A brief overview of the role formative assessment can play in the classroom as a tool to enhance teaching and learning.

1. Alternative Learners Educational Community
The daily activity of teachers involves customer relations
as they interact with parents and learners, crowd control when
they settle and organize large numbers of students as they en-
ter classrooms, record keeping as they note everything from
student attendance to achievement, the administration of jus-
tice as they adjudicate disputes and mete out consequences for
minor in-class infractions, and nurturing as they care for the
well-being of those who look to them as leaders. In the midst
of all of this, teachers are also charged with designing and sup-
porting an environment where diverse learners find the oppor-
tunity to grow in their mastery of content and skills. Popham
(2009) makes the claim that the activity of teaching is steeped
in decision making. Teachers make decisions about what hap-
pens each day and throughout the day. They decide what stu-
dents will learn, the types of activities that students will en-
gage in to promote learning, and they determine when learn-
ing has taken place. Consider these to be three types of teach-
ing and learning decisions. These teaching and learning deci-
sions are heavily dependent on teachers knowing what is going
on inside learners’ heads. With such a daunting requirement,
how are teachers to chart a course that will effectively support
all learners’ continued growth?
Two types of teaching and learning decisions—what students
will learn and what types of activities students will engage in to
promote learning— should be informed by data. Data is col-
lected from assessments where teachers make decisions about
what has been learned. When considering the types of activi-
ties students will engage in to promote learning, decisions
need to be made proactively as teachers plan, but there is also
the need to make decisions about what to do next when a
course correction is needed. These course correction decisions
must be made in the teaching and learning moment, that time
when teachers and students are actively engaged in fitting one
nugget of content into the knowledge paradigm of the learner.
FAST SCASS (CCSSO, 2012) describes various assessments
purposed with supporting different types of inferences around
the state and progress of students’ learning. One, Formative
Assessment, is particularly useful in supporting decisions in
the teaching and learning moment.
In the terms formative assessment and assessment for learn-
ing, the word assessment misleads and distracts. Black and
Wiliam (1998; 2009) explore formative assessment and de-
scribe a multi-faceted activity that supports students’ learning.
FAST SCASS, a body within the Council of Chiefs of State
Schools, (2008) defined formative assessment/assessment for
learning as “a process used by teachers and students during
instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching
and learning to improve students’ achievement of intended
instructional outcomes.” While the word assessment leads
one to believe that formative assessment is primarily a type of
assessment that occurs and provides data, the characterization
eschewed by Black and Wiliam and FAST SCASS is one of a
process that includes various attributes. According to FAST
SCASS, these attributes are the awareness of learning progres-
sions with respect to particular content, the establishment of
accessible learning goals, the provision of descriptive feedback
that facilitates next steps, the exercise of self and peer assess-
ment, and the existence of a collaborative climate. In their
work developing the theory of formative assessment for learn-
ing, Black and Wiliam (2009) also mention the eliciting of
evidence of students learning. These formative assessment
process activities can support decision making in the teaching
and learning moment.
F o r m a t i v e A s s e s s m e n t : S u p p o r t i n g D e c i s i o n s i n t h e T e a c h i n g a n d
L e a r n i n g M o m e n t
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT PROCESS ACTIVITIES
 Teachers contemplate the learning progression that leads to mastery
 Teachers and students connect around a learning goal that serves as a target
 Evidence of learning is solicited in the teaching and learning moment
 Descriptive feedback is provided which guides next steps
 Learners assess progress and provide feedback to self and peers
 Collaboration not just cooperation
“... the teaching and learning
moment, that time when teachers
and students are actively engaged
in fitting one nugget of content
into the knowledge paradigm of
the learner”

2. Page 2
Each of these process activities is important to furthering learning and should be explored in greater detail. For instance, it is
hard to see how teachers can make effective decisions in the teaching and learning moment if they are not aware of and actively
thinking about the likely progression that their students will follow towards mastery. Teachers, as the content and pedagogical
masters in the room, must harness the knowledge of the building blocks of the material under study so that they can anticipate
students’ questions, struggles, and successes. While each learner is different and anticipation will not guarantee that a teacher
will always be able to predict where a student may get stuck, being aware of the progression prepares a teacher to chart a course
towards a learning goal and construct on-ramps for students who get off the highway and find themselves lost.
The instructional landscape today acknowledges that students must play an active role in their own learning. How can they do so
effectively if they are unsure about the learning goals? Learning goals must be accessible, but an accessible learning goal is not
just one stated in student friendly language. It is also one where there is common understanding between student and teacher
around the meaning of language in the goal. Students should also be aware of how the goal connects to their prior knowledge
and enhances their learning. To this end, teachers should direct students to the learning goal and spend time discussing it so
that it is not perceived by students as relevant only to the teacher or a passing administrator. If students understand the learning
goal and are invested in achieving it, they can be far more effective at assessing themselves and their peers, and in following the
teacher’s advice with respect to next steps.
Teachers must elicit evidence of learning as this is the assessment part of the process. However, in the teaching and learning
moment when the student is still constructing his or her understanding, it is just as important to know why a student does what
he or she does than it is to know whether he or she got it right. Therefore, teachers must not just elicit evidence of students’
knowledge but must probe deeply to get at their thinking in order to reveal misconcep-
tions and barriers to learning. A focus on questions of fact only may mislead student
and teacher and create the impression of mastery where there was only fortunate
chance. Getting a handle on students’ thinking can also help the teacher utilize the
learning progression to intervene effectively and expeditiously so that the student is
quickly brought back on track.
Once misconceptions or learning barriers are revealed, the feedback that follows must
stimulate further inquiry not signal the end of an activity. The feedback should describe
what students are doing and align that with the learning goal so that students can see
where course corrections are needed and understand what should be done next. When
an answer is given as feedback or feedback communicates that something is simply wrong, no guidance is given to the recipient
that facilitates taking next steps. Learning is shut down and the teaching and learning moment is starved for data. Feedback
should not be the conclusion of an activity but impulse power that nudges learning along.
The provision of descriptive feedback or the establishment of learning goals is only useful in classrooms where students are en-
couraged to play a central role in their learning. That means that students must be taught to self assess and to respectfully and
effectively assess their peers. A classroom of 25 students who can self and peer assess is a classroom where the teacher has 25
helpers. Effective self and peer assessment is not something that would come naturally to a student, especially since the student
is not a content or pedagogical master. Students must be taught to use the learning goal and success criteria or exemplars, if they
exist, to gauge their progress and interpret received feedback so that they can actively participate in the teaching and learning
moment.
“Students must be taught to
use the learning goal and
success criteria or
exemplars, if they exist, to
gauge their progress and
interpret received feedback
so that they can actively
participate in the teaching
and learning moment”

3. Page 3
None of this works if students are ridiculing each other
when mistakes are made or where there exists a climate that
celebrates the teacher as the sage on the stage. Safe practice
is key if students are to function and learn within the zone
of proximal development. Vygotsky noted that this was a
space where the learners are stretched because they have
not yet mastered the knowledge to move to the next stage.
Students must see mistakes as opportunities to learn and
get better. They must also think that they have a role to
play in the unfolding of their understanding. They should
not feel that they must wait for the teacher before they may
take an intellectual leap, utilize an educated guess, harness
a resource, or consult a peer to continue moving learning
forward. A collaborative climate of scholars must be fos-
tered so that it is safe for everyone to learn from mistakes
and to pursue hunches.
Each of these attributes is important, but they are not easily im-
plemented. Indeed, formative assessment/assessment for learn-
ing is a process and becoming adept at implementation is also a
process. Both teacher and student need to hone skills that will
support the full implementation of the formative assessment/
assessment for learning process. To this end, it might be helpful
to continue exploring each of these formative assessment process
activities in greater detail to reveal the theoretical underpinnings
and best practices that facilitate effective implementation of the
formative assessment process.
References
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2009). Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Ac-
countability, 21, 5-31. doi:10.1007 /s11092-008-9068-5.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 92,
81-90. Retrieved from http://www.kappanmagazine.org/content/92/1/81.abstract.
Council of Chief State School Officers, Formative Assessment for Students and teachers, State Collaborative on Assessment
and Student Standards. (2008). Attributes of effective formative assessment. Retrieved from http://www.ccsso.org/.
Council of Chief State School Officers, Formative Assessment for Students and teachers, State Collaborative on Assessment
and Student Standards. (2012). Distinguishing formative assessment from other assessment labels. Retrieved from http://
www.ccsso.org/.
Popham, W., J. (2009). Instruction that measures up: Successful teaching in the age of accountability. [Nook Ereader ver-
sion]. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/.
Dr. Gregory Sucre
Project Coordinator,
Alternative Learners Educational Community