The formative assessment process is the strongest tool to support and accelerate learning and growth.

- Oregon's Early Literacy Framework, p. 56

Step 1: Read

Now let’s take a look at the third step in the formative assessment process to help answer the question, Where to Next?

Responding to evidence can include adjusting lessons (ongoing and upcoming) and providing students with feedback about their learning. Feedback, a culminating step in the formative assessment process, is proven to be a key lever in advancing learning for all students. Below are qualities of effective and less effective feedback practices.

Qualities of Effective and Less Effective Feedback Practices

Effective Feedback	Less Effective Feedback
focuses on qualities of student work or thinking occurs right after, or soon after, learning references the success criteria provides hints or clues, but lets the student make the decisions about their learning is of a manageable grain size for students to take action uses student’s funds of knowledge to make the feedback accessible	focuses on attributes of the student occurs after a significant time delay relates to learning outcomes not related to the learning goal tells students what their next steps are Is of a too-large grain size (e.g., referring to an end-of-year learning expectation) is disconnected from a student’s experience

Adapted from Accelerate English Learner Success with Formative Assessment

When are some key times to engage in the various formative assessment elements?

Before lessons: Plan for formative assessment by identifying or developing learning goals, success criteria and rich tasks to gather evidence.
During lessons: Attend to what students say, do, make and write during learning in relation the success criteria. Provide feedback and support students to engage in self-assessment and peer feedback.
After lessons: Reflect on the evidence of student learning and use this to inform future lessons and feedback.

Try It Out!

Give it a whirl and add learning goals and success criteria to an upcoming literacy lesson. If you already have them, consider a way you can engage students more deeply with them. See if they help focus your attention during the lesson, gather evidence and make inferences about student learning.