The Role of Formative Assessment in Response to Intervention
By Rowena Mak, Ed. D., Student Learning Programs
To understand the importance of formative assessment in an effective Response to Intervention (RtI) framework requires a fundamental understanding of RtI’s purpose in a student’s learning cycle.
RtI is a framework for promoting access to high-quality core instruction and providing increasingly intensive educational interventions in a timely manner for students who struggle in core instruction (National High School Center, National Center on Response to Intervention, and Center on Instruction, 2010). RtI is built on the idea of intervening early to prevent failure and to maximize the effectiveness of grade level curriculum and instruction.
Our mission of Success for Every Student aligns with the core values of RtI in that in order for students to be successful, high quality curriculum and instruction must be provided to all students and intervention support must also be available for some students.
Our fundamental role as a Professional Learning Community (PLC) prompts us to ask the following essential questions:
1. What exactly do we want all students to learn?
2. How will we know when they have learned it?
3. How will we respond when some students do not learn?
There is no doubt that the first question of a PLC is answered through a collaborative effort between academic divisions and curriculum teams, and carried out by the development of clearly articulated, guaranteed and viable common curriculum.
The implementation of a clear and coherent system of embedded feedback and common formative assessments help us to answer the second question. Arguably, it is the third question; “How do we respond when some students do not learn?” That is most important, and it is most certainly the shared responsibility of everyone within our school.
Formative assessments play a crucial role in determining the appropriate interventions for students through the use of data and concrete evidence of student learning. With a team’s development of quality assessments that are aligned to clear learning targets, instructional decisions that are relevant to individual students are made possible. As such, reflections on student learning pave the way for meaningful team discussions on effective instructional approaches and necessary support systems to help students who have not yet met the established learning goals of the unit or the course.
The formative component of assessments is of particular importance to the RtI process because it is only through targeted, frequent, and timely measurement of student learning that a determination should be made regarding additional support that a student may need to maximize learning.
In explaining the importance of formative assessment in the RtI process, Buffum et al. (2009) reinforced the idea that without it, the work of teachers and teams would be ineffectively squandered in that decisions regarding what may be best for students will not be informed by accurate information that would have been made possible with formative assessments:
Without timely assessment information, a school’s intervention program assumes a “buckshot” approach, with teachers randomly “firing” broad intervention efforts and hoping that they “hit” a few students. Frequent, formative common assessments also provide the foundation for the progress monitoring needed to properly implement response to intervention. (p.52)
It is important to note that RtI benefits all and not just some students. Its core value rests on the belief that all students are capable and deserve high levels of success. Like many other things that contribute to the overall success of students, its fidelity is dependent upon collaboration of curriculum teams, and the collective work of educators to develop assessment systems to guide the effort of meeting the needs of students.
References
Buffum, A., Mattos, M., & Weber, C. (2009). Pyramid response to intervention: RtI, professional learning communities, and how to respond when kids don’t learn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
National Center on Response to Intervention. (2010). Essential Components of RTI – A Closer Look at Response to Intervention. Retrieved from http://www.rti4success.org.
RtI is a framework for promoting access to high-quality core instruction and providing increasingly intensive educational interventions in a timely manner for students who struggle in core instruction (National High School Center, National Center on Response to Intervention, and Center on Instruction, 2010). RtI is built on the idea of intervening early to prevent failure and to maximize the effectiveness of grade level curriculum and instruction.
Our mission of Success for Every Student aligns with the core values of RtI in that in order for students to be successful, high quality curriculum and instruction must be provided to all students and intervention support must also be available for some students.
Our fundamental role as a Professional Learning Community (PLC) prompts us to ask the following essential questions:
1. What exactly do we want all students to learn?
2. How will we know when they have learned it?
3. How will we respond when some students do not learn?
There is no doubt that the first question of a PLC is answered through a collaborative effort between academic divisions and curriculum teams, and carried out by the development of clearly articulated, guaranteed and viable common curriculum.
The implementation of a clear and coherent system of embedded feedback and common formative assessments help us to answer the second question. Arguably, it is the third question; “How do we respond when some students do not learn?” That is most important, and it is most certainly the shared responsibility of everyone within our school.
Formative assessments play a crucial role in determining the appropriate interventions for students through the use of data and concrete evidence of student learning. With a team’s development of quality assessments that are aligned to clear learning targets, instructional decisions that are relevant to individual students are made possible. As such, reflections on student learning pave the way for meaningful team discussions on effective instructional approaches and necessary support systems to help students who have not yet met the established learning goals of the unit or the course.
The formative component of assessments is of particular importance to the RtI process because it is only through targeted, frequent, and timely measurement of student learning that a determination should be made regarding additional support that a student may need to maximize learning.
In explaining the importance of formative assessment in the RtI process, Buffum et al. (2009) reinforced the idea that without it, the work of teachers and teams would be ineffectively squandered in that decisions regarding what may be best for students will not be informed by accurate information that would have been made possible with formative assessments:
Without timely assessment information, a school’s intervention program assumes a “buckshot” approach, with teachers randomly “firing” broad intervention efforts and hoping that they “hit” a few students. Frequent, formative common assessments also provide the foundation for the progress monitoring needed to properly implement response to intervention. (p.52)
It is important to note that RtI benefits all and not just some students. Its core value rests on the belief that all students are capable and deserve high levels of success. Like many other things that contribute to the overall success of students, its fidelity is dependent upon collaboration of curriculum teams, and the collective work of educators to develop assessment systems to guide the effort of meeting the needs of students.
References
Buffum, A., Mattos, M., & Weber, C. (2009). Pyramid response to intervention: RtI, professional learning communities, and how to respond when kids don’t learn. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
National Center on Response to Intervention. (2010). Essential Components of RTI – A Closer Look at Response to Intervention. Retrieved from http://www.rti4success.org.