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O
ur students do not learn what dents and teachers, while others also see interim,
we teach. It is this simple and or benchmark, tests administered every six to ten
weeks as formative. For my part, I believe that
profound reality that means
any assessment can, potentially, be formative,
that assessment is perhaps the central which is why I suggest that to describe an assess-
process in effective instruction. If our ment as formative is what Gilbert Ryle (1949) de-
students learned what we taught, we scribed as a “category mistake” (p. 16; ascribing
to something a property it cannot have).
would never need to assess. We could
The term formative should apply not to the
simply catalog all the learning experiences assessment but to the function that the evidence
we had organized for them, certain in generated by the assessment actually serves. For
the knowledge that this is what they had example, a seventh-grade teacher had given her
learned. students an English language arts test, under test
conditions, and collected the students’ test re-
But of course, anyone who has spent more than a sponses. Most teachers would then try to grade
few hours in a classroom knows this hardly ever the students’ responses, add helpful feedback,
happens. No matter how carefully we design and and return the graded papers to the students the
implement the instruction, what our students following day. On this occasion, however, the
learn cannot be predicted with any certainty. It teacher did not grade the papers. She quickly
is only through assessment that we can discover read through them and decided that the follow-
whether the instructional activities in which we ing day each student would receive back her or
engaged our students resulted in the intended his own paper; in addition, groups of four stu-
learning. Assessment really is the bridge between dents would be formed, and each group would
teaching and learning. be given one blank response sheet, so that they
could, as a group, produce the best composite pa-
Formative Assessment per. When the groups had done this, the teacher
led a plenary discussion in which groups reported
Of course, the idea that assessment can help
back their agreed responses. What is interesting
learning is not new, but what is new is a growing
about the example is that the assessment being
body of evidence that suggests that attention to
used had been designed entirely for summative
what is sometimes called formative assessment, or
purposes, but the teacher had found a way of us-
assessment for learning, is one of the most pow-
ing it formatively.
erful ways of improving student achievement.
If we accept that any assessment can be used
Different people have different views about what
formatively, we need some way of defining for-
exactly counts as formative assessment. Some
mative assessment in a way that is useful for class-
think it should be applied only to the minute-to-
room practice. The way that I have found most
minute and day-to-day interactions between stu-
useful is to think of three key processes in learning:
Copyright © 2013 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved.
point is, effective feedback requires asking the On an even shorter time-scale, a fifth-grade 17
right questions. This may be obvious, but what is teacher had been introducing students to five
less obvious is that effective feedback requires a kinds of figurative language: alliteration, hyper-
plan of action about what to do with the evidence bole, onomatopoeia,
before it is collected. personification, and By the time all the common
Many schools and districts espouse a com- simile. Five minutes
assessments have been graded
mitment to data-driven decision making, but too before the end of the
often, this entails the collection of large bodies of lesson, she listed the and a meeting to discuss
data just in case they come in useful at some later five kinds of figura-
the implications has been
point. This is a particular problem when teachers tive language on the
administer common formative assessments to all whiteboard. She then scheduled, the data are well
students in a grade and then meet to discuss what read out a series of
past their “sell-by” date; the
to do. By the time all the common assessments sentences, asking the
have been graded and a meeting to discuss the students to use “fin- teaching has moved on.
implications has been scheduled, the data are well ger voting” to indi-
past their “sell-by” date; the teaching has moved cate what kinds of figurative language they had
on. And even if the data were available in a timely heard (e.g., hold up one finger if you hear alliter-
fashion, unless time has already been scheduled ation, five fingers if you hear a simile, and so on).
for any additional instruction shown to be nec- These are the sentences she read out:
essary by the assessments, nothing useful can
A. He was like a bull in a china shop.
happen. That is why data-driven decision mak-
ing is not a particularly helpful approach. What B. This backpack weighs a ton.
is needed instead is a commitment to decision- C. The sweetly smiling sunshine warmed
driven data collection. For example, rather than the grass.
an “end of unit test,” the teacher could sched- D. He honked his horn at the cyclist.
ule a “three-fourths of the way through the unit
E. He was as tall as a house.
test.” Rather than grading the papers, the teacher
could use the information gleaned from the test Most of the students responded correctly to
to decide which aspects of the unit need to be the first two, but most of them chose to hold up
re-taught or, if the students have all done well, either one finger or four fingers for the third.
provide some extension material. The teacher pointed out to the class that a few
One way to assess students’ understanding is to put their knowledge into action. The article shares an example using
the study of figurative language. The ReadWriteThink.org lesson plan “Figurative Language Awards Ceremony” invites
students to explore books rich in figurative language and nominate their favorite examples of similes, metaphors, and
personification for a figurative language award. Once nominations are in, the class votes, selecting a winning example
in each category. Finally, students are challenged to write an acceptance speech for one of the winners, using as many
literary devices (simile, metaphor, personification) as they can in their speech.
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/figurative-language-awards-ceremony-115.html
Lisa Fink
www.readwritethink.org
a story could be submitted to the teacher (the tice more. Indeed, in almost all areas of human 19
“chief editor”). Because each editor was responsi- expertise, from violin playing to radiography,
ble for ensuring that the required elements were expertise is the result of ten years of deliberate
present, students took the role very seriously (not practice (Ericsson, Charness, Feltovich, & Hoff-
least because they were accountable to the chief man, 2006).
editor!). When students come to believe that smart is
Of course, one could list many more exam- not something you are but something you get,
ples of this kind, but what teachers routinely re- they seek challenging
port is that students tend to be much tougher on work, and in the face In the best classrooms,
one another than most teachers would dare to be. of failure, they increase students would not mind
This is important because it suggests that with effort. Student athletes
well-structured peer-assessment, one can achieve get this. They know that making mistakes, because
better outcomes than would be possible with one to improve, they must mistakes are evidence that
adult for every student. practice things they
can’t yet do, rather than the work they are doing is
Students Owning Their Own Learning just simply rehearse the hard enough to make them
As Rick Stiggins (Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, & things they know how
Chappuis, 2004) reminds us, the most important to do. We need to get smarter.
instructional decisions are not made by teach- students to understand
ers—they are made by students. When students this in the English language arts classroom, too.
believe they cannot learn, when challenging tasks Ultimately, we would want students to resent
are just one more opportunity to find out that work that does not challenge them, because they
you are not very smart, many students disengage. would understand that easy work doesn’t help
And this is perfectly understandable. What stu- them improve. In the best classrooms, students
dents are really doing when they disengage is de- would not mind making mistakes, because mis-
nying the teacher the opportunity to make any takes are evidence that the work they are doing is
judgment about what the student can do—after hard enough to make them smarter.
all, it is better to be thought lazy than dumb. This
is why the most important word in any teacher’s Conclusion
vocabulary is yet. When a student says, “I can’t do People often want to know “what works” in ed-
it,” the teacher responds with “yet.” This is more ucation, but the simple truth is that everything
than just sound psychology. It is actually what works somewhere, and nothing works every-
we are learning about the nature of expertise and where. That’s why research can never tell teach-
where it comes from. ers what to do—classrooms are far too complex
Of course individuals vary in their natural for any prescription to be possible, and varia-
gifts, but these differences are very small to begin tions in context make what is an effective course
with. What happens is the small initial advan- of action in one situation disastrous in another.
tages of some students quickly become magnified Nevertheless, research can highlight for teachers
when the students with these small advantages what kinds of avenues are worth exploring and
work hard, engage, and improve, while those who which are likely to be dead ends, and this is why
are slightly behind avoid challenge, and thus miss classroom formative assessment appears to be so
out on the chance to improve. As the title of a promising. Across a range of contexts, attend-
recent book by Geoff Colvin (2010) makes clear, ing not to what the teacher is putting into the
“Talent is overrated.” It is practice that creates instruction but to what the students are getting
expertise. Chess grandmasters don’t have higher out of it has increased both student engagement
IQs than average chess players—they just prac- and achievement.
Dylan Wiliam works with schools, districts, and state and national governments all over the world
to improve education. He lives virtually at www.dylanwiliam.net and physically in New Jersey.