This portfolio document discusses the theme of using formative assessment to bridge the gap between assessment practices and student learning. It provides 3 artifacts with reflections: 1) a multiple choice assessment, 2) a journal article on effective learning practices, and 3) an analysis of student participation. Across the artifacts, key themes emerged around using formative assessment to enhance instruction through tailored feedback, higher-level questioning, and thoughtful grading practices aimed at promoting student mastery over grades.

1. TASK 3: PORTFOLIO
CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT METHODS (EDRM 723) - Era Roberts

2. Overarching theme
◦ Formative assessment is the bridge between assessment practices and
student learning
◦ Since student learning is a priority goal in education, formative
assessment is a critical theme for assessment being used in school
◦ This portfolio will demonstrate how assessment practices can reflect
formative use and drive instruction and student learning of established
curriculum

3. Part 1: Artifacts and Reflections
◦ Artifact 1: Multiple Choice Assessment
◦ Artifact 2: Journal Article: 7 Practices for Effective Learning
◦ Artifact 3: Participation Activity 1 Analysis

4. Artifact 1: Multiple
Choice Assessment
◦ Experience the task of creating multiple choice
items at various levels of Bloom’s taxonomy
◦ Developed perspective on the amount of work
required to move all content to this level of
questioning versus an acceptance of progress
towards that goal
◦ Can be used formatively by implementing
higher level questions with answer choices
crafted to provide insight into deficiencies
◦ When results from the class are taken as an
aggregate, teachers can determine the
teaching strategies that work well for the class
and those that need fine tuning or removal
from future lessons

5. Artifact 1: Multiple
Choice Assessment
◦ Required cognitive processes was not beyond
the analyzing level, as is fitting for multiple-
choice
◦ Content lends itself to the use of charts and
diagrams for indicators requiring analysis, so
that interpretive exercises can be used to
assess the appropriate cognitive level with
selected response
◦ Analysis of correct and incorrect answers by
indicator can paint a picture of student
concept understanding, resulting in targeted
intervention such as tutoring, re-teaching, and
alternative assessment

6. Artifact 2: Journal Article
◦ Focuses on the formative role of assessment to promote
learning
◦ Important for teachers and students to monitor and adjust
what they are doing to support progressive learning
◦ Generating student reflection opportunities that promote
understanding for the student about what he or she needs to
learn, along with identifying strategies that have demonstrated
positive results, helps to generate self-advocates for personal
learning
◦ Relevance and engagement with curriculum promotes
student’s dedication to assignments, resulting in
assessment contributions that better reflect student’s
actual understanding, rather than just enough to get by

7. Artifact 2: Journal Article
◦ Use summative assessment as a guide for students from the beginning of the unit
◦ A highly engaging, authentic assessment can be used to drive the unit for students by
highlighting the real-world application for the learning
◦ Having students draft an early plan for the summative task could serve as an excellent diagnostic
assessment, informing the teacher about various student’s levels of readiness with the content
and processes needed to demonstrate mastery
◦ Products can be used for later classes to provide examples of student work
◦ Provides an opportunity to generate better quality work each cycle that task is used
◦ Students see that others with similar age, ability, and time frame can produce high quality work
◦ Pushes students to develop and demonstrate the high-quality skills relevant to the standard and
task

8. Artifact 3: EDRM 723- Participation
Activity 1
Student Post Analysis
◦ Key quotes:
◦ “Act 284, the Read to Succeed Legislation, mandates the use of
summative and formative assessment data to inform instruction and
provide evidence-based interventions as needed so that all students
develop proficiency with literacy skills and comprehension.”
◦ “I personally like formative assessments the best because I can check
my students’ knowledge about the content and use the information
gathered to help drive instruction.”
◦ “Formative assessments are ongoing assessments designed to make
students’ thinking visible to both students and teachers.”
◦ “One of the positive experiences I have had with assessment was the
opportunity to present a professional development series on
establishing a formative assessment system. Leading this professional
development allowed me to gain better insight into the way that
educators view assessment and helped me strengthen my use of
effective feedback in my own classroom.”

9. Artifact 3: Student Post Analysis
Reflection
◦ An overarching emphasis for assessment to be more than just grades
◦ Provide evidence teachers need to make purposeful decisions about the
instruction that will occur with students individually, or in small and whole
groups
◦ We must make the invisible, visible if we are to evaluate student thinking
◦ More educators are moving beyond just formative assessment to guide
instruction, but also into guiding students with developmental feedback
◦ Teachers demonstrate an intentional knowledge of when and how to deliver
assessment feedback so that it will be meaningful to the students

10. Part 2: Artifact
Synthesis
Formative assessment is defined by Green and Johnson
(2010) as, “monitoring student progress during instruction
and learning activities, which includes feedback and
opportunities to improve” (p. 389)
Recommendations for enhancing formative assessment
include:
 Thinking about learning goals
 Designing questions where at least half are at higher levels of
Bloom’s taxonomy
 Ensuring students have adequate time to think about the
question
 Providing appropriate feedback

11. Theme and Sub-themes
◦ Across all portfolio items the biggest idea to be demonstrated is the use of collected
information to better those it serves
◦ Assessment is essential when it is more than just a grade; it is essential when it is used
in its primary role, to educate
◦ Elements of formative assessment represented in this portfolio’s artifacts have been
organized into sub-themes with aligned reflections on opportunities for professional
development.
◦ These sub-themes are:
◦ Enhancing instruction
◦ Providing tailored feedback
◦ Using higher level learning task
◦ The role of grading

12. Formative Assessment:
Guiding Instruction
◦ Instructional focus needs to be on student learning, not teaching material
◦ In artifact 1, questions crafted in the multiple choice assessment are placed in progressive order
of Bloom’s taxonomy. This allows the learner to build confidence in his or her knowledge and
skills as he or she progresses through the assessment (Green & Johnson, 2010)
◦ In artifact 2, a witty remark was, “The juice must be worth the squeeze” (McTighe & Connor,
2005, p.15). This quote reflects that the assessment should enhance the instruction, not just be
engaging, extra work perceived as rigor, or produce a flashy product
◦ In artifact 3, the majority of comments about formative assessment reflected that at a minimum
teachers view formative assessment as a valuable tool for informing what they need to teach
their students

13. Formative Assessment:
Tailored Feedback
◦ Tailored feedback is designed to provide students concrete information about where they are
and what they need to do in order to demonstrate a higher level of mastery (Green & Johnson,
2010)
◦ In artifact 1, multiple choice questions were created to provide choices that would illuminate
misconceptions if selected
◦ In artifact 2, the description of providing feedback early and often demonstrated concrete
feedback all the way from introducing exemplar of high quality and weak work, to analytic
rubrics that provided the students direction and clear feedback on assessment tasks.
◦ In artifact 3, other student’s experiences with formative assessment illuminated their journey
with moving from assessment of learning which drove instruction to assessment for learning
which drove students

14. Formative Assessment:
Higher Level Questioning
◦ All three artifacts required more to demonstrate mastery than knowledge level content review
◦ In artifact 1, students had to apply their understanding of pedigree charts to determine the
accurate family relationships represented in the chart and be able to explain why those answers
were correct with a short answer portion
◦ In artifact 2, the article described how creating assessments at the application level and higher
allowed students to engage with real world skills, placing higher personal value on the outcome
of the assessment
◦ In artifact 3, student comments reflected their experiences with formative assessment. They
shared the positive impact of crafting formative assessments in such a way as to generate value
for the students

15. Formative Assessment:
Grading Practices
◦ Grading practices are a hot topic in assessment because until a culture of value for formative
feedback is generated in a classroom, the grade is the student’s primary source of feedback
◦ Controversy on grading practices with formative assessment tend to be two-fold: whether to
grade formative task, and if task grades can be replaced when greater mastery is evident
◦ By avoiding grading formative tasks, many iterations of formative work would receive tailored feedback.
Mastery would be promoted and likely known before a summative task was scored.
◦ Artifact 2’s article argues that grades should reflect how well the student knows the material, not
when (McTighe & Connor, 2005)
◦ Green and Johnson (2010) recommend that all student be offered the opportunity to close gaps by
improving their work
◦ McTighe and Connor’s (2005) recommend the practice of allowing new evidence of learning to replace
old

16. References
◦ Green, S. K., & Johnson, R. L. (2010). Assessment is essential. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher
Education.
◦ McTighe, J., & Connor, K. O. (2005). Seven practices for effective learning. Educational
Leadership, 63(3), 10–17.