Formative Assessment

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From the course by Arizona State University

Assessing Achievement with the ELL in Mind

60 ratings

Arizona State University

Assessing Achievement with the ELL in Mind

60 ratings

Course 2 of 4 in the Specialization ELL Success in the Content Classroom: Teacher Toolbox Series

In this course, you will learn how to design assessments around the needs of your ELL students and their language level. You will learn how to incorporate language and content requirements for both formative and summative assessment types. You will learn to assess your ELL students through the use of project and task-based assignments. You will learn to use and modify rubrics to align to and measure student achievement of your language and content learning objectives. The course will also briefly cover strategies for supporting ELL students during standardized testing. Upon completing this course, you will be able to: * Conceptualize theories of authentic assessment as they apply to second language learners * Design formative assessment types incorporating language and content objectives * Design summative assessment types incorporating language and content objectives * Incorporate project and task-based assignments as assessment tools for ELLs * Design rubrics that align to language and content objectives for your ELL(s) * Apply the use of rubrics, both language and content, to the work of your ELL(s). * Support your ELL(s) as they participate in standardized testing

From the lesson

Formative and Summative Assessment with the ELL in Mind

Welcome to week 2 of the course! The lessons this week focus a bit more specifically on the different types of assessment and how they uniquely impact our ELLs. We hope that you find some helpful strategies in the lessons provided. By the end of this module, you will be able to: identify purposes of formative and summative assessment types, employ a variety of formative assessments in the content classroom while keeping in mind ELL language acquisition, design plenary activities within the lesson plan as a means of formative assessment design summative assessments in the content classroom while keeping in mind ELL language acquisition, use “can-do” statements as a means of describing assessment criteria for language and content objectives. Let's get started!

Formative Assessment4:20

Summative Assessment3:56

Meet the Instructors

Claire McLaughlin
Senior International Educator
Arizona State University
Ellen Manos
Senior International Educator
Arizona State University

[MUSIC]

Hi and welcome back to Assessing Achievement with the ELL in Mind.

In this video, we are going to provide you with a brief overview of formative

assessment as it relates to assessing all students in all classes, but

with a special focus on our ELLs.

First of all, what is formative assessment?

Formative assessment is assessment for learning.

In other words, it's the assessment teachers use to better their

instruction for either all students or on an individual basis.

Formative assessment is ongoing and continuous.

It happens on a daily basis through classroom observation,

in class discussions, and as a result of quiz type assessment.

It's often informal and happens organically.

Formative assessment measures achievement as student's progress through a lesson.

Formative assessment is often teacher created and

is administered in a normal classroom environment.

We can refer back to our checklist or the informal observation sheet which

identifies when and how students master skills as a perfect example of

assessment done within a normal classroom interactions.

Why is formative assessment important for ELLs in a content classroom?

First, formative assessment helps identify how much and

how well learners are accessing the content and the language.

It gives us an opportunity to observe the language in action, which is often

more telling than a multiple choice test or a random essay.

Formative assessment is also important for ELLs because it allows for

immediate and specific feedback.

The student doesn't have to wait four or

five days while the teacher grades a stack of essays.

Instead, they get to know right away whether they are correct or not, and

what they need to modify for that specific language situation and interaction.

Formative assessment provides opportunities for the teacher to change or

adapt their feedback, the materials, or the tasks in real time.

In other words, the teacher can switch gears in the middle of a class to better

adapt to the needs of their students and the language needs of their ELLs.

Formative assessment is also important because the teacher can

alter planning in mid-lesson or mid-unit to maximize understanding.

And finally, formative assessment immediately impacts the learner

on an individual basis and really makes intervention possible

much earlier in the learning and language development process.

There are many types of formative assessment,

many of which we will cover in depth in this course.

A first example of formative assessment is simply questioning techniques,

with classroom discussion.

Can a student answer questions based on the content or

the material taught during that lesson?

A second example of formative assessment is observation and recording of learning.

Simply observing a student's mastery of content or

language structures while they are working within a group or

during a presentation of material functions as formative assessment.

The next example of formative assessment is collaborative group work.

While observing students working in a group,

you can get a sense of their mastery of content and development of language.

Finally, performance assessment is considered a type of formative assessment.

Can they complete tasks within the content?

Peer and self-assessments as well as portfolios also qualify as performance

assessment, as it is usually asking the student to reflect on their own work and

not up against a standard.

Formative assessment should be used on a regular basis to increase student learning

and to allow the teacher maximum amount of time for

observation of student performance, especially with the ELL in mind.

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