Formative Assessment

“Formative assessment is the process used by teachers and students to notice, recognize, and respond to student learning in order to enhance that learning, during the learning.”

— Beverly Bell & Bronwen Cowie*

The Challenge

For many, assessment means a test given after teaching. But we can shift students’ roles in learning by focusing on their progress during daily class activities, helping them take an active role in understanding their progress and staying on track.

What We Do

We help educators create a formative assessment process that uses different practices to gather and apply evidence to improve learning. Teachers and students work together to help students monitor their own progress. We offer online and in-person training for leaders to support this shift.

Project

Academic Achievement Through Student Agency: Dallas ISD’s Journey

This webinar showcased our work with the Dallas Independent School District on a project to promote student agency, equity, and academic success for all students by implementing formative assessment.

Brief

A Formative Assessment Framework for School Leaders and Leadership Teams

In this brief, we offer a framework for leaders on how to implement formative assessment and highlights five leadership practices that can support this process.

Download Brief

“As a result of WestEd’s support for our district and school leaders to strengthen teachers’ use of formative assessment, evidence collected by our district at the classroom, school and district level demonstrates improvements in students’ knowledge and use of self-regulation skills in classrooms where teachers are using formative assessment. We also have evidence of improved climate and cultural conditions, increased effectiveness of academic coaching to support changes to the student role, and improved student engagement. Aligned with the student role expectations in our Portrait of a Graduate, the district has evidence of significant shifts in beliefs related to the teacher and student roles in learning and increased recognition across our school and community about the benefits of student self-regulation to support student achievement and lifelong learning.”

— Assistant Superintendent, Tucson, Arizona

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*Bell, B., & Cowie, B. (2001). The characteristics of formative assessment in science education. Science Education, 85(5), 536–553. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.1022