A few words about formative assessment...

Formative assessment is emerging as one of the most important practices educators use to increase student achievement. Leading researchers Black and Wiliam in an article published in the Phi Delta Kappan, “Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment“ state,

“We start from the self-evident proposition that teaching and learning must be interactive. Teachers need to know about their pupils' progress and difficulties with learning so that they can adapt their own work to meet pupils' needs -- needs that are often unpredictable and that vary from one pupil to another. Teachers can find out what they need to know in a variety of ways, including observation and discussion in the classroom and the reading of pupils' written work. 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. Such assessment becomes formative assessment when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching to meet student needs.”
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm

I know that when I was in the classroom I felt there was no way I could give this kind of testing. How in the world would I ever find that much time? Assessment Center makes this a manageable practice. Assessments can be created in a matter of a few minutes, and students can take them during class, in their study times, or at home. It quickly becomes a part of what students expect in your class.

The reports contained in Assessment Center give you the option of looking at individual students or an entire class performance. With the results of the assessment in hand, you can decide if a skill needs to be revisited with the entire class or with a group of students. The entire testing and report analysis might be used as part of a review process. If you ask just a few questions on each skill, you will know in a matter of minutes where you need to focus your review. It is frequently the case that every student has mastered parts of what is going to be tested; knowing what skills remain to be mastered allows the teacher the opportunity to work on those skills.

Black and Wiliam conclude: “There is a body of firm evidence that formative assessment is an essential component of classroom work and that its development can raise standards of achievement.”

If you haven't already started using Assessment Center, and would like some help getting started, send your project leader an email. It's easy to get started, and it is a great time to use Assessment Center.

Jim Lippold
Skills Iowa Project Leader
jlippold@ia-sb.org