Standardised tests, teachers' own judgements, and comparisons with exemplars were used in making assessment decisions. Each year information from students' previous teachers contributed to overall knowledge about individual students. Teachers conducted NCEA analysis throughout the school and by department so they could plan programmes that were relevant to students' learning needs.

Comprehensive guidance for conducting assessment was provided in the NQF policy and procedures documents. Teachers analysed and evaluated assessment information to identify trends and patterns of achievement for individual and groups of students across the school, and to determine the extent to which specific annual targets were met. Moderation of teachers' judgements for internally assessed unit and achievement standards was well organised and monitored by the principal's NZQA liaison nominee. National moderation reports were carefully followed up with departments to discuss responses and actions to be taken to ensure the understanding, and ongoing consistency, of teachers' judgments with national standards.

Standards-based assessment was fully integrated into teaching and learning. Teachers used junior learning standards, referenced to achievement objectives taken from national curriculum statements, to assess student outcomes in all Years 9 and 10 classes. NCEA was the focus for senior school achievement. As a result, there was a seamless approach to assessment across the school.

Students' use of achievement information for further learning

When students are well informed about their own progress they are better equipped to make good decisions for future learning. Through careful interpretation of their assessment information, either on their own or with teacher guidance, students can identify what they need to focus on next.

In evaluating how effectively students were using information about their achievement, ERO used the following indicators.

The following sections discuss how the schools developed their practice across these key aspects, and present some of the important features of good practice.

Student involvement in learning

Students said they received useful assessment information and were well informed about their current achievement levels, and what they needed to focus on next. Teachers and students discussed how work would be assessed and the purpose of learning was clarified, so students knew what they were learning and how well they were doing. A practical understanding of assessment processes and expected learning outcomes was articulated.

Teachers explained to students the purpose of the assessment activities through the sharing of learning intentions and success criteria. Teachers ensured that assessment tasks were closely aligned to the learning intentions. They undertook sampling and moderation of assessment tasks to ensure consistency of data. Students' learning was enhanced through frequent and meaningful oral feedback. Teachers encouraged students to analyse and interpret their assessment information and to evaluate their progress. Assessment processes were clearly understood by students.

Teachers conferenced with students if they were not achieving and offered extra support in the areas they needed to improve. English teachers taught mathematics staff to use literacy results to monitor students' progress, as there was a distinct correlation between underachievement in mathematics and low literacy scores. Other subject teachers were working with these students to lift literacy levels in anticipation that numeracy levels would also increase.

Teaching and learning practices focused on the partnership with students through the use of effective assessment systems. These included:

students reflecting on their learning and identifying their next learning steps;

students keeping records of their assessments and using this information in conferencing with teachers;

teachers guiding students on how to improve their performance in assessment tasks;

teachers adapting units of work to provide for students' interests, needs and abilities in response to student feedback/discussion; and

students taking part in self and peer assessment.

Teachers provided students in these classes with opportunities to develop skills and knowledge that would encourage them to succeed.

Students' goal setting

Student involvement in personal goal setting was a well established, school-wide practice. Staff developed their understanding and use of formative feedback to aid this. Staff and students said this heightened focus on achievement was a valued and useful activity. Students had opportunities to reflect on their goals both informally and formally, with some teachers providing time during the class programme for discussion and additional curriculum support for students' specific goals. Students showed a growing awareness of the benefit of their own learning, and became more engaged in learning processes.

Students were involved in a range of self-assessment activities. Teachers helped students to interpret the self-assessment data. As a result students, with their parents and teacher, set their own specific and relevant learning goals.

The assessment processes were fully explained to senior students. They interpreted the information to extend their learning and understood what they needed to do to gain excellence, merit or achieved. Teachers encouraged senior students to keep tracking sheets and be responsible for monitoring the number of credits they accumulated. Junior students understood the assessment process and what their next steps were.

Students developed their own curriculum and personal goals and were able to relate these to their learning. They responded positively to the chance to monitor their own progress and articulated their own learning intentions.

Students were able to demonstrate their learning and achievement through a good range of planned assessment activities. These included written tests, practical activities, performances, assignments and tasks, oral and visual presentations, portfolios of work, and group assessments.

The use of school-wide information to improve student achievement

School-wide achievement data are key sources of information for schools in reviewing the effectiveness of their programme planning for the future, and making resourcing decisions. Such information provides school managers and trustees with evidence of how well the school is meeting the learning needs of all students.

ERO evaluated how effectively school-wide information was used to improve student achievement in relation to the following indicators.

The following sections discuss how schools have developed their practice across these key aspects, and present some important features of good practice.

School-wide collation, analysis and use of assessment data

Schools, boards of trustees, senior management teams, and teachers had a strong focus on the collation, analysis and use of achievement information to improve future learning.

Strategies to focus teachers on effective assessment practice included:

teachers having access to professional development to support them in using data on literacy to raise student achievement across the curriculum;

asTTle data, including information from some contributing schools, enabling teachers to develop programmes and appropriately place students in classes and groups; and

ongoing assessment, using a variety of national tools, allowing teachers to monitor student progress and achievement.

Detailed analysis of data about students' performance in NCEA made comparisons with national results and evaluated trends and patterns over time. Teachers used this information to inform whole-school strategic development, and curriculum and programme planning. Faculties/departments also analysed results within their curriculum and used this information in their annual reports, and in review discussions with the principal.

The school assessment committee reviewed items for action in the Managing National Assessment report, by the NZQA. Amendments were made and a sound policy and procedural framework guided assessment practices in the school. Appropriate systems operated at all levels and students were aware of requirements.

Targets over the previous three years focused on establishing a literacy programme to raise the academic achievement of students. The school's progress within the literacy initiative showed consistent improvement from 2003 to 2005. There was sustained improvement in NCEA results in Levels 1 to 3 over time. This indicated that targeted professional development in literacy had a positive impact on student achievement. Good systems guided standards-based assessment in Years 7 to 10. STAR and asTTLe results indicated that most students were achieving at or above national expectations in literacy and numeracy.

Use of data to gauge and monitor teaching and programmes

Staff interpreted data to identify which teaching practices were successful with groups and individuals, including those students who required additional support and extension. Teacher appraisal documents focused on student academic outcomes. Teachers constantly reviewed programmes to address any lack of student progress and achievement.

A comprehensive and rigorous audit of each faculty or department was undertaken triennially. This included the evaluation of student progress and achievement, documentation, implementation of programmes and assessment practices. Information was gathered through lesson observations, student surveys and teacher interviews. The audit included an assessment moderator's report. In some curriculum areas where specialist expertise was required, external auditors were included in the team. Recommendations were formulated to guide further faculty planning and development of assessment. Senior managers conducted additional reviews as required to monitor initiatives such as professional learning and assessment. These reviews involved sampling of assessment data, observations and surveys of teachers and students.

Information used to identify and monitor students of interest or concern

The schools, used school wide and classroom specific information to identify students with specific educational strengths and needs. Individual Education Plans were developed for many of these students, and these guiding documents were reviewed and revised on a regular basis. Strategies, such as in-class support or individual programmes, supported students who were experiencing difficulty. Students who were achieving or had the potential to achieve at a level beyond their peer group were also provided with extension programmes. These were also regularly monitored.

Professional development had focused on establishing a literacy programme to raise the academic achievement of students. The school's progress in a local literacy initiative showed consistent improvement over three years. There was sustained improvement in NCEA results in Levels 1 to 3. This indicated that targeted professional development in literacy had had a positive impact on student achievement.

The school's assessment team included an academic advisor. She met with all students in Years 12 and 13 to negotiate academic pathways to ensure that students had ongoing success, and students also had the option to change pathways in the future by academic results or career choice. The students and their parents said they valued the discussions and were pleased to have both choice and success at school.

The school had developed systems and structures to support the planning and provision of programmes to identify and monitor students of interest or concern. This included each teacher identifying a group of students at Years 9 and 10, including Māori and Pacific students, to gather information about their learning behaviours, attitudes and levels of achievement. This enabled teachers to focus and monitor appropriate support more accurately.

Boards of trustees using information to inform policy, planning and resourcing

Boards of trustees were given detailed information to help them review achievement targets, and inform their decision-making about future resourcing and direction. High quality reports, that demonstrated trends and patterns over time, allowed trustees to recognise areas of concern about student achievement and to approve the implementation of initiatives to support student achievement.

The boards of trustees ensured the focus of school development remained on student achievement by making explicit links between available information and strategic planning, and identifying processes to support these priorities.

Self review by the board of trustees was clearly linked to student achievement. For example, the board of trustees used an evidence-based approach to review annual goals and targets. A detailed analysis of variance provided a sound basis for identifying progress, gaps and formulating future goals. Analysis of NCEA data was helpful to the board in its decision-making.

The board of trustees and principal demonstrated a strong commitment to enhancing student achievement through improved literacy teaching strategies. This was the central focus of the strategic plan to raise the academic achievement of students. This priority was well articulated by teachers throughout the school. The strong literacy focus at the strategic level was linked to department goals and teachers' appraisal goals.

Reporting student achievement information to the community

Students' learning and achievements do not happen only in classrooms. Parents, families and school communities should be active contributors to their children's learning. They need to base their decisions on comprehensive, good quality achievement information about students' knowledge, abilities and learning needs. An effective three-way learning partnership of student-school-community occurs when all parties are fully informed about achievements and progress.

The National Administration Guidelines state that each board of trustees, with the principal and teaching staff, is required to:

...report to students and their parents on the achievement of individual students, and to the school's community on the achievement of students as a whole and of groups, including the achievement of Maori students against (agreed) plans and targets.

ERO evaluated how effectively information about students' achievements was reported to the community in relation to the following indicators.

The school sought and valued parents' opinions and ideas when developing and reviewing assessment and reporting processes.

The school's Māori community/whānau were consulted to develop and make known targets and plans to improve the achievement of Māori students.

Parents were informed of the school's assessment processes.

Teachers shared good quality, relevant information about achievements and progress with parents.

Parents received good quality, relevant information that was helpful for supporting their child's next learning steps.

The following sections discuss how the schools have developed their practice across these key aspects, and present some of the important features of good practice.

Parents' opinions and ideas valued

A key characteristic of these schools was purposeful and meaningful consultation with parents about assessment processes and how they received information about their children. Parents were aware of why assessment activities were conducted and what the results meant for their children.

Consultation was an integral part of the process to redesign the format and timing of school reports. The school valued the parental view that the reports needed to meet their needs.

Māori community/whānau consulted

Robust processes were used for consultation and reporting to the Māori community. A variety of consultative methods, including hui, face-to-face conversations, questionnaires and interviews was used to determine the views of the Māori whānau and the community.

Boards of trustees had developed close relationships with the Māori community, who were involved in setting up processes to improve the achievement of Māori students.

Through consultation, the schools had developed comprehensive Māori student achievement plans that focused on tikanga curriculum overviews, literacy and numeracy plans. Unit plans across curriculum had strong inclusion of te reo me ngā tikanga Māori.

The achievement of Māori students was a school priority. The board used the regular reports about student achievement to review and inform its targets and goals. The principal took a personal interest in the achievement of Māori students and checked that individual support and guidance was available for those students who needed it. The curriculum reports required heads of department to consider how teachers might best meet the learning needs of Māori students. At the classroom level, teachers identified and closely monitored the achievement of Māori students.

Parents informed about assessment processes

Schools gave students and their parents useful and relevant information about the assessment processes they used. Students and parents understood how the school was working to meet the child's interests, aspirations and learning needs. The partnership between family, whānau and school was enhanced through common understanding about the school's assessment processes.

Reports included comprehensive information about how to interpret the information provided. Information sessions/evenings were held for parents to explain grade point average and standards-based assessment.

Teachers provided parents with detailed information about NCEA and NQF and course assessment requirements.

Sharing achievement and progress information with parents

In schools demonstrating good practice, teachers shared detailed written and oral reports with parents, in addition to providing information about curriculum initiatives. Teachers often made good use of visual aids, such as student portfolios and electronic files, to report to parents on their child's achievement in a variety of essential skill and learning areas. Evidence of student self-assessment was also shared. Families participated in celebrations of student achievement.

Helpful provision was made to assist students and their parents to understand assessment for NCEA. Booklets and course outlines in hard copy and on the school's intranet, together with newsletters and information evenings, explained NQF requirements and assessment procedures. This included appeals and opportunities for reassessment advice.

Portfolios of work samples for students in Years 9 and 10 contained evidence to support teacher judgements about student achievement, and to provide an effective basis for discussing progress with parents and students.

Parents informed about next learning steps

Teachers facilitated formal and informal information sharing opportunities with parents throughout the year. Teachers provided written and oral reports, and conducted parent‑teacher-student conferences, where good quality, relevant and comprehensive information about students' progress, achievement and learning was shared. Parents were often informed via regular newsletters and they said that they felt they could approach teachers at any time to find out about their child's learning.

Parents received three reports a year: progress, formative and summative. Each report had a learning plan based on identified skills and areas for improvement, to help guide parents on next learning steps for the student. Teachers regularly updated parents when students were part of learning support/extension programmes. Parents commented that the use of a student logbook was a very effective means of providing communication between school and home about student achievement, progress and next learning steps.

The summative report provided parents with key overview information of their child's year, including:

Next learning steps were discussed with parents and students at interviews. Targeted meetings with parents included explaining the curriculum areas and course selection. Interim reports were sent home prior to the interviews so that parents had a good knowledge of student progress and next learning steps before the interviews occurred.

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The examples of good practice for each of the evaluation questions have been drawn from data collected from schools for the evaluation report The Collection and Use of Assessment Information in Schools. The findings of this report are structured under the following headings. School-wide approach to assessment practices and information.

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Central to the practice of assessment for learning is the concept that students who truly understand and are involved in their learning will experience accelerated rates of achievement. Students who are involved in their learning can be thought of as assessment-capable or active learners. They know:

what they need to learn

where they are with that learning

what their next learning steps are.

To enable students to take charge of their learning, they need to be deliberately and systematically taught how to be assessment capable and active in their learning.

The slides in this power point outline the general elements of assessment for learning.

Exploring assessment for learning (PowerPoint 351 KB)

The key assessment capabilities illustrated in the sections below explain how teachers can develop the assessment for learning dynamic in their classrooms.

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Central to the practice of assessment for learning is the concept that students who truly understand and are involved in their learning will experience accelerated rates of achievement. Students who are involved in their learning can be thought of as assessment-capable or active learners.

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Summative assessment is intended to summarise student achievement at a particular time, whereas formative assessment is intended to promote further improvement of student attainment (Crooks, 2001). However, summative assessment can also be used formatively, if it provides feedback to the student, teacher, school leader, Board of Trustees or Ministry of Education, to lead to further improvement.

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A few years ago, I came across "10 assessments you can perform in 90 seconds" by TeachThought and really enjoyed the formative assessment strategies they outlined. Using formative assessment strategies in class during instruction-or "simple assessments," as they call them-is easy and provides the instant feedback teachers need to identify which learners need more help and adjust their instruction and lesson plans accordingly. Visit the blog above to get more detail on the following techniques:

1. New Clothes

2. Dos and Don'ts

3. Three Common Misunderstandings

4. Yes/No Chart

5. Three Questions

6. Explain What Matters

7. Big Picture

8. Venn Diagram

9. Draw It

10. Self-Directed Response

Combining these 10 with 10 others we've blogged about in the past gives teachers 20 great formative assessment strategies for checking on student learning. Be sure to click through to learn more about these formative assessment strategies.

Want more? Here are seven more strategies you can use to elicit evidence of student learning.

1. Entrance Tickets. We've blogged about and explained the Exit Ticket, so why not have an Entrance Ticket? Here, the teacher asks a question at the start of a lesson, and students write their responses on index cards or strips of paper. Answers are used to assess initial understanding of something to be discussed in that day's lesson or as a short summary of understanding of the previous day's lesson. The teacher designs the lesson around the fact that information on student learning will be coming in at the start of the lesson and can be used to improve the teaching and learning in that lesson. Be sure to write the question so it is easily interpreted and analyzed, allows time for you and/or the students to analyze the responses, and leaves space for you to adjust the lesson, if needed.

2. Keep the Question Going. With this formative assessment strategy, you'll ask one student a question and then ask another student if that answer seems reasonable or correct. Then, ask a third student for an explanation of why there is an agreement or not. This helps keep all the students engaged because they must be prepared to either agree or disagree with the answers given and provide explanations.

3. 30-Second Share. With this strategy, students take a turn to report something learned in a lesson for up to 30 seconds each. Connections to the learning targets or success criteria are what you'll be looking for in the language used by the student. Make this a routine at the end of a lesson so all students have the opportunity to participate, share insights, and clarify what was learned.

4. Parking Lot. This is an underused strategy for students and one that can surface questions before learning, as well as during and after. This tool also offers an anonymous place for questions that may be directly related to the content or tangential to the current topic and provide insight into student thinking. Simply save a spot on your whiteboard to write down ideas or questions that aren't completely relevant in the moment but should be revisited later.

5. One-Minute Paper. This might be considered a type of exit ticket as it is typically done near the end of the day. Ask your students, either individually or with a partner, to respond in writing to a single prompt. Typical prompts include:

Most important learning from the day and why

Most surprising concept and why

Most confusing topic and why

Something I think might appear on a test or quiz and why

3-2-1. At the end of the learning, this strategy provides students a way to summarize or even question what they just learned. Three prompts are provided for students to respond to:

3 things you didn't know before

2 things that surprised you about the topic

1 thing you want to start doing with what you've learned

Assessment Reflection. This strategy is a post-assessment reflection completed individually first and then shared in a small group. After an assessment, the teacher provides a list of questions so learners can reflect on their assessment experience. During group discussion, ideas are collected as new information to support students to better prepare for and engage in future assessments. Consider the following or similar questions. You might also use strategies such as Plus, Minus, Interesting, or Plus/Delta.

How engaged were you with this assessment? Why?

What did you feel most confident about? Why?

What did you do that led to your success or confidence?

What was the most difficult part of this assessment? Why?

What would you do differently next time?

What was the most confusing? Why?

What do you know about the topic that the assessment didn't allow you to show?

Dig in

All 27 of these formative assessment strategies are simple to administer and free or inexpensive to use. They'll provide you with the evidence of student learning you need to make lesson plan adjustments and keep learning on target and moving forward. They'll also give your students valuable information so they can adjust their learning tactics and know where to focus their energies.

If you're not quite sure where to get started, the following discussion questions can help.

Questions for teachers

How do you use formative assessment data to inform instructional decisions?

How can formative assessment strategies foster a learning environment of collaboration and engagement?

How do formative assessment strategies elicit evidence of student learning?

What is one strategy you could try tomorrow and why?

How do you use formative assessment data to drive school-wide instructional academic decisions?

How can you model formative assessment strategies in staff meetings, PLCs, and meetings with teachers?

What are three formative assessment strategies you could bring to your teachers and staff? Why do you feel these would be most effective at your school?

To learn more, visit the Formative Assessment Archive for Teach. Learn. Grow., and get more formative assessment tips and tricks in our e-book "Making it work: How formative assessment can supercharge your practice."

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27 Easy Formative Assessment Strategies for Gathering Evidence of Student Learning

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All 27 of these formative assessment strategies are simple to administer and free or inexpensive to use. They provide the teacher with the evidence of student learning needed to make lesson plan adjustments and keep learning on target and moving forward.