STUDENT

SUCCESS

Round-trip to
Student Success
A R O A D M A P TO S U CC E S S F U L F O R M AT I V E
A S S E S S M E N T I M P L E M E N TAT I O N

Dr. Sally
IAnson

Dr. IAnson is the Director of

Professional Development at
Interactive Achievement. She has
trained educators in curriculum,
instruction, and assessment
strategies as well as in data-driven
educational practices. She has
taught at many levels; served as
an administrator in private, public,
and charter school settings; and
consulted with state departments
of education.

Dr. Kendra
Boykin-Miles

Dr. Boykin-Miles is an independent

education consultant who
writes national standards based
assessments. She has her PhD
in curriculum leadership and has
experience as a classroom teacher,
reading teacher, and assessment
specialist. She has also written
online learning curriculum and
conducted program evaluations.

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Contents
Importance of Formative Assessment

Formative Assessment Is a Path to Success

How Does Formative Assessment Fit into an Instructional Program?

Six Steps for Rigorous Formative Assessment

Step 1: Student Engagement

Step 2: Formatively Assess

Step 3: Teacher Analysis of Student Performance

Step 4: Student Self-Analysis

10

Step 5: Corrective Instruction

11

Step 6: Re-Assessment

12

Using Systems to Support Formative and Interim Assessment

13

How to Get Started with a Formative Assessment Plan

14

Interactive Achievement

15

References

16

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Importance of
Formative Assessment
The teachers understanding of exactly what their students know before and during
instruction is significantly more powerful than finding out what they know after
a lesson or unit is complete. The strength of formative assessment is the critical
information it provides about student comprehension throughout the learning process
and the opportunity it gives educators to respond immediately and change their
behavior so that every student experiences success. Formative assessment is especially
relevant to students that are performing on the outer edges of the normal curvethe
struggling and the gifted.1 These students have learning needs that are often unique
and specific, and the teacher needs timely data to address them. In short, formative
assessment systems allow teachers to link student achievement to instructional
objectives. These links then inform instruction to meet whole group, small group, and
individual student learning needs.

1 (Halverson, 2010)

When formative assessment is well implemented the

benefits include:
Defined learning goals
Increased rigor
Improved academic achievement
Student motivation
Increased student engagement
Focused and targeted feedback
Personalized learning experiences
Self-regulated learners
Data-driven decisions

It takes a good deal of

support- and courage- for
teachers to turn around
their practices from being
test oriented to being
learning-oriented.
(Harlen, 2005)

InteractiveAchievement.com |

 Formative assessment has an average effect

size between .4 and .07, which is larger than
most interventions found in education. This
means that instead of being in the 50th percentile,
students show gains that would place them in
the 65th percentile.
(Black & Wiliam, 1998)

Formative Assessment
Is a Path to

Success

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Together, teachers and students can create a meaningful road map to increase their
academic achievement and success, through designing challenging and realistic learning
goals grounded in standards. Providing students and teachers with regular feedback on
progress toward these goals is the main function of formative assessment. Formative
assessment helps students close the gap between their current knowledge and their
learning goals.1 The research is clearformative assessment is one of the most impactful
tools to increase student achievement.

1 (Greenstein, 2010)

 Instructional rigor is
creating an environment
in which each student is
expected to learn at high
levels, each student is
supported so he or she
can work at high levels,
and each student
demonstrates learning
at high levels.
(Blackburn & Williamson, 2009)

How Does a Rigorous Formative Assessment Fit into

an Instructional Program?
COGNITIVE

RIGOR

ONGOING
ASSESSMENT

1 (Perie, Marion & Gong, 2009)

2 (Blackburn & Williamson, 2009)

STUDENT
ENGAGEMENT

ENGAGEMENT

Formative assessment is a philosophy of teaching and learning

grounded in the instructional cycle of engaging students in
interesting learning activities, assessing, analyzing the data
(teachers and students), providing corrective instruction, and
re-assessing. It consists of aligning standards, content, and
assessments; strategically selecting instructional strategies to
meet the needs of all learners, including opportunities for
assessment within instruction instead of after instruction; and
guiding the day-to-day, minute-to-minute instructional decisions of
teachers. Teachers who frequently collect and analyze assessment
results, and modify instruction based on data are more effective
at improving student learning than those who do not engage in
these practices.1 Once teachers have an understanding of what
students need to be successful, they create a rigorous learning
environment and scaffold students as they work on tasks that
require higher-level thinking. This promotes a class culture where
all students can achieve at high levels. 2

COMPLEX
CONTENT

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STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
FORMATIVELY ASSESS

TEACHER ANALYSIS OF
STUDENT PERFORMANCE

CORRECTIVE INSTRUCTION
RE-ASSESSMENT

STUDENT SELF-ANALYSIS

Six Steps for Rigorous Formative Assessment

STEP ONE: STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

STEP FOUR: STUDENT SELF-ANALYSIS

The research on student engagement highlights four instructional

delivery methods that increase student interest in learning:
project-based learning, inquiry-based learning, service learning,
and technology-infused learning. Students need to find meaning in
the work they are being asked to do in the classroom. Connecting
the learning objectives with real-world problems and situations
draws students into the instructional activities and feeds their
natural curiosity about the world.

Keeping students involved in the teaching learning cycle begins

with engaging them in the lesson and continues with formative
assessment and teacher feedback on their progression toward their
learning goals. Another way to maintain student engagement is to
teach them the requisite skills to monitor and take responsibility for
meeting their goals. Giving students examples of high-quality work
and multiple opportunities to review and correct their work builds
independent and autonomous thinkers. 2

STEP TWO: FORMATIVELY ASSESS

STEP FIVE: CORRECTIVE INSTRUCTION

Assessing students for learning and during instruction is key

to building a foundation for mastery for every student. It is a
continuous process that involves the teacher providing frequent,
timely, and highly specific feedback tied to the individual learning
goals and objectives of each student. Teachers use assessment
data to adjust ongoing teaching to improve students achievement
of intended instructional outcome(s).

Corrective instruction is not reteaching the same lesson louder

and slower. It is providing a different lesson, using a new
instructional delivery method designed to address the gaps in
student weakness in the formative assessment process. The use
of cooperative learning groups of students that are struggling
with the same skill gap is a powerful way to differentiate learning
during corrective instruction.3

STEP THREE: TEACHER ANALYSIS OF STUDENT

PERFORMANCE

STEP SIX: RE-ASSESSMENT

All teachers assess students. However, many teachers do not have

either the analytic tools or the time to reflect on their student
performance information. As a result, they never get to the
point where they are able to use the assessment data to make
important and needed changes to their instruction. Teachers that
make the time to examine their own practices tend to have much
better student outcomes than their peers who do not. Analysis of
student data lets teachers know how the instructional plan needs
to be adjusted and where more rigor needs to be added to the
instructional process to meet the needs of all students.1

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Once teachers and students have invested the time in corrective

instruction and learning, the students must be given another
chance to demonstrate mastery of the skill. This opportunity signals
to the students that their continued work toward meeting learning
objectives and their personal learning goals is important and valued
by the teacher. The re-assessment should be different from the
initial assessment and reflect the lesson delivered during corrective
instruction. 4 In addition, giving students another opportunity
to show mastery helps determine if corrective instruction was
successful.

1 (Blackburn & Williamson, 2009)

2 (Clark, 2012, Panadero & Alonso-Tapia, 2013)

3 (Guskey, 2010)
4 (Moss & Brookhart, 2009)

 Build in opportunities
for students to have
some influence or
control in what goes
on in the classroom.
Give students choices
about how to complete
assignments that best
fit their own learning
styles, interests,
and needs.
(Jackson, 2009)

STEP 1:

Student Engagement
POINT OF INTEREST
Veteran and new teachers alike recognize the fact that if their students are not
engaged and fully participating in the learning process then it is highly unlikely
that they will comprehend what is being taught and demonstrate mastery of the
learning objectives for the lesson. Engaging every student has been a perennial
challenge for educators. However, research in this area has revealed much
about how teachers can design learning experiences that interest students
and maintain their engagement. This substantive engagement in the learning
process drives them to become invested in evaluating and reflecting upon their
academic growth.1 Students need to be engaged in rigorous assignments and
mentally committed to their assignments. 2 Lessons must move beyond rote
learning and superficial understanding to the development of higher order
thinking skills and application of knowledge to new and novel situations.

1 (Clark, 2012)
2 (Blackburn & Williamson, 2009)
3 (Tristan D Frondeville, PBL Associates)

POINT OF INTEREST
10 Steps to Better Student Engagement
Create an emotionally safe classroom
Create an intellectually safe classroom
Cultivate appropriate intermediate steps
Practice journal or blog writing to
communicate with students
Create a culture of explanation instead
of a culture of the right answer
Teach self-awareness about knowledge
Use questioning strategies that make all
students think and answer
Practice using the design process to
increase the quality of work
Market your projects3

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Point of Interest:
Methods for evoking
evidence of learning
during instruction
Questioning
Discussing
Conferences
Interviews
Student Reflections

STEP 2:

Formatively Assess
Formative assessment improves student achievement. It has been proven in
countless research studies, conducted over the past decade, to be one of the most
effective instructional tools to positively influence student achievement. When
teachers, students, and their peers effectively utilize formative assessment, they are
making conscientious decisions about the next steps in the instructional and learning
processes that will be optimal for improved learning. Formative assessment creates
a responsive and agile learning environment where teachers and students can selfcorrect based on assessment data to increase the likelihood of all students mastering
the standards and meeting their learning goals. One of the key essential elements of
formative assessment is descriptive feedback. Descriptive feedback should highlight
gaps in understanding and specifically inform students on how they can improve
their learning rather than listing what they got wrong, thus facilitating a reciprocal
learning process between teachers and students.1

To instruct using formative

assessment means that
teachers often need to chart
a new course, and in some
cases, abandon ship.
Even the most engaging
of experiences proves
to be nothing more than a
neat activity when the
prerequisite information
is not there. Formative
assessment demands that
teachers willingly
redirect the plan when it
is inconvenient, because
learning is not about the
teacher being ready;
learning is about the student
being ready.
(Crumrine & Demers, 2007)

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1 (Filsecker & Kerres, 2012; Black & Wiliam, 1998)

POINT OF INTEREST
Teachers can ask the following questions to
help them during the data analysis process.
What does this student need? What do
these students need? What are student
strengths to build on? How should I group
my students? Am I going too fast? Too
slow? Too far? Not far enough?2

STEP 3:

Teacher Analysis of Student Performance

Knowing exactly where each student is performing along his or her own individual
learning progression toward personalized goals is critical to teacher and student success.
Whether listening to class discussions, reviewing student assignments, or gathering
information about student learning through other sources, teachers can collect valuable
data regarding the concepts that students have misunderstood.1 It is this close analysis
of formative assessment data that allows the teacher to examine his or her instructional
practices and determine which are producing the desired results and which are not. All
instructional strategies are not created equal. Some that work for one group of students
may not work for another group. Teachers making the time to reflect on their practice and
make the connections between instructional design and delivery and student learning
outcomes have the potential to dramatically improve teacher effectiveness.

Formative assessment can

have a transformational
effect on teachers and
teaching. In a very real
way it flips a switch,
shining a bright light on
individual teaching
decisions so that teachers
can see clearly (and
perhaps for the first time)
the difference between
the intent and the effect
of their actions.
(Moss & Brookhart, 2009)

1 (Greenstein, 2010)
2 (Stiggings et al., 2004)

InteractiveAchievement.com |

 Unless students are

aware of the usefulness
of self-assessment,
they will not self-assess
their work, as it requires
effort from them.
For this reason, it is
important that they
understand that self assessment is a crucial
ability for learning.
(Panadero & Alonso-Tapia, 2013)

STEP 4:

Student Self-Analysis
Point of Interest
Self-assessment happens when students learn to become reflective and responsible for
the progress of their learning. It requires students to be highly engaged in their work
by internalizing their mistakes and knowing what they can do to improve. Empowering
students to determine if they are on track and progressing toward their learning goals
helps them to remain engaged and committed to their learning. Teachers are instrumental
in helping students learn how to self-assess by clearly communicating instructional goals
and explicitly modeling self-assessment strategies.1

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Two practices proven by

research to be effective in
helping students to monitor
their progress are:
Provide exemplars to
allow students to study
a piece of student work
that meets or exceeds
the teachers expectations
for excellence
Utilize rubrics to provide
a very detailed map for
students to gauge their
work against clearly stated
criteria for success

1 (Clark, 2012; Panadero & Alonso-Tapia, 2013)

STEP 5:

Corrective Instruction
The essential purpose in carefully analyzing student assessment data is to give teachers
information so that they can identify students who have not mastered certain objectives.
This allows them to go back to students to present the information in a different way and
give them the additional time and practice they need to effectively learn the material.
Specifically, the data can help teachers design small learning groups, cooperative learning
groups, or alternative learning opportunities that focus on the skills that need to be
re-taught. Corrective instruction is not re-teaching, which simply restates the ideas
that students have previously learned. It is not just feedback on what students have
misinterpreted. It is providing students with a new way of learning content that has been
difficult for them to master initially giving them a second chance at experiencing success.1

With the feedback and

corrective information
gained from formative
assessment, each student
has a detailed prescription
of what additionally needs
to be done to master the
concepts or skills from
the unit. This just-in-time
correction prevents minor
learning difficulties from
accumulating and becoming
major learning problems.
(Guskey, 2007)

1 (Greenfield, 2010; Guskey, 2007)

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11

 In the case of assessment

for learning, assessment
becomes not only the
measurer of impact, but
also the innovation that
causes change in student
achievement; assessment
is not just the index of
change, it is the change.
(Stiggins et al., 2004)

STEP 6:

Re-Assessment
Formative assessment is not a single event. It is ongoing and embedded in the daily
interactions between teachers and students.1 Assessment is occurring throughout the
teaching and learning cycle. Once students are appropriately engaged in rigorous learning
activities the teacher can begin the formative assessment process to identify students
that may need corrective instruction and re-assessment to ensure mastery. Like corrective
instruction, the form of the re-assessment should be different from the initial formative
assessment, yet assess the same goals. 2 In order to maintain student engagement and
encourage students to continue to take responsibility for their learning teachers need to
use a variety of assessment types.

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Point of Interest
Alternative Assessment
Types:
Essays
Maps
Drawings
Explanations
Demonstrations
Models

1 (Stiggins, 2005)
2 (Guskey, 2007)

Using Systems to Support

Formative and Interim Assessment
To create enduring formative assessment practices, administrators, teachers, and students
require the necessary tools to easily access information for student learning. Systems
should provide timely and specific feedback to students, schools, and districts. The core
features to evaluate when selecting a formative assessment software system are:
CONTENT
Items aligned and formatted to state and/or Common Core State Standards
Items available for multiple subjects
Items associated with Blooms Taxonomy and Webbs Depth of Knowledge
Technology-enhanced items
Functionality for teachers to create their own items in multiple formats:

Multiple choice

Enhanced multiple choice

Drag and drop

Fill in the blank

Hot spot

Constructed response
Teacher-created items and assessment for all subjects
Premade assessment bank for multiple subjects
Access to high-quality item banks
ENVIRONMENT
Multiple student testing environments (PC/Mac, tablet, mobile, paper/pencil)
Teachers and administrators can collaborate remotely on common assessments
24/7 accessibility
Comprehensive permission capabilities to customize to your organization
DATA ANALYSIS & REPORTING
Ability to disaggregate formative, interim, and summative assessment data
Comprehensive standard and customized reporting
Multiple data sources incorporated into student overview reporting
SUPPORT & INFRASTRUCTURE
Real-time, live support for teachers and administrators
Robust embedded help features
Reliable technology infrastructure for consistent availability

An assessment is
really only a formative
assessment when teachers
glean evidence about
student performance,
interpret that evidence,
and use it to provide
teaching that is more
likely to benefit student
learning than the
instruction those teachers
would have delivered
if they had continued
forward without using
what they learned
through the assessment.
(Wiliam, 2011)

POINT OF INTEREST
POINT OF INTEREST
Formative assessment is more habitual than
occasional in classrooms where maximizing each
students growth is a central goal. In such classes,
it simply makes no sense to teach without a clear
understanding of each students development
along a learning trajectory.1

1 (Tomlinson, 2014)

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13

 Classroom assessments that aid day-to-day

instructional decisions can be unique to a
classroom or they can be created by a team of
teachers and used commonly across classrooms.
When they are common and intended for
formative use, teachers can pool their
collective wisdom in making sound
instructional decisions based on results.
(Stiggins & DuFour, 2009)

How to Get Started with a Formative Assessment Plan

Although most teacher preparation programs cover the basics of assessing students and providing soon-to-be educators with
foundational knowledge about testing, many teachers still remain unsure of the role of formative assessment in the teaching learning
cycle. The majority of teachers will benefit greatly from professional learning opportunities where they can learn about and practice
using formative assessments. Providing regular professional learning sessions for teachers dedicated to discussions about their
implementation of formative assessments, the analysis of assessment data they have collected, and the connections they are making
between instruction and student achievement of learning objectives is immensely useful for their professional growth.
Investing in creating the time for teachers to analyze formative assessment data to examine their instructional performance is a key first
step in creating a high-quality formative assessment system in a school or district. The second necessary step is to train students in how
they can become involved in self-assessing their progress toward their learning goals. Teaching students to utilize a variety of formative
assessment tools, which allow them to self-diagnose or self-correct and know when to seek help from their teacher, are all steps in the
journey to a high-functioning, robust formative assessment system that increases student achievement outcomes for all learners.

14 | InteractiveAchievement.com

Have Questions?

Interactive Achievement
Interactive Achievement was created in 2006 by educators in response to the
overwhelming need for better assessment and data analysis tools.
Our goal is to create programs that give educators the most accurate assessment
of student progress throughout the school year so every student has the greatest
chance to succeed. Interactive Achievements software solutions assist over 100
school districts, raising the bar for student achievement. As we grow, we constantly
strive to create new ways for educators to track student progress and potential.

info@interactiveachievement.com
Interactive Achievement, LLC
P.O. Box 3122
Roanoke, VA 24015
Phone: 866-305-8460
540-206-3649
Fax: 540-204-4421

interactiveachievement.com

Our commitment to our clients is simple: we will consistently refine our software
and services to best serve your needs, creating productive, educational communities
every step of the way.

InteractiveAchievement.com |

15

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