9 Strategies for Formative Assessment
Discover 9 effective formative assessment strategies to check student understanding, guide instruction, and support scaffolding across subject areas.
Formative assessment is used periodically to check in with students and determine their understanding. It’s designed to inform your instruction so you can make appropriate adjustments as opposed to summative assessment, which provides summary information for grading.
Formative assessment, when used correctly, allows you to identify specific weaknesses for struggling students, and then gives you information on their progress. That’s how you know what, how and when to scaffold with your students. As you review the assessment strategies in this article, keep in mind the purpose is effective scaffolding. I prefer to use a “teach-assess-then what?” flowchart.
Now, let’s look at nine practical formative assessment tools:
Observations
An important formative assessment tool for teachers is the use of observations. Observations can be planned, or they can be spontaneous. In an observation, you simply observe what students are doing and take notes for documentation. You may choose to observe for particular instructional behaviors, or you may simply observe to see what happens from a general standpoint. I’ve always found it helpful to use a template for observations.
If you prefer a group form, this is an alternative I’ve used:
Checklists
Checklists are a strategy that can be used as a part of observations. Checklists can be simple yes/no tallies, or they can be open-ended for teachers to add notes.
Interviews and Conferences
Similar to retellings, in interviews and conferences, the teacher meets with students to assess understanding of content. For either of these, the teacher plans a series of questions to ask a student about his or her learning. It’s also important to stay flexible and adjust questions during the interview or conference. These are probably used most often in writing situations, but they can be used with any subject area.
Sample Writing Conference Questions
- Please tell me a little about your writing.
- What do you think is going well?
- Show me an example of that.
- What are you struggling with?
- Show me an example.
- How do you think you can improve on your own?
- How can I help you?
- What are your next steps?
Sample Conference Questions for a Math Classroom
- How did you determine the answer?
- Were there any steps that were particularly challenging?
- Is there another way you might have solved this?
- How would you explain your solution to another student?
I’ve found a conferencing sheet helps focus students.
Make It New
Make it New allows you to see if students can apply their learning. Students choose an image: a book, a face, the Earth or an exclamation point. Then, they write how what they have learned applies to another book/text they have read, themselves, the real world, or something else.
How Many Ways?
Particularly helpful in a math classroom, after students solve a problem, they are challenged to solve it in other ways. The goal is for students to solve the problem correctly in multiple ways.
Teach It to Me!
With this simple strategy, students are asked to teach what they have learned to another student or to the teacher. They can do this in person, or using a tool such as Flipgrid. The partner then identifies correct information, as well as any misconceptions.
Know It and Show It
Another simple way for students to demonstrate understanding is to “Know It and Show It.” On one side of a paper, they write what they know. On the other side, they have to “show” it or prove they understand the concept with evidence.
Abstract/Concrete
I talked with a teacher several years ago, and she shared this idea for helping students move from concrete ideas to abstract ones. Given a sheet of paper, students write a variety of concrete statements on the front of the page. Then, they turn the page over and draw an abstract representation of the concrete ideas. Next, students share their picture with a partner, who tries to guess the concrete ideas. I particularly like how this moves beyond basic information.
Master the Misconception
Again, using two sides of a sheet of paper, students write a misunderstanding they had or that they think someone else might have. Then, on the back, they write how they would correct the misunderstanding.
A Final Note
There are a wide variety of options for formative assessment. Choose what best meets the needs of your students and will help you inform your instruction.
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As a teacher, a leader and a university professor responsible for graduate training for educators, Barbara Blackburn has used her knowledge and experiences to write 40 best-selling books. She utilizes the engagement she advocates there to capture and instill in nationwide audiences the desire to... See More
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