Understanding & Implementing Formative Assessment

This course provides an opportunity for educators to take an in-depth look at research-based, formative assessment techniques that focus on best practices in reading writing literacy or numeracy across the curriculum. Formative assessment best practices are explored in this course using either Dylan Wiliam’s book, “Embedded Formative Assessment” or Nancy Frey and Douglas B. Fisher’s book, “Checking for Understanding.”

In addition to an in-depth exploration of the rationale and practice of formative assessment techniques, participants learn a variety of ways to approach the minute-by-minute, day-by-day assessments that are essential to using formative assessment practices in the classroom. Participants engage in a range of group reading talks and strategies for accessing text content and are encouraged to try these techniques with their students. Course assignments include reading discussions during each class session and writing reflective journals that examine the formative assessment techniques that were implemented in the classroom. The final project consists of a lesson study, group learning walks and lesson debriefings from the learning walks.

Participants are asked to purchase and bring the course text to each class session. The facilitator will be in touch with the participants about which course text to purchase. PLN will provide a copy of "The Plainer Truths of Teaching, Learning and Literacy" by Morton Botel and Lara Paparo as a mentor text.