The Four “Is” of Formative Instruction
By Bruce Vaughn - Yearning For Learning
With all the interpretations of formative assessment out there it can get confusing. After reviewing an exhaustive list of formative assessment resources I have found that effective formative assessment can be summed up in four qualities:
Intangible
The understanding that teaching, assessment, and reflection are not a product but a process, scaled target awareness is key to making this happen. The intangible quality is two fold:
Instantaneous
The understanding that teaching and learning are instantaneous begs the question, “why do we take so long?” Learning can be seen as an incremental accumulation of knowledge and pay little attention to the notion that learning is not linear, but rather a function of non – linear proficiency development. In order to deepen their understanding of the instantaneous quality a teacher must pay attention to:
Inseparable
From the work with proficiency based targets teachers must see assessment and instruction as the same entity. In other words, assessment and instruction must occupy the same pedagogical space for effective formative learning to occur. Teachers must know their gradation of learning (target) so well that at any given moment they can both simultaneously judge where a student is at in their learning and provide differentiated instruction to growth that students learning.
Individualized
By placing the feedback burden on the student we increase reflection time so that students can begin to rely on and trust their own thinking more during the learning process.When students begin to show autonomy in learning the lessons can become far less cookie cutter and more individualized for the student. Not because the teacher individualized it but because the student starts to use their own thinking as the lesson material!
- Intangible – A process, not a product
- Instantaneous – Low reaction time to assessment feedback
- Inseparable – Instruction and Assessment are all same thing, sewn together by a learning target
- Individualized – Student uses own thinking as a learning tool
Intangible
The understanding that teaching, assessment, and reflection are not a product but a process, scaled target awareness is key to making this happen. The intangible quality is two fold:
- Assessment, Instruction, and Reflection cannot be treated separate from one another.
- Outcomes-based assessment produces less reliable evidence than reflection-based assessment.
Instantaneous
The understanding that teaching and learning are instantaneous begs the question, “why do we take so long?” Learning can be seen as an incremental accumulation of knowledge and pay little attention to the notion that learning is not linear, but rather a function of non – linear proficiency development. In order to deepen their understanding of the instantaneous quality a teacher must pay attention to:
- Student reaction time to feedback
- Moments in the lesson where they can change direction based on student needs
Inseparable
From the work with proficiency based targets teachers must see assessment and instruction as the same entity. In other words, assessment and instruction must occupy the same pedagogical space for effective formative learning to occur. Teachers must know their gradation of learning (target) so well that at any given moment they can both simultaneously judge where a student is at in their learning and provide differentiated instruction to growth that students learning.
Individualized
By placing the feedback burden on the student we increase reflection time so that students can begin to rely on and trust their own thinking more during the learning process.When students begin to show autonomy in learning the lessons can become far less cookie cutter and more individualized for the student. Not because the teacher individualized it but because the student starts to use their own thinking as the lesson material!