Introduction
Creating formative assessments allow educators to identify where students are striving and struggling the most. When students face challenges, identifying misconceptions and learning gaps can hinder both novice and expert teachers. Part of that hindrance is oftentimes connected to the availability of student data.
Many educators understand the importance of Backward Design when creating assignments, reflections, in-class discussions, and group work. MIT’s Teaching + Learning Lab compresses Backward Design in this manner:
- identify desired results, then
- determine acceptable evidence, and
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plan learning experience and instruction
Student Data: Best Case Scenario
If we work in a data-driven school district where our students’ quantitative information is both shared and open for review, gathering that data is the most intentional way to identify desired results.
For example, if we discover (based on the previous year's semester exam) that 80% of our juniors struggled with characterization while the other 20% struggled with theme, then, we can design a plan for students to demonstrate proficiency in those challenging areas by determining what constitutes acceptable evidence.
Next, we plan learning and instruction focused on those areas: characterization and theme.
Student Data: Struggle Scenario
If we face struggles with data access, one common method used by teachers involves diagnostic assessments (or pre-testing). Here, we create a short pre-test on a specific skill to determine what our students know.
Brief diagnostic assessments are an efficient way to uncover prior knowledge. For instance, if in one pre-test, we discover that most of our students do not struggle with theme, however, in another pre-test the data shows that they do struggle with characterization, we can begin the Backward Design process.
Teacher Tips:
- Diagnostic assessments typically use multiple-choice formats.
- Pre-tests primarily focus on one specific skill.
- Create questions on what the learning skill is and what it is not.
- Consider 10 questions as sufficient initial data.
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Diagnostic assessments should not impact a student in a negative way.
Assuming we have the data needed to create a formative assessment, how and where do we begin?
Intended Learning Outcomes
Let’s apply the Backward Design phase by planning learning experiences and instruction with intended learning outcomes through formative assessments. Based on a recent data dive, we uncovered that our students struggle with characterization.
Therefore, our focus will be as follows:
By the end of this lesson,
my students will be able to analyze both explicit and implicit characterization.
Next, we specify our intended learning outcome.
100% of my students will score __ out of __
on their short answer responses on explicit and implicit characterization.
Let’s take a closer look at how to create a formative assessment, using Adaptive Reader’s suite of leveled readers of Homer’s The Odyssey. Leveled and multilingual texts have the capacity to expand access to rigorous content. Students can benefit both academically and socially from having personalized learning materials readily available to them during class time and at home. Click here to see this strategy at work 👈.
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