Reflection: (The Fundamentals of Formative Assessments)

This is an article I found of interest. There is so much information and research behind formative assessments that seems to have just recently emerged. It’s interesting that this type of assessment has been around for such a long period of time; we just didn’t have a formal name attached to it. This is a great article to give some background information on formative assessments in the classroom.

The Fundamentals of Formative Assessments

Greenstein, L. (2010). The fundamentals of formative assessments. Katie Martin, What Teachers Really Need to Know About Formative Assessment (pp. 15-26). Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/110017/chapters/The-Fundamentals-of-Formative-Assessment.aspx

This article focuses formative assessments and how teachers can use them as a tool to not only aid their students, but also to help them in modifying their teaching technique. She explains that formative assessments help students in reaching their goals, rather than determining if a goal was met or not (Greenstein, 2010). She explains the importance of formative assessments and the history behind using assessments in the classroom. Basic formative assessments have been used throughout history and have been part of the educational system from the beginning of time. The practice of classroom assessment has been used throughout the years, but there wasn’t a concrete name given to it until recently. In 1967, Michael Scriven coined the phrase “formative” evaluation. He spoke of using these evaluations, to assist in learning, where a program needed to make changes. He called this type of evaluation, used for the purpose of improving, “formative” (Greenstein, L., 2010).

Benjamin Bloom was one of the first to apply the concept of “formative” assessment. He explained that students needed to master the learning goal before moving forward to the next level. In the 70’s, students were given packets with objectives to complete which the students had to finish in order to move on to the following packet. This was a form of early scaffolding, but it had little teacher interaction (Greenstein, L., 2010). Formative assessments have been used for many years and have proven to be effective in student learning and in helping drive teacher instruction. They presently are, and have been a tool used throughout history to pinpoint student needs and address them accordingly.

Reflection: (Content then process: Teacher Learning Communities in the Service of Formative Assessment)

This article is interesting in that it presents a different perspective on the importance of using formative assessments in the classroom. Research has shown that effective teachers manage effective classrooms, which translates into successful students. The most effective teachers use formative assessments in their classrooms. This article takes that information and presents the data on how successful students, in turn, positively affect our future economy. It’s just another way in which we can understand the significance of formative assessments.

Content Then Process: Teacher Learning Communities in the Service of Formative Assessment

Wiliam, D. (2007). Content then process: Teacher learning communities in the service of formative assessment. In D. B. Reeves (Ed.), Ahead of the curve: the power of assessment to transform teaching and learning (pp. 183-204). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree. Retrieved from: https://speck-8.wikispaces.com/file/view/Content+Then+Process.pdf

The importance of formative assessments in the classroom and how they can drive instruction to help student achievement is clear. Classrooms that use formative assessments are more effective and are more capable of assisting students reach their learning goals. A study performed by Black and Wiliam showed that classrooms that utilized formative assessments raised student achievement by a standard deviation of .4 to .7. That would be enough to move the United States into one of the top five countries based on achievement (Wiliam, 2007). Another study showed the significance of having formative assessments in the classroom by proving that by using these types assessments, there was a gain of 6 to 9 month of student learning (Wiliam, 2007). These studies have proven the essence of having formative assessments in the classroom, so how do we prepare assessments that are viable and useful? In order to have effective formative assessments, collaboration between co-workers must take place. The sharing and introduction of ideas to create or locate a set of aligned formative assessments is imperative in the success of the school having effective classrooms, which translates into higher student achievement.

This article presents the result that student achievement could have on our future economy. A calculation done by Eric Hanushek, a leading economist of education, showed that by raising a student’s achievement by one standard deviation (one standard deviation would raise a student from the 50^th to the 84^th percentile), over the next 30 years, would grow the economy by 10%. The additional taxes paid by that 10% could pay for the entire K-12 education (Wiliam, 2007). As we look at student achievement through our economy, the need to perform becomes more obvious and pertinent. The question arises as to how we increase student achievement, and the answer is through effective classrooms with quality teachers.

            There have been various stages that research has taken to find what qualifies a school as being effective. Initial research focused on output. Those schools that achieved “good results” were labeled as effective. As research continued, it focused on demographics. This research concluded that those schools with “good results” were from affluent areas, so demographics was the factor in being an effective school. The most recent research is based on student’s initial knowledge as compared to the knowledge they gained by the end of the year. This study showed that it didn’t matter what school the student attended (demographics), but rather, what classroom they were in. The results showed that students in the most effective classrooms learned four times faster than those in the least effective classrooms (Hanushek, 2004). The most effective classrooms are taught by effective teachers. Wiliam summed up his the findings by saying, “We need to raise student achievement for the future of society. To raise student achievement, we need to improve teacher quality. If we are serious about student achievement, we have to invest in professional development for teachers” (Wiliam, 2007).

            The evidence has shown that students who are in effective classrooms are most likely to achieve their learning goals. Effective classrooms are comprised of effective teachers. The most effective teachers use formative assessments in their classrooms. By working together, collaborating and learning from each other, teachers can create or locate formative assessments that are consistent throughout the classrooms to produce more effective classrooms throughout the school.