Transforming assessment and building systemwide capacity to advance equity
Amplifying student agency and identity is at the center of Formative Insights, our unique model of formative assessment.
We help educators cultivate inclusive learning environments where students develop positive learner identities and feel equipped and empowered to direct their own learning. In this model, teachers share responsibility for learning with students and effectively shift towards a lasting culture of internal accountability in which students learn from one another as well as their teacher.
Formative assessment is the process by which, during the course of instruction, teachers and students gather and interpret evidence of student learning and plan next steps to meet intended learning goals.
District Learning supports Leader Learning supports Teacher Learning supports Student Learning supports Student Agency
Ways of working: collaboration, inquiry, reflection, dialogue, feedback, mutual trust
Ways of thinking: equity, self-efficacy, beliefs, mindset, shared vision, shared responsibility, value of diversity, legitimizing errors, de-privatization of practice
A paradigm shift across all levels of the education system
Our approach encourages educators to think of formative assessment as an intentional and ongoing process embedded in daily teaching and learning. Leaders help implement and scale formative assessment practices, which need the appropriate supports and mindsets to promote positive learning outcomes.
Formative assessment involves:
Collecting and using evidence to guide learning
Sharing responsibility for learning between teachers and students
Improving disciplinary learning through asset-based instruction
Formative assessment shifts away from:
Relying solely on teacher-directed testing and external accountability
Focusing on prescriptive skills as part of instruction
Concentrating on grades or scores at the end of an instructional sequence
Characteristics of a strong formative assessment culture
Students
Seek multiple viewpoints or approaches to learning
Become learning resources for one another
Use feedback from peers to guide their learning
Teachers
Share responsibility for learning and assessment with their students
Create opportunities for students to reveal their current thinking
Model metacognitive strategies
Leaders
Expand growth-oriented leadership mindsets
Create and sustain systems of teacher supports
Model a culture of adult learning
Key outcomes
Increased collaborative learning with peers
Improved positive learner identities
Greater student agency
Increased use of formative assessment to guide learning
This shift in learning and leadership is navigated through an ongoing focus
on our four guiding principles:
learning culture, student identity,
formative assessment, and student agency.