In some quarters of the school-reform debate, I’m beginning to hear talk about how districts, states, and the nation should standardize formative assessments so the process can benefit more students. Usually, these assessments give teachers a quick and not-so-scientific measure of learning by using a thumbs up or maybe having students write answers on whiteboard slates. The teacher glances around the room, tallies the feedback, and makes a quick expert judgment: Move onto the next idea, go back and do more instruction, or devote additional time to practice.
For me, formative assessment has become the most effective way to know which students are learning, which are stuck and where, and which students just aren’t getting it at all. It’s information I collect in any number of deliberate ways: listening to class discussions, glancing over a student’s shoulder as he or she complete an in-class assignment, asking three exit questions, posing three opening questions, collecting papers for review, and so on.
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Typically I will jot down the names of students I need to give some one-on-one attention to the next day, or perhaps invite to a tutoring session before school.
Grant Wiggins says this about the feedback we give based on formative assessment: "Feedback is value-neutral help on worthy tasks. It describes what the learner did and did not do in relation to her goals. It is actionable information, and it empowers the student to make intelligent adjustments when she applies it to her next attempt to