Formative Assessment: Not Just Another Test

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Formative AssessmentNot Just Another Test

• December 4, 2008
• SCDN Quarterly Meeting
• Nancy Gerzon and Adam Tanney
• New York Comprehensive Center
• Assessment Team

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Learning goals for todays session

• I will
• Learn about the CCSSO definition of formative
  assessment and how it is being applied in NY
  state
• Develop awareness about the New York Formative
  Assessment Project being implemented in Syracuse
  City School District
• Explore lessons learned from states implementing
  formative assessment practices
• Provide input to New York Comprehensive Center
  staff on potential application of formative
  assessment practices in New York State

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Who we are

• New York Comprehensive Center (NYCC) is a
  federally funded technical assistance center with
  the task to increase state capacity to meet the
  goals of NCLB

Adam Tanney NYCC Assessment Team member (RMC).
Expertise in education policy, school improvement
models and group facilitation
The NYCC Assessment Team is tasked with building
capacity and knowledge at NYSED in the area of
comprehensive district assessment, with formative
assessment as one component.
Nancy Gerzon NYCC Assessment Team leader
(WestEd). Expertise in data use practices,
classroom assessment, and district reform
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New York Formative Assessment Project at Syracuse
City Schools

• A collaborative effort among
• the Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive
  Center (AACC)
• the New York Comprehensive Center (NYCC)
• the New York State Education Department (NYSED)
• Syracuse City School District (SCSD)
• The New York Formative Assessment Project is
  focused on increasing formative assessment
  practices in 10 SCSD pilot elementary schools in
  grade 4 and 5 mathematics

Many thanks to partners who are here today -
Chris Vogelsang and Karen Markhoff from Syracuse,
Howard Goldsmith and Anne Schiano from NYSED
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CCSSO Definition of Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is 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.
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Handout CCSSO Definition

• 1. Individually reflect on the CCSSO formative
  assessment definition (in your packet) (Think)
• 2. Underline three key words in the definition
  that you believe are most important (Think)
• 3. In pairs, discuss your choices. Note
  similarities and differences in your choices
  (Pair/Share)

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CCSSO Definition of Formative Assessment
Formative assessment is 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.
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Show of hands

• Raise your hand if you know someone who has a
  different definition of formative assessment than
  the one that we have presented from CCSSO
• How this frames a starting point in this work

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FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT IS

• An Ongoing Process To
• Elicit evidence about student learning
• Provide feedback to teachers and student about
  learning
• Use feedback to adjust instruction and learning
• tactics in real time
• Close the gap between the learners current state
  and desired goals

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Syracuse Formative Assessment Project Four Goals
Increase effective data use practices (for short,
medium and long-cycle assessments)
Build assessment literacy and agree on
expectations for data use from all assessments
Scale up research-based classroom formative
(short-cycle) assessment practices in math
Identify, develop and implement medium-cycle
assessment tools
In order to build knowledge and capacity at NYSED
to support schools and districts in NY to
implement formative assessment
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This work was different because

• Capacity Building approach expectation is that
  Syracuse does the hard work of teacher training
  and implementation
• Train the coaches model, math ISTs doing most
  of the work
• There was no clearly outlined path.
• Built trust, transparency, and a desire to get
  comfortable with being uncomfortable (part of
  Fullans sixth secret of change)
• All teacher professional development and training
  paid for through Syracuse budget and grants
  (Chris will talk more about this)

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An example how the Formative Assessment Steering
Committee has worked to make sense of how
assessment cycles apply in Syracuse (its in
your packets, on left side)
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Attributes of Formative Assessment

• Learning Progressions
• Learning Goals
• Specific Feedback
• Collaboration
• Self and Peer Assessment

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Learning Progressions
Learning Goals
Self and Peer Assessment
Attributes of formative assessment
Specific Feedback
Collaboration
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Learning progressions should articulate the
sub-goals of the ultimate learning goalLearning
progressions describe how concepts and skills
build in a domain, and show the trajectory of
learning along which students are expected to
progress
Learning Progressions
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NY State Math Core Measurement Strand

• Students will determine what can be measured and
  how,
• using appropriate methods and formulas
• 5.M.1 Use a ruler to measure to the nearest inch,
  1/2, 1/4, 1/8 inch
• 5.M.2 Identify customary equivalent units of
  length
• 5.M.3 Measure to the nearest centimeter
• 5.M.4 Identify equivalent metric units of length
• 5.M.5 Convert measurement within a given system
• 5.M.6 Determine the tool and technique to measure
  with an appropriate level of precision lengths
  and angles

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• Insert possible clip here of Melanie or Deb
  talking about Learning Progressions

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Learning Progressions
Learning Goals
Self and Peer Assessment
Attributes of formative assessment
Specific Feedback
Collaboration
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Learning Goals and Criteria for Success
Learning goals and criteria for success should be
clearly identified and communicated to
students. Teachers must provide the criteria by
which learning will be assessed so that students
will know whether they are successfully
progressing toward the goal. This information
should be communicated using language readily
understood by students, and may be accompanied by
realistic examples of those that meet and do not
meet the criteria.
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Standard Units Can Have Fractional Relationships
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Learning Progressions
Learning Goals
Self and Peer Assessment
Attributes of formative assessment
Specific Feedback
Collaboration
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• Descriptive feedback to students
• Is linked to the learning goal and success
  criteria
• Enhances learning without assigning grades,
  scores or comparing students
• Identifies gap between current learning and
  desired goals that provide students a recipe for
  action
• Where am I now?
• Where am I going?
• How do I get there?

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Descriptive Feedback

• Feedback loops include a teacher who knows which
  skills are to be learned, who can recognize and
  describe good performance, demonstrate good
  performance, and indicate how poor performance
  can be improved.
• (Sadler 1989, p.120)

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Voices from Syracuse

• Erin is a 4th grade inclusion class teacher
• Talks about the impact formative assessment has
  had on her teaching and her students learning.
• Describes the particular role of descriptive
  feedback in the changes she and her students have
  made

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Learning Progressions
Learning Goals
Self and Peer Assessment
Attributes of formative assessment
Specific Feedback
Collaboration
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Collaboration

• A classroom culture of trust in which teachers
  and students are partners in learning.
• Ongoing interactions between teachers and
  students.
• Students are active agents in learning.

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Learning Progressions
Learning Goals
Self and Peer Assessment
Attributes of formative assessment
Specific Feedback
Collaboration
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Self and Peer-Assessment

• Self assessment students monitor their own
  learning using established criteria to indicate
  what success looks like, and they adapt their
  learning to achieve success.
• Peer assessment students analyze each others
  performance using established criteria and
  provide descriptive feedback to each other for
  continued improvement.

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PD Focus non-negotiable formative assessment
strategies (Heritage)
1. Clarify and share intentions and criteria 2.
Engineer effective classroom discussions and
questions
3. Provide feedback that moves learners
forward 4. Activate students as owners of their
own learning 5. Activate students as
instructional resources for one another
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Voices from Syracuse continued

• Melanie middle school math coach
• Describes how formative assessment work has
  imparted a new how-do-we-use-this-to-inform-our-n
  ext-move approach to her teachers.
• Describes the intentionality and planning that
  formative assessment requires and lays that as an
  area for continued focus.

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Closing

• Move into role alike groups
• Discuss and write 2 things youd like additional
  support from NYCC on.
• Consider (or dont) the menu of possibilities on
  chart paper.
• Consider the challenges possibilities raised
  from Syracuse videos.
• Commit to one thing youll collectively do
  without us to advance your knowledge and skill.
• Share out.

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More about the Syracuse project

• Lessons learned http//www.aacompcenter.org/cs/aac
  c/print/htdocs/aacc/ny_lessons.htm.
• Bibliography of articles NYCC has used with
  Syracuse http//nycomprehensivecenter.org/initiati
  ves/inits_assess/resources

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Formative Assessment Yes or No

• District-developed monthly exams are to
• be administered to all students at the end of
• each month.
• The exams are based on state authorized
• curricular goals for the grade and subjects
• involved.

Formative Assessment in Practice 2008 CCSSO
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Formative Assessment Yes or No

• A high-school biology teacher frequently reads
  aloud
• a prepared Biology related statement, then asks
• students to vote by showing a thumbs up for
  true
• or thumbs down for false. Depending on the
• number of students who respond incorrectly the
• teacher may have students present arguments
• for both sides, he may pair student and ask them
  to
• discuss the concept further.

Formative Assessment in Practice 2008 CCSSO
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Visual representation of assessment cycles
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And yet, you might still ask, so what?

• Black and Wiliam, in a meta-analysis of
  quantitative formative assessment research
  (Inside the Black Box, 1998), asked
• Is there evidence that improving formative
  assessment raises student achievement?
• Is there evidence that there is room for
  improvement?
• Is there evidence about how to improve formative
  assessment?

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The answer to all three questions is yes, yes and
yes
Typical effect sizes of the formative assessment
experiments were between 0.4 and 0.7. The are
larger than most found for educational
interventions. An effect size of 0.4 would mean
that the average pupil involved in an innovation
would record the same achievement as a pupil in
the top 35 of those not so involved. An effect
size gain of 0.7 in the recent international
comparative studies in mathematics would have
raised the score of a nation in the middle of the
pack of 41 countries (e.g., the U.S.) to one of
the top five.