Formative and Summative Assessment in the Classroom

1. Formative and Summative Assessment in the Classroom

2. Types of Assessment • Summative • Assessment • Balanced Assessment System • Formative • Assessment

3. Characteristics of Summative Assessment • Used after instruction • Help determine what students know regarding content relative to curriculum goals so that a grade or placement can be decided • Used at national, state, district and classroom level • Examples: • State Assessments (i.e. ITBS, ITED) • National Assessments (i.e. NAEP) • End-of –unit tests • End-of-term/semester exams • District Assessments common across schools

4. Characteristics of Formative Assessments Used during instruction Help determine what students know regarding content relative to curriculum goals so that adjustments to instruction can be made No grade is given – only feedback (used for practice) Students are involved (self-assessment, monitor their learning/growth, etc) Students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate what they know

5. Examples of Formative Assessment • Informal • Observation of students • Dialogue with students • Student questions/teacher questioning strategies • Formal • Self & peer assessment • Student record keeping • Paper/pencil tasks • Performance tasks • Learning logs/journals • Portfolios

6. Using Formative and Summative Assessment

7. Using Formative and Summative Assessment

8. Quality Assessments Aligned to the learning goals of the curriculum

9. Quality Assessments – Unpacking Skills • Explain the genetic basis of biological heredity • Explain implies that students will have to come up with an original answer at some point – more than just multiple choice is required for a student to demonstrate understanding of this skill. • Genetic basis of biological heredity – requires knowledge of how DNA is organized, replicated, and passed down from parents to offspring; requires knowledge of the genetic influence on physical characteristics

10. Quality Assessments – Questions to Ask Yourself • Do the items cover the range of understanding required by the skill? • Look at the verb (i.e. explain, identify, recognize, evaluate, etc) • Is there a variety of test/assessment items so that students get a chance to demonstrate their understanding at the level the verb expects? • Do the assessment items ask for more than recall? • Is there some inference or conclusion students must draw? • Is there information students must apply in order to get the right answer? • Is there only one arguably correct response?

11. Quality Assessments – Questions to Ask Yourself • Are assessment items clear and concise? • Avoid use of opposites as answer choices (multiple choice) • Avoid using one option that is much longer, shorter, or complex than the others (multiple choice) • Avoid using clues to the answer in the question • Avoid negatives in the question stem or the options (i.e. “Which one of these is not…”) • Avoid answers using “all of the above” or “none of the above” (multiple choice) • Avoid “-ould” words (i.e. would, could, should, etc) • Make sure all choices are in the same format (phrases, names, numbers, etc), and are grammatically correct (multiple choice) • Avoid outrageous distracters

12. Evaluating an Assessment Genetics example…