What have the students
learned today?
Formative Assessment in
Social Studies
Using Assessment FOR Learning
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
http://www.dce.k12.wi.us/jrhigh/socialstudies/
Definition
Formative assessment
a process used by teachers and students
during instruction that provides feedback
to adjust ongoing teaching and learning
to improve students’ achievement of
intended instructional outcomes.
The term's newfound popularity notwithstanding, the concept of formative
assessment is as old as teaching itself. - Tim Wiley
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Research on Formative Assessment
Black and William (1998a) conducted an extensive
research review of 250 journal articles and book
chapters to determine whether formative
assessment raises academic standards in the
classroom. They concluded that efforts to
strengthen formative assessment produce
significant learning gains as measured by
comparing the average improvements in the test
scores of the students involved…
Black, P., and Wiliam, D. (1998a). Assessment and classroom learning.
Assessment in Education, 5 (1): 7-74.
An analysis of the research reveals that helping teachers develop minute-by-minute
and day-by-day formative assessment practices is more cost effective than any
other strategy. – Dylan Wiliams
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
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Partnership with students
Learning outcomes
Success criteria
Collaboration with colleagues
Daily assessment embedded in lesson
High level questioning/discussions
Teacher as observer and data collector
Data is used to modify instruction
Quality feedback to students
Students actually use the feedback
Student self-evaluation and peer evaluation
“Inside the Black Box” provides strong evidence from an extensive literature review to
show that classroom "formative" assessment, properly implemented, is a powerful means to
improve student learning - Phi Delta Kappan
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
#1
Partnership with Students
Formative assessment involves teachers
and students working together to improve
student learning (and teacher instruction).
[Formative assessment is] the bidirectional process between teacher and student
to enhance, recognize and respond to the learning. – Cowie and Bell
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
#2
Learning Outcomes
Learning outcomes (also called learning
targets) are what the students should
accomplish during the lesson. Learning
outcomes make sure that the learners have
a clear view of what they should achieve.
[Educators should] discuss the goals and criteria for success with learners using
terms they can understand, providing examples of how the criteria for success can
be met.
-FAST SCASS
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
#3
Success Criteria
Students must know what the success
criteria is for the learning outcome.
Teachers should provide models/exemplars
for students. Students should be involved
in the discussion of the success criteria.
Sometimes teachers hesitate to involve student in co-constructing [success]
criteria. Co-constructing criteria with students is a powerful strategy because it
starts with student ideas. – Anne Davies
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
#4
Collaboration with Colleagues
Teachers collaboratively determine the
power standards, essential understandings
and develop assessments for the learning
outcomes. Teachers collaboratively gather
data and develop plans for remediation.
Grade-level or department data teams plan how to deliver interventions
and accelerated learning to meet the diverse needs of their students. Larry Ainsworth
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
#5
Daily Assessment Embedded in Lesson–
Formative assessment takes place on a
daily basis and is a part of the daily
lesson.
Students and teachers
Using evidence of learning
To adapt teaching and learning
To meet immediate learning needs
Minute to minute and day-by-day
- Dylan Wiliam
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
#6
High Level Questioning/Discussions
Teachers should use questioning which
goes beyond the recall and
comprehension levels by using Bloom’s
taxonomy. They should collaborate with
colleagues to develop high level questions
which will elicit intellectual discussions.
Use open ended questions phrased to invite students to explore their ideas and
their reasoning. – Paul Black and Dylan Wiliams
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Levels of Questioning
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Knowledge: arrange, define, duplicate, label, list, memorize, name, order, recognize, relate, recall, repeat,
reproduce state.
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Comprehension: classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, identify, indicate, locate, recognize, report,
restate, review, select, translate,
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Application: apply, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule,
sketch, solve, use, write.
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Analysis: analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate,
distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test.
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Synthesis: arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, manage,
organize, plan, prepare, propose, set up, write.
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Evaluation: appraise, argue, assess, attach, choose, compare, defend estimate, judge, predict, rate, core,
select, support, value, evaluate.
Hey, don’t forget about me – Benjamin Bloom! I’ve got this great little
taxonomy you can use when coming up with questions to ask the
students! You know, I think that Madeline Hunter was on to something
when she said we need to check for understanding in every lesson!
Bloom found that over 95 % of the test questions students encounter require them
to think only at the lowest possible level ... the recall of information.
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
More Questions Possibilities
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How is ___________ similar to/different from ___________?
What are the characteristics/parts of __________?
In what other way might we show/illustrate ________?
What is the big idea/key concept in __________?
Taken from the Michigan State
University ASSIST Program
How does _________ relate to _________?
What ideas/details can you add to _________?
Give an example of ___________.
What is wrong with __________?
What might you infer from _________?
What conclusions might be drawn from ___________?
What questions are we trying to answer? What problem are we trying to solve?
What are you assuming about ___________?
What might happen if ____________?
What criteria might you use to judge/evaluate ____________?
What evidence supports ______________?
How might we prove/confirm ____________?
How might this be viewed from the perspective of ___________?
What alternatives should be considered?
What approach/strategy could you use to ___________?
How else might you say ___________?
Students tend to read and think based on the kinds of questions they anticipate
receiving from the teacher. - Anthony Fredericks
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
#7
Teachers as Observers and Data Collectors
Formative assessment involves teachers
observing students on a daily basis. It also
involves collecting data about students’
learning and responding to the data.
Assessment encompasses teacher observation, classroom discussion,
and analysis of student work, including homework and tests. – Carol Boston
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
#8
Data is Used to Modify Instruction
Teachers use the data from assessments to
alter their instruction (provide corrective
instruction) to assist students in learning.
Assessments are only considered
“formative” if the information is used to
adapt teaching and learning.
“If we are not going to try to improve what we do, there is little sense in
assessing it.” - William Glaser
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
#9
Quality Feedback to Students
Students need feedback that will help
them close the gap between their work and
the learning outcome. Feedback should be
about the qualities of a student’s work.
Feedback in [formative assessment] occurs while there is still time to take action. - ASCD
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Quality Feedback
Strengths
Ways to
Improve
(Distance
marking to
close the gap)
Wiliam (1999)
Findings from Ruth Butler’s research on 132 year 7 students:
• Students given only marks made no gain from the first
to the second lesson.
• Students given only comments scored on average 30%
higher.
• Giving marks alongside comments cancelled the
beneficial effects of the comments.
Research conclusion:
If you are going to grade or mark a piece of work, you are
wasting your time writing careful diagnostic comments.
Feedback given as part of formative assessment helps learners become aware of any
gaps that exist between their desired goal and their current knowledge,
understanding, or skill and guides them through actions necessary to obtain the
goal.
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
#10
Students Actually Use the Feedback
Students are given time to read teacher
feedback comments. Students must act
upon the feedback to close the gap.
When teachers assess student learning for purely formative purposes, there is no
final mark on the paper and no summative grade in the grade book. Rather,
assessment serves as practice for students…This is formative assessment at its
most valuable. - Stephen Chappuis and Jan Chappuis
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476
Attributes of Formative Assessment
#11
Student self-evaluation and peer evaluation
Students analyze either their own work or
a peer’s work in relationship to the
success criteria. Students self-reflect on
themselves as learners.
Providing time for students to pause and think, to look for proof and to connect
to criteria allows teachers to slow down their pace of their teaching and match
the speed of student learning. - Carol Cameron
D.C. Everest Social Studies
D.C. Everest Area Schools Weston, WI 54476