USING Formative Assessment Data to Accelerate Student Learning

Checking & Changing Process

By: LeAnn Nickelsen, Melissa Dickson, Anne Arundel County Special Education Dept., 2014
Modified Dec 2014 By: D. Miller, C. Palko, N. Wagner, S. Rascher

Possible Formative Assessments- Checks for Understanding

pre-assessments
Dry erase boards
exit slips galore
Thinking Maps
Interactive Notebooks
Student selfassessment trackers
multiple intelligence
closure
Create a Cloze
SOS summary
directions
SOS template

quads;quads sentence
starters
supersleuth
4 choice processing

anticipation guide
Draw it, web it,
write it
Supports:
learning styles inventory
multiple intelligence
inventory

Cooperative Learning
Structures - some of
which are listed below:
Numbered
Heads

4 corners
jigsaw
super sleuth
think/pair/share

cruising clipboard

CHECK: What does the

formative assessment data
tell you?
Students completed the
practice pieces very
quickly

CHANGE: How do you respond to the data? What changes

do you need to make to your instruction?

Change the Pace

Create deep thinking questions BLOOMS ,Costa's level of
thinking, Thinking Hat) about unit and incorporate them
into the lesson to accelerate learning
Establish the use of anchor activities reading; anchor
activities WCL anchor activities math as a regular practice
for students who demonstrate proficiency prior to their
classmates;
Use Socratic Seminar to deepen learning and create selfdirected learning practices; socratic seminar sentence
starters
Create a separate higher level cube
Create more advanced learning opportunities with Bump it UP
strategies
Higher Order thinking questions

Nickelsen, Dickson, AACPS Special Education Department, 2014

(Version 1: September 2014)

Students need a slower

pace; they are
overwhelmed

CHECK: What does the

formative assessment data
tell you?

Students are not

motivated

Students are far from

mastering the gradelevel standard

Tier questions by using six thinking hat chips, Six Thinking

Hats Rhyme, Six Thinking Hats -SS, Six Thinking HatsMath, Six Thinking Hats Science; six thinking hats video
Change the Pace
Break down the chunks into smaller chunks of information
and check each mini chunk before moving forward Stop
and think with example, stop and think format, stop and
think math
Give more scaffold examples and more modeling; ask
students to contribute to this guided approach, tiering
Use an interactive RAN chart ,RAN charts
Bump it Down
Notes, and Interactive Notebooks to provide examples
and model concepts
Create visuals with google images or videos
Provide processing time with visuals by strategy of
Tiering quick plan
Use Processing cards to provide students with extra time
CHANGE: How do you respond to the data? What changes
do you need to make to your instruction? grouping template
Change the Grouping
Create interest groups (based on survey) and activity that
goes along with outcome and interests multiple
intelligence TICTACTOE
Offer choice of products (visual, auditory and/or
kinesthetic) so students can creatively share learning
styles products
Create high interest RAFT math, RAFT ELA,RAFT science,
Math SS,RAFT WCL for the unit/lesson and ask students
to choose
Grab their attention with a novel, exciting experience at
the beginning of the lessons: hooks and grabbers
Engage students with active learning activities: roleplaying, simulations, technology work, problem-based
learning, surveys or polls on a topic of interest,
Allow students to teach /lead class discussion4 corner
response
Change the Grouping
Plan small-group specialized instruction with the teacher
scaffolding the content: instructing in the students

Nickelsen, Dickson, AACPS Special Education Department, 2014

(Version 1: September 2014)

Students have already

mastered the grade-level
standard

preferred learning style or strongest intelligence,multiple

intelligences products,
Parallel Teaching
Determine where they are stuck (concept, skill, or chunk).
Research, think and consult other teachers regarding
what strategy could be used to help the students jump
the hurdle at hand; Scaffold Assessments
Find technology Apps or websites that will help students
practice the concept/skills intensely
processing bounce cards
Tiered question starters
nonfiction response cards
Change the Grouping
Increase depth and complexity through menus,
Allow for a group of one and offer choice of
extension activities, learning topics and/or
independent studies Dice -a-roni
If this was proven through a unit pre-assessment, then
you could follow the steps toward Curriculum
Compacting
(http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/sem/pdf/curriculum_compacti
ng.pdf)
countdown processing
RAFT

Students are having

trouble retaining the
content

Change the Grouping

Use the following memory-enhancing strategies in the
small group: color code concepts, words, or ideas;
TIC /TAC/TOE-SS, Tic/Tac/Toe-Science, Tic/Tac/Toe- Math
help students to chant/rhyme so the concept meaning
is more easily remembered; Songs
o Graffiti wall
o encourage students to create movements to help
them remember the meaning of what was
learned Use kinesthetic activities Kinesthetic
learners
o Teaching with Tableau.docx
o Create a math word wall word wall examples
Give a description of the words and give examples and
visuals of the words they will encounter during the lesson or
reading 4 choice processing
Consider re-teaching stations/centers Station Teaching

Nickelsen, Dickson, AACPS Special Education Department, 2014

(Version 1: September 2014)

CHECK: What does the

formative assessment data
tell you?

Students struggling with

Tier Two (academic) and
Tier Three (specialized)
vocabulary

Students struggling with

mastery of academic
content

CHANGE: How do you respond to the data? What changes

do you need to make to your instruction?
Change the small group support Specialize the
Instruction by Pre-teaching or Re-teaching
Vocabulary
o Give a description of the words and give
examples and visuals of the words they will
encounter during the lesson vocabulary
template; Frayer model
o Go over words on Word Wall to reinforce words
learned yesterday and those that they will need
to understand for the duration of the lesson
folder.interactive vocabulary
o Play Vocabulary Games flyswatter game;
Koosh+Ball+Templates; vocabulary cube
o Show more pictures or symbols of the
word :visual vocabulary strategies
o Make vocabulary active (EX: act out the word,
draw the word, provide examples and nonexamples for the word, put the word in a
sentence) word wall games;beach ball activity
Change the small group support Specialize the
instruction by Re-teaching
Study the formative assessment to determine what
type of mistake was made: flaw in reasoning?
Misconception? Just a silly mistake? Then, create a
plan of re-teaching based on the type of mistake made
Student Self-Assessment Student self-evaluation
forms
Give descriptive feedback to students and ask them to
paraphrase . quiz quiz trade
Present the content in smaller increments quads;
quads-questions helpers
Consider re-teaching stations/Gallery walk;
list/sort/label
4 choice processing
Book conversation questions
Create an error analysis sheet for students -Error
Tracker
Change the small group support Specialize the

Nickelsen, Dickson, AACPS Special Education Department, 2014

(Version 1: September 2014)

Students struggle to
prime their brain before
reading
(pre-teaching)

CHECK: What does the

formative assessment data
tell you?

Students struggling to
learn and retain gradelevel standards and
outcomes

CHECK: What does the

formative assessment data
tell you?

Instruction by Pre-teaching
Build background knowledge about the reading
content by showing small group pictures, historical
time period, specific names of people or events, etc.
Prime their brains! IIQEE strategy;
Priming the Brain: grab it, show it; admit one
entrance ticket
Pre-teach challenging words that they will encounter in
the reading
Help students create a purpose for the reading. Super
Sleuth
Help students determine what type of text it is:
sequential, cause-effect: foldable
Cue students on words that signal information will be
sequenced: first, next, then, after that, finally:
Sequence words
Knowledge framing; alphabet brainstorm

CHANGE: How do you respond to the data? What changes

do you need to make to your instruction?
Change the Scaffolding
Show the students exactly what is expected. Show it
slowly and in writing and with visual supports
Break down all projects into mini projects with a
rubric/check points per sections and feedback
embedded
Artful thinking
While reading aloud, model Think Aloud, so students
understand powerful reading strategies
Break word problem into mini steps to see the
metacognition at each thinking point
Activating prior knowledge preview guide; KWL Charts,
brainstorming, etc
Give students time to talk about their new ideas, new
learning at each step of the learning process
Use visual aids and graphic organizers
Pause and ask questions, Pause and paraphrase
(student)
CHANGE: How do you respond to the data? What changes
do you need to make to your instruction?

Change Your Instructional Power Strategy

Just because a strategy is researched-based, doesnt guarantee that it will work
Nickelsen, Dickson, AACPS Special Education Department, 2014
(Version 1: September 2014)

for all students. Exceptional teachers learn to match the strategies with the
students they teach. Listed below are some of the most powerful research-based
strategies for learning:
POWER STRATEGY
Reciprocal Teaching
Question Answer Relationship (QAR)
Big Picture Web or Sketch bringing all concepts together
Sorting, comparing & contrasting
Summarizing in creative manners
Power Writing
Thinking Maps
Power Reading with Annotating
Add other Marzano Strategies

Nickelsen, Dickson, AACPS Special Education Department, 2014

(Version 1: September 2014)