Embedded Formative Assessment

Embedded Formative Assessment

"If we want our students to thrive in the complex, unpredictable world of the 21st century, we must concentrate on increasing educational achievement by increasing the quality of the teachers in our schools. Embedded Formative Assessment faces this challenge head-on by making a case for the important role of formative assessment as a process, not a tool, in increasing teacher quality and thus student learning. Author Dylan Wiliam provides over fifty practical techniques for classroom formative assessment, emphasizes the instructional side of the process, [and] explores in-depth the use of classroom questioning, learning intentions and success criteria, feedback, collaborative and cooperative learning, and self-regulated learning to engineer effective learning environments" -- from the back cover.

Embedded Formative Assessment

Embedding Formative Assessment

Effective classroom formative assessment helps educators make minute-by-minute, day-by-day instructional decisions, but putting it into practice requires both a robust collection of techniques and an understanding of how to use them. In Embedding Formative Assessment, authors Dylan Wiliam and Siobhan Leahy deliver a clear, practical guide for teachers, centred on the five key strategies for improving teacher practice and student achievement: 1) Clarifying, sharing and understanding learning intentions and success criteria; 2) Engineering productive discussion and activities that elicit evidence of learning; 3) Providing feedback that moves learners forward; 4) Activating students as learning resources for each other; and 5) Activating students as owners of their own learning. Then, for each strategy, the authors provide an overview of the strategy and a number of very practical formative assessment techniques for implementing it in F-12 classrooms. Along with guidance on when and how to use the specific techniques, they provide tips, cautions and enhancements to sustain formative assessment. A student reflection form, peer observation form and self-reflection checklist accompany each strategy. No known practice is more effective than classroom formative assessment for producing a significant positive impact on student achievement. Wiliam and Leahy provide the necessary tips and techniques to put it into practice immediately.