LauraDouglas

EPS513

FormativeAssessmentFinalPaper
Interimassessmentscoverallmaterialtaughtuptothatpoint,whereasformative
assessmentscanlookatanysubsetofwhathasbeentaught(BambrickSantoyo,2010).
Myclassiscurrentlypreparingforamajorinterimassessment,the7thgradescienceISAT.
TopreparestudentsfortheISAT,IcreatedaScienceWorkshopconcentratingonthe
majorsubjectsofscience.Thefirstworkshopcreated,andtheoneassessedinthispaper,
wastheLifeScienceWorkshop.ThisworkshopfocusedonsevenIllinoisAssessment
Frameworks(IAFs).Mylearningquestion,basedonformativeassessmentoftheLife
ScienceWorkshop,is:HoweffectiveisthescienceworkshopmethodforIAFmastery?To
answerthislearningquestionedIanalyzedformativeassessmentsforthepollinationIAFof
theLifeScienceWorkshop.
TheLifeScienceWorkshopFollowsthefollowingformat:pretest,minilesson,lab
rotation,andposttest.Beforetheworkshopbeginsstudentstakeapretesttoassesstheir
backgroundknowledgeonaparticularIAF.SincemultipleIAFsaretaughtontheLife
ScienceWorkshop,thepretestallowsmetochoosewhatminilessonswillbecovered
duringthedurationoftheworkshop.Aftertheminilesson,ashortthreequestionexitslipis
giventothestudentstoassesstheeffectivenessoftheminilessonandtheirprogression
ofmasteryfortheIAF.Theexitslipalsoallowsmetodeterminemisconceptionsby
studentsandtheneedforareteach.Atsomepointaftertheminilesson,studentswill
rotateintoalabstationthatcoverstheIAFtaughtintheminilesson.Thelabstation
requiresstudentstoreadforfiveminutesfromanISATcoachbookandthencompletea
handsonactivitythatcorrelateswithaparticularIAF.Oncestudentshaverotatedthrough
allthelabstations,aposttestisgiventoassessstudentsontheIAFscoveredfortheLife
ScienceWorkshop.EachIAFhasitsownpre/posttest.Posttestsareusedtodetermine
ifstudentshavemasteredanIAFasaclassorifwhole/smallgroupreteachisnecessary.
Ibelievetherearemanystrengthsintheformativeassessmentsandroutinesforthe
LifeScienceWorkshop.Thebiggeststrengthistheeaseinwhichstudentgrowthfora
particularIAFcanbeobserved.Sincethedataistakenatmultiplepointsthroughoutthe
LifeScienceWorkshop,itisclearwhenareteachofanIAFisnecessary.Whileexitslips
aregradedbyhand,preandpostassessmentsaretakenonlinethroughStudyIsland.By
creatingpreandposttestsonstudyIsland,dataisgeneratedinstantlyforstudentsand
teacherstoreview.
OneofthedrawbacksoftheLifeScienceWorkshopisthatitisanacceleratedtest
prepforISAT.Thismeansthattheworkshophastofollowatimelineandthereisntmuch
roomtodeviatefromlessonplans.Sincetheworkshophassuchastructuredformat,
studentswhomissaclassmaynotonlymissaformativeassessment,butalsomissamini
lessonorlabrotation.Eventhoughpost/pretestsareonly5questions,ittakessome
studentsawhiletotestfor7IAFs,sothiscanaccountformissingdataiftheyranoutof
time.Additionally,testsweretakenonlineviaiPadsandinternetconnectionissuescould
alsohindertestprogression.
Studentsareusedtocompletingdailyexittickets,buttheISATworkshoproutineis
completelynewtothem.Pre/Posttestsareusedtoassessstudentlearningforeach
individualIAF.ThereisnodesignatedinterimassessmentbeforetheISATexam,rather
studentscontinuetoworkonituntiltheyscorea75%orbetteronapre/posttest.While
takingpre/posttestsstudentsalsogettoseetheirscoresimmediatelyaftertheysubmita
test,sotheycanalsoassesshowtheirlearningisprogressing.
FormativeassessmentsfortheLifeScienceWorkshoparecloselyalignedwith
designatedIAFs.TestquestionsarealsocarefullychosentorepresentISATstyle
questions.Sincetherearetimeconstraintsonhowlongoneworkshopcanrun,pre/post
testsareapproximately5questionseachandexitslipsarethreequestions.Limited
questionnumberleaveslittleroomformistakesandcanlimitindepthanalysisoftheIAF.
However,frequencyoftestingincreasesvalidityofIAFmastery.

POLLINATION IAF12.7.14
Name PreTest ExitSlip
PostTes
t
ReTeachExit
Slip
Damoney 0% 67% 60%
Julincia 0% 67% 60%
Charvis 40% 100% 40% 100%
Maximus 20% 67% 60%
Princess 80% 100%
Brittany 60% 67%
Angel 80% 67% 100% 100%
Theon 20% 100% 80% 100%
Theondra 20% 67% 60% 100%
India 0%
Romel 20% 33% 60% 100%
Kashmeire 60% 100%
Donell 40% 80%
Jasmine 40% 67% 100% 100%
Lonell 80% 67% 80%
Keilan 60% 67% 80%
Cordaysha 67% 20% 100%
Jason 40% 60% 100%
Jasmin 100% 100% 100% 100%
Javaris 67% 100% 100%
Jemya 80% 100% 60% 100%
Tyonna 40% 80% 100%
CLASS
AVERAGE 42.5% 68.9% 70.5% 97.6%

Table1:StudentMasteryofPollinationIAF
RedrepresentssignificantimprovementofIAFmasteryneeded.Yellow
representsstudentsclosetomasteringIAF.GreenrepresentsstudentmasteryofIAF

Table2:IndividualStudentPerformanceforPollinationFormativeAssessments

Table3:PollinationExitSlipQuestionAnalysis
ExitSlipcompletedafterpollinationminilesson.
OncethepretestforPollinationwasanalysed,Iknewitwouldbenecessaryto
teachaminilessonforthatIAFbecausethemajorityofstudentsscoredbelow60%,as
seenintable1.Thepreassessmentaddressesthefirstelementofformativeassessment,
identifyingthegap(Herritage,2007).ThegoalistogetallstudentstomastertheIAF,
whichwouldbedefinedasscoringin75%orhigheronaformativeassessment.
Studentsreceivepretestscoresimmediatelythishasapositiveandnegative
aspecttoit.Feedback,posttestresults,isgiventostudentsimmediatelyaftersubmitting
theirpretest.Thisispositivebecauseimmediateerrorcorrectionduringtaskacquisition
canresultinfasterratesofacquisition(Hattie&Timperly,2007).Whilestudentsare
informedthatthepretestservesasawayofjudginggrowthinanIAFandthescorewillnot
affecttheirclassgrade,somestudentsmayexperienceanegativeimpactiftheyperceive
theirscoresastoolow.Herritagesuggestthatstudentsmaybediscouragedifthey
perceivetheirlearninggapastoolargeandthusthelearninggoalisunattainable.
Afteraminilesson,anexitslipwasgivenforthepollinationIAF.Asseenintable1,
allbutonestudentshowedimprovementinIAFmastery.However,thewholeclassisstill
notatamasterylevel.Uponanalysisofthepollinationexitslip,Icouldeasilyseewhat
questionsstudentswerestrugglingwith.Asseenintable3,onlyfourstudentsanswered
questiontwocorrectly.Thisquestionhadtodowithfruitformation,soIknewthiswouldbe
atopicIshouldrevisit.Interpretingevidenceisanecessaryskillforteacherstoproperly
utilizeformativeassessments(Herritage,2007).SinceIwasabletoinferwhatconcept
wasmisunderstood,Iwasabletoquicklyreviewafruitingquestionthenextdayduringado
nowtoaddressthestudentsmisconception.
AfterthestudentscompletedallthelabrotationsfortheLifeScienceWorkshop,
theytookposttestsonStudyIslandviaiPads.Asevidentfromtable1,studentsmasteryof
thepollinationIAFcontinuedtogrow.However,theclassaveragewasonlya70.5%,soa
reteachwasnecessary.Again,studentswereabletoseetheirtestscoresafterafter
submission,sotheycouldgaugehowtheywereimprovingsincetheworkshopbegan.
Anothertenminuteminilessonwasgiventothestudentsafterdatahadbeen
collectedandreviewedfromtheposttest.Exitslipsofthesecondminilessonrevealed
thattheclasshadfinallyachievedmasteryofthepollinationIAF.Theonlystudentthatdid
notpasstheexitslipwasBritany,andshealsofailedherpollinationposttest.Britanys
scorescanbeattributedtoherabsencefromtheworkshop,shehadbeensuspendedand
onlyparticipatedintheposttestandminilessonreteach.Btitanysscoresdoindicatethat
sheisclosetomasteryifshehadbeenpresentfortheworkshopshewouldhavemost
likelymasteredtheIAF.
Table2demonstratesvisuallytheprogressionofstudentsmasteryofthepollination
IAF,themajorityofstudentsscoresincreasedwitheachformativeassessment.
Interestingly,Charvisscored40%onbothhispostandpretests,but100%onboth
minilessonexitslips.AssuggestedbyShepard(2005),allformativeassessmentare
alignedwithwhatwasbeingtaught,questionsdidnotdeviatefromwhatstudentswere
usedto.ThisleadsmetobelievethatCharvismayhavehaddifficultytakingtestfromthe
iPadonStudyIsland,sinceheperformedwellonpapermultiplechoiceexittickets.
Basedondataanalysis,IcanconcludethattheScienceWorkshopmethodisan
effectivemethodforIAFmastery.ThenextquestionIwouldliketopursueis:isa
minilessonanecessarycomponentoftheScienceWorkshop?WiththeISATrapidly
approaching,timeisarapidlydiminishingcommodity,removingtheminilessonwouldcut
23daysoffthelengthofaworkshop.Inorderformetocontinuetomonitorstudent
progress,Iwouldgiveanexitslipaftereachlabrotationtomeasureitseffectiveness.
Additionally,Iwouldliketoincorporateguidingreadingintotherotationstomaximizethe
fiveminutesdedicatedtoreadingfromtheISATcoachbookateachlabrotation.
BasedonHerritages(2007)coreelementsofformativeassessment,Iammissing
astudentinvolvementcomponentandmymethodsoffeedbackcanbeimproved.
Feedbackismostusefulwhenitinvolvesstudentsreceivinginformationfeedbackabouta
taskandhowtodoitmoreeffectively(Hattie&Timperly,2007).However,itishardto
implementthiskindoffeedbackwhenassessmentrevolvesaroundstandardizedtest
questions.ThebestIcandoforimprovedfeedbackistrytovisiteachlabstationandgive
studentsinthemomentsuggestionsastheycompletetheirlabactivity.Inregardsto
involvingstudentsintheirprogress,IhavecreatedaroadtoISATmapandaclassIAF
databoard.AsstudentsmasteranIAFtheyhighlightitontheirISATmapandthenputa
stickerforthatIAFonthedataboard.SincethefirstworkshopIhaveimplementedthis,and
itreallyseemstomotivatestudentstomasterIAFs.
Forthispaper,onlyoneIAFwasanalysedfromtheLifeScienceWorkshop.Moving
ahead,smallgroupinstructionwillbepartoftheScienceWorkshopsonceaweek.During
smallgroup,studentswhohavenotmasteredanIAFwillbepulledforreteaching.Students
whohavemasteredIAFswillbepushedintonewIAFsnotecoveredinaworkshop.

REFERENCES
BambrickSantoyo,P.(2010).Drivenbydata.SanFrancisco,CA:JosseyBass.

Hattie,J.,&Timperley,H.(2007).Thepoweroffeedback.ReviewofResearchin
Education,77,81112.

Heritage,M.(2007).Formativeassessment:Whatdoteachersneedtoknowanddo?Phi
DeltaKappan,89,140145

Shepard,L.A.(2005).LinkingFormativeAssessmenttoScaffolding.Educational
Leadership,63(3),6670.