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FormativeAssessment:Howdoesitimpactstudentlearning?
Formativeassessment,ifusedeffectively,canprovideteachersandtheirstudentswiththe
informationtheyneedtomovelearningforward(Heritage,2007,p.140).However,withtheadvent
ofhighstakestestingandgovernmentfundededucationalpoliciesholdingschoolsaccountablefor
successfulstandardizedtestingscores,assessmenthastakenanoutsidepositionoftheclassroomand
consequently,thenotionofassessmentpracticeshavebecome...viewedassomethingincompetition
withteaching,ratherthanasanintegralpartofteachingandlearning(Heritage,2007,p.140).Asa
result,itbecomescruxthateducatorsunderstandthesignificanceoftheactiveroleassessmentscan
playinstudentlearninginordertomaximizetheamountofstudentprogressionofknowledgeof
academiclanguage,theinternalizedcomprehensionofcontentmatter,andthedevelopmentof
metacognitiveskills.
Inmyclassroom,thesystematicprocessofcollectingdataisemployedtoenhancebothstudent
learningandpedagogicalinstruction.Mymentor,coresident,andIuseavarietyofstrategiestogather
evidenceofstudentlearninghowever,thetwoconcreteroutinemethodsofcompilingdataisthrough
DoNowsandExitSlips.Inexaminingdailybellringersandexittickets,Ihavenoticedthelackof
academiclanguageutilizedbythelearnersoftheclassroom.Manystudentsanswerthecontentbased
questionsusingtextspeak,idiosyncrasy,andincompletethoughtsriddledwithblasphemous
grammaticalerrors.Throughtheexaminationofstudentwriting,forthisstudyinparticular,Iwantedto
focusontheusageofacademiclanguageofmystudents.
Inanalyzingtheemploymentofthecontentdialogueofmystudents,Iformedthreeverysubject
matterdirectedquestionsasatooltoformallymeasuretheacademicvocabularyofmystudentswhen
completingtheirexitslips.Thethreequestionswerecenteredaroundgrammaticalknowledgeof
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linguisticconceptsusedintheEnglishlanguage.Eachquestionposedassessedthestudentsabilityto
usecontentspecificvocabularyinexplainingtherationalebehindtheorganizationofwordsand
punctuationinintricatesentences.Thequestionsaskedthestudentstoeitherwritecomplexsentencesor
correctelaboratedeclarationsbasedonthegrammaticalknowledgeobtainedfromeachgrammar
lessonthen,thestudentshadtoexplainthegrammaticalstructureoftheirsentencesusingspecific
academiclanguageandcompletethoughts.
Theprocessoftheseexitslipsweresimple:Thestudentsreceivedahalfsheetofwhitepaper
andwereexpectedtocompletethetaskonthishalfsheetbeforeexitingtheclass.Althoughtheseexit
slipsprovidedagreatdealofinsightintothelearningofstudents,Idonotalwayshavetimeforthe
implementationofdailyexitslips.Hence,thisbecomesagreatweaknessinmyabilitytoutilize
formativeassessmentasameanstoyieldvaluabledatathatcanhelpimprovetheinstructionandneeded
learningtowardgrowthintheclassroom.Asstatedinthearticle,FormativeAssessment:Whatdo
teachersneedtoknowanddo(2007),developinglearningprogressiontowardsstandardsisacritical
elementofformativeassessment(Heritage,p.142).Asaresult,theprogressiontowardsthelearning
objectivesaredailystifledultimatelyaffectingtheconsequentialvalidityoftheformativeassessment
whenlookingatthenextstepsforbothteacherandstudentwithrespecttothedataacquired.Thisdata
canyieldbeneficialfeedbackandthisinformation...iscentraltoguidingstudentsthroughtheirownnext
steps(Heritage,2007,p.142).
Whenlookingatmyownimplementationofdailyformativeassessments,Ihavelearnedthatthe
employmentofsuchsystematicmethodsofmeasuringneedstobebothroutinedandstrategically
alignedwiththelearninggoalsoftheclassroom.Bynormalizingassessmentinapositivewayas
opposedtosomethingstudentsmustcompletebeforeexitingthedoorstudentswilltakemoretime
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andefforttoutilizethecontentknowledgebestowedupontheminevaluatingtheirowncomprehension
aboutgrammaticalconcepts.Indoingso,assessmentssuchasInterims,EnglishCollegeReadiness
Exams,andotherevaluationsofstudentknowledgewillseemmorealignwithinstructioninsteadofan
outlyingstressfulcomponentofschooling.
Inutilizingexitticketsdailyandmakingitapartofbothmyinstructionandstudentlearning,the
progressionoflearningcanbecrystallizedintotransparentlearninggoalsfortheclassroom.These
learningprogressionsprovidethebiggerpictureofwhatistobelearned,andtheyhelpteacherslocate
studentscurrentlearningstatusonthecontinuumalongwhichstudentsareexpectedtoprogress
(Heritage,2007,142).
Throughthedatarepresentationsanddataworkshops,Ihavegainedvaluableinsightintomy
personalunderstandingofthelearningofmystudentsandtheirperformanceintheirusageand
knowledgeofacademiclanguage.Inlookingatthetablebelow,itbecomesevidentthatstudentshad
difficultyusingacademiclanguagetoexplaintheirrationale.
Forthisparticularexitslip,studentswererequiredtocreateasentenceusingtheirknowledge
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aboutconjunctiveadverbs,aspectsofacreationmyth,andauthorsapproach.Studentsweregraded
basedontheirabilitiestocorrectlyutilizetheirknowledgeofconventionsofpunctuation(COP),
conventionsofusage(COU)ofgrammaticalinformation,sentencestructureformation(SSF),andmost
importantly,academiclanguagewhenformingtheirsentences.Studentsreceivedonepointfortheir
abilitiesincorrectlyemployingeachoftheabovecomponentsintotheirsentences.
Inexaminingthedatayieldedfromthisexitslip,itisevidentthatmanystudentshaveasound
understandingofconventionsofpunctuationandusage.Thismeansthatstudentsunderstandbothhow
tocorrectlypunctuateasentenceandhowtoappropriatelyintegratetheknowledgeofgrammatical
concepts(suchasconjunctiveadverbs)intosentencewriting.Furthermore,manystudentscangrasp
thesyntacticalstructureofwordorganizationinasentence.Theinformationfromthedatacollected
illustratesthatmoststudentsareabletoutilizethecorrectsentencestructureformationwhenwritinga
simplesentenceusingtheirknowledgeofEnglishgrammaticalelements.
Althoughmanystudentswereabletodemonstratetheircompetenciesinconventionsof
punctuation(COP),conventionsofusage(COU),andsentencestructureformation(SSF),many
studentswereincapableofusingtheiracademiclanguagetoexplaintheirreasoningbehindtheformation
ofthesentencestheyconstructed.Forexample,onestudentcreatedthesentence:Manydifferent
religionstakeadifferentauthorsapproachincreatingdifferentstoriesabouthowtheworldwas
createdtherefore,wehavealotofcreationmyths.Thisstudentdidaperfectjobincreatinga
sentencethatincorporatedthethreeelementsstudiedinclass:conjunctiveadverbs,authorsapproach,
andcreationmyths.However,whenreviewingthesecondpartoftheexitslip,thisiswhereitbecame
evidentthatstudentwasunabletoutilizetheiracademiclanguagetoexplainwhytheyconstructedthe
sentenceinthismanner.Thestudentwrote:IwrotethissentencethiswaycuzthatswhatIwas
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supposetodo.Thisstatementdemonstratedalackofabilitytointernalizethenecessaryknowledgeof
academicvocabularywhenexplainingthefunctionofconjunctiveadverbsinsentencewriting.This
student,andmanymorelearnersoftheclassroom,couldntarticulatethecontentspecificspeechto
explaintheirwritingprocess.
Inlookingatotherdata,itwasevidentthatmanystudentsstruggledinthisspecificarea.
Inthechartabove,majorityofthestudentswerenotabletoclearlyarticulatetherationale
processusingacademicspecificlanguage.Theobjectiveofthisexitticketwasforstudentstousetheir
knowledgeofgrammaticalconceptstocorrectthefollowingsentence:
nowiunderstandtriangles,afterwardIwastotallylost
Oncestudentshadidentifiedthegrammaticalerrorsintheabovesentence,theyhadtofixthe
mistakesandexplaintheircorrections.Manystudentswereabletocorrectthesentencesothatit
resembledthis:
NowIunderstandtrianglesbefore,Iwastotallylost.
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However,whenitcametotheexplanationcomponent,manystudentsonceagainhadgreat
difficulty.Manystudentscouldneitherexplainwhytheyselectedtheconjunctiveadverbbeforenor
couldtheyexplainwhythecommaandsemicolonwereinthewrongplace.Veryfewstudentscould
declarethat:
Conjunctive adverbs are words that separate two independent clauses. Furthermore,
conjunctive adverbs show time relationships between the two independent clauses
therefore, the conjunctive adverb has to a show a sensible connection between two
complete thoughts. When using a conjunctive adverb, there needs to be a semicolon
before the conjunctive adverb and a comma after it. This is the pattern of correctly
usingconjunctivephrasesandwords.
Theaboveparagraphwouldbeanexampleofwhatastudentneededtowriteinordertogeta
pointfortheirabilitytoemployacademiclanguageintotheirrationale.
Inlookingatthelastdatatablebelow,althoughstudentswerestillstrugglingtoexplaintheir
rationaleusingacademiclanguage,therewasgreatimprovementinthenumberofstudentsthat
improvedintheirutilizationofcontentspecificvocabulary.
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Inlookingattheperformanceofmyclassonallthreeexittickets,Ihavelearnedagreatdeal
aboutmyteachingpractice.IhaverealizedthatIhavenottaughtstudentshowtorationalizeusing
academiclanguage.Themannerofusingcontentspecificdialoguehasnotbecomeafluidandintegral
partofmyclassroom.Inorderforstudentstobecomemastersofacademiclanguage,Ineedto
becomemorestrategicandpurposefulinthewaythatIemploythisareaofassessment.
Throughmanydiscussionsinthedataworkshopsconductedinclass,Ihavegatheredsome
ideasabouthowtobecomemoretransparentabouttheteachingofacademiclanguage.OnethingI
discussedinthedataworkshopsismodelingtheusageofappropriateacademiclanguagethrough
lessonstaughtinclass.Inorderforstudentstousecontentspecificvocabulary,Ihavetomodelthe
necessaryskillstoutilizeacademiclanguageintheexpressionofmythoughtsandwritings.
OnceIhavemodeledthenecessaryexpectationsgivingmystudentsadequateopportunitiesto
succeedIneedtoinvolvemystudentsintheassessmentprocess.Inmyclassroom,exitslipsaswell
asmanyotherassessmentsexcludestudentinteractionandparticipation.Asaresult,thefeedback
providedfromtheformativeassessmentsarelimitedtotheeyesandmindsoftheteacher.Students
needtobeinvolvedintheassessmentprocessinordertocreateasenseofselfefficacyanda
increasedlevelofmotivationtointernalizeknowledgeamongthelearnersoftheclassroom.According
tothearticle,FormativeAssessment:Whatdoteachersneedtoknowanddo(2007),improving
learningthroughformativeassessmentdependsontheactiveinvolvementofstudentsintheirown
assessment(Heritage,p.142).Inutilizingformativeassessmentintheclassroom,therehastobea
shareddialoguebetweentheteacherandthestudentsinordertocreateaconducivelearning
environmentthatsupportstheideaofactiveengagementintheongoingprocessofacquiringthe
necessaryskillsetstohavesuccessinboththeclassroomandtheoutsideworld.Duringthis
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collaborationprocess,boththestudentsandtheteachercanbecomeawareofthelearningoccurringin
theclassroomultimately,thisallowsbothpartiestohaveasharedunderstandingoftheactionsteps
neededtoinorderprogresstohigherlevelsoflearning.Indoingso,they[students]areusing
metacognitiveprocesses.Theyreflectontheirlearning,monitoringwhattheyknowandunderstandand
determiningwhentheyneedmoreinformation(Heritage,2007,p.142).Thisiscrucialwhenusing
formativeassessment.Thenotionofmonitoringlearningcanimpactthelearningoftheclassroom
consequently,showingstudentsthatlearningisanongoingprocessthatinvolvesconstantreflectionand
action.
Therefore,feedbackisapowerfulentity.Inunderstandingthisconcept,feedbackhastobe
usedappropriately.AccordingtoKlugerandDeNisi,positivelearningoutcomesweremorelikely
whenfeedbackfocusedonfeaturesofthetasksuchashowthestudentcouldimproveinrelationto
standardsandemphasizedlearninggoals(Shepard,2005,p.68).Ininvestigatingmyown
pedagogicalpractice,thisisanareainwhichIneedtoimproveinordertoenhancethelearninggrowth
ofmystudents.
Studentsneedthisimmediatefeedbackasawaytotakechargeoftheirownlearning.Ifthis
feedbackisabsent,therewillforeverbeagapbetweenlearningprogressionandtheultimatelearning
goaloftheclassroom.Asaresult,teachersneedtocreatequalityassessmentthatwillprovide
effectiveactionorientedstepsthatwillpromotefurtherlearningintheclassroom.Thus,asaneducator,
Ineedtounderstandhowmydailyformativeassessmentsalignwithinstructionalgoalscenteredaround
academiclanguageand...ensurethattheevidencefromtheformativeassessmentandtheinferences
drawnfromitareofsufficientqualitytoenableunderstandingofwherethelearnerisalongalearning
progression(Heritage,2007,p.144).
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Inexaminingthelearningprogressionofmystudentsabilitytoutilizeacademiclanguage,how
canIbetterformulateconfigurationsofformativeassessmentsthatbettermatchtheoveralllearning
goalsoftheclassroom?Withrespecttoacademiclanguage,manystudentsdonotvaluetheimportance
ofusingsuchacademicjargonintheireducationalspeech.HowcanIbetterauthenticatethepracticeof
usingcontentspecificdialogueintheacademicconversationsofmystudents?Thisisthequestionwith
whichIstrugglethemost.Isittrulyimportantthatstudentsunderstandthegrammaticaljargon
surroundingconjunctiveadverbs,syntacticalorganization,andconventionsofusage?
AlthoughmanyformativeandstandardizedassessmentssuchasEnglishInterims,EPAS(a
combinationofExplore,Plan,ACT,andSAT),andEnglishCollegeReadinessStandardsmeasurethe
studentsknowledgeofacademiclanguage,Ibelievetherearemoreauthenticwaystoenforcethe
internalizationofacademicdialogueintheclassroomOnewaytomakeacademiclanguageseemless
distantandmoremeaningfulformystudentsistohavethestudentsexplainthegrammaticalconceptsto
differentaudiencesusingavarietyofwritingforums.Forexample,whenmystudentslearnedabout
conjunctions,Ihadthemwritealovelettertoaconjunctionusingtheirknowledgeofhowaconjunction
operatesinsimpleandcompoundsentences.Thisactivitychallengedthethinkingofthestudentswhile
atthesametime,thetaskallowedthestudentstoexpresstheircreativityanddeepunderstandingof
conjunctions.However,thisactivitywouldhavebeendifficulttoassignasanexitticketbecauseofthe
thoughtprocessrequiredtocompletetheassignment.
Inordertobetterassessmystudentslearningthroughdailyformativeassessments,Ineedto
continuetofindwaystoauthenticatemyinstructionwithoutlosingsightoftheoverallarchinglearning
goaloftheclassroom.Iwillcontinuetostrivetofindwaystousemyassessmentstoenhancemy
instructionandelevatethethinkingandlearningprogressionofmyclassroom.
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References
Heritage,M.(2007).Formativeassessment:whatdoteachersneedtoknowanddo?PhiDelta
Kappan,89(2),140145.
Shepard,L.A.(2005).Linkingformativeassessmenttoscaffolding.EducationalLeadership,6670.