Formative assessment is an ongoing process that involves gathering and analyzing evidence of students’ thinking, then using what is learned to inform instruction.
Explore student ideas about mass, density, chemical equations, and more with this set of formative assessment tasks designed for students in grades 9–12.
There are many ways to use these tasks to augment existing instructional activities. However, the tasks are not intended for use as end-of-unit tests or final assessments, nor are they a complete curriculum.
These tasks are an ideal complement to WestEd’s Making Sense of Student Work PLC protocol — a guide that supports groups of teachers collaboratively analyzing and interpreting student work to inform their instruction.
If summative assessment can be described as a digital snapshot, formative assessment is like streaming video. One is a picture of what a student know that is captured in a single moment of time, and the other is a moving picture that demonstrates active student thinking and reasoning.
Van de Walle
- Type: PDF
- Audience: For teacher & coaches
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Matter Course Materials
This comprehensive set of materials supports the professional learning in our 5-day Matter course.
Making Sense of Student Work PLC Protocol
This protocol supports professional learning communities in collaboratively analyzing student work and uncovering the value in high-quality formative assessment.
Leading a Making Sense of Student Work PLC
Prepare teacher leaders to support and lead PLC meetings using the Making Sense of Student Work protocol. Support for how to use the protocol in-person or remotely are provided.