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inFormative Assessment
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inFormative Assessment
When It's Not About a Grade

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September 2009 | 136 pages | Corwin

Use assessment as a powerful tool to inform instruction and learning!

With practical, informed assessment techniques, you can increase your instructional effectiveness and demonstrate improvements in student learning. This research-based book, part of the In A Nutshell series, provides a succinct yet substantive discussion about formative assessments and how they impact the teaching/learning cycle. The authors present results-oriented methods, offer invaluable tips, and examine three types of inFormative assessments:

  • Routine inFormative Assessments to weave into everyday instruction
  • Reflective inFormative Assessments to foster self-assessment for students and teachers
  • Rigorous inFormative Assessments to provide continuous tools that inform teaching practices and student learning

 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Opening Quote
 
Introduction
 
Part I: Purpose/Goals
 
Part II: "A Suite of Assessments"
 
Part III: Background/Research
 
Part IV: Overview of the Book and Chapter Format
 
1. Routine Formative Assessments: All Day, Everyday-Flow
Teachings

 
Scene of Scenario (for Reader's Theater Activity)

 
Define, Describe, and Give Real-World Examples

 
Tools

 
Responders/"2Know!"

 
Lap Boards

 
Traffic Light Cards

 
Color-Coded Multiple Choice Cards

 
Tongue Depressors

 
Name Cards

 
Mr. Parnes' Questions

 
Mr. Pete's Questions

 
Techniques

 
Questioning Procedures

 
Pose Question

 
Allow Wait Time

 
Choose a Respondent Using a Random Method

 
Provide Some "Save Face" Option

 
HOT Questions

 
Delving

 
Woven Questions

 
Rhetorical Questions

 
Hands Up Only to Ask a Question Policy

 
Cooperative Learning (Informal)

 
TTYPA

 
Shoulder

 
Elbow

 
TESA

 
Wait Time

 
Equal Opportunity to Respond

 
Unpacking the Language of Standards/Tests/Instructions

 
Tasks

 
Tips

 
 
2. Reflective Informative Assessments: Many Days-Conversations
Teachings

 
Scene or Scenario (for Reader's Theater)

 
Define, Describe, and Give Real-World Examples

 
Tools

 
Agree/Disagree

 
People Search

 
Human Graph

 
Rubrics/Checklists (Criteria in Kid-Friendly Terms)

 
Journals

 
Little Book of Reflective Tools

 
Step Book

 
Cooperative Learning Roles and Responsibilities

 
Peer Tutors

 
PMI

 
Traffic Light Indicators

 
Student Portfolios

 
Blogs

 
Tear Share

 
Magic Book

 
Mrs. Potters' Questions

 
Ms. Poindexter's Questions

 
Techniques

 
Range Finding Questions (Prior Knowledge)

 
Hinge Point Questions (During Instruction)

 
Rubric Development With the Class

 
Use of Benchmark Papers

 
Descriptive Feedback

 
Reflective Questions (Metacognition)

 
Peer Assessment (Peer Editing)

 
Cooperative Learning

 
Interactive Conversations

 
Teacher - Student/Student - Teacher

 
Student - Student

 
Student - Self

 
Email Buddies

 
Comments That Reference Criteria, Instead of Grades

 
"There Are _ Wrong. Find Which Ones."

 
Focused Marking (One Aspect of Element)

 
Grading: Omit Zeros, Omit Averages, Require Students to Do Missing Assignments

 
Tasks

 
Tips

 
 
3. Rigorous Informative Assessments: Some Days - Philosophical Shift
Teachings

 
Scene or Scenario (for Reader's Theater)

 
Define, Describe, and Give Real-World Examples

 
Tools

 
Performance Tasks

 
Performance Checklists

 
Performance Rubrics

 
Grading Practices

 
Informative Grading

 
Informative Grade Book

 
Gray Area About Grade Books

 
Standards-Based Grade Books

 
Color-Coded Grade Books

 
Electronic Grade Book

 
Electronic Test Creation Software

 
Techniques

 
HOT

 
Inductive

 
Deductive

 
Performance Based

 
Tests, Test Questions, Test Analysis

 
Ungraded Practice Test

 
Developing Test Questions

 
Test Questions: Fat/Skinny (or Whale/Minnow) Questions

 
Test and Work Analysis: Examining Student Work

 
Summative Assessment as Informative Assessment

 
Philosophical Shift, Between Formative and Summative Assessments

 
How Can You Use a Summative Assessment in a Formative Manner?

 
Data

 
Item Analysis

 
Robust Distractors

 
Tasks

 
Application Activity

 
Tips

 
 
4. Closure
Attribution Theory (Dweck, 2007)

 
 
Afterword
 
Tomlinson Summary Points
 
References
 
Index

"Fogarty and Kerns provide far more than theory and rhetoric—they have effectively created a treasure trove of tools and ideas that every teacher can and should be using. This is a wonderful resource for mentors, instructional coaches, administrators, and professional development trainers."

Nancy A. Farrell, Staff Development Trainer
Loudoun County Public Schools, Ashburn, VA

"Provides new and veteran educators with clear descriptions of assessment methods and offers a rich array of instructional strategies that can be implemented immediately."

Mary Ellen Kotz, Education Associate for Educator Mentoring and Induction
Delaware Department of Education

"Promotes the kind of reflective practice that energizes teaching, leading, and learning for all. This book is an important resource for professional learning communities dedicated to 1) assessment of students and their achievement, 2) collaborative teams focused on improved teaching and learning, and 3) continuous improvement."

Valerie Hastings Gregory, Assistant Director of Professional Development
Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA

I find this book to be very approachable for my early education students. We have used it in our assessment course this semester and I plan to continue to use it -- although I do want to supplement with another text/trade book.

Deborah Secord
Teacher Education Dept, Dickinson State University
October 21, 2020
Key features

  • A research-based, "at-a-glance" guide written in a conversational tone with practical ideas and results-oriented strategies
  • Organized around 3 levels of assessments: Routine, Reflective, and Rigorous
  • Each chapter follows the same format and includes:
    • Teachings: definitions, examples, descriptions and explanations
    • Tools: tried-and-true, hands-on manipulatives for promoting assessment processes
    • Techniques: methods for using assessment to inform instructional decisions
    • Tasks: practical applications
    • Tips: cues from experts about what, when, and how to use the information successfully
  • Each chapter features its own spectrum of formative assessment tools and techniques to help teachers assess student work and academic progress in an ongoing, continuous, and consistent manner
  • The closure discussion is focused on the overriding concept that informative assessment celebrates student success and its relationship to student attitudes and confidence

Sample Materials & Chapters

Preface

Chapter 1


For instructors

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