Running Head: FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT & OPPORTUNITIES TO RESPOND

Formative Assessment & Opportunities to Respond

Roz Pridemore

EDU 344
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Formative Assessment and Opportunities to Respond

Students come to school in order to obtain an education that prepares them for their

future life. One job given to the teacher is to educate the students on the material that coincides

with standards and requirements set forth by the state. This job is made increasingly easier with

new advancements in areas such as technology, and universal teaching plans and testing

methods. However, these new teaching tools can only go so far when it comes to knowing the

students, how they learn, and what direction the instruction needs to go in order for the

maximum amount of comprehension to be achieved. Teachers need to be aware of how the

students are processing and comprehending the information as it is being taught. Formative

assessments are one method that teachers can use to gather information on student

understanding.

Formative assessment is a teaching tool that allows teachers to provide students with

opportunities to respond (OTR) throughout a lesson, and will allow the teacher to provide

feedback along with providing the students an opportunity to self-assess their own understanding

(Blanchard, 2008). OTR can be defined as the interaction between teacher’s prompt and the

student’s thoughtful response (Haydon, Mancil, Van Loan, 2009). Formative assessment can

include but is not limited to activities such as red/green cards, white board questions, thumbs

up/down, entrance/exit slips, quizzes, Kahoot!, Google forms, and simple verbal yes/no

questions. This topic became interesting to me after looking into the importance of OTR in the

classroom. In particular, I had one professor in a higher-level education class that stressed the

importance of using OTR in a classroom and its benefits. Formative assessment allows the

teacher to direct the lesson which can save time, and energy in the limited amount of time they

are given in the school day. Melnick & Meister (2008) find that novice teachers struggle when it
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comes managing time and energy in the classroom. This is important when considering

formative assessment because when new teachers are able to implement formative assessment

correctly, they are able to manage their classroom time more effectively. Formative assessment

also provides the students with an opportunity to self-evaluate their own learning. This is

something that is particularly important to me because I feel that, as an educator, we are teaching

our students more than just the textbook facts. We need to teach our students how to advocate

for themselves and to understanding and be critical of their own independent learning.

Purpose

Teachers are often faced with many challenges in the classroom. One such challenge is

ensuring students are comprehending the material enough to apply it toward their work or in

their own lives. Often, students are not required to show comprehension until the end of the

instruction and at this point, it is too late to return to assist students with lingering questions. I

would like to look deeper to answer the following question; what are the effects of utilizing

formative assessment during a literacy lesson?

I wish to accomplish my goals through conducting a survey with primary educators to

find specific strategies that are used to ensure student comprehension throughout lessons. I plan

to compile strategies that can be implemented in classrooms that will allow teachers to best serve

their students and their education. Similarly, the implementation of the following strategies will

allow students to self-evaluate their own learning and comprehension. This will create a more

streamline and successful way of educating students, saving time, energy, and frustration for all

involved.

This research will allow teachers to find different formative assessment methods that go

beyond the typical quiz and are more engaging for students. These frequent formative
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assessments will save instructional time and allow students to receive a more complete

educational experience. I believe that through the use of frequent formative assessment, students

will score higher on assessments, develop a deeper understanding of the content being taught,

and enjoy the learning process all while learning to advocate for their own independent learning.

Review of Literature: Feedback Based Learning as a Formative Assessment

Providing students with feedback is extremely important for overall student learning.

Ghilay & Ghilay (2015) created a study to demonstrate the importance of collecting student

feedback either before, during, or immediately after instruction. This information would be

collected using technology and then used to guide teacher instruction. The study was designed to

answer the question of whether or not feedback-based learning (FBL) improves the learning

process. FBL is a form of formative assessment that allows the teacher to instantaneously

evaluate student comprehension through a series of online questions. The students can rank their

comprehension of a topic on a 1-5 scale that will allow the teacher to redirect the lesson for the

next class. Conducting this research began by selecting 62 higher education students to

participate in the study. These participants were limited to students from the Neri Bloomfield

School of Design and Education. Ghilay and Ghilay provided each participant with

questionnaires that contained 19 closed statements and one open ended question. These

questions related to the student perceptions of the FBL designed classroom. The student

questionnaire included questions that pertained to student involvement, comprehension, teacher

investment, student self-advocacy, and overall student attitude on FBL. These questions would

allow the researchers to collect student answers and support their research question. The

researchers found that students felt the use of FBLs had a positive influence on their learning and

allowed them to feel more involved in the class.

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The authors provided an article that was easy to read and concise, with a clear outline of

the study and results. The findings of this study are extremely beneficial because they allow

educators to appreciate the importance of student involvement and feedback. Through this

study, students were able to voice their appreciation of instruction that is centered on their

learning. Furthermore, the study allows educators to recognize the importance of technology in

the classroom. Technology was the method of collecting the data each day by the professor,

allowing quick and instant feedback from the students. The results may have not reflected the

same outcome if the professor had used another mode of collecting the feedback from the

students. The study could be improved if it allowed students to develop deeper answers to the

questions provided. The closed statement questions could be elaborated on in ways that could

further direct questions to be asked in the future. Conducting this study on a larger scale would

provide interesting information and could solidify data collection results. A direction that the

researchers should take this research is to different areas geographically and to different

programs throughout the county. This would allow a deeper, more solid conclusion to be drawn.

This research brings to focus the importance of monitoring student comprehension. Through

knowing what a student needs to comprehend the lesson, teachers are able to better serve them

and their learning. Along with this, the monitoring of student compression is made easier and

more efficient through the use of technology. Technology allows the teacher to have

instantaneous responses, allowing immediate changes to be made to the direction of the lesson

being taught.

Review of Literature: Role, Audience, Format, and Topic as a Formative Assessment

Providing students with opportunities to demonstrate their comprehension is crucial in

classrooms. When students are able to demonstrate their comprehension during formative
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assessments throughout the instruction, they are able to dive deeper into the subject and think

critically. Along with this, formative assessments allow teachers to address any misconceptions

of the material and build further on areas that are confusing for students. Dani, Litchfield, and

Hallman-Thrasher (2018) conducted a study on the benefits of using a system of creative writing

that describes the Role, Audience, Format, and Topic (RAFT) of a science focused lesson. They

began by selecting 101 ninth-grade students in a physical science classroom that was midway

through a unit on motion. After repeating what has been taught over the course of the unit, the

students were instructed to write a 10-line creative piece that included several different science

concepts such as motion and velocity. The students were then required to complete a graph

indicating the details in their writing activity. The writing piece and the graph were then

collected at the end of the session and evaluated. The evaluation allowed for patterns on student

comprehension and common misconceptions to be noted for further directions. Using these

misconceptions, three learning stations were created to correct or expand on student

comprehension. Through the use of the RAFT system, misconceptions were identified and

corrected early, and students showed large improvement in their overall comprehension of the

topic.

This article was an easy read that highlighted the importance of monitoring student

comprehension. When reading about the RAFT model, teachers are able to form individual

models that fit the needs of their own classroom. The authors need to go into further detail on

the importance of using the RAFT model frequently. The data showed an improvement, but they

failed to identify the importance of regular use in the classroom. Similarly, the final test results

were not listed in the results. The authors provided statements about how student comprehension

had improved but failed to list the concrete evidence that mirrored the statement. This article can
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allow focus to be turned toward the importance of frequent comprehension checks for students.

The engagement of the whole class with quick feedback allows instruction to be tailored to fit the

student’s needs to ensure deeper comprehension is achieved. Research should continue and

branch into all subject areas to see the benefits of frequent formative assessment throughout all

topics.

Review of Literature: Opportunities to Respond

Directing instruction in a pace suitable for all students is one of the many difficult jobs

that a teacher faces. Ensuring instruction is going at a pace that allows student comprehension

and ensuring students are understanding the material being taught is crucial. Haydon, Macnil,

and Van Loan (2009) argue that ongoing assessment plays a large role in academic progress and

achievement levels for all students. The researchers want to know the benefits of ongoing

assessment in classrooms in order to better serve student comprehension. OTR allows teachers

to gather specific information on the learner which can direct effective instruction. The

researchers feel that when providing frequent OTR, student achievement will rise, and problem

behavior will decrease. After selecting a 5th grade student in a general education classroom, the

researchers observed student correct responses and behavior in correspondence to OTRs. After

the baseline data was collected, the teacher was given a 30-minute training on the importance of

OTR and how to correctly implement it in a classroom. The teacher’s goal was to give the

student at least 3 OTR per minute. After the training, the student was observed again with the

use of OTR rate of 3 per minute. The student’s on-task behavior increased, disruptive behavior

decreased, and student correct responses increased. These results indicate the benefits of using

frequent OTR for student behavior and learning.

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The article was written very well and allowed the reader a simple to follow intervention

plan with results. The article can be improved with a reassessment of other students. Through

using only one student, the research does not have the adequate amount of data to be considered

valuable. When the authors are able to further their research, the data will be more complete.

This is important to consider when looking at formative assessment. When teachers give

frequent formative assessment, they are able to assess the student and their level of

understanding. This also brings into focus the idea that through OTR and other comprehension

checks, students are able to assess their own understanding, think critically about topics, and are

more attentive to instruction. This research needs to be continued to further identify other ways

that students can be given OTR other than just verbal questions. The impact of OTR can lead to

a smoother and quicker educational process for both teacher and student.

Review of Literature: Yes/No Questions

Teachers are given the task of ensuring all students are developing comprehension for the

material being taught. With the magnitude of diverse learners in schools today, it is even more

crucial to know the extent to which students are comprehending the material being taught and

offer opportunities for students to also gauge their own learning. Waring (2012) argues the

benefits of using language, specifically conversation, to ensure students are deepening their

comprehension of the material. Waring begins his study through the selection of 8 English as a

Second Language (ESL) classrooms along the east coast in major cities. These classrooms were

recorded over the course of 28 hours for data collection. The recordings were then broken down

to indicate the frequency and type of yes/no questions as a formative assessment that were being

asked in each classroom. An example of questions that were documented are the following; do

you understand the material we just covered? do I need to readdress the concept we just went
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over? Waring finds that the balance between yes/no questions can offer enough assistance to

clear up student confusion for specific topics. Students being asked direct yes/no questions are

allowed to rationalize internally their yes/no answers. Similarly, through asking yes/no

questions, the teacher is removing significant room for error for students when answering

questions. With little room for error, students in turn are more comfortable with answering

questions posed by the teacher. This allows the teacher an opportunity to identify student

comprehension of material. It was also found that teachers who were able to ask yes/no

questions related to comprehension were able to return to confusing material and readdress any

misunderstanding.

Waring provided an article that was easy to read and allowed the reader to identify the

importance of asking yes/no questions in a classroom. Through providing his personal opinion

on the findings, he also allowed readers to begin to develop their own personal opinions of the

topic. The transcriptions of the conversations provided throughout the article added some

confusion. The whole article is dedicated to yes/no questions, but it was difficult to pick them

out of the transcribed conversations. This could be due to the fact that the participants are ESL

students. This article is relevant because it allows readers to see the importance of asking yes/no

questions, which is a form of formative assessment, in order to benefit student comprehension

throughout a lesson. This check for comprehension throughout teaching, or as a means of

teaching, can lead instruction to serve students in a way that is most beneficial to their learning.

Further research is needed in non-ESL classrooms to determine the correlations of yes/no

questions with student learning and comprehension.

Methodology
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When it came time to create a survey, I was able to create 5 multiple choice questions

that related to my research question. After creating my questions, I scheduled time to meet with

an individual who has a great deal of experience collecting data for research of a similar nature.

After going over the questions I had created, I was able to make several small corrections to my

survey. These corrections would allow me to gather more useful information in order to focus

on my research question. I then had to begin establishing the best medium in order to collect

data. In the world of technology, I knew I had many different options that would fit my needs.

Upon speaking with several individuals that are familiar with survey tools, I decided to create my

survey on Google forms. I chose this because it provides convenient and instantaneous feedback

from my participants. I thought this would be useful over the course of collecting data because I

would be able to monitor responses as they occurred and monitor progress. After the data

collection was determined, I had to decide the best way to get participants for my survey.

Because I was using technology to collect data, it was convenience that lead me to use social

media, particularly Facebook to share my survey. I was able to share my survey on Facebook,

encouraging friends that were teacher to take the survey and all others to simply share in order to

reach more people. I was also able to email and message several individuals and encouraged

them to share and take my survey to reach as many individuals as possible. This meaning that

my participants for my survey would be connected to me through mutual friends on Facebook.

Findings

I had a total of 11 individuals participate in my survey and their responses supported my

initial thoughts on formative assessment. After looking at the results, I was pleased to see that

all of my participants (100%) had scheduled formative assessment throughout their daily lesson.

This showed that my following questions would be valid and allow for results to indicate the
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benefits of formative assessment. I was able to determine that 63.6% of my participants used

formative assessment 1-5 times a day, 27.3% used it 6-10 times a day, and 9.1% used it 16-20

times a day. This information was beneficial because it shows that formative assessment is being

used throughout the day. I was interested to see in what ways teachers conducted formative

assessment in the classroom in order to determine the wide range of different modes that are able

to be used.

The most common form of formative assessment was yes/no questions with 100% of

participants saying they use these in their class. 90.9% of participants selected quizzes, thumbs

up and down had 18.2%, exit slips 45.5%, Kahoot! 36.4%, Google forms 27.3%, red/green cards

and entrance slips had 18.2% responses, Nearpod had 9.1%, Coggle and Padlet had 0% of

participants say they used this in their classrooms. These are intended to direct the thought

process toward the different ways the participants implemented formative assessment. When

students are given the opportunity to collect their own thoughts on information, they are also able

to self-reflect on their own comprehension and learning. Formative assessment such as

exit/entrance slips and google forms allow students to collect their thoughts and write down

answers to questions pertaining the material being taught. During this time, students are able to

reflect on their learning style, comprehension level, and what steps they can take to ensure they

are achieving to the maximum of their potential. This allows students to develop independence,

self-efficacy, communication skills, and pride in their own style of learning.

Question number 4 asked participants if they redirected a lesson based on the student

responses to formative assessment. Out of all the participants, 54.5% said they redirect a lesson

based on students’ response while 45.5% said they sometimes redirected the lesson. Zero

participants said they would not redirect a lesson based on student’s responses to formative
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assessment. This question is crucial when determining the importance of formative assessment

because it brings the focus the student’s needs. The responses to this question allow reasonable

assumption that the teachers redirect their lesson to better serve their student’s needs in order to

ensure student comprehension throughout the lesson. When 100% of participants admit to either

always changing or sometimes changing a lesson based on formative assessment, teachers are

listening to their students’ voice and their concerns related to comprehension. This also indicates

that teachers are able to return to confusing material or move more quickly over material that

students have already mastered. This ultimately saves time, effort, and frustration for all

individuals involved. A copy of the survey questions and results can be found below.
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Recommendations

I feel that the results of my research were very promising but limited in many ways.

Given that I was only able to obtain 11 responses, the survey has a very small sample size. The

research would benefit if the survey could be given on a larger scale, with more participants.

This would allow for more detailed results to be formed. I also think that surveying the students
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would be beneficial for research. I believe that, by asking the students their opinions on

formative assessment throughout a lesson, I would be able to create a more encompassing survey

with more details on the benefits of formative assessment techniques. Another area that could be

built upon would be to give teachers a mini-lesson on the importance of frequent formative

assessment after they have taken the initial survey. Then, have the same teachers and students

participate in the survey and see how both the teacher and students results differ.

After conducting this research, it is clear to see that formative assessment is used in the

classrooms. However, given that the majority of teachers only used formative assessment 1-5

times throughout a day is important to consider. Formative assessment should be often and

needs to direct the course of a lesson to better serve students. The hard part of formative

assessment is that it needs to be used during and throughout the course of a lesson. This means

that teachers need to make efforts to implement formative assessment as often as they can

throughout the lesson. Working with educators to ensure they understand the benefits of

formative assessment is crucial when it comes to educating students. Students are the center of

education and giving them all the tools that are needed to succeed should be one of the main

goals in the education field.

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Bibliography

Blanchard, J. (2008). Learning awareness: Constructing formative assessment in the classroom,

in the school and across schools. The Curriculum Journal, 19(3), 137-150.

Dani, D., Litchfield, E., & Hallman-Thrasher, A. (2018). Using RAFT writing to assess students

in a course on motion. The Science Teacher, 85(5), 46-53.

Ghilay, Y., & Ghilay, R. (2015). FBL: Feedback based learning in higher education. Higher

Education Studies, 5(5), 1-10.

Haydon, T., Macnil, R., & Van Loan, C. (2009). Using opportunities to respond in general

education classroom: A case study. Education and Treatment of Children 32(2), 267-278.

Melnick, S., & Meister, D. (2008). A comparison of beginning and experienced teachers’

concerns. Educational Research Quarterly, 31(3), 39-56.

Waring, H. (2012). Yes-no questions that convey a critical stance in the language classroom.

Language Education, 26(5), 451-469.

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Appendix
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