Section IV: Authentic Assessment of Instruction and Student Progress

Artifact 2: Bell Ringer Formative Assessment

TESOL Domain & Standard:

- Domain 4 Assessment. Candidates understand issues of assessment and use standards-
based assessment measures with ESOL students.
o Standard 4.a. Issues of Assessment for ESL. Candidates understand the various
issues of assessment (e.g. cultural and linguistic bias; political, social, and
psychological factors) in assessment, IQ, and special education testing (included
gifted and talented); the importance of standards; and the difference between
language proficiency and other types of assessment (e.g. standardized
assessment tests of overall mastery), as they affect ESOL student learning.

This artifact was a formative assessment done during the Ancient Rome Unit with my 6th
grade classes. The assessment was a Bell Ringer assessment a formative assessment done at
the beginning of class based on the previous days lesson. This formative consisted of a single
question that was based on the previous lessons activity that had students investigating the
Roman inventions and making conclusions to how those inventions have impacted us today
and/or are still in use today. The instructions for the assessment were both verbalized and
written, so students had multiple sources of instruction. This assessment was completed on
Google Classroom, which is the online page I use for my classes. The students were required to
answer the question in 2-3 sentences, with modifications on length and type of response made
depending on student needs (e.g. some students could do a bulleted response, or could draw
their answer). Since students completed this formative on our online classroom page, I could
immediately read and respond to their posts, so students had quick feedback to see if they got
it or not, and I could immediately see what students would need re-teaching/more clarification.
After completing this assessment, a previously unengaged and unproductive student
became more engaged and eager to learn more about the topic. The next activity that I had my
students do based on this formative assessment was to find items around their home and
around town that were related to or existed because of the Roman inventions. This student
came back with a long list of things in their own home that could be tied to the Roman
inventions and was excited to share their findings with their peers. This student also was eager
to share their knowledge on the Roman inventions impact on today during our Outdoor
Education Day that took place a week after this lesson. One of the stations was about modern
aqueducts and how we get water to our homes and towns, and this student immediately had
their hand in the air to share with the presenter about how the Romans invented aqueducts and
how the designs of the ancient and modern aqueducts were similar and different. Even as we
continued our Ancient Rome unit and were not specifically discussing the inventions and their
impacts on today, this student was actively engaged in class discussions and other lesson
activities, and completed all their work for the remainder of the Ancient Rome Unit.
Finally, this artifact aligns with what I wrote in Section 4 of my Portfolio Platform in
multiple ways. First, I specifically discuss the formative assessments called Bell Ringers in

Section 4 Artifact 2 Caption 1

Section 4 as an assessment that provides teachers with quick insight into student knowledge and
provides students with quick feedback. Short formative assessments are a great tool to quickly
gage student performance and gives teachers time to adjust lessons so that way students are
mastering the standards they need to meet before they complete summative assessments.
Teachers can adjust their lessons based on the results of the formatives or change student
groupings based on student abilities/knowledge which is expressed through the formatives. I
also discuss how formative assessments can increase student engagement in class. Formatives
hold my students accountable for their own learning in a low-stakes way, since many times
formatives are not taken for a grade in my class. Since students can take formatives without the
added anxiety that many summative assessments give them, they are more focused and
engaged in what is being taught before they complete a formative.

CREDE Standards for Effective Pedagogy

After reviewing my artifact, I think that it closely aligns with the Challenging Activities
aspect of the CREDE Standards for Effective Pedagogy. I would rate myself as integrating on
the Standards Performance Continuum for multiple reasons. Bell Ringer formatives are done
multiple times a week in my classroom as means to quickly assess student knowledge and to
provide frequent feedback for students. Also, based on the results of the formatives, I can
quickly adjust lessons to fit the academic and linguistic needs of my students, and I can make
those changes almost immediately after the students complete the formatives. The results of the
formatives also influence the type of lesson activities that follow. If students are quickly grasping
the new content, I can create more challenging activities that get students out of their academic
comfort zone as they continue to gain academic knowledge. Finally, I made modifications on the
formative assessment based on students individual biographies so that each student can
express their knowledge in a way that is appropriate for their ability level.
Moreover, I can use this artifact in many ways in my future work with CLD Students.
Formative assessments can be done at any time during a unit or lesson because they are focused
on assessing student progress instead of assessing student mastery of content standards and
objectives. With CLD students, formatives like Bell Ringers could be used to gauge second
language acquisition progress, and they can be modified to fit the language needs/abilities of
each CLD student. Formative assessments like Bell Ringers can also be used to plan further
instruction and lesson activities for CLD students and determine the types of modifications CLD
students would need on those activities. Formative assessments are extremely flexible and an
important assessment tool for teachers to use with all students.

Section 4 Artifact 2 Caption 2