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Chapter 2

THE ANATOMY OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

The discussion in chapter 1 highlights both the interest in and the confusion about formative assessment and its use in K–12 classrooms. An obvious question one might ask is, Why the confusion? To answer this question, it is useful to understand some history about the term formative assessment. Initially, it was used in the field of evaluation. In an American Educational Research Association monograph series published in 1967, Michael Scriven pointed out the distinction between evaluating projects that were being formulated and evaluating those that had evolved to their final state. The former were referred to as formative evaluations and the latter were referred to as summative evaluations.

In the world of projects, the distinction between formative evaluation and summative evaluation makes perfect sense. Consider a project in which a new curriculum for elementary school mathematics is being developed. There is a clear beginning point at which the authors of the program start putting their ideas on paper. There are benchmarks along the way, such as completing a first draft, gathering feedback on that draft, and making revisions based on the feedback. Finally, there is a clear ending point when the new curriculum has been published and is being distributed to schools.

According to Popham (2008), Benjamin Bloom tried in 1969 to transplant the formative/summative evaluation distinction directly into assessment, but “few educators were interested in investigating this idea further because it seemed to possess few practical implications for the day-to-day world of schooling” (p. 4). As described in chapter 1, it would take until the Black and Wiliam (1998a) synthesis for the idea to catch on. At that time, they offered the following definition of formative assessment:

Formative assessment … is to be interpreted as all of those activities undertaken by teachers and/or by students which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they engage. (pp. 7–8)

In 2006, the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) attempted to tighten the definition of formative assessments. According to Popham (2008),

A central activity in the CCSSO assessment initiative was the creation of a new consortium focused specifically on formative assessment. A CCSSO consortium is composed of key department of education personnel from those states that wish to participate. Each of these groups is referred to as a State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards (SCASS), and a new SCASS dealing exclusively with formative assessment, known as Formative Assessment for Students and Teachers—or FAST SCASS, if you’re in a hurry—was formed in mid-2006. (pp. 4–5)

At its inaugural four-day meeting in October of 2006, FAST SCASS crafted a definition of formative assessment that reflected the latest research on effective assessment practices. As reported by Popham, the following definition came out of this effort: “Formative assessment is a process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students’ achievement of intended instructional outcomes” (2008, p. 5). Defining features of formative assessment were as follows:

• Formative assessment is a process, not any particular test.

• It is used not just by teachers but by both teachers and students.

• Formative assessment takes place during instruction.

• It provides assessment-based feedback to teachers and students.

• The function of this feedback is to help teachers and students make adjustments that will improve students’ achievement of intended curricular aims. (Popham, 2008, p. 5)

In his 2008 book Transformative Assessment, Popham updated that definition again: “Formative assessment is a planned process in which teachers or students use assessment-based evidence to adjust what they are currently doing” (p. 6). He also listed the following characteristics:

• Again, formative assessment is not a test but a process—a planned process involving a number of different activities.

• One of those activities is the use of assessments, both formal and informal, to elicit evidence regarding students’ status: the degree to which a particular student has mastered a particular skill or body of knowledge.

• Based on this evidence, teachers adjust their ongoing instructional activities or students adjust the procedures they’re currently using to try to learn whatever they’re trying to learn. (p. 6)

The preceding definitions have certainly illustrated the general concept of formative assessment, but this book is intended to go one step further by specifying how formative assessment might manifest in the classroom. To this end, the categories depicted in table 2.1 are used throughout the book. Table 2.1 addresses two important distinctions in classroom assessment: types of assessments and uses of assessments. This chapter attempts to flesh out the defining characteristics of both.

Before delving into the anatomy of formative assessment, we should begin with a working definition of classroom assessment in general. Paraphrasing from the distinctions made in Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work (Marzano, 2006), we will define a classroom assessment as anything a teacher does to gather information about a student’s knowledge or skill regarding a specific topic. This definition is very much in keeping with the general descriptions of assessment provided by Black and Wiliam in their 1998 article titled “Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment.” That work was a brief description of the findings from their synthesis of 250 studies on formative assessment. They noted:

We use the general term assessment to refer to all those activities undertaken by teachers—and by their students in assessing themselves—that provide information to be used as feedback to modify teaching and learning activities. (1998b, p. 2)

Interestingly, this definition is almost identical to the definition of formative assessment they offered in their more technical discussion of their findings, “Assessment and Classroom Learning,” which was also published in 1998. As stated previously, their definition of formative assessment was:

Formative assessment … is to be interpreted as all of those activities undertaken by teachers and/or by their students which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged. (1998a, pp. 7–8)

The similarities in definitions for the general construct of assessment and the more specific construct of formative assessment highlight the need for clearer distinctions. Examining types of assessment in contrast to uses of assessment helps provide these distinctions.

Types of Classroom Assessments

According to table 2.1, there are three types of assessments a teacher might use in the classroom: obtrusive assessments, unobtrusive assessments, and student-generated assessments. Each can and should be used in a comprehensive system of formative assessment.

Table 2.1 Distinctions Regarding Classroom Assessments

Types of Classroom Assessment

Obtrusive

Unobtrusive

Student generated

Uses of Classroom Assessment

Formative scores

Summative scores

Instructional feedback

Obtrusive Assessments

Obtrusive assessments interrupt the normal flow of activity in the classroom. Instruction does not occur during obtrusive assessments. Instead, instruction stops while students “take the assessment” (hence the term obtrusive).

Obtrusive assessments can take many forms. Probably the most common form is the paper/pencil test. For example, as a form of obtrusive assessment, a science teacher schedules a quiz to assess students’ understanding of the concept of mutualism, or a language arts teacher provides a five-item short-answer test designed to assess the students’ comprehension of a reading passage.

Demonstrations and performances can also be forms of obtrusive assessments. For example, as a form of obtrusive assessment, a dance teacher asks students to perform a dance step they have been practicing during the week, a physical education teacher focusing on basketball asks students to demonstrate the proper execution of a free throw, or a science teacher asks students to demonstrate how the cell membrane is selectively permeable by designing and explaining a model. Obtrusive assessments can also be oral. For example, as a form of obtrusive assessment, a social studies teacher asks an individual student to explain the defining characteristics of a constitutional democracy. In all of these examples, instruction stops while assessment occurs. The following examples depict obtrusive assessments in a variety of subject areas.

Language arts: To assess the students’ ability to write a persuasive paper, the teacher assigns students the task of identifying a claim about a topic of their choice and supporting that claim with appropriate facts and qualifiers. Students begin the task in class and turn it in the next day.

Mathematics: To assess the students’ ability to make reasonable estimations of weight, students are given four objects each. They must consider the weight of each object and write down estimations they consider to be reasonable using the units of measure studied in class. They must also write brief justifications for their answers. At the end of class, the students turn in their assessments.

Science: To assess the students’ understanding of the systems of the human body, the teacher provides them with a blank outline of a human body. He asks them to graphically locate the heart, the lungs, the liver, and the stomach. They are also asked to write down the system associated with each organ and provide brief explanations of that system’s major purpose.

Social studies: To assess the students’ knowledge of United States geography, the teacher provides a blank map of the country. Students must write in the names of as many states as they can in the time allotted.

Physical education: To assess the students’ ability to hit a golf ball, the teacher asks each student to demonstrate a golf swing using a driver. After hitting the ball, each student is asked to evaluate his or her own swing and name one thing he or she could have done to make it better. After analyzing the swing, the student is asked to demonstrate again, this time thinking in advance about what he or she needs to improve on.

Art: To assess the students’ ability to draw using perspective, the teacher presents them with three-dimensional objects such as cylinders, prisms, and cubes. They are asked to choose one object and use the relevant elements of perspective to draw it as realistically as possible within the allotted time.

Technology: To assess the students’ ability to use PowerPoint, the teacher assigns students the task of creating a brief PowerPoint presentation designed to teach their classmates about one of their hobbies. Students begin the task in class and are asked to finish the projects at home in preparation for in-class presentations the next day.

Unobtrusive Assessments

In contrast to obtrusive assessments, unobtrusive assessments do not interrupt the flow of instruction. In fact, students might not even be aware that they are being assessed during an unobtrusive assessment.

Unobtrusive assessments are most easily applied to content that is procedural, or content that involves learning a skill, strategy, or process. For example, a physical education teacher observes a student on the playground executing an overhand throw and notes that he or she performs the skill quite well; during independent work in the laboratory, a science teacher notes that a particular student is not following the correct procedure for combining chemicals safely. Each of these situations provides the teacher with information about the student’s current status regarding a specific skill, strategy, or process, but in neither case is the student aware that such information has been obtained by the teacher. The following examples briefly depict unobtrusive assessments that might be employed in various subject areas.

Language arts: A teacher observes a student writing a haiku poem of his or her own design. The teacher considers this an unobtrusive assessment of the student’s ability to write this type of poem.

Mathematics: A teacher observes a student working a division problem from a homework assignment on the board. The student works through the problem correctly, and the teacher considers this an unobtrusive assessment of the student’s ability to perform the process of division.

Science: A teacher observes a student performing the steps of a scientific procedure and taking notes in a lab book. The teacher considers this an unobtrusive assessment of the student’s ability to perform and document a scientific experiment.

Social studies: A teacher observes a student identifying on a map of the city where his or her house is located. The teacher considers this an unobtrusive assessment of the student’s ability to read a map.

Physical education: A teacher observes a student stopping a soccer ball with his or her feet and then kicking it to a teammate during a game played in class. The teacher considers this an unobtrusive assessment of the student’s ability to stop a ball and kick it with accuracy.

Art: A teacher observes a student acting a part in a role-playing exercise and considers this an unobtrusive assessment of the student’s ability to create and maintain a character.

Technology: A teacher observes a student typing with correct technique while looking at the computer screen instead of the keyboard. He or she considers this an unobtrusive assessment of the student’s typing ability.

Student-Generated Assessments

Student-generated assessments are probably the most underutilized form of classroom assessment. As the name implies, a defining feature of student-generated assessments is that students generate ideas about the manner in which they will demonstrate their current status on a given topic. To do so, they might use any of the types of obtrusive assessments discussed in the preceding text. For example, one student might say that she will provide an oral answer to any of the twenty questions in the back of chapter 3 of the science textbook to demonstrate her knowledge of the topic of habitats. Another student might propose that he design and explain a model of the cell membrane to demonstrate his knowledge of the topic. The following examples depict student-generated assessments that might be employed in various subject areas.

Language arts: To demonstrate her understanding of a book read in class, a fifth-grade student proposes that she write a paper describing the events of the story and how one event caused another, leading to the story’s ultimate resolution.

Mathematics: To demonstrate his understanding of geometric angles, a fourth-grade student proposes that he measure and draw acute, obtuse, and right angles as well as complementary and supplementary angles in the presence of the teacher.

Science: To show that she understands the solar system, an eighth-grade student proposes that she draw a diagram of the solar system and write a paper describing the major features of each different planet and its relationship to the other planets in the system.

Social studies: To demonstrate his understanding of the causes of World War II, an eighth-grade student proposes that he write a paper on how the war might have been avoided if the Treaty of Versailles had not been so punitive to Germany.

Physical education: To show that she can do a forward and a backward roll, a kindergarten student offers to demonstrate both movements for the teacher.

Art: To show his skill at shading, a sixth-grade student offers to draw and shade an object in his house and bring the drawing to class.

Technology: To show that she understands how email works, a first-grade student offers to send the teacher an email from the school computer lab and bring a printed copy of the teacher’s reply to class.

Exercise 2.1 provides some practice in classifying assessments. (See page 35 for a reproducible of this exercise and page 132 for a reproducible answer sheet. Visit MarzanoResources.com/classroom strategies to download all the exercises and answers in this book.)

Exercise 2.1 Obtrusive, Unobtrusive, and Student-Generated Assessments

After reading each of the following classroom assessment scenarios, determine whether it is best classified as an example of obtrusive, unobtrusive, or student-generated assessment.