NYSAFLT Conference Oct. 16, 2010
If we want students to be speakers of the language, then we have to let them speak more in the classroom. Engage them in real language use.
Formative Assessment my definition: The process of helping students to immediately move forward from their present diagnosed learning to the expected learning.
Formative Assessment components:
Student does something in the language →
Is monitored →
Is diagnosed (determine present status and assess the gap between the present and expected learning; identify a strategy to improve) →
Is given formative feedback →
Has time for improvement →
Is re-assessed to show improvement →
Celebrates success
Formative assessment create a culture of success, of constant improvement
Two Formative Assessment videos from the UK:
Secondary Assessment for Learning
Modern Foreign Languages Peer Assessment
Formative assessment advantages and concerns. You do not grade formative assessment or it becomes summative. It is critical that students be given a new strategy or a new way to think about the learning.
Success or Failure Grading?
Importance of Peer assessment. When peers assess peers, students can talk more in class and get more feedback.
Speaking Assessment: Identify the specific language function and level.
Student 1 speaks for a minute while Student 2 records number said. Student 2 reports back to Student 1 and gives additional suggestions. Student 1 practices the improvements.
Student 2 speaks on another topic for a minute while Student 1 records number said. Student 1 reports back to Student 2 and gives additional suggestions. Student 2 practices the improvements.
Record the information on this baseline.
Students may need teacher given strategies if they do not show sufficient improvement from peer-to-peer help. The teacher has to have a large variety of strategies, each of which leads directly to the students’ being successful.
I have worked on 16 different speaking assessments and each one has about ten different strategies for the students.
Tuttle, H. G. (2009). Formative Assessment: Responding to Students. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education.
Hopefully, my book, Improving Students Speaking Through Formative Assessment, will be out in late April. To be put on the mailing list, email me at htuttlebs@gmail.com
My book, Formative Assessment: Responding to Your Students, is available through Eye on Education.
Also, my book, Successful Student Writing Through Formative Assessment, is available through Eye on Education.