How can formative assessment be used as a means to support teacher professional learning? This book presents several studies, from different countries, on approaches to formative assessment of teachers, both before they start working, and during their careers. These approaches draw on insights from studies into effective teacher professional development. Together, the chapters in this book provide an overview of the various ways in which formative assessment may be used to support teacher professional learning, and shed light on choices that can be made in designing such assessments. The studies illustrate how teachers may perceive formative assessment methods, how their learning processes might unfold during formative assessment processes, and which struggles they may have to deal with during the process. The book furthermore addresses questions concerning the impact of formative assessments on teacher learning. As such, this volume provides theoretical as well as practical prospects, as well as challenging ideas for how formative assessment may move further towards being an effective means for supporting teacher learning. This book was originally published as a special issue of Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice.

Teams that engage in designing, using, and responding to common formative assessments are more knowledgeable about their own standards, more assessment literate, and able to develop more strategies for helping all students learn. In this conversational guide, the authors offer tools, templates, and protocols to incorporate common formative assessments into the practices of a PLC to monitor and enhance student learning

Written under the guidance and with the support of Dylan Wiliam, Kate Jones writes about five formative assessment strategies in action in the classroom, with a foreword from Professor John Hattie. Building on the highly successful work of Wiliam and Siobhan Leahy, ideas are shared and misconceptions with formative assessment are addressed with lots of practical advice. Formative assessment in action focuses on five evidence-informed strategies that the teacher can use to support their learners to make progress. Formative assessment can help both the teacher and student understand what needs to be learned and how this can be achieved. During the learning process, formative assessment can identify students' progress as well as highlighting gaps in their knowledge and understanding, therefore giving the teacher useful insight as to what feedback and instruction can be provided to continue to move learners forward. Formative assessment takes place during the learning process. It continually informs the teacher and student as to how learning can move forward as it is happening. This is different to summative assessment, which focuses on the evaluation of student learning at the end of the process. There's a range of case studies from different subjects and key stages to show how formative assessment can be embedded across a curriculum successfully.

This essential guide helps teachers refine their approach to fundamental challenges in the classroom. Based on research from cognitive science and formative assessment, it ensures teachers can offer all students the support and challenge they need – and can do so sustainably. Written by an experienced teacher and teacher educator, the book balances evidence-informed principles and practical suggestions. It contains: A detailed exploration of six core problems that all teachers face in planning lessons, assessing learning and responding to students Effective practical strategies to address each of these problems across a range of subjects Useful examples of each strategy in practice and accounts from teachers already using these approaches Checklists to apply each principle successfully and advice tailored to teachers with specific responsibilities. This innovative book is a valuable resource for new and experienced teachers alike who wish to become more responsive teachers. It offers the evidence, practical strategies and supportive advice needed to make sustainable, worthwhile changes.

A teacher presents a lesson, and at the end asks students if they understand the material. The students nod and say they get it. Later, the teacher is dismayed when many of the students fail a test on the material. Why aren’t students getting it? And, just as important, why didn’t the teacher recognize the problem? In Checking for Understanding, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey show how to increase students’ understanding with the help of creative formative assessments. When used regularly, formative assessments enable every teacher to determine what students know and what they still need to learn. Fisher and Frey explore a variety of engaging activities that check for and increase understanding, including interactive writing, portfolios, multimedia presentations, audience response systems, and much more. This new 2nd edition of Checking for Understanding has been updated to reflect the latest thinking in formative assessment and to show how the concepts apply in the context of Fisher and Frey’s work on gradual release of responsibility, guided instruction, formative assessment systems, data analysis, and quality instruction. Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey are the creators of the Framework for Intentional and Targeted (FIT) Teaching™. They are also the authors of numerous ASCD books, including The Formative Assessment Action Plan: Practical Steps to More Successful Teaching and Learning and the best-selling Enhancing RTI: How to Ensure Success with Effective Classroom Instruction and Intervention.

This book presents the results of a four-year, National Science Foundation-funded project that engaged nine high school biology teachers at three public high schools in long-term, on-site professional development program centered on a learning progression. It explores the influence of teacher participation in this professional development experience on their learning about student thinking, formative assessment task design, classroom practices, and student learning. Taking an in-depth look at the multiple sources of data gathered as part of the study, this volume reflects on the emergence of professional communities focused on formative assessment design and enactments and associations between teacher participation in learning progression-centered professional development and student learning.

The National Science Education Standards address not only what students should learn about science but also how their learning should be assessed. How do we know what they know? This accompanying volume to the Standards focuses on a key kind of assessment: the evaluation that occurs regularly in the classroom, by the teacher and his or her students as interacting participants. As students conduct experiments, for example, the teacher circulates around the room and asks individuals about their findings, using the feedback to adjust lessons plans and take other actions to boost learning. Focusing on the teacher as the primary player in assessment, the book offers assessment guidelines and explores how they can be adapted to the individual classroom. It features examples, definitions, illustrative vignettes, and practical suggestions to help teachers obtain the greatest benefit from this daily evaluation and tailoring process. The volume discusses how classroom assessment differs from conventional testing and grading-and how it fits into the larger, comprehensive assessment system.

Donated by Ms. Friedhaber-Hard.

"Heritage and Wylie outline a framework for helping teachers develop and extend their competency in enacting discipline-based formative assessment practices across the continuum of preservice and professional learning"--

"Formative assessment--the process of interpretating data on student performance to adapt instruction to individual needs--is perhaps the single most powerful tool available to teachers to help every student succeed to their full potential." With that bold statement, Michael W. Connell sets out to unpack formative assessment--what it is, how it works, and why it is so essential for learner growth. He shows how to incorporate it into different teaching methods and settings, such as flipped classrooms, programmed instruction, and more. The goal: to provide the benefits of individualized instruction even in group settings.