CCSSO Formative Assessment Initiative

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CCSSO Formative Assessment Initiative State
Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards

Formative Assessment For Students and Teachers
(FAST) October 10 - 13, 2006
Driskill Hotel Austin, Texas
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Why focus on formative assessment?

• The intent of initiative is on transforming
  learning and teaching for the 21st century
• Classroom-based formative assessment is a
  powerful concept and research-based practice for
  deep engagement of learning by and for students
  and teachers.
• Learning progressions or trajectories
• Individual learning
• Self-director learning
• Peer learning

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Why focus on formative assessment?

• This practice of formative assessment is what is
  supported by research
• Student learning and achievement
• Motivation and confidence,
• Habits of learning

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Why focus on formative assessment?

• But not focus only here, extend to vision and
  implementation of balanced assessment system
• Balance
• Formative and summative purposes of assessment
• From classroom to state levels
• Different users and information needs

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Why focus on formative assessment?

• All levels of assessments working together to
  full embodiment (Shepard) of learning standards
• Going beyond alignment
• Toward a higher level of accountability of all
  stakeholders students, teachers, parents,
  leaders, and policymakers

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Why focus on formative assessment?

• Systemic Validity
• Where formative assessment can enhance the
  validity, reliability, and effectiveness of all
  assessments as mutually-reinforcing and linked to
  state standards, with differing roles and impacts
  in improving instruction and student achievement,
  as well as teacher efficacy.

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Why focus on formative assessment?

• Critical relationship between assessment and
  instruction in terms of a feedback loop
• Classroom formative assessment continuously
  adapting instruction to better meet student
  needs.
• Large scale assessment this relationship is weak,
  at least in terms of decision making at the
  individual level.
• In every school and in the public at large, there
  are numerous inferences being made about
  teaching, learning and curriculum based on large
  scale assessment data.

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Why focus on formative assessment?

• Formative assessment data can contribute to the
  system validity by strengthening the decisions
  made about students, learning, and teaching
  strategies.
• A balanced assessment system integrates different
  kinds and levels (i.e., classroom, district, and
  state) of assessment data and, thereby, enhances
  the overall quality, validity, and reliability of
  the interpretations and decisions based on that
  data

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Why focus on formative assessment?

• A comprehensive and systemic approach to
  learning integrating standards, curriculum,
  instruction, assessment, teacher education and
  professional development
• This is the appropriate role of assessment in
  Standards-Based Reform (SBR)

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Setting the Context Work Completed to Date

• Submitted mid-June 2006. Received approval
  confirmation in early October.
• Enhanced Assessment Grant Implementing and
  Improving Balanced Assessment Systems for High
  School Success and Beyond
• Purpose of grant To enhance the quality of
  assessment instruments and systems used by States
  for measuring the achievement of all students.
• Delaware, Arizona, Connecticut, Iowa, Louisiana,
  Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, Virginia

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Setting the Context Work Completed to Date

• CCSSO, the ETS/Assessment Training Institute, the
  University of Pennsylvanias Consortium for
  Policy Research in Education (CPRE), and Edvantia
• Capacity building project to provide intensive
  professional development for state, district and
  high school teams in the effective implementation
  and improvement of a comprehensive and balanced
  learning and assessment system.
• Ted Sizer The American H.S. is where the
  relatively young go to watch the relatively old
  perform.
• Project has 4 goals
• Begin with a self-examination of each states
  assessment program and how to design and
  integrate high-quality formative assessments into
  a comprehensive and balanced assessment system.

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Setting the Context Work Completed to Date

• Project has 4 goals
• Begin with a self-examination of each states
  assessment program and how to design and
  integrate high-quality formative assessments into
  a comprehensive and balanced assessment system.

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Setting the Context Work Completed to Date

• Build state leadership capacity and support state
  technical assistance to districts and high
  schools in providing high-quality professional
  and leadership development in balanced assessment
  systems and specific practices of assessment for
  learning.

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Setting the Context Work Completed to Date

• Begin using district and high school teams to
  implement the vision and assessment for learning
  in schools and classrooms.

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Setting the Context Work Completed to Date

• Generate and disseminate tools, techniques, and
  new knowledge to support future approaches to
  teaching and learning, while strengthening the
  commitment to all students learning at higher
  levels.

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Setting the Context Work Completed to Date

• EAG continued
• Immediate Timeline
• Training for state and local teams will start in
  November and continue thru the winter.

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Setting the Context Work Completed to Date

• EAG continued
• Local district and high school teams will begin
  to operationalize this vision during spring 2007,
  with CPRE documenting the challenges and
  activities at this initial stage of
  implementation as part of the formative
  evaluation component of this project.
• Project concludes in spring 2008 with a final
  CPRE evaluation that will look at the team based
  learning process and an assessment of the impact
  of the project on state assessment practices,
  school practices and district policies, and
  whether the project is worthy of replication.

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Setting the Context Work Completed to Date

• EAG continued
• Connectivity of ideas between the EAG grantees
  and the FAST SCASS.
• Many of the same states are involved in both
  initiatives.
• Cross fertilization of FAST SCASS and other SCASS
  projects such as TILSA.
• Adoption of the FA definition.