Formative Assessments
InTASC Standard 6: The teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own growth, to monitor learner progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.
Introduction
The main goal of formative assessment is to provide teachers with information to improve instruction as well as inform students of their progress towards the intended learning goals (Heritage, 2010). According to Formative Assessment: Making It Happen in the Classroom, “the zone of proximal development is defined as the distance between what the child can accomplish during independent problem solving and the level of problem solving that can be accomplished under the guidance of an adult or in collaboration with a more expert peer” (Heritage, 2010, p. 75). My school has a heavy focus on collaborative grouping structures. We are strongly discouraged from ever allowing students to work independently. For this reason, it can be very difficult to gauge if a student understands a concept on his or her own or is relying on their collaborative groups. Before I identified this issue, students in my class would be doing excellent on their classwork but would fail their exams. What they could accomplish on their own was significantly lower than what they could accomplish with their groups. By having at least one daily formative assessment, I can test each student individually while still following my school’s rule about using collaborative learning structures.
Formative assessment is an ongoing process to give feedback to both students and teachers with the goal of monitoring student progress towards the standard, and decision making to improve instruction. This knowledge should be used to engage learners in their own growth, and improve learning and instruction in order to take a student from where they are to where they need to be. Once this gap begins to close a new one should open between the students’ new level of knowledge and the new learning goals (Heritage, 2010). Utilizing formative assessments and providing students with frequent and authentic feedback on their progress may be the most powerful tool educators have at our disposal to assist our students on their journey to the standards.
Exit Tickets
At the end of every class, students are given a several question exit ticket. These questions directly relate to any new information covered in that day’s lesson. Key information from previous days can also be included as review. The sample exit ticket included below is a check for understanding on the day we learned about JJ Thomson and the plum pudding model of the atom—as part of our talks about atomic theory. The first question acts as a general review to ensure students remember electrons are negative—a key concept that will be necessary in nearly every lesson for the rest of the year. The second question is a check to see if students recalled the scientist’s name that we spent the day talking about. Many of my students are hesitant to use new names or vocabulary so consistent checks are necessary. The third question relates to our overarching, “real world” unit theme—how batteries work. Students know that as the unit progresses this question will consistently come up and their answers will become more complex as they learn more. At this point in the unit students just need to be able to explain this concept in a general sense—one sentence, as outlined in the question. The final question checks that students are able to draw the atomic model we spent the period developing based on Thomson’s experimental data.
I attempt to assess my students at least once a lesson. In the article “The Case for Classroom Assessment,” a direct link between frequency of assessment and student performance is identified. The authors suggest that the systematic use of classroom assessments—on a weekly basis—can have a significant positive effect on overall student achievement (Marzano, 2006). I have fully internalized this theory—assessing students at least once a lesson—sometimes multiple times a lesson. I typically have students assess each other’s work through utilization of an answer key or rubric to serve a dual purpose. First, this makes my time spent grading more realistically sustainable. Also students reveal a lot about their own understanding when they are asked to review a peer’s work (Heritage, 2010).
Sample exit tickets
According to “The Case for Classroom Assessment,” “the most powerful single modification that enhances achievement is feedback” (Marzano, 2006, p.5). For this reason, I provide detailed feedback on formative assessments. Furthermore, Hardiman explains that student performance improves the sooner they receive feedback on their work (2012). I do my best to grade all exit tickets on a daily basis so students receive feedback on their exit ticket during the next class. Students then have the opportunity to view the feedback and ask questions as necessary. Finally, after feedback is provided, each student can resubmit the exit ticket to get full credit. The point is not to penalize the student for incorrect answers but rather lead to reflection and further learning.
The previous day’s exit ticket is returned to the student at the beginning of each class with feedback. This feedback is used to give students a clear idea of their progress towards the learning goals (Marzano, 2006). If they did not receive full points, feedback on how they can improve is provided. Students are allowed to correct their mistakes and re-submit the exit ticket for full credit.
I also use the answers provided to plan the next lesson’s “catalyst” or “do-now” questions. This allows me to determine exactly what students need more time reviewing before we move on to new material each day.
Catalyst ("Do Now")
Sample Catalyst questions from daily PowerPoint presentation
Student work samples of daily catalyst
We start every lesson with a 10-minute catalyst activity. Students know they are expected to be in their seat working on the catalyst questions when the bell rings. These questions allow students to work independently and see if they recall information from previous lessons. They can ask questions as necessary and fill gaps in understanding before moving on to the new topics of the day. This also acts to refresh students’ memories of concepts we may not have covered for a few lessons and allows them the opportunity to review their old notes.
At the beginning of the lesson, students will complete a “catalyst” activity—this is what we call our “do now” or “bell work.” This is a daily expectation. By the time the bell rings, students know they should be in their seats answering the catalyst questions. These questions are provided on the top of the guided notes students pick up on their way in the classroom daily. When the bell rings, I typically project a timer on the SMARTboard so students know how long they have to complete the questions. I circulate the room answering any questions and checking off students’ papers when they complete the questions. At the end of the period students organize their guided notes into the appropriate section of their chemistry binders. The catalyst questions usually address topics covered the previous day or in previous lessons that will be important for the new concepts of the day. This allows me to gauge students’ retention of information from previous lessons. If clarification is needed we can go over the information again before we move on to new information. We go over these questions as a class through various methods before we move on to the next activity.
I will check off catalyst questions as students complete them to check for understanding. This data can be used to plan a quick, informal review at the start of a lesson before moving on to new material if necessary.
Concept Maps
Sample concept map from "Chemical Bonds" unit
When designing the learning experience it is helpful to create a visual representation because “having an image of the whole picture gives each individual piece of the puzzle more meaning” (Hardiman, 2012, pp. 80). A concept map can be a useful tool for planning as well as an effective way to informally assess students. A concept map promotes learning because it allows students to see connections between the content and how all the concepts fit together. Concept maps allow me to see how students think all the information in a unit fit together and I can identify common misconceptions that made need to be clarified in upcoming lessons.
Quizzes
Student samples of quizzes
The system of assessments I utilize in my classroom is designed to check for understanding as frequently as possible during a unit. Exit tickets are an effective way to immediately assess a student’s comprehension and daily catalysts are an effective way to ensure students retain the information until the next class period. However, neither of these forms of assessment test long term retention—which is necessary for bigger summative assessments and various high-stakes testing. It is possible students learned the information and retained it for a 24 hour period but did not actually move it to long-term memory. Periodic quizzes are a method of assessment I utilize to ensure students are retaining key points from all the learning targets for a unit—not just the ones being discussed on a specific day. These more detailed formative assessments can provide crucial data to inform instruction as we progress through a unit.
Reteach Lesson Plan
Annotated subatomic particles reteach lesson plan
After an analysis of the data for all 300 of my students from the quiz above I determined that certain objectives needed to be retaught before our summative assessment for the unit. The vast majority of students answered questions about the scientists and their discoveries correctly. However, many students were unable to answer questions about properties of the subatomic particles. Specifically, 65% of students answered question one—which atomic particles are equal in mass—incorrectly. 71% of students answered question 4—what part of Thomson's model was not supported by direct evidence—incorrectly. Also over 40% of students did not answer the two questions about alpha particles correctly. This reteach lesson plan was designed to give students additional practice with these concepts.
The objectives in the reteach lesson plan—to the left—are foundational to everything else we are doing in this unit and for the most of the rest of the year. If they are not mastered first it will be very difficult for students to master the rest of the objectives since chemistry heavily builds on itself as you progress through the course. It is worth going back to reteach these concepts to ensure all students are comfortable with them. To fill the gaps in knowledge identified by analyzing the data obtained through the above quiz above, this reteach lesson plan and activity were designed and implemented.
Student work from reteach lesson
In the activity on the left, students utilize an online simulator of Bohr’s model to work through a self-guided laboratory activity with a purposefully assigned lab partner from their table group—“teachers must know not only the subject matter they teach but also their students” (Villegas & Lucas, 2002, p. 26). This activity was selected for this reteach lesson based on answers students provided on an interest survey. Students informed me they were tired of only working on paper in my class. Technology is difficult to access at my school so we tend to seldom use computers. I convinced another teacher at my school to allow us to use her computer cart for this lesson to change things up a bit and listen to student desires to incorporate technology. During the same survey students also informed me they enjoyed collaborative work and lab activities the most of anything we do in my class. Furthermore, the majority of my students are talkative—it is difficult to keep students quiet for longer then 10 minutes at a time. For this reason, I attempt to incorporate collaborative grouping structures as frequently as possible. This allows students the opportunity to utilize academic language while discussing chemistry concepts with each other. The “Build an Atom” lab activity was completed either on a computer and submitted via our online grade book (Schoology) or students had the option to use a more traditional written worksheet.
Reflection
Formative assessments are the check points that guide both instruction and learning in a classroom. Students can use these as a way to track their own progress towards the standards and be engaged in their own personal and academic growth. By using a wide variety of assessment methods, I can tack my students’ progress towards mastery while giving all students multiple opportunities to learn and practice the material. The data obtained from formative assessments is also crucial for decision making and planning future instruction to ensure that all students are able to reach the standard by the end of the unit.
The system of formative assessment in my classroom is constantly changing and adapting. I am always looking for different types of formative assessments to help enable my students to reach the desired standard and learning outcome.
References
Hardiman, M. M. (2012). The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for 21st-century schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Heritage, M. (2010). Formative assessment: Making it happen in the classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Marzano, R. (2006). Classroom Assessment & Grading That Work.Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
“Read the Standards.” Read the Standards | Next Generation Science Standards, www.nextgenscience.org/search-standards?keys=&tid%5B%5D=107&tid_3%5B%5D=97.
Teach For America. (2011). Instructional planning & delivery. Retrieved from http://www.teachingasleadership.org/sites/default/files/Related-Readings/IPD_2011.pdf
Villegas, A. & Lucas, T. (2002). Preparing culturally responsive teachers: Rethinking the curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education. (53)1. Retrieved from http://culturallyresponsiveteaching.weebly.com/uploads/1/8/1/5/18153535/__villegas_and_lucas.pdf