Formative Assessment

How Do You Know that Students are Learning?

Formative assessment, including diagnostic testing, is a range of formal and informal assessment 
​procedures conducted by teachers during the learning process in order to modify teaching and learning activities to improve student attainment.

Formative Assessment Examples

Write it down

Have students write down an explanation of what they understand. Read these explanations to help inform your instruction, and write comments on them (or discuss them with the student) to give them feedback.  In this inclusive classroom we use a Math Journal created in Google Docs.

My Favorite No

Assign students a warm up problem or two. Hand out index cards to the students. Sort the index cards into yes/no piles. Choose your favorite no response and analyze it as a class.

See https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/class-warm-up-routine

Create a video

Students create short videos or screen-casts where they explain their reasoning. You can then watch what they create and see what they are able to explain, what they omit, and what they may not understand.  In our classroom we will use an updated version called "Cuethink."

Review the results and how do we move learning forward?  - Learnbop

We use Learnbop because of its unique adaptation ability to review key underlying skills.  In the inclusive classroom this provides immediate feedback and intervention to all students.  The teacher is now the facilitator of learning and technology which supports learning.