K–3 Formative Assessment Process

1. Selecting Learning Targets Learning targets reflect the learning that teachers expect students to achieve in an instructional sequence (e.g., 1–2 lessons) and are developed with students when appropriate and stated in language that students can understand. This part of the process allows the teacher to answer the question, “What is the next understanding or skill the student needs to learn?”
2. Developing Criteria for Success Criteria for success help teachers and students clearly identify what one must say, make, do, or write to demonstrate the understanding and/or skill selected as the learning target. These criteria also help the teacher identify possible gaps in student learning. This part of the process allows the teacher to answer the question, “What will it look like when the student has learned the selected learning target?”
3. Eliciting Evidence of Learning Through careful planning, a teacher uses multiple assessment means, such as taking photos and recordings, writing observation-based notes, collecting work samples and seeking family input, to learn about where students are currently in their learning and development. This informs the teacher’s instructional practices, allowing him/her to adapt and respond to the learning needs of the student and answer the question, “What can help me learn what the student knows?”
4. Interpreting the Evidence When evidence is elicited from multiple ongoing assessment means, the teacher interprets the evidence and locates the student’s current learning status in an effort to understand what the student knows and is able to do. The interpretation of evidences helps the teacher to identify what a student can do in order to identify where the student needs to go next, answering the question, “What do the evidences of learning tell me about the student?”
5. Adapting/Responding to Learning Needs Once the teacher interprets the evidence(s) and identifies a current learning status, the teacher adapts and responds to the learner’s needs accordingly by making quick adjustments to instruction in-the-moment and/or within a series of lessons. In addition, the teacher provides descriptive feedback to students that is not graded or evaluative and aligns with the criteria for success. When the teacher makes adjustments in student learning, the teacher answers the question, “Knowing this information, how can I respond to the needs of this student?”