Formative Assessment: State Resources

Used to support both teaching and learning, formative assessment is an integral component of a comprehensive assessment system. As opposed to summative assessment that evaluates students’ mastery of learning goals, formative assessment is continuously used throughout students’ learning process to help inform teachers’ instruction. The Formative Assessment Bi-Regional Advisory Board is a consortium of seven states from the Central and South Central Comprehensive Centers that are committed to incorporating formative assessment as a part of their comprehensive assessment system. This Spotlight brings together formative assessment resources from each of these states, as well as quality resources from states outside the Formative Assessment Bi-Regional Advisory Board.

Arizona

• ADE Balanced Assessment Framework, located under the “ADE Balanced Assessment Framework” tab, explains the various components of a balanced assessment system.
• Arizona Leans in on Formative Assessment, an article in Education Week, focuses on Arizona’s state-level focus on formative assessment.

Colorado

• The Colorado Assessment Literacy Program webpage provides links to resources that help support Colorado’s assessment program.
• Progress Monitoring Language Development through Formative Assessments is a presentation aimed at helping teachers understand how to evaluate students’ language development and adjust instruction accordingly.
• Stories of Promising Practice: Assessment Literacy in Centennial Middle School is an article that highlights one school’s focus on prioritizing formative assessment in their classrooms.
• The Standards-Based Teaching/Learning Cycle, a guide that reviews practices for standards-based education, includes formative assessment as a way to inform instruction and help students meet grade-level expectations.

Kansas

• The Enhanced Learning Maps website highlights the relationship between formative assessment and learning maps and explains how teachers can use learning maps to help meet their students’ needs.
• Roadmaps for Formative Assessment is a presentation focused on the relationship between learning maps and formative assessment.
• Using the Formative Assessment Rubrics and Observation Protocols to Support Professional Reflection on Practice, a paper prepared for the Council of Chief State School Officers, provides observation protocols and assessment rubric templates to support ongoing professional learning.

Louisiana

• The Leap 360 webpage highlights Louisiana’s comprehensive assessment system, which includes a focus on formative assessment. PowerPoint presentations on kindergarten through grade 2 formative tasks can be found here: K-2 ELA Formative Tasks.
• A Teacher’s Guide to LEAP 360 provides an overview and guidance to the state’s program which includes formative assessment.

Michigan

• The Formative Assessment Process page provides documents, forms, and reports for the state’s Formative Assessment for Michigan Educators (FAME) initiative.

Oklahoma

• The Assessment Program Overview booklet gives an overview of Oklahoma’s assessment program.
• The Assessment System and Assessment Requirements Final Report addresses the requirements presented in House Bill 3218, reviews the state’s assessment system, and provides recommendations for the future.
• The Diagnostic Mathematics Probes webpage provides math probes, which can give teachers immediate information about student thinking, for grades 3-8, Algebra I, and Algebra II.
• Introduction to Formative Assessments, located under Research and Practice Collaboratory Resources, provides a PowerPoint presentation and facilitator’s guide focused on using formative assessment to support science instruction and learning.

Oregon

• There are dozens of state-licensed, open resources under the Formative Assessment tab.
• The Formative Assessment PLC Modules include resources designed to be implemented in a well-established PLC with an experienced facilitator. The modules focus on the different components of formative assessment and language learning progressions.
• Designing Assessments for Formative Use is a brief PowerPoint presentation that shows an example of learning goals and success criteria using NGSS.
• Select Content from 2015-16 Formative Assessment Insights Course provides links to content from the course, which was provided in partnership between WestEd, Oregon, and six other states.
• Social and Emotional Learning focuses on social and emotional learning activities that complement formative assessment practices.

Virginia

• From the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center has created videos on its YouTube page highlighting the initial results of the Virginia formative assessment professional development.

CSAI Formative Assessment Resources

Information on Comprehensive Standards-Based Assessment Systems

Comprehensive Standards-Based Assessment Systems Supporting Learning

This brief lays out a general framework for a comprehensive, learning-based assessment system and incorporates different, but closely coordinated, types of assessment to serve the distinct information needs of different stakeholders.

CSAI Webinar: Developing a Coherent Assessment System

In this webinar, the role of a coherent assessment system in providing immediate data on how students are doing and critical information that can be used to support student achievement of college- and career-ready standards is discussed.

Spotlights

Formative Assessment for Native American Language Instruction: A Series of Professional Learning Modules

In heritage language classrooms, it is important that instructors know where each student is on their language learning pathway and target language experiences that are matched to their levels. This Spotlight consists of learning modules provide teachers with formative assessment tools to do this work.

Formative Assessment In Action

This Spotlight provides resources about the formative assessment process, including one-page excerpts highlighting key ideas in formative assessment, classroom videos that showcase formative assessment in action, and opportunities to deepen learning about formative assessment.

Setting the Stage for Formative Assessment Webinar

This Spotlight provides a series of webinars designed to support high quality formative assessment at the state, district, school, and classroom levels.

Resources

Attributes of Effective Formative Assessment 

From the resource: “This document presents the definition of formative assessment and identifies and explains the five attributes of effective formative assessment.”

Coherence: Key to Next Generation Assessment Success

This Assessment and Accountability Comprehensive Center (AACC) policy brief explains the significance of a coherent multi-assessment system and describes key considerations in developing such a system.

Distinguishing Formative Assessment from Other Educational Assessment Labels

From the publisher: “In this document, the FAST SCASS (Formative Assessment for Students and Teachers – State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards) aims to clarify the meaning and uses of the types of assessment most frequently used in education.”

Formative Assessment: Examples of Practice

To help educators better understand formative assessment, this paper provides examples and counter-examples of formative assessment in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms.