Formative Assessment Modules


FACT

FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENT FOR
CLASSROOM
TEACHERS







FA_student.jpg Formative assessment practices are those that provide teachers and students with information about learning as it develops—not just at the end of a project, unit, or year. The information is formative because it enables adjustments that deepen learning: Teachers use formative assessment to make adjustments to instruction, and students use the feedback from formative assessments to make revisions to their work and their approaches to it. 

As a result, students learn more.

This website is designed to provide teachers with formative assessment practices that can be plugged into any curriculum and instruction. Each technique has been tested in classrooms and online, and has been shown to support effective teaching as well as deepen student learning.
The collection is organized into four categories: 

Pre-Assessment 

Pre-assessment is done before introducing new content to determine what students know and do not know, can and cannot do, to guide instructional decisions. Products created from the diagnostic assessment can be used during the unit to help students observe how their understanding has become deeper or more refined. For example, students can update their individual concept maps or collaboratively create a class concept map to document what they are learning throughout the unit.
  » LEARN MORE ABOUT PRE-ASSESSMENTS

Or go directly to pre-assessment resources:

   » TRAFFIC LIGHTS / THUMBS UP, SIDEWAYS, DOWN
   » CONCEPT MAP
   » ONE QUESTION




Self-assessment

Self-assessment enables students to thoughtfully reflect on the quality of their works-in-progress and their learning, and determine next steps (not give themselves grades).
  » LEARN MORE ABOUT SELF-ASSESSMENT

Or go directly to self-assessment resources:

   » TWO STARS AND A WISH
   » RECORDER SELF ASSESSMENT
   » MATH PROBLEM SOLVING CHECKLIST
   » PLANT METAPHOR SELF ASSESSMENT

Peer Feedback

Peer feedback techniques guide students in giving useful, constructive feedback to each other about their work and recommending revisions (not grade each other).
  » LEARN MORE ABOUT PEER FEEDBACK

Or go directly to peer feedback resources:

   » TWO STARS AND A WISH
   » APPLYING SUCCESS CRITERIA
   » LADDER OF FEEDBACK
   » VISUAL RUBRICS
   » USING EXEMPLARS

Feedback Breaks

Feedback breaks are brief exercises that, when peppered into any lesson, give teachers information about students’ learning while also giving students opportunities to modify and solidify their emerging understandings of new content.
  » LEARN MORE ABOUT FEEDBACK BREAKS

Or go directly to feedback breaks resources:

   » WHAT'S CLEAR? WHAT'S UNCLEAR?
   » ONE-MINUTE PAPERS (1)
   » ONE-MINUTE PAPERS (2)
   » HINGE POINT QUESTIONS

QUICK LINKS

Already know your way around? Head straight to our resources for:

PRE-ASSESSMENT

SELF-ASSESSMENT

PEER FEEDBACK

FEEDBACK BREAKS

About this Resource

Would you like to make a contribution to this content? Contribute here.

If you use these materials in your teaching, please provide feedback about them here.