Formative assessment is assessment for learning whose goal is to help students identify their learning weakness and provide timely feedback to address them. Formative assessment is on-going and can take various forms including exit tickets, comprehension check questions at the end of the class, and many more.
After having covered the different tools you can use to quickly conduct formative assessments in your class, today’s post shares with you this collection of handpicked books to help you learn more about the concept of formative assessment. More specifically, you learn more about what formative assessment is all about and what strategies and tips to effectively integrate it in your teaching practice.
Please note, the links below are Amazon affiliate links enabling me to earn from your purchases.
1- The Formative Assessment Action Plan: Practical Steps to More Successful Teaching and Learning (Professional Development), by Douglas Fisher (Author), Nancy Frey (Author)
‘Join Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher as they outline a clear-cut, realistic, and rewarding approach to formative assessment. They explain how four discrete steps work in tandem to create a seamless, comprehensive formative assessment system one that has no beginning and no end. This ongoing approach enhances an active give-and-take relationship between teachers and students to promote learning.’
2- 25 Quick Formative Assessments for a Differentiated Classroom: Easy, Low-Prep Assessments That Help You Pinpoint Students’ Needs and Reach All Learners, by Judith Dodge (Author)
‘This collection of quick, flexible, informal assessments helps teachers take a snapshot of student learning—at any time during a lesson or unit of study, in any curriculum area. Students’ responses give teachers a clear picture of what students know and what they need help with, what material to reteach or extend, and how to pace instruction. Designed to engage a range of learning styles and skills, the assessments come with an easy step-by-step plan, grade-level modifications, tiering tips, and student samples! For use with Grades 3-8.’
3-Embedding Formative Assessment: Practical Techniques for K-12 Classrooms, by Siobhan Leahy Dylan Wiliam (Author)
‘Effective classroom formative assessment helps educators make minute-by-minute, day-by-day instructional decisions. This clear, practical guide for teachers centers on five key instructional strategies, along with an overview of each strategy and practical formative assessment techniques for implementing it in K-12 classrooms.’
4- Formative Assessment: Making It Happen in the Classroom, by H. Margaret Heritage (Editor)
‘Formative assessment allows teachers to identify and close gaps in student understanding and move learning forward. This research-based book walks readers through every step of the process and offers illustrative examples across a range of subject areas and grade levels. This book explains how to: Clearly articulate learning progressions, learning goals, and success criteria; Select strategies for assessment and provide quality feedback; engage students in self-assessment and self-management; create a classroom environment that values feedback as part of the learning process.’
5- Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading: The Classroom Strategies Series (Designing an Effective System of Assessment and Grading to Enhance … Learning) (Classroom Strategies That Work), by Robert J. Marzano (Author)
‘This book details the specific benefits of formative assessment. The author explains how to design and interpret three different types of formative assessments, how to track student progress, and how to assign meaningful grades, even if a school or district continues to use a traditional grading system.’
6- What Teachers Really Need to Know About Formative Assessment, by Laura Greenstein (Author)
‘In this volume, author Laura Greenstein has gathered what you really need to know in order to make formative assessment a seamless part of your everyday practice. Emphasizing formative assessment application in secondary schools but applicable to teachers of all grade levels and all subject areas, this book provides: Straightforward answers to teachers most frequently asked questions; dozens of strategies for measuring student understanding and diagnosing learning needs before, during, and after instruction; illustrations of formative assessment across the content areas, from math to language arts to science to social studies to health and physical education; guidance on making data-informed instructional adjustments…etc’.’
7- How to Create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment and Grading, by Susan M. Brookhart (Author)
‘ In this comprehensive guide, author Susan M. Brookhart identifies two essential components of effective rubrics: (1) criteria that relate to the learning (not the tasks ) that students are being asked to demonstrate and (2) clear descriptions of performance across a continuum of quality. She outlines the difference between various kinds of rubrics (for example, general versus task-specific, and analytic versus holistic), explains when using each type of rubric is appropriate, and highlights examples from all grade levels and assorted content areas.’
8- How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students, by Susan M. Brookhart (Author)
‘Here at last is a guide that helps you always know how to give the right feedback for all kinds of assignments, in every grade level and subject area. Susan M. Brookhart covers every possible aspect of the topic, from what kinds of feedback work best, to when and how often to give feedback, to how to use oral, written, and visual feedback. Lots of examples of good feedback help you choose the right feedback strategy and help you tailor your feedback to different kinds of learners, including successful students, struggling students, and English language learners.
