Formative Assessment: Making It Happen in the Classroom

Formative assessment has changed the culture of my classroom. This book provides a straightforward approach to uncovering what my students know, what they still need to learn, and how to use assessment as a tool for learning instead of evaluating. --Shawn Morgan, Math Instructional Support Teacher Syracuse City School District, NY Heritage clearly defines the process of formative assessment and uses real classroom applications to turn theory into practice. The reflection questions at the end of each chapter make this book an easy resource to implement in collaboration with colleagues, as well as a tool for self-assessment. --Amanda Whitehead, Principal Fouke Middle School, AR A practical, in-depth guide to implementing formative assessment in your classroom! Formative assessment allows teachers to identify and close gaps in student understanding and move learning forward. Now this research-based book helps educators develop the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully implement formative assessment in the classroom. Margaret Heritage walks readers through every step of the process and offers specific examples to illustrate the implementation of formative assessment across a range of subject areas and grade levels. This book explains how to: Clearly articulate learning progressions, learning goals, and success criteria Select strategies for assessment and provide quality feedback Engage students in self-assessment and self-management Create a classroom environment that values feedback as part of the learning process With guidance for school administrators who want to promote schoolwide implementation, Formative Assessment helps educators effectively target their teaching and improve learning for all students!

About the Author :
Margaret Heritage is an independent consultant in education. For her entire career, her work has spanned both research and practice. In addition to spending many years in her native England as a practitioner, a university teacher, and an inspector of schools, she had an extensive period at UCLA, first as principal of the laboratory school of the Graduate School of Education and Information Students and then as an Assistant Director at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing (CRESST) UCLA. She has also taught courses in the Departments of Education at UCLA and Stanford.

Review :
A group of teachers and I were fortunate enough to work with Margaret Heritage on implementing formative assessment in our middle school. This book is the next best thing to that firsthand experience! Like us, the reader will experience many ′a-ha′ moments that can be used immediately with students in the classroom to improve teaching and learning. Heritage clearly defines the process of formative assessment and uses real classroom applications to turn theory into practice. The reflection questions at the end of each chapter make this book an easy resource to implement in collaboration with colleagues, as well as a tool for self-assessment.--Amanda Whitehead, Principal Throughout the book, Heritage weaves together the broad picture of formative assessment and the supporting research with a detailed look at various aspects of formative assessment as it plays out in instruction. She not only discusses each aspect in detail, she also provides examples embedded in everyday classroom contexts to help the reader see the connection between the material and the reader′s practice.--Susan Janssen, Senior Research Associate In an era of unrelenting summative assessment, this book provides educators with the knowledge of how to use assessment to help students learn. Formative assessment has changed the culture of my classroom. This book provides a straightforward approach to uncovering what my students know, what they still need to learn, and how to use assessment as a tool for learning instead of a tool for evaluating.--Shawn Morgan, Math Instructional Support Teacher The most important and unique aspect of this book is the focus on feedback as part of the formative assessment process. It is important that teachers are giving feedback beyond grading, but few books offer suggestions on how to create common understanding of feedback at a building level. This book focuses on a purposeful feedback process that should be present in every aspect of instruction. It provides a template for truly understanding what formative assessment looks, sounds, and feels like.--Douglas Wheeler, Principal This book provides a clear explanation of the what, how, and why of formative assessment. The approach is refreshingly common sense and practical, while at the same time grounded in theory and research. Heritage firmly situates formative assessment in the context of rich instruction, reflective practice, and a process for improving student learning.--Eric W. Hart, Associate Professor