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Module 2: Formative Assessment

Effective Teacher Practices Supporting North Carolina Foundations for Early Learning and Development: Formative Assessment

Contact hours: 2.5 contact hours (120-minute session plus 30-minute pre-learning review)

120-minute face-to-face session

Slide 1: Formative AssessmentWelcome to today’s session on the formative assessment process.

Slide 2: Review of Pre-learning Assignment You read Formative Assessment and Assessment for Learning at this link: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/hip/us/hip_us_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/0132548755.pdf

1. What does the article say about formative assessment? What does research tell us?2. What was one ‘aha’ moment you had when reading this article?

At your tables, talk together about formative assessment. Brainstorm ways to gather information about children and their learning. Discuss these questions:

1. What does formative assessment look like in your classroom/setting?2. How do you use formative assessment? What do you do with the information?3. Take 1-2 minutes for each person to talk. After you have each addressed the questions and

discussed with your group, summarize one or two key points. Choose a spokesperson to share out.

[Trainer note – Discuss pre-learning assignment (teachers read and reflect upon Formative Assessment and Assessment for Learning).]

Slide 3: Objectives:

As a result of participating in this session on formative assessment participants will: Understand what formative assessment is and how it is used to inform instruction Identify effective early childhood evidence-based instructional practices that support formative

assessment Understand how to use formative assessment data for different data purposes

Slide 4: Introduction

A graduate student in an early childhood program asked an excellent question: “How can you tell what a small child is learning when you’re just playing with him?” Older children demonstrate their knowledge through verbal answers to questions, writing, and other means. This is not always the case when working with very young children. How do we know what young children are learning and what we need to do to facilitate their progression in the learning process?

To assess what young children are learning, we set up problems to solve and situations to navigate during developmentally appropriate play activities and then we:

1Effective Teacher Practices Supporting

North Carolina Foundations for Early Learning and DevelopmentNC Early Learning Network, a joint project of NC-DPI and UNC-FPG, 2016

http://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/hip/us/hip_us_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/0132548755.pdf

http://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/hip/us/hip_us_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/0132548755.pdf


observe, listen, and ask open-ended or probing questions to check for their understanding. Doing so not only tells us what children are learning, it also tells us how to adjust our teaching in order to help children move to the next higher learning level.

This session will focus on effective instructional practices that can be used throughout the day to determine how children comprehend and learn what is being instructed.

Slide 5: What is formative assessment?

In this session we will spend a great deal of time reviewing and discussing formative assessment. But first, we want to do a short activity that will help us understand what you currently think ‘formative assessment’ really means.

Each table has a stack of note cards. Take one note card and write this: ‘Formative Assessment is….’ and complete the sentence.

[Trainer note -- this is an individual activity at tables. Place note cards at each table. Each individual will take a note card and write their definition of formative assessment. Ask each person to write: ‘Formative Assessment is……’ and complete the sentence. Allow time for the participants to write down their definitions. Ask them to put the definition in a place where they can locate it again at the end of the session. At the end of the session, allow an opportunity for participants to revisit the definition to see if they would make any changes in the definition based on what they learned from the session. The purpose of this activity is to identify, prior to professional development (PD), how participants define formative assessment. Then, at the end of the session, compare their pre-PD definitions with how they define formative assessment post-PD. This will be a self-formative assessment activity for the participants.]

[Allow about 2-3 minutes for this activity.]

Now, put your card aside. We will revisit your definition at the end of today’s session.

Slide 6: Photo of child tying shoe

Let’s listen to a scenario, and then we’ll discuss:

[Trainer note – you may wish to ask a participant to read the passage.]

Can Jane tie her own shoes? If you wanted to know, you would probably ask her to demonstrate. She might need a little extra help in making an effective knot. Learning is a process. Jane, for example, may understand how to tie a knot but not make it tight, so her laces always come untied. If we only look at her effort as failure, she might be grouped with children who struggle to grab their laces or who do not understand the concept of a knot. Observing Jane closely, however, diagnoses the real issue, which can be quickly remedied.

(Honey, 2007, p. 12).




Can you visualize this scenario? What success was Jane having when she was trying to tie her shoes?

[Allow participants to respond. Prompt as needed, “Jane knew how to tie a knot,” etc.]

What does Jane need help doing, with teacher support, for her to move to the next level of mastery?

[Allow participants to respond. Prompt as needed, “She needed the teacher to show her how to pull the shoe laces tight,” etc.]

Careful observation of children’s behavior – how they perform skills or solve problems - is an essential part of the formative assessment process.

[From The Role of Formative Assessment in the Pre-K through Second Grade Classrooms, Margaret Honey (2007).]

Slide 7: Pyramid -- NC Balanced Assessment System

Professional development for the North Carolina Balanced Assessment System was introduced through the North Carolina Formative Assessment Learning Community’s Online Network, known as NC FALCON. This program is a series of online modules designed to help teachers learn how formative assessment can influence instruction and assist children with targeted learning goals.

[Trainer note – for more information about NC FALCON, go to this link - https://center.ncsu.edu/ncfalcon/].

NC’s Balanced Assessment System includes all components of assessment. The foundational tier of the pyramid is formative assessment, the next tier is interim/benchmark assessment and, at the top tier, the summative assessment process. Assessment data collected at each level should reflect the appropriate state standards being taught. For preschool children, assessment data should reflect each of the domains outlined in the NC Foundations for Early Learning and Development and the curriculum assessment tool being used.

Slide 8: Definition

The NC definition of formative assessment is based on the definition developed by Margaret Heritage (2010) for the Council of Chief State School Officers. “Formative assessment is a process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve student’s achievement of intended instructional outcomes.”

Slide 9: Definition

This definition of formative assessment may be adapted for early childhood instruction by saying that formative assessment is:

• a process used by teachers and children during play and learning activities,• that provides feedback to the teachers and the children,• so that teachers can adjust their teaching to meet the needs and interests of children, and



https://center.ncsu.edu/ncfalcon/


• so that children can understand what is expected of them.

Slide 10: Formative assessment steps

NC FALCON defines the steps in the formative assessment process:

1. Determine clear learning targets,2. Define criteria for success,3. Collect/document and analyze evidence, 4. Provide clear, descriptive feedback, and5. Change or adjust instruction.

Formative assessment is a moment-by-moment analysis of children’s learning for the purpose of informing the teacher’s next instructional steps needed to help children move through learning progressions.

In 2013, June Atkinson, North Carolina’s State School Superintendent, compared instruction using formative assessment to the process of planning a trip: know where you are now, where you are going, and when you will get there. Formative assessment allows the teacher to change instruction based on child responses. It is a process that occurs before, during, and after instruction and provides immediate feedback to the child. Formative assessment integrates assessment into instruction. It is like a Global Positioning System (GPS) that reconfigures the route when needed. When a roadblock interferes with the child’s successful completion of a task, the teacher notes the roadblock and provides immediate feedback to help the child get back on track.

Slide 11: Graphic of Formative Assessment Process (NC FALCON) First Circle Highlighted

To know where you are going:

• Determine clear learning targets and• Define criteria for success.

Slide 12: Graphic of Formative Assessment Second Circle Highlighted

To know where you are now:

• Collect and document evidence and• Analyze evidence.

Slide 13: Graphic of Formative Assessment Second Circle Highlighted

To know how to close the gap:

• Provide clear, descriptive feedback and• Change or adjust instruction

Slide 14: Video of Cabarrus County teachers (Jessica)




Let’s watch a video clip of a teacher discussing the formative assessment process she uses. As we watch the video, notice how the teacher describes where the child is functioning. Also notice how the teacher changes her instruction.

[Show Module 2 Formative Assessment video 1.]

What did the teacher note about where the child was functioning?

[Allow participants to respond. Prompt as needed: the child needs to have modeling and use her body to demonstrate near and far, close etc.]

How did the teacher change her instruction to assist the child in understanding the concept of ‘near’ and ‘far?’

[Allow participants to respond. Prompt with: The teacher realized “near/far” was too difficult for this child too understand. ]

What could the teacher do to scaffold the skill? What needed to be understood before “near and far”?

Slide 15: Video of Cabarrus teachers (Amy)

Let’s watch another video clip. Notice what the teacher says about where the child is functioning. Also notice the strategies the teacher used to document her observational data.


What did the teacher say about where the child was functioning?

[Allow participants to respond. Prompt with: Appropriate use of print concepts, knows front and back of book, direction in which to read, where a sentence begins and ends, reading some on his own.]

What strategies did the teacher use to document her observational data?

[Allow participants to respond. Prompt as needed: took notes during the interaction, records notes at lunch / in the afternoon.]

Slide 16: Conducting Observations

The fundamental skill needed to perform high quality formative assessment is high quality observation. Billman & Sherman (2003) explain observation as a system of looking at behavior. Teachers and other early childhood professionals observe children to assess their behavior in unobtrusive ways -- without interrupting the play or activity.

(Billman, 2003, p. 1).




Equally important is how we record our observations. The script or notes you take during the observation provide a written record of the child’s functioning at the time of the observation. To be useful as a source for formative assessment, observational data must be measurable.

In this next series of activities, we’ll review how to conduct an observation that is objective and provides specific evidence. Objectivity and specificity will result in the collection of accurate and reliable data about children’s behavior and current level of functioning as they move through a learning progression.

Slide 17: Talking Babies Video and Activity #1

[Trainer note -- for this video clip you will ask participants to write down their observations without giving them specific instructions. You will chart their notes and use them later to identify observational data with subjective language that is not measurable.]

Let’s watch this video clip of two babies ‘talking to one another.’ Take out a piece of paper and write down what you see.


What did you see?

[Prompt participants to read a sentence they wrote. Chart participant observations on large flip charts.]

We will save these responses and come back to them later.

Slide 18: Photo of child with binoculars

We’re always observing and, as we’re observing, we’re always interpreting what we see. What we see is limited by what we expect to see. To collect objective observational data, we have to train ourselves not to filter observations according to how we think something should look.

A photographer once said that photography taught him how to see. Initially, he would look through the lens of the camera and see the finished image. But the finished image was what his mind saw, not what the scene actually looked like through the viewfinder. When he reviewed the printed picture it didn’t look the way he remembered it. He realized he had to clear his mind of interpretation in order to see a scene only the way it appeared through the viewfinder. This is what we have to do when we observe children: clear our minds of interpretation. We must remove all the extra padding of pre-conceived ideas and just observe. We write down or ‘script’ what we see and what we hear. Nothing else. Just exactly what we see and hear.

Slide 19: Objective versus Subjective

To record objective observational data, we describe exactly what we observe – not our interpretation or opinion of what we observe. Try not to write down subjective phrases such as “he walked with difficulty” or “he was excited.” ‘Difficulty’ and ‘excited’ are subjective because they can mean different




things to different people and are therefore difficult to measure accurately or reliably. Language such as, ‘with difficulty’ and ‘excited’ express your opinion about what you saw. What would be a more objective way to describe ‘walking with difficulty’?

[Allow participants to respond. Prompt as needed to say things like, “he walked slowly and stopped to take a deep breath every two to three steps.”]

What would be a more objective way to say ‘he was excited’?

[Allow participants to respond. Prompt as needed to say things like, “he jumped up and down and clapped his hands.”]

We also need to steer clear of interpretative words like ‘persistent’ and ‘determination,’ which are difficult to measure. What is a more objective and measurable way to describe persistence or determination?

[Allow participants to respond. Prompt as needed to say things like, “He worked on the block tower for 4 minutes and rebuilt it when it fell three times.”]

In addition, we should avoid diagnostic terms and other professional jargon. What is an example? Why do we avoid jargon?

[Prompt as needed to talk about this definition of jargon: ‘special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand.’]

Slide 20: Photo of smiling boy in striped shirt

It is our human nature to embellish. “He is a 3-year-old with brown hair and brown eyes.” We can observe that. We can measure that. “He was wearing a cute shirt and was happy.” That is harder to measure. What makes his shirt cute? How do you know he is happy? It would be better to say “He was wearing a striped shirt and had a smile on his face.” How we phrase what we see is the key. Here is an example: “The children came inside and were freezing.” What part is measurable? How could it be rephrased so that it is objective?

[Allow participants to respond. Prompt as needed to say things like, “The children came inside with rosy cheeks, wearing coats and mittens.”]

Slide 21: Specific ObservationsAlso keep in mind that observations need to be specific. Give details that are precise. We use the information from objective and specific observations to help us determine where a child is functioning. It’s important that we base these determinations on sound, quality observational data.

Find your handout, Objective or Subjective. Work with one another at your tables to re-word the sentences as needed to make them objective and specific. Read each example of observational data on the handout. Underline words that are subjective and general. Re-word the sentence so that it is more objective and specific. Underline the words you substitute to make the sentence more objective and specific.




[Give participants about 5 minutes to complete. Then distribute the answer sheet.]

Take a look at the answer sheet. These are some ways to re-word the sentences to increase objectivity and specificity. How did you do?

[Give participants a minute or so to look over the answer sheet.]

Slide 22: Talking Babies Video Activity #2

[Trainer note -- this is the follow-up activity to slide 16; Talking Babies Video and Activity #1]

Let’s review the observation notes you wrote earlier about the Talking Baby Video clip.

[Read a sentence from the flipchart notes.]

Is this observation note objective? Is it specific? Is measurable?

How might we rephrase it to be more objective, specific and measurable?

[Trainer note -- read and correct as many sentences from the flipchart as time allows. A follow-up activity might be for teachers to bring observational notes to a Professional Learning Community (PLC) or other meeting to review, critique, and revise as needed.]

Slide 23: Early Childhood Teaching Strategies that Support Formative Assessment

We’ve talked about the purpose of formative assessment -- to inform a teacher about what his/her next instructional step should be to assist a child in moving to the next level in a learning progression.

We’ve talked about the importance of the teacher’s skill in collecting specific and objective observational data. Now let’s talk about strategies for setting up opportunities for formative assessment moments. When working with young children, formative assessment may occur throughout the day, in any activity, in unobtrusive ways. In early childhood classrooms, children learn primarily through play. Play strategies are essential instructional practices that can be used as ways of conducting formative assessment.

You have in your handouts: Early Childhood Instructional Practices that Support Formative Assessment. Take a minute to look over the list. Think about which practices you often see or use in your classroom – and which practices you’d like to see or use more often.

[Allow participants time to look over the document.]

Which of the practices described in the handout do you see or use often in the classroom?

[Allow participants to respond.]




Which of the practices described in the handout would you like to see or use more often in the classroom?

[Allow participants to respond.]

Slide 24: Play Scenarios

Find your handout called Play Scenarios. Read the scenarios and work as a group at your tables to identify the instructional practices listed on the Instructional Practices handout that the teachers used in the scenarios. Talk about and prepare to explain to the large group how you might use the instructional practice for formative assessment purposes relative to the scenario.

[Give participants time to read and discuss.]

Now let’s come back together. What practices did you identify?

[Allow participants to respond. Prompt as needed from Play Scenarios Answer Sheet.]

How might the teachers use the instructional practices for formative assessment?

[Prompt as needed to talk about the teachers’ observation of children’s responses to the play strategies and how the observation can inform instruction.]

Slide 25: Putting it All Together

In addition to observing children’s individual behavior, we must also observe the interactions children have with others. This can be challenging in a classroom situation with multiple activities occurring simultaneously. In this next video activity we’ll practice observing and scripting in a classroom environment.

Slide 26: Video Clip and Activity “Eating Snakes”

[Trainer note – in this activity, participants will practice watching adult-child interactions, identify instructional practices, and script an observation.]

We have discussed how to write child observations that are specific and objective with clear details. We also looked at instructional practices to facilitate play and gather data for formative assessment purposes. Let’s put everything together while watching this video – a training clip from HighScope. You will see that the teacher and child are making playdough snakes in the dramatic play/kitchen area. Other children move in and out of the scene. Keep your primary focus on the child and the teacher and their interactions, while also being aware of the other children.

While watching the video: 1) script what you see and hear, 2) identify the instructional practice the teacher is using, and 3) watch how the child responds to what the teacher is saying and how the teacher responds to the child.





What did you see and hear?

[Allow participants to respond. As needed, remind participants to use words that are objective and specific.]

What instructional practices did the teacher use?

[Prompt as needed to include wait time, questioning, etc.]

What did you observe about the teacher’s interaction with this child?

[Prompt as needed to talk about how she cooperated with the child’s play scheme without questioning the notion of eating snakes. Note the clarifying questions she used, such as, “10 minutes or 10 hours,” when the child said to cook the snakes “10.” Note how she acknowledged the presence of other children without taking her focus from the child with whom she was interacting.]

A written, objective observation of a child’s behavior (of what a child is doing) is an accurate description of where a child is functioning and is useful in determining what instruction needs to come next. The skills we have discussed for observing and recording observations give us a process for gathering specific child data. Facilitating play can inform instruction. Billman and Sherman (2003) remind us that “observing a child’s play can tell a teacher how well educational goals are being met.”

(Billman, 2003, p. 6).

Slide 27: Understanding How to Use Formative Assessment Data for Different Data Collection Purposes

A teacher once lamented, “I have to collect ongoing data about children’s ability to acquire knowledge and skills so that I can best judge how to adjust my teaching to meet their needs based on where they are in the learning progression. But I’m also expected to collect data for our quarterly curriculum and IEP benchmark reports and for the end-of-year curriculum and Child Outcome Summary summative reports. How can I possible keep up with all of this?”

The trick is that the formative assessment data teachers collect can be used for multiple data purposes. First, let’s look at the different ways teachers collect data, and then think about how one might sort those data for different purposes. Most teachers use many different ways to record child progress and incorporate it into a child’s portfolio.

Slide 28: Using Technology to Document Child Performance- picture of teacher using iPhone and an iPad

Technology can help gather information about child performance. Teachers use smartphones or iPads to document short snippets of activity on video or in pictures. The videos and pictures can be uploaded to an online portfolio system, such as used in TS GOLD or HighScope’s Child Observation Record systems.

Slide 29: Documenting Child Work Samples




Pictures and videos of children’s work taken on smartphones, iPads, or cameras provide teachers and parents with a useful way to capture children’s progress. Depending upon families’ access to electronic devices, teachers can ask parents to provide them with pictures or videos of their children at home to document their behavior outside the classroom. Teachers can capture and electronically save work samples, such as block structures a child builds, art products, and pre-writing samples. When using pictures or videos as data, be sure to label them with a description of the featured skill.

Slide 30: Oral Language Samples – picture from Asheville City class

Video with sound can capture language samples of everyday conversations children have with adults and with one another. Language samples on video provide information that can be used to document progress across domains. They capture not only what a child said but how she or he said it and the context in which it was said. What does this sample tell you about what the child knows? What Foundations domain and subdomain does the sample demonstrate?

[Prompt as needed to talk about Language Development and Communication – Foundations for Writing; Cognitive Development – Mathematical Thinking and Expression, etc.]

Slide 31: Providing Feedback to Children -- picture of teacher using iPad in Cabarrus

Video recordings and pictures can also be powerful tools to show children their own work and stimulate their thinking and self-reflection by asking probing open-ended questions, such as, “What were you doing here?” The teacher can then check the child’s understanding of his or her own mastery of a task and provide feedback to the child about what is expected from the child for that task. During such interaction, the teacher can model the expected way(s) of demonstrating mastery and ask the child to compare his or her work with the teacher’s. Has anyone used an iPad or phone to videotape a child’s behavior in the classroom, and used the video to provide feedback to the child? How about to inform a family about how the child is doing in the classroom?

[If yes, ask participant to describe use of video as feedback for children and to inform families.]

Slide 32: Sorting Data into Domains - Emotional-Social

Formative assessment data collected throughout the year can be sorted by developmental domain for later use. Suppose this picture documents the beginning of an interaction between the boy cooking in the dramatic play/kitchen area and the two children who wish to join his play. What Foundations domain and subdomain does the picture reflect?

[Prompt as needed to talk about Emotional and Social Development – Developing a Sense of Self with Others – Children form relationships and interact positively with other children (ESD-4).]

Let’s look on the next few slides at how data can be sorted into different categories of information that informs us about a child’s development in various domains. Refer to your NC Foundations document to determine which domains, subdomains and goals a child may be working toward.

Slide 33: Sorting Data into Domains - Emotional-Social -- Using Families’ Input




Engaging families in the formative assessment process must be the same as engaging them in all other aspects of the early care and education environment. That means that engagement is done intentionally, systemically, and with planning. Families are then engaged in a true give-and-take manner. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, a few of which include email exchanges, phone calls (using interpreters wherever needed), formal meetings to discuss portfolios of work samples that teachers have gathered (with interpreters and other support staff), and informal conversation at pick-up and drop-off. Questions you could ask to elicit parental input include some like the following: How can we make rest time transition better for Javier? What went well for Anna yesterday? Damion seems to really enjoy building with blocks. What are some of his favorite things to do at

home?

How would you explain your assessment process to families? What are some ways to make this a collaborative process with families sharing about their child rather than the program telling the family what the child is doing?

Ask families to send pictures of a family vacation or special family activity, including family friends and pets if possible, and identify the people and animals in the picture. In the classroom, ask children to explain the pictures. When children share information about the family, what Foundations subdomains can the information address?

[Prompt as needed to talk about assessing the child’s ‘Developing a Sense of Self with Others’ – Children form relationships and interact positively with familiar adults who are consistent and responsive to their needs (ESD-3).]

Slide 34: Sorting Data into Domains- Emotional-Social -- Using Classroom Observational Data

Teachers can take a picture of a child interacting with others and playing in centers or outdoor play and add anecdotal notes about: 1) what the child chooses to do, 2) who they choose to play with and if they play with the same child most of the time, 3) what centers the child chooses to play in the most, etc. What do you think is happening in this picture? This is important information about a child’s progression in the area of which Foundations subdomain?

[Prompt as needed to talk about ‘sense of self,’ ‘sense of self with others’ and ‘learning about feelings,’ depending upon participants’ interpretation of picture and the child they focus on.]

Slide 35: Sorting Data into Domains- Health and Physical Development -- Using Classroom Observational Data

Child ‘journals’ can be used to note spatial orientation of objects in pictures and children’s progress in pre-writing skills. Documentation through journaling can help identify how the child holds a writing instrument, organizes information, and uses the space on the page. What other Foundations domains and subdomains does child journaling inform?

[Prompt as needed to talk about Language Development and Communication – Foundations for Writing.]




Slide 36: Sorting Data into Domains – Approaches to Play and Learning: Using Classroom Observational Data

Videos and notes can provide information to document a child’s progress and development in the area of Approaches to Play and Learning, such as the child’s interests and motivation, activities/centers that most interest the child, how the child transitions between activities, whether they require more transition time than other children, whether they require a transition schedule, etc. Of what subdomain of Approaches to Play and Learning might this picture provide evidence?

[Prompt as needed to talk about Attentiveness, Effort, and Persistence – Children maintain attentiveness and focus (APL-8).]

Slide 37: “What’s that Domain?”

[Trainer note – you will need to prepare the materials for this activity prior to the face-to-face session.]

Let’s look at some anecdotal notes from a real classroom. I’m going to give each table a set of seven anecdotal notes. Review the anecdotal notes together. You’ll see that I’ve posted five pieces of flipchart paper around the room. Each is titled with one of the developmental domains: ‘Approaches to Play and Learning,’ ‘Cognition,’ ‘Communication,’ ‘Emotional-Social,’ and ‘Health and Physical Development.’ After reviewing the anecdotal notes, post each of them on the chart your group thinks most represents the developmental domain that the anecdotal note informs. Select a spokesperson to report to the large group why you selected that particular developmental domain. Remember, one piece of data may be applicable for different domains.

[Trainer note -- these are the anecdotal notes you will have copied and cut into strips for this activity:

1. Tariq chose the Alphabeeps book in the library with Ms. Marilyn. Ms. Marilyn asked him to tell her about it. "Well I see a B so this must be Bulldozer. And here's a D so this must be dump truck."

2. Tommy showed me today that he could snap with his right hand and tried to snap out the syllables in caterpillar. He snapped on the beat for the first two syllables and then said the final syllable without snapping.

3. I asked Sade to recall events from field day the previous week. "First I rode the bikes and then played basketball, then got a strawberry Icee to eat then I went bowling. Then I went home and picked up a feather cause I found it on the ground."

4. During a ‘Wish You Well’ large group activity, children added groups of 2 boys and 3 girls to make 5 and 1 adult and 4 children to make five people in the heart. Reggie commented, "If you have zero and you add one you have one."

5. Bishara copied Aisa's idea to use masking tape during art projects. He went to the construction table three days in a row, located scissors and tape and then cut different lengths of tape using the scissors and put them on his paper.




6. While looking at the emotions check-in board, Jesus commented "No one sad. Everyone happy today."

7. Braxton played with Jamonty and Drevon on the playground for an hour and told Ms. Lisa they were best friends. At the end of the day, Drevon told the teacher that he had given his sunglasses to his best friend. (They were in Braxton's cubby.)]

Slide 38: Understanding How to Use Formative Assessment Data for Different Purposes

Next we want to focus on how you can use the formative assessment data to build the data set you need to support benchmark assessment and, then, how benchmark data can be used for the summative assessment.

[Trainer note – if your system does not use Creative Curriculum or TS GOLD, you may wish to substitute the following slides and script with information about your curriculum and assessment tool and how they can be used in the ways described below (slides 36-38).]

Slide39: Screen Shot of the Family Conference Form

At particular points in time, teachers need to stop and summarize where their children are in terms of curriculum goals or IEP goals. The formative assessment data they have collected at points in time, or immediately leading up to these points in time, can form the basis for quarterly benchmark assessments. Teachers sort the data into developmental domains according to their curriculum.

Slide 40: Screen shot of The TS-GOLD Child Assessment Portfolio

If teachers have sorted data into developmental domains, the data can support the benchmark assessments for most curricula. For example, the Creative Curriculum Child Progress and Planning Reports summarize progress on curriculum goals and objectives and are reviewed at specific curriculum intervals such as fall, winter, and spring. This would be an example of a benchmark assessment.

Slide 41: Creative Curriculum-Class Summary Worksheet

As formative assessment data are used to support the benchmark assessment, both the benchmark and the formative assessment data collected in the last time period of the year will form the basis of the summative assessment report. In the end, teachers can identify the skills a child has improved since the beginning of the school year and the skills a child has not mastered that are expected for his or her chronological age. Summative data can also be used to compare the progress at the individual child level within a classroom or to compare progress at the class level -- across classrooms. Comparing data across classrooms can show where there are weaknesses or strengths in instruction, such as when some classrooms show great progress in literacy, but not as much with math skills – indicating that the teacher is more successful teaching literacy than math.

Slide 42: Screen shot of Child Outcome Summary Form (COSF)




For children with IEPs, another form of summative data is required beyond the classroom curriculum end-of-year report. To meet federal reporting requirements, teachers and other service providers collect data to describe a child’s level of functioning in the areas of social relationships, acquisition and use of knowledge and skills, and ability to take action to meet their own needs. In North Carolina we use the Child Outcomes Summary process upon exit into Kindergarten. The rating is not a summative child assessment. It is a rating of the child’s performance at a particular point. Child progress data in the aggregate are used to evaluate the program. Benchmark and summative data collected for children in the classroom using curriculum assessment tools are necessary to determine these exit ratings. Not all children will need exit ratings. Special instructions for the Child Outcomes Summary process are provided by the Preschool Exceptional Children’s program. The purpose of this process is to determine to what extent children with disabilities have made progress as a result of their time in the program.

Slide 43: “What’s that Assessment Type?” activity

[Trainer note -- the purpose of this activity is for participants to identify type of assessment represented when listening to different scenarios.]

On your tables you will find three 3 x 5 cards with the word “Formative,” “Benchmark,” or “Summative” written on the cards.

I will read a scenario. Take one minute to confer with one another at your tables about whether the scenario describes formative, benchmark, or summative data. When time is up, I’ll ask your table to hold up the card that indicates your collective response.

1. Scenario: The teacher is working in block center with several children. She notices that John is building an elaborate structure. She asks John to tell her about his building. The teacher takes a picture of his structure. She writes down his comments and realizes that he is using the following descriptive words: big and little. She models for him the use of other words such as tall and short by saying, “yes the building is very tall” or “that building is short.”

[Answer: Formative]

2. Scenario: The teacher notices two children in the science center. Rafael is playing with the microscope. Sara comes over and grabs the microscope from Rafael. The teacher intervenes and says to Sara, “Use your words and ask Rafael if you can have a turn with the microscope.” Sara imitates after the teacher, “May I have a turn?”

[Answer: Formative]

3. Scenario: The teacher sits with Miguel at the art table. He is drawing a picture of his family. The teacher asks him to name each person in his drawing. She jots down his comments such as, “mother, father, and baby sister.” She writes the name of the figure on the drawing as he says it. The teacher also notes how Miguel is holding his paint brush, which hand he is using, and the type of strokes he is making. The teacher notes that most strokes are single strokes and that the circles he draws are uneven with the line not meeting together. He is using a whole fist grip on the paintbrush. The faces in his picture do not have eyes, nose or mouth. The teacher uses hand




over hand to help him form a circle and demonstrates on her picture how to add the eyes, nose, and mouth. Miguel scribbles some marks on his picture to indicate his name.

[Answer: Formative]

4. Scenario: The teacher is preparing for the end-of-grade quarterly conference with parents. She is reviewing the data in Amira’s portfolio that show progress she made during the quarter. The teacher has anecdotal records which show Amira playing in centers alone at the beginning of the quarter. Later in the quarter there is evidence of Amira playing, turn-taking, and sharing with other children in many of his favorite centers. In the kitchen center he is using language such as, “You be the mommy and I’ll be the baby,” to participate in dramatic play with other children.

[Answer: Benchmark]

5. Scenario: In reviewing all quarterly reports on the children in his classroom, Mr. Jones notes each child’s progress during the year to make a statement about each child’s end-of-year progress on specific instructional targets.

[Answer: Summative]

6. Scenario: The teacher uses the TS GOLD online program to maintain and accumulate data. She is analyzing the end-of-year report to compare the child’s current overall performance with the child’s overall performance last year.

[Answer: Summative]

7. Scenario: District administrators use cumulative reports on children across the system to make judgments about the curriculum or instructional weaknesses in the system.

[Answer: Summative]

Slide 44: Wrapping Up

Today we have covered three very important objectives in understanding formative assessment: 1) we described what formative assessment is and how it can inform instruction, especially when we learn how to conduct specific and objective child observations, 2) we recognized effective early childhood instructional practices that teachers can use to facilitate the formative assessment process during play and developmentally appropriate activities and routines, and 3) we talked about how we can ‘work smarter, not harder’ by collecting observational data, organizing them into developmental domains, and using them for benchmark and summative assessment at specific points in time.

You have a copy of the Instructional Practices Supporting Formative Assessment Teacher/Staff Self Checklist. This can be used by teachers to self-assess how effectively they use formative assessment practices in their classrooms and other learning settings.




All of these formative assessment practices work collectively to illustrate how teachers can demonstrate Teacher Standard 4 -- Teachers Facilitate Learning for their Students and Teacher Standard 5 --Teachers Reflect on their Practice.

Now take out the card with your definition of formative assessment. Read over what you wrote at the beginning of the module. What did you think formative assessment was? What do you think it is now? Based on what you heard today, would you change or add to your definition of formative assessment? If so add your changes to your definition. Would anyone be willing to share their pre and post definition and share what changes did you made based on what you learned during the module?

[Allow time for participants to share.]

Slide 45: Post-learning Activity

1. Determine two new strategies you will use in the current or upcoming school year to effectively gather formative assessment data.

2. Pull data related to emotional-social skills from the portfolio of a child in your classroom. Compare the skills described in the portfolio with skills described in the developmental indicators of the Foundations for Early Learning and Development. Use this information, and the age banding in Foundations, to assign an age level(s) to the skills documented in the portfolio.

3. Once you have ‘age-referenced’ the skills (step 2, above), reflect on the process. Were you able to make an accurate statement about the age level of the child’s skills? Did you have enough data to inform your assignment of age levels to skills? Did you have enough data to inform all the areas of emotional-social development described in

Foundations? What are some strategies for improving your collection of formative assessment data?

[Trainer note – Assign the post-learning activity – age-anchoring formative assessment data (see Post-learning Activities).]

Slide 46: Questions

References

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