Outcome: Participants Utilize Formative Assessment to Inform Instruction
Focus: Assessment
Audience: PK-12 Teachers
Description: The use of formative assessment is part of a powerful process for teachers and students to evaluate previous instruction and learning and plan for enhancements and interventions going forward. This process includes mechanisms for determining the extent of students’ mastery of subject matter at regular intervals, identification of misconceptions about key terms and theories, and resources allowing teachers to pivot seamlessly to meet students’ needs even as instruction unfolds. The Assessment Reform Group — a consortium of scholars based in the United Kingdom dedicated to ensuring that assessment policy and practice are informed by research evidence — indicates that such a process:
- Is embedded in a view of the teaching and learning of which it is an essential part
- Involves sharing learning goals with students
- Aims to help students know and recognize the standards they are pursuing
- Involves students in self-assessment
- Provides feedback which leads to students’ recognizing their next steps and how to take them
- Is underpinned by confidence that every student can improve
- Involves teachers and students reviewing and reflecting on assessment data
edInsight assists participants in understanding and implementing formative assessment that meets these criteria. Teachers discuss the research of Dylan Wiliam, John Hattie, and Robert Marzano about the most effective practices for students, depending on subject areas and grade levels. They also learn strategies for incorporating formative assessment practices into classroom instruction and receive initial training in the use of the edInsight suite of data management tools.
Associated edInsight System Tools: