Formative
assessment
“I know what my kids need,” is what educators say when asked
why a strategy is being used, differentiating is being done a certain way, or a
skill is being taught. How do you know? I believe teachers know their students,
I truly do! When it comes to knowing the academic needs of students, I do
wonder what information is being used to base decisions on? Formative
assessments are the key to making the best decisions we can for our students.
Intentionally asking the right question, checking for understanding at the
precise moment or intercepting the misconception before it becomes a belief-
this is where our skills as an educator shine. Educators have students complete
tasks to show their knowledge to the teacher, but what about the learning that
leads up to the task? How is the student showing their learning during the
lesson?
Educators are great at giving grace to their students for
making a mistake, misinterpreting data, or not focusing on the part of the text
that houses the answer. Do we give ourselves the same grace? Educators need to
take a look at the task students are doing to ensure they are getting the data
they think they are getting. Use a protocol on any of your assessments to see
it with a new lens. Do we plan to gather information at specific times during
our lessons to ensure that our students are learning what we are teaching?
People have different experiences, and we rely on these experiences to help us
make meaning out of new information. If we are not gathering evidence that the
students are learning until we have completed teaching, we are not able to
adjust instruction and we will have to reteach any student that did not master
the concept taught. If we gathered evidence along the way, we would save time
in the long run.
The other piece we need to keep in mind is what we are going
to do with the information once it is collected. Educators need to plan in
advance what information is needed in order to make an informed decision. How
do you know when it is appropriate to move on during a lesson? Asking a
question just to ask a question is not going to make your instruction stronger
or always give you the information needed. There must to be a purpose behind
the question. Sometimes, we would have a deeper classroom discussion if we took
a stance on a topic, made a statement, and then had the students discuss their
thinking about the statement. Having students think about and explain why they
agree or disagree is harder than just saying yes or no to a question.
We often find
ourselves so inundated with data we do not know how to use it; do not waste
time on collecting it, if you are not going to use it. There are many ways to
assess student learning, use PLC time to talk to your teams about the best way
to know your students, to know what they have learned, to know when you need to
adjust the lesson! There is not one magic formative assessment that can be a go
to every time; use your colleagues to select the correct tool to use for the
lesson. What are some formative assessment tools you find effective? Share in
the comments.
