Formative Assessment to Close the Gap
Rapid City Area Schools
Spring 2010
Learning Targets
 Recapture and connect foundational formative
assessment principles using previous and current
models
 Recognize feedback as an effective tool to close the gap
 Practice giving written feedback to close the gap.
Connect to Nov. BLT
The Formative Assessment Process
Students
Teachers
Understand the target.
Select and clearly communicate the learning target.
Produce work
Make at least one assignment.
Compare their work with the target.
Compare student performance with the desired
target/goal, and determine the place in a typical
learning progression.
Evaluate strengths and weaknesses
Evaluate students’ strengths and weaknesses.
Prescribe action for improvement
Give clear oral or written feedback.
Take action for improvement; study, practice,
review, rewrite, etc…
Support or assign action to close the gap.
Learning-Assessment Process
Communicate
learning targets
and clear criteria
for success
Make
instructional
adjustments to
close the gap
Provide feedback
that moves
learners forward
Provide assigned
tasks and work
time
Understand
learning target
and criteria for
success
Take action to
close the gap
Engage in
assigned tasks
Accept and
provide
feedback to
move forward
Compare work
against criteria
Evaluate
strengths and
weaknesses
Evaluate students'
strengths and
weaknesses
Compare students'
performance
against the criteria
Learning-Assessment Models
Locate a critical friend from a different school to be
your learning partner.
2. Have a conversation to compare features of the
vertical and circular formative assessment models.
3. Share examples to explain each step in the formative
assessment process.
4. Dialogue for 5 minutes.
1.
Connect to Nov. BLT
The Formative Assessment Process
Students
Teachers
Understand the target.
Select and clearly communicate the learning target.
Produce work
Make at least one assignment.
Compare their work with the target.
Compare student performance with the desired
target/goal, and determine the place in a typical
learning progression.
Evaluate strengths and weaknesses
Evaluate students’ strengths and weaknesses.
Prescribe action for improvement
Give clear oral or written feedback.
Take action for improvement; study, practice,
review, rewrite, etc…
Support or assign action to close the gap.
Feedback to Close the Gap
 Effective feedback isn’t about what teachers
need to say. It’s about what students need to
hear.
 Feedback requires making many decisions
at the same time about what to say and how
to say it.
The Teacher’s Role in Effective
Feedback to Close the Gap
Naming
Noticing
Next Steps
Feedback Strategies
Recommendations
Feedback Strategies
Can Vary In …
Amount
Focus
Comparison
Function
Tone and


In These Ways …
How many points made

for Good Feedback
Prioritize—pick the most
important points.
How much about each
point

Choose points that relate to
major learning goals.


On the work itself


On the process the
student used to do the
work
Consider the student's
developmental level.
When possible, describe both
the work and the process—
and their relationship.

Avoid personal comments.

Use criterion-referenced
feedback for giving
information about the work
itself.
Use self-referenced feedback
to teach students to look for
progress in their own work.
Describe.

To criteria for good work
(criterion-referenced)

To student's own past
performance (selfreferenced)


Description



Evaluation/judgment
Positive and honest



What the student will
"hear"
Don't judge.
Choose words that
communicate respect for the
student and the work.

Communicates
confidence in the
students as learners

Choose words that position
the student as the active
learner.

Choose words that cause
students to think or wonder.
Word Choice
Practicing Feedback to Close the Gap
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Look at the NAEP prompt for writing.
Identify the learning target. What are students
supposed to demonstrate?
Read one student response and compare it to the
learning target.
Evaluate strengths and weaknesses.
Write feedback to the student identifying aspects of
the target that were accomplished and next steps
toward closing the gap.
Peer Review
 Goal: Give and receive feedback to close the gap.
 Process: Exchange feedback forms with your
collaborative partner. Use the feedback rubric to
assess your partner’s feedback to the student. Discuss
strengths of the feedback and next steps.
Catch: Whole Group
Peter Johnston, professor, author, and
researcher, describes “fix-it classrooms”. The
culture of continuous learning and growing
for all classroom members involves open
dialogue about trying, making mistakes,
partial understanding, and next steps.
Release for further practice
“There must be an opportunity for
continued practice if we give
feedback otherwise it is doubtful
that it will provide much effect.”
Susan Brookhart
Practicing Feedback to Close the Gap
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Look at the NAEP prompt for mathematics.
Identify the learning target. What are students
supposed to demonstrate?
Read one student response and compare it to the
learning target.
Evaluate strengths and weaknesses.
Write feedback to the student identifying aspects of
the target that were accomplished and next steps
toward closing the gap.
Peer Review
 Goal: Give and receive feedback to close the gap.
 Process: Exchange feedback forms with your
collaborative partner. Use the feedback rubric to
assess your partner’s feedback to the student. Discuss
strengths of the feedback and next steps.
Give a little Buzz…
Think of one profound idea from our
formative assessment session today,
write it on your Buzz form.
Be prepared to share it with the group
when Buzz lands in your hands.
To the Beyond…
Providing effective feedback to help students close the
gap between learning targets and current performance
moves learners from saying,
“ What does my teacher want me to do today?”
to
“What do I need to do today to learn and grow?”