This document discusses the differences between formative and summative assessment and how formative assessment can directly impact student growth. It defines formative assessment as ongoing assessments that allow for timely adjustments to instructional strategies and help validate instruction. Meanwhile, summative assessment simply measures students but does not affect their growth. The document advocates for incorporating formative assessment and universal design for learning (UDL) methods to take the "guesswork" out of summative assessments.

1. Jason Zielinski
Director of Media Services
New Haven Community Schools

3. If we think of our children as plants …
Summative assessment of the plants is the process
of simply measuring them. It might be interesting to
compare and analyze measurements but, in themselves,
these do not affect the growth of the plants.
Formative assessment, on the other
hand, is the equivalent of feeding and
watering the plants appropriate to their
needs - directly affecting their growth.

4. Make Students thinking VISIBLE
Can be administered as a pre/post-test,
hourly, daily, weekly, quarterly—
& take many forms
On-Going Assessments that allow for
timely adjustments to instructional strategies
Help validate instruction
Are usually informal &embedded in classroom instruction

5. Key Characteristics
Pre-determined assessments such as State &
National Test, Midterm and Final Exams
Provides information to multiple audiences
Allows for progress monitoring of achievement
over multiple years

6. By incorporating UDL methods into
formative assessments and lesson planning, the
summative assessments offer few surprises.
The instructor AND the students already know what they
know…you know?
Using UDL methods for Formative Assessment takes the
“guesswork” out of MEAP, MME, ACT…

7. http://tinyurl.com/UDLRocks

9. Classroom Response Systems
(Clickers)
Polling Software via
LanSchool/Blackboard/Texting
Blogging/Discussion Board Posts

10. Polling Software via
LanSchool/Blackboard/Texting
Blogging/Discussion
Board Posts
Blackboard

11. Quizzes - Clicker/Blackboard/DataDirector
Multimedia
Projects to Presentations: PowerPoint/Prezi/Picasa/Animoto
engage Digital Stories
learners Animations
Videos
Many More!