Formative Assessment in the Math Classroom
Formative Assessment in the Math Classroom
Formative assessment is one of the biggest improvements being implemented into schools across the nation today. By definition, formative assessment is a type of assessment “that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students’ achievements” (Reed and Goldenberg 158). In simpler terms, formative assessment is a way of understanding what a student knows in order to help them better learn more complex information. It is process of constant bettering through which students can achieve more overall. From the basic perspective, we can see that formative assessment is important in helping students achieve their highest potential in schools, but while on the surface it may seem simple, it is actually a complex process. True research-based formative assessment relies on short focused assessments through which a teacher can make conclusions about a student’s mental processes and current abilities.
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​Formative assessment is typically introduced as a type of assessment that is ungraded and simply helps the teacher plan for future lessons. While this is an accurate description of the purpose of formative assessment, there is actually a lot more to it. There are multiple ways to approach formative assessment including probes, play-like activities and evidence-based approaches. Each of these takes the basics of formative assessment and focuses it into a high-precision assessment of mental processes.
First, “a probe is a short, highly focused, quick-to-administer diagnostic assessment designed to pinpoint...any specific misunderstandings [students] may have regarding a particular mathematical concept” (Fagan, Tobey and Brodesky 148). Probes take a short set of specifically chosen questions that include “a selected response and a written explanation using words or pictures” (148). By utilizing both the selected response and the written component, teachers can not only see if their students know how to solve the problem, but also where they may be confused by a certain concept. Probes allow teachers to quickly diagnose what problems and strengths their students may have and how to best address those in instruction. However, they can take a long time to create since they must be linked to specific content standards.
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Second, formative assessment can take the form of play-like activities. Some examples of this include Math Libs, which allows students to create parts of their own word problems; and the Two Numbers game, in which children roll dice and take turns flipping over related numbered cards (Reed and Goldenberg 158). Although these two activities may be fun and seem like play for students, they also allow teachers to observe closely and determine how students work through the math problems. This then allows teachers to determine what student strengths and weaknesses are.
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Third and finally, formative activities are evidence-based. This is not a different way of doing formative assessment, but instead it is a different perspective on how to complete it. This perspective “encourages us to slow down and look more carefully at student work samples” in order to better determine the details of their understanding (Morrow-Leong 88). This is important because while knowing that a student solved a problem incorrectly is important, it is more important to look at why he got it wrong. It may be that he knows how to add very well, but missed an additional piece of information. Knowing these details gives the teacher evidence of where the students needs more practice and where they have made significant progressions.
In all formative assessments there are some other important considerations for teachers to keep in mind. Teachers must be flexible in their use of formative assessments. The same assessment is not going to work well for all students. They must be tailored to the student’s specific needs. Second, teachers need to remember that “learning is incremental and it takes time to change” (Dyer). This applies to both the teacher’s use of formative assessments, which may be a new concept to him or her and must be approached slowly and carefully, and also to the students who are being assessed. Formative assessments make it easier to see the incremental progressions, but we still must be careful not to over-assess. Finally, the formative assessments are nearly worthless if the teachers do not act on them. Teachers must make certain that they are taking the information that they receive in formative assessments and applying it to their students’ learning.
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Another very interesting suggestion is “to teach students to be responsive in using their own data” (Dyer). What this means is that teachers can also use formative assessments to encourage students to be more involved in the learning practice and take control of their own learning. Students as well as teachers should know what goals are to be accomplished next in the learning process and how far they have come. This metacognition about the learning process can be significantly beneficial to students. By knowing where they are, and receiving specific feedback, students can prepare themselves to move forward to meet their goals. I have seen this in my own clinical experiences where students are immediately given their formative scores and feedback so that they can make adjustments for their summative assessment.
Sources:
Creighton, Susan Janssen. “Using Formative Assessment to Help Students Take the Lead in Learning.” Education Development Center Inc., n.d., http://ltd.edc.org/using-
formative-assessment-help-students-take-lead-learning Accessed: 7 Nov. 2017.
Dyer, Kathy. “Six Steps to Formative Assessment Success in the Classroom.” NWEA, 31 May 2016, https://www.nwea.org/blog/2016/six-steps-to-formative-assessment-success-in-the-classroom/ Accessed 6 Nov. 2017.
Fagan, Emily R. et al. “Targeting Instruction with Formative Assessment Probes.” Teaching Children Mathematics, vol. 23, no 3, Oct. 2016, pp. 146-157.
Morrow-Leong, Kimberly. “Evidence-Centered Assessment.” Teaching Children Mathematics, vol. 23, no. 2, Sept. 2016, pp. 83-89.
Reed, Kristen E. and E. Paul Goldenberg. “Designing K-2 Formative Assessment Tasks.”Teaching Children Mathematics, vol. 23, no. 3, Oct. 2016, pp. 158-164.