LRG – Formative Assessment in Secondary Schools

Formative assessment does not refer to a particular type of test or means of student evaluation. Rather, formative assessment is a process of gathering data about student understanding to make decisions about what to teach next and how to deliver instruction.

Formative Assessment in Secondary Schools is a quick-reference classroom tool for middle and high school teachers that provides a concise description of formative assessment and explains how teachers can use the approach to monitor students’ progress toward Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and determine when adjustments to instruction are needed.

The six-page (tri-fold), laminated guide outlines a critical, continuous cycle of questions, consisting of the following:

Feed Up Planning Questions

• Checking for Understanding Planning Questions
• Quality Feedback Planning Questions
• Feed Forward Planning Questions

In addition to relying upon questions to check for student understanding, the guide identifies other ways teachers should allow students to demonstrate learning, including

Through oral language

• Through writing
• Through projects and performance
• Through quizzes and tests
• Through commercially prepared benchmark assessments

The guide also explains how to gauge an appropriate level of useful, quality feedback and identifies various formats for delivering this feedback to students. Most importantly, the guide describes how to analyze student data and, on the basis of this analysis, develop an individualized plan for guided instruction that will broaden and deepen the student’s conceptual understanding.