Narrator: How do you know how your students are doing?
How do they know?
For Andre and his teach Ms. G,
most of this knowledge never goes in the gradebook,
but that doesn't mean it isn't important.
Through various strategies,
Ms. G is constantly assessing how her students are learning,
how quickly they're approaching the learning targets
informed by the standards,
and she invites students into the process
so they are assessing their own learning.
Because the whole point is to help everyone
decide what's next.
It helps students to be actively involved in their learning,
helps them identify goals to move them forward
toward college and career readiness,
and it helps Ms. G refine her instructional plan,
for the next hour or the next day.
This is formative assessment,
a deliberate process used by teachers and students
during instruction, to provide specific,
actionable, and immediate feedback.
Formative practices promote ongoing reflection,
and they're used to quickly adjust teaching and learning.
Unlike the big summative events that many people think of
when they hear the word assessment,
formative assessment is a process
that happens everyday.
It's also the most powerful type of assessment
for our students.
While the other two types of assessment
primarily report on learning,
research has confirmed that formative practices
can have a direct impact on learning,
in significant and positive ways.
You could say formative assessment is the only type
with the power to transform student learning
through instruction.
Why is that?
It's because formative assessment
is really a part of instruction,
it's teachers using their expertise
to assess students while learning is happening,
looking for patterns in student learning,
having ongoing conversations with students
about their own learning process.
Formative feedback should be as immediate as possible
and always include specific ways
an individual student can be improve;
this personalizes learning.
In many ways, formative assessment
is a reflective process for both teacher and student.
A defining characteristic is student self-reflection
or metacognition,
but students can't fully reflect on their learning
if they're not clear on what the learning target is.
Teachers play a critical role of explaining
that learning goal.
So the first step in the formative assessment process
is for teachers to make sure they have a deep understanding
of what the goals really are,
by engaging in a thorough examination of the standards,
and the knowledge, skills, and behaviors,
kids need for success.
The next step is to think through
what proficiency in the standard being taught
really looks like,
paving the way for useful feedback
and a personalized approach to learning.
If you're like Ms. G, and if you're like most teachers,
you use some formative techniques all the time.
It may look different from lesson-to-lesson,
day-to-day, and even from student-to-student,
but what is universal is that formative assessment
is purposefully designed by teachers
to use within their own instruction.
Because the real power of formative assessment
is in how it's used by students and teachers
to refine the teaching and learning process.
Although a principal or other administrator
certainly might check in on formative assessment,
as part of coaching a teacher's instruction,
the real purpose of formative data
is for the student and teacher to determine what's next.
So that's the final step in formative assessment,
using this data to impact teaching and learning.
If nothing is done with the information,
it isn't formative.
Every one of these steps relies on educator expertise,
and student voice.
You can look at formative assessment as
any educator close to a child,
a classroom teacher, a librarian,
a school counselor, or someone else,
providing personalized instruction
based on a two-way conversation about the student's goals
and what he or she needs to get there.
This personalization improves student outcomes
and help kids as they climb toward readiness
for college and career.
Use this website to find more on formative practices,
including research and resources for classroom teachers.
(upbeat music)