The current wave of science education reforms emphasizes more equitable opportunities for students as they learn disciplinary core ideas and apply crosscutting concepts by engaging in the practices of scientists. Formative assessment—the assessment teachers and students conduct while learning is in progress—also needs to shift to support this vision. This book combines three-dimensional science learning, sociocultural theories of learning, and science for justice and equity to provide a comprehensive picture of formative assessment for today's K–12 science classroom. Using practical examples and strategies, the author provides guidance for classroom teachers around formative assessment task design that centers students' interests and builds on the resources they bring to school. The text explores the different enactment approaches teachers can use to prioritize and respond to students' ideas as they are learning. It also offers approaches to, and resources for, professional learning that support teachers as they engage in formative assessment for ambitious science instruction.

Book Features:

• Provides a framework for designing and enacting 3D science assessments that support both rigorous and equitable instruction.
• Advocates for formative assessment that evaluates the practices of scientific inquiry, as opposed to measuring the memorization of science content.
• Includes assessment tasks, samples from classroom practice, and transcriptions of classroom conversations with students.
• Offers guidance for providing students with helpful feedback to advance their learning, as well as suggestions for collaborating with colleagues.
• Shows how formative assessment can be enacted across classrooms to create opportunities to coordinate practice at a larger scale.

Acknowledgments

PART I: FRAMING

1. It's Time to Rethink Formative Assessment in Science Education
What Is Formative Assessment in Science?
New Understandings About Learning That Influence Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
Formative Assessment for Ambitious and Equitable 3D Science Learning
Example: What Can We Do to Keep Our Community Healthy?
Initial Drawings
Family Activity
How to Read This Book

2. Broadening Our View of Science Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment in a System of Classroom Activity
Defining Elements of a Formative Assessment Activity System
How Activity Systems Work to Support Learning Through Formative Assessment
Looking Ahead

3. Formative Assessment as a Vehicle for Equity and Justice in Science Learning
Structural Influences on Science Formative Assessment
Constraints on Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment as a Vehicle for Equity and Justice
Self-Reflection for Ambitious and Equitable Teaching
Centering Equity and Justice in Formative Assessment: Examples
Equity and Justice: Connective Threads for Formative Assessment Design and Enactment

PART II: TASKS AND PRACTICES

4. Questions Worth Answering: The Role of Phenomena in Formative Assessment
Considerations for Phenomena
Types of Phenomena for Formative Assessment
How Different Phenomena Support Formative Assessment Across an Instructional Unit
Resources for Identifying Phenomena for Formative Assessment
Putting It All Together: Framing Formative Assessment Tasks With Phenomena

5. Formative Assessment Tasks: Artifacts and Material Representations of Student Thinking
What Do We Mean by "Tasks"?
The Role of Formative Assessment Tasks
Integrating the Three Dimensions in Formative Assessment Tasks
Elements of Multicomponent Formative Assessment Task Design: Supporting Learners to Show What They Know
Putting It All Together: Redesigning a Multicomponent Formative Assessment Task
Beyond Paper and Pencil: Technology-Assisted Formative Assessment Tasks
Looking Ahead: The Importance of Practices and Feedback

6. Norms, Routines, and Community: Classroom Enactment of Formative Assessment
What Do We Mean by "Enactment"?
Participation Structures
Norms and Routines
Talk Moves: Essential Elements of Formative Assessment Classroom Practices
Putting It All Together: A Formative Assessment Conversation to Support the Development of Student Thinking

7. Feedback
Feedback to Support Science Learning
A Model of Feedback
Technology
Feedback Within and Across Lessons: Short, Medium, and Long Cycles
A Challenging, but Key Practice to Support Student Learning

PART III: BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

8. Tools and Routines for Professional Learning: Collaborative Formative Assessment Design  
Teacher Professional Learning Through Formative Assessment Design
Steps for Collaborative Formative Assessment Design
Increasing Opportunities for Teachers to Learn Through Collaboration and Formative Assessment Co-Design

9. Learning Progressions: Tools for Formative Assessment
Defining Learning Progressions
Learning Progressions for Three-Dimensional Assessment
Three Uses for Learning Progressions in Formative Assessment
Features of Learning Progressions That Support Formative Assessment
Potential to Guide Formative Assessment, With Caution

10. Conclusion: Formative Assessment for Ambitious and Equitable Science Learning: Toward a New Horizon
Main Arguments
What Can We Do?
Closing

Appendix A. Phenomenon Planner

Appendix B. Coffee Cup Task

Appendix C. Formative Assessment Task Design Checklist

Appendix D. Weather in Three Places Task

Appendix E. Snowmelt Task

Appendix F. High Elevation Task

Appendix G. Enactment Planning Guide

Appendix H. Skateboarder Modeling Task

Appendix I. Sample Meeting Agendas for Collaborative Formative Assessment Design

Appendix J. Learning Progression Unit Planner

References

Index

About the Author