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Formative assessment鈥攄iscovering what students know while they鈥檙e still in the process of learning it鈥攃an be tricky. Designing just the right assessment can feel high stakes鈥攆or teachers, not students鈥攂ecause we鈥檙e using it to figure out what comes next. Are we ready to move on? Do our students need a different path into the concepts? Or, more likely, which students are ready to move on and which need a different path?

When it comes to figuring out what our students really know, we have to look at more than one kind of information. A single data point鈥攏o matter how well designed the quiz, presentation, or problem behind it鈥攊sn鈥檛 enough information to help us plan the next step in our instruction.

Add to that the fact that different learning tasks are best measured in different ways, and we can see why we need a variety of formative assessment tools we can deploy quickly, seamlessly, and in a low-stakes way鈥攁ll while not creating an unmanageable workload. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important to keep it simple: Formative assessments generally just need to be checked, not graded, as the point is to get a basic read on the progress of individuals, or the class as a whole.

7 Approaches to Formative Assessment

1. Entry and exit slips: Those marginal minutes at the beginning and end of class can provide some great opportunities to find out what kids remember. Start the class off with a quick question about the previous day鈥檚 work while students are getting settled鈥攜ou can ask differentiated questions or projected on the board, for example.

Exit slips can take lots of forms beyond the old-school pencil and scrap paper. Whether you鈥檙e assessing at the bottom of Bloom鈥檚 taxonomy or the top, you can use tools like or , or measure progress toward attainment or retention of essential content or standards with tools like , with , and , all of which make seeing what students know a snap.

A quick way to see the big picture if you use paper exit tickets is to sort the papers into three piles: Students got the point; they sort of got it; and they didn鈥檛 get it. The size of the stacks is your clue about what to do next.

No matter the tool, the key to keeping students engaged in the process of just-walked-in or almost-out-the-door formative assessment is the questions. Ask students to on the most meaningful thing they learned. You can try prompts like:

• What are three things you learned, two things you鈥檙e still curious about, and one thing you don鈥檛 understand?
• How would you have done things differently today, if you had the choice?
• What I found interesting about this work was...
• Right now I鈥檓 feeling...
• Today was hard because...

Or skip the words completely and have students draw or to represent their assessment of their understanding.

2. Low-stakes quizzes and polls: If you want to find out whether your students really know as much as you think they know, polls and quizzes created with or or in-class games and tools like , , FlipQuiz, , , and Flippity can help you get a better sense of how much they really understand. (Grading quizzes but assigning low point values is a great way to make sure students really try: The quizzes matter, but an individual low score can鈥檛 kill a student鈥檚 grade.) Kids in many classes are always logged in to these tools, so formative assessments can be done very quickly. Teachers can see each kid鈥檚 response, and determine both individually and in aggregate how students are doing.

Because you can design the questions yourself, you determine the level of complexity. Ask questions at the bottom of Bloom鈥檚 taxonomy and you鈥檒l get insight into what facts, vocabulary terms, or processes kids remember. Ask more complicated questions (鈥淲hat advice do you think Katniss Everdeen would offer Scout Finch if the two of them were talking at the end of chapter 3?鈥�), and you鈥檒l get more sophisticated insights.

3. Dipsticks: So-called alternative formative assessments are meant to be as easy and quick as checking the oil in your car, so they鈥檙e sometimes referred to as dipsticks. These can be things like asking students to:

• write a letter explaining a key idea to a friend,
• draw a sketch to visually represent new knowledge, or
• do a think, pair, share exercise with a partner.

Your own observations of students at work in class can provide valuable data as well, but they can be tricky to keep track of. Taking quick notes on a tablet or smartphone, or using a copy of your roster, is one approach. A is more formal and can help you narrow your note-taking focus as you watch students work.

4. Interview assessments: If you want to dig a little deeper into students鈥� understanding of content, try discussion-based assessment methods. Casual chats with students in the classroom can help them feel at ease even as you get a sense of what they know, and you may find that five-minute interview assessments work really well. Five minutes per student would take quite a bit of time, but you don鈥檛 have to talk to every student about every project or lesson.

You can also shift some of this work to students using a peer-feedback process called TAG feedback (Tell your peer something they did well, Ask a thoughtful question, Give a positive suggestion). When you have students share the feedback they have for a peer, you gain insight into both students鈥� learning.

For more introverted students鈥攐r for more private assessments鈥攗se , , or to have students record their answers to prompts and demonstrate what they can do.

5. Methods that incorporate art: Consider using visual art or photography or videography as an assessment tool. Whether students draw, create a collage, or sculpt, you may find that the assessment helps them synthesize their learning. Or think beyond the visual and have kids act out their understanding of the content. They can create a dance to model cell mitosis or act out stories like Ernest Hemingway鈥檚 鈥淗ills Like White Elephants鈥� to explore the subtext.

6. Misconceptions and errors: Sometimes it鈥檚 helpful to see if students understand why something is incorrect or why a concept is hard. Ask students to explain the 鈥溾�� in the lesson鈥攖he place where things got confusing or particularly difficult or where they still lack clarity. Or do a : Present students with a common misunderstanding and ask them to apply previous knowledge to correct the mistake, or ask them to decide if a statement contains any mistakes at all, and then discuss their answers.

7. Self-assessment: Don鈥檛 forget to consult the experts鈥攖he kids. Often you can give your rubric to your students and have them spot their strengths and weaknesses.

You can use to get a quick insight into what areas your kids think they need to work on. Ask them to pick their own trouble spot from three or four areas where you think the class as a whole needs work, and write those areas in separate columns on a whiteboard. Have you students answer on a sticky note and then put the note in the correct column鈥攜ou can see the results at a glance.

Several self-assessments let the teacher see what every kid thinks very quickly. For example, you can use colored that allow kids to flag that they鈥檙e all set (green cup), working through some confusion (yellow), or really confused and in need of help (red).

Similar strategies involve using participation cards for discussions (each student has three cards鈥斺�淚 agree,鈥� 鈥淚 disagree,鈥� and 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how to respond鈥�) and thumbs-up responses (instead of raising a hand, students hold a fist at their belly and put their thumb up when they鈥檙e ready to contribute). Students can instead use six hand gestures to silently signal that they agree, disagree, have something to add, and more. All of these strategies give teachers an unobtrusive way to see what students are thinking.

No matter which tools you select, make time to do your own reflection to ensure that you鈥檙e only assessing the content and not getting lost in聽the assessment fog. If a tool is too complicated, is not reliable or accessible, or takes up a disproportionate amount of time, it鈥檚 OK to put it aside and try something different.