DISTINGUISHING formative assessment from other edycational assessment labels.pdf

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DISTINGUISHING
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
FROM OTHER EDUCATIONAL
ASSESSMENT LABELS
Formative Assessment
for
students
and
teachers
PREPARED BY THE FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS (FAST) SCASS
MEMBERS | ARKANSAS, CONNECTICUT, HAWAII, ILLINOIS, IOWA,
KANSAS, KENTUCKY, MARYLAND, MICHIGAN, NORTH CAROLINA,
AND WEST VIRGINIA.
The FAST SCASS gratefully acknowledges the invaluable assistance of Jim Popham, Dylan Wiliam,
and Margaret Heritage in the preparation of this paper.
STATE REPRESENTATIVES
Suzanne Knowles -
Arkansas
Sherri Thorne –
Arkansas
Patricia Foley –
Connecticut
Joseph Di Garbo –
Connecticut
Monica Mann –
Hawaii
Rampal Singh –
Hawaii
Gil Downey –
Illinois
Rachel Jachino –
Illinois
Colleen Anderson -
Iowa
Michelle Hosp –
Iowa
Jackie Lakin,
Kansas
Jeannette Nobo –
Kansas
Joy Barr -
Kentucky
Sean Elkins –
Kentucky
Denise Hunt –
Maryland
Greg Sucre –
Maryland
Ed Roeber -
Michigan
Kimberly Young –
Michigan
Carmella Fair –
North Carolina
Sarah McManus –
North Carolina
Stacey Murrell –
West Virginia
Denise White –
West Virginia
Sonya White –
West Virginia
AFFILIATE MEMBERS
Michael Kaspar -
National Education Association
Stuart Kahl –
Measured Progress
Kelly Goodrich –
NWEA
Sally Venezuela –
CTB/McGraw-Hill
The FAST SCASS also thanks Debra Hawkins, Issaquah School District, WA and JohnHosp,
University of Iowa for their support in the preparation of this paper.
Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the FAST SCASS and not necessarily of CCSSO.
THE COUNCIL OF CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICERS
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is a nonpartisan, nationwide, nonprofit organization of
public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the states, the District of
Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions. CCSSO pro­
vides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues. The Council seeks member
consensus on major educational issues and expresses their views to civic and professional organizations,
federal agencies, Congress, and the public.
DISTINGUISHING FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT FROM
OTHER EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT LABELS
COUNCIL OF CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICERS
Thomas Luna (Idaho), President
Gene Wilhoit, Executive Director
Council of Chief State School Officers
One Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20001-1431
Phone (202) 336-7000
Fax (202) 408-8072
www.ccsso.org
Copyright © 2012 by the Council of Chief State School Officers, Washington
INTRODUCTION
In 2006, based on a close review of the literature on formative assessment and in consultation with national
and international experts on the topic, the Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO) Formative
Assessment for Students and Teachers (FAST) State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards
(SCASS) developed a now widely cited 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’ achievements
of intended instructional outcomes.”
Central to our view is that formative assessment takes place during the course of ongoing instruction
to support student learning as it develops. This stands in contrast to summative assessment, or interim
assessment, that is intended to evaluate or benchmark what students have achieved after a particular phase
in their schooling — for example, after a course or a unit of study (NRC, 2001). We also stress student
involvement in formative assessment through peer- and self-assessment, and the use of feedback by
students to move their learning forward.
While there is general agreement among the FAST SCASS member states and other groups (e.g., the
Assessment Reform Group in the U.K. and the International Network for Assessment for Learning)
concerning the nature and purpose of formative assessment, the term itself is often used in different
ways throughout the field of education. In this document, the FAST SCASS aims to clarify the meaning
and uses of the types of assessment most frequently used in education. By so doing, the FAST SCASS
intends to clarify what formative assessment is and is not in order to increase both the understanding and
implementation of formative assessment practices in classrooms.
We have identified a modest collection of the labels that are currently used to describe various educational
assessment types. Assessment, in our view, includes more than traditional paper-and-pencil testing,
although paper-and-pencil tests do, indeed, represent one useful way for educators to arrive at inferences
about students’ current knowledge and skills. In a context of formative assessment, evidence gathering may
range from dialogic conversations that enable teachers to elicit student thinking, to student peer- or self-
assessment, to the completion of elaborate, extended-duration tasks.
The FAST SCASS regards formative assessment practices as essential tools for teachers in supporting
students to meet the rigorous Common Core State Standards, which emphasize higher levels of thinking for
all students.
BACKGROUND ON ASSESSMENT
Any assessment is basically a process for making inferences about individuals or a group of individuals.
Sometimes these inferences take the form of measurements — we want to be able to say that this student
knows more third grade mathematics than that student. However, measuring the amount of knowledge of
third grade mathematics possessed by a student is not as straightforward as measuring the weight of an
object on a scale, measuring the length of a table with a ruler, or measuring air temperature by observing
the expansion of mercury against a calibrated scale. In an assessment context, measurement is indirect —
we cannot directly observe what is going on inside a student’s head (and it probably wouldn’t tell us much
if we could!). We can only observe how a student responds to a series of questions, prompts, or tasks. We
hypothesize that correct responses to these questions, prompts, and tasks require the possession of certain
DISTINGUISHING FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT FROM OTHER EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT LABELS
4
knowledge, skills, or capabilities, so when one student does better than another, we infer that this is because
they have more of the knowledge, skills, or capabilities we are most interested in.
At other times, however, the inferences may take the form of classifications rather than measurements.
We may infer that one student has sufficiently mastered third grade mathematics to proceed to the fourth
grade, while another has not. Although this inference could be based on a measurement, it could also be
based on a careful comparison of the many things the student can do, and the things the student needs to
be able to do to thrive in the fourth grade.
In any assessment, as in all measurement, there is a degree of uncertainty related to the accuracy of the
method used for collecting evidence of learning and the way that evidence is used. One set of test items
may be much better at eliciting evidence of student mastery of a particular concept than a different, but
similar looking set. The outcome of any assessment also depends on a variety of other factors, such as how
the student was feeling that day, the reliability of the rater, and so on.
Thus, assessment is about trying to understand what or how much is “in a student’s head.” A central
component of formative assessment is helping teachers learn how to elicit such evidence so their insights
into student thinking can be used to advance learning. Since we cannot measure directly, we ask questions
that attempt to get at knowledge or skills in order to make reasonable inferences.
OUR DEFINITIONS
It is not our intent to provide a complete glossary of assessment terms. Rather, we offer a series of
formative assessment terms and include a definition and brief commentary on each. The specific terms
to be addressed in this paper are formative assessment, interim benchmark assessment, and summative
assessment. In addition, several other educational assessment terms are defined: diagnostic assessment,
curriculum-embedded assessment, universal screening assessment, and progress-monitoring assessment.
I. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
The FAST SCASS definition of formative
assessment developed in 2006 is
“Formative assessment is a process used
by teachers and students during instruction
that provides feedback to adjust ongoing
teaching and learning to improve students’
achievements of intended instructional
outcomes.”
The attributes below have been identified as
critical features of effective formative assessment:
•
Learning Progressions.
Learning
progressions should clearly articulate the
sub-goals of the ultimate learning goal
•
Learning Goals and Criteria for
Success.
Learning goals and criteria for
success should be clearly identified and
communicated to students
•
Evidence of Learning.
Evidence of learning
is elicited during instruction
•
Descriptive Feedback.
Students should be
provided with evidence-based feedback
that is linked to the intended instructional
outcomes and criteria for success
•
Self- and Peer-Assessment.
Both self-
and peer-assessment are important for
providing students an opportunity to think
meta-cognitively about their learning
•
Collaboration.
A classroom culture in which
teachers and students are partners in
learning should be established (McManus,
2009)
Commentary.
FAST SCASS adopted this definition
of formative assessment as a process because
the empirical evidence then available, and not
contradicted by subsequent research, stressed the
5
DISTINGUISHING FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT FROM OTHER EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT LABELS

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