FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT:FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT:FOUR UNDERSTANDINGS PLUS FOUR UNDERSTANDINGS PLUS

ONE PUZZLEONE PUZZLE

W. James PophamW. James PophamUniversity of California, Los AngelesUniversity of California, Los Angeles

KDE/ISLN/KLA Leadership NetworksKDE/ISLN/KLA Leadership Networks

Joint Summer ConferenceJoint Summer Conference

Lexington, KentuckyLexington, Kentucky

June 20, 2011June 20, 2011

Formative Assessment: Four What/Why Formative Assessment: Four What/Why Understandings and One Serious PuzzleUnderstandings and One Serious Puzzle

• What It Is and What It Isn’t• What It Can Do and What It Can’t• Why Partitioning it Can Pay Off• Why Learning Progressions Must Lurk

*********• How Can We Get More Kentucky Teachers

To Actually Use It?

Formative Assessment:Formative Assessment:What It IsWhat It Is and What It Isn’t and What It Isn’t

Formative assessment is a planned process in which assessment-elicited evidence of students’ status is used by teachers to adjust their ongoing instructional procedures or by students to adjust their current learning-tactics.

Formative Assessment:Formative Assessment:What It Is and What It Is and What It Isn’tWhat It Isn’t

• It is not a test.

• It is not an interim test (also referred to as a benchmark or periodic test) administered every few months by schools or districts.

• It is not the unplanned, serendipitous use of student cues to adjust teaching.

BUT FIRST, A BIT OF PAIR-FAREBUT FIRST, A BIT OF PAIR-FARE

• TURN AND TALKTURN AND TALK

• BEND AND BANTERBEND AND BANTER

• ROTATE AND RAMBLEROTATE AND RAMBLE

(Alliteration always trumps clarity.)(Alliteration always trumps clarity.)

PAIR-FARE CLARIFYINGPAIR-FARE CLARIFYING

Please turn to one or more nearby Please turn to one or more nearby neighbors, and assume they are not neighbors, and assume they are not educators but, rather, laypeople who educators but, rather, laypeople who are concerned about Kentucky schools. are concerned about Kentucky schools. They have just asked you to tell them They have just asked you to tell them what is meant by this “formative what is meant by this “formative assessment stuff.” Take turns assessment stuff.” Take turns describing what’s meant by that label.describing what’s meant by that label.

Formative Assessment:Formative Assessment:What It Can DoWhat It Can Do and What It Can’t and What It Can’t

In a research review based on 250 empirical studies of classroom assessment that had been drawn from more than 680 published investigations, Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam concluded:

“The research reported here shows conclusively that formative assessment does improve learning.” (Assessment in Education, 1998)

Formative Assessment:Formative Assessment:What It Can DoWhat It Can Do and What It Can’t and What It Can’t

Two Other Quotes from the Research Review:

• The student gains in learning triggered by formative assessment were “amongst the largest ever reported for educational interventions.”

• “Significant gains can be achieved by many different routes, and initiatives here are not likely to fail through neglect of delicate and subtle features.”

And, More Recently . . .And, More Recently . . .

“There is now a strong body of There is now a strong body of theoretical and empirical work that theoretical and empirical work that suggests that integrating assessment suggests that integrating assessment with instruction may well have with instruction may well have unprecedented power to increase unprecedented power to increase student engagement and to improve student engagement and to improve learning outcomes.” (Wiliam, D., 2011,learning outcomes.” (Wiliam, D., 2011, Studies in Educational Evaluation)Studies in Educational Evaluation)

Formative Assessment:Formative Assessment:What It Can Do and What It Can Do and What It Can’tWhat It Can’t

It cannot raise scores sufficiently on instructionally insensitive accountability tests such as those so widely used these days to satisfy the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.

A PAIR-FARE ISSUEA PAIR-FARE ISSUE

Imagine that you are in a discussion Imagine that you are in a discussion with several educational colleagues, with several educational colleagues, and one of them exclaims, “There’s no and one of them exclaims, “There’s no real research support for formative real research support for formative assessment, just a bunch of vendors assessment, just a bunch of vendors trying to bilk us educators!” Do you trying to bilk us educators!” Do you agree with this sentiment? How would agree with this sentiment? How would you respond to your colleague’s claim?you respond to your colleague’s claim?

Formative Assessment:Formative Assessment:Why Why LevelsLevels Can Lead to Lucidity Can Lead to Lucidity

• Because there are two potential sets of players (teachers adjusting instruction and students adjusting learning tactics), it is often confusing to lump the two together.

• Because there are substantially different varieties and levels of implementation, clarity can be compromised by regarding one variant of formative assessment as coterminous with another variant.

Four Levels of Formative Assessment Level 4: Schoolwide Implementation

Level 3: Classroom-Climate Shift

Level 2: Students’ Learning-Tactic Adjustments

Level 1: Teachers’ Instructional Adjustments

Students’ Level 2 Steps

1. Consider adjustment occasions.

2. Consider assessments.

3. Consider adjustment triggers.

4. Adjust learning-tactics?

Teachers’ Level 1 Steps

1. Identify adjustment occasions.

2. Select assessments.

3. Establish adjustment triggers.

4. Make instructional adjustments?

Level 4 Strategies

1. Professional Development

2. Teacher Learning Communities

Level 3 Shifts

1. Learning Expectations

2. Responsibility for learning

3. Role of classroom assessment

Learning Progressions

FIVE APPLICATIONS OF THE PROCESSFIVE APPLICATIONS OF THE PROCESS

• Immediate Instructional Adjustments Immediate Instructional Adjustments (based on assessments (based on assessments oror self-reports) self-reports)

• Near-Future Instructional AdjustmentsNear-Future Instructional Adjustments

• Last-Chance Instructional AdjustmentsLast-Chance Instructional Adjustments

• Students’ Learning-Tactic AdjustmentsStudents’ Learning-Tactic Adjustments

• Classroom Climate ShiftsClassroom Climate Shifts

TheFormative-Assessment

Process

Immediate Instructional Adjustments

Near-Future Instructional Adjustments

Last-Chance Instructional Adjustments

Students’ Learning Tactic

Adjustments

Classroom-ClimateShifts

ANOTHER PAIR-FARE FORAYANOTHER PAIR-FARE FORAY

Which, if either, of the two subdivisions Which, if either, of the two subdivisions of formative assessment (the four of formative assessment (the four levels or the five applications) do think levels or the five applications) do think makes more sense? Which one, if makes more sense? Which one, if either, would incline more Kentucky either, would incline more Kentucky teachers to hop aboard the Formative teachers to hop aboard the Formative Assessment Express? Please explain Assessment Express? Please explain your preference, or lack of one, to a your preference, or lack of one, to a neighbor.neighbor.

Formative Assessment:Formative Assessment:Why Learning Progressions Why Learning Progressions MustMust Lurk Lurk

(What a learning progression is:)

A learning progression is a sequenced set of building blocks (that is, subskills and/or bodies of enabling knowledge) it is thought students must master en route to mastering a more remote, target curricular aim.

Target Curriculum

Aim X

Enabling Knowledge

B

Enabling Knowledge

A

SubskillA

SubskillB

An Illustrative Learning

Progression

A Horizontally Represented Learning Progression

Enabling Knowledge

X

Enabling Knowledge

Y

SubskillZ

TargetCurriculum

Aim Q

Formative Assessment:Formative Assessment:Why Learning Progressions Why Learning Progressions MustMust Lurk Lurk

(What a learning progression is not:)

• A learning progression isn’t unerringly accurate.

• A particular learning progression isn’t going to work for all students.

• A learning progression isn’t necessarily better because it’s more complicated.

Key Choice-Points in Building a Key Choice-Points in Building a Learning Progression Learning Progression

• Which target curricular aims?

• What should be the grain-size of building blocks?

• How many building blocks should be used?

• Which building blocks?

• How should the building blocks be sequenced?

ALMOST FINAL PAIR-FAREALMOST FINAL PAIR-FARE

Please assume that you are a seasoned Please assume that you are a seasoned educator who is trying to explain to a educator who is trying to explain to a brand new teacher why learning brand new teacher why learning progressions are so important for the progressions are so important for the formative-assessment process to be as formative-assessment process to be as effective as its proponents contend it effective as its proponents contend it is. Please describe to a neighbor why is. Please describe to a neighbor why learning progressions are such a big learning progressions are such a big deal if one uses formative assessment.deal if one uses formative assessment.

Formative Assessment:Formative Assessment:And now for the perplexing puzzle:And now for the perplexing puzzle:

Given what we know about the success of formative assessment in boosting students’ achievement, why aren’t more teachers, and especially more Kentucky teachers (well known for their perspicacity, raw intelligence, and glamorous good looks), using the formative-assessment process?

THE TERMINAL PAIR-FARETHE TERMINAL PAIR-FARE

If you could suggest—to the big If you could suggest—to the big cheeses of the letter-litany cheeses of the letter-litany organizations (KDE/ISLN/KLA) organizations (KDE/ISLN/KLA) sponsoring this conference—how to sponsoring this conference—how to promote more Kentucky teachers’ use promote more Kentucky teachers’ use of formative assessment, what would of formative assessment, what would you say? Please run your most potent you say? Please run your most potent suggestions by a neighbor.suggestions by a neighbor.

For a no-cost copy of a study guide for using Transformative Assessment with an extended-duration professional learning community, see the following: www.ascd.org/studyguides. Scroll down to the book’s title and you’ll also find info about how to acquire this enchanting, yet insightful volume. The sequel, Transformative Assessment in Action, equally enchanting, contains Reflection Questions for each chapter rather than a study guide.

My e-mail address: wpopham@ucla.edu