Keeping Track of Progress

Formative assessment is an ongoing collection of information that occurs throughout the day/unit/term that enables teachers to track, support and guide students' continuous progress and improvement towards achievement of the expectations. It is this ongoing assessment that determines what the student knows and is able to do and can apply, and points to the next steps for teaching and learning.

Formative assessment is conducted throughout teaching and learning to:

After demonstrating how to show half of a fraction with a peg board, the teacher provides opportunities for the students to show halves. The teacher provides students with lessons and then allows students to explore with manipulatives such as 'pizza circles' and fraction bars. Opportunities to use electronic applications such as MathTrek 4, 5, 6 are provided for students as well. The teacher observes a couple of students having difficulty showing equivalent fractions and makes notes of his observations. The data is used to plan additional learning experiences to help these students develop concepts and skills involved in equivalent fractions.

Other Examples of Formative Assessment

The grade 3 teacher observes and analyzes the work in the students' writing portfolios on a regular basis (e.g. to observe their knowledge and use of punctuation, to observe their ability to express themselves clearly and coherently). On the basis of this information, whole class and small group lessons are planned to teach the specific skills which the students require.

The kindergarten teacher uses a checklist of observable social-emotional behaviours to focus his observations. The checklist is used on a repetitive basis to create a cumulative record. The record is regularly analyzed to note evidence of growth and to provide a basis for planning experiences to promote further development.