About the Book

"This highly practical and readable book gets right down into the detail of what good formative assessment looks like in math classrooms, and shows how teachers can make this a part of their regular planning and instruction."
—Dylan Wiliam, Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment, University College

Imagine how it would feel to not worry about how to plan, teach, and check for student mathematical understandings and related proficiencies. Imagine if this important process felt like a natural, every day, part of your lesson preparation instead of an extra thing to do. This must-have resource shows the way. 

NCTM Past President, Francis "Skip" Fennell, and nationally-recognized mathematics educators Beth McCord Kobett and Jonathan (Jon) Wray, offer five of the most impactful, proven assessment techniques—Observations, Interviews, "Show Me," Hinge Questions, and Exit Tasks— you can implement, every day. Tried and tested by teachers just like you, you’ll find that this palette of classroom-based techniques will truly assess learning and inform teaching.

Research and classroom practice indicates that formative assessment is poorly understood. This book gives you a concise, research-based, classroom-dedicated plan with lots of tools, activities, classroom vignettes, and student work to guide your daily use of these techniques – The Formative 5.

Both within and between lessons, K-8 teachers of mathematics will learn to

• Think and go beyond assessment of learning, focusing on assessment for learning
• Directly connect assessment to planning and teaching
• Engineer effective classroom questioning, discussions, and learning tasks
• Provide success criteria and feedback that moves students forward
• Integrate the Standards for Mathematical Practice
• Activate student self-assessors who take ownership of their learning 

Includes a book study guide, tools and templates, and a companion website with downloadables and multi-media examples of student discussion in the classroom. The Formative 5 will help you build your mathematics-related formative assessment capacity through daily use of these five key techniques, leading to regularly monitored and improved learning opportunities for your students.

Now Available: The On-Your-Feet Guide to The Formative 5

Table of Contents:
Foreword About the Authors Preface Acknowledgments PART I Getting Started WHY FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT? ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES Assessment Literacy: What Is It? Why Is This Important? Formative/Summative: It’s All Testing, Right? Formative Assessment: Assessing to Inform Classroom-Based Formative Assessment: Why Is This Important? You Do Have the Time to Do This! Formative Assessment in YOUR Classroom: The Classroom Is Your Canvas! Summing Up Professional Learning Discussion Questions PART II The Formative 5 CHAPTER 1 OBSERVATIONS Observations: Background and Basics Planning for Observations Tools for Using Observations in the Classroom Technology Tips and Tools for Recording Observations Using Observations in YOUR Classroom Summing Up Professional Learning Discussion Questions CHAPTER 2 INTERVIEWS Interviews: Background and Basics Planning for the Interview Tools for Using Interviews in the Classroom Technology Tips and Tools for Recording Interviews Using Interviews in YOUR Classroom Summing Up Professional Learning Discussion Questions CHAPTER 3 SHOW ME Show Me: Background and Basics Planning for Show Me Tools for Using Show Me in the Classroom Technology Tips and Tools for Recording Show Me Responses Using Show Me in YOUR Classroom Summing Up Professional Learning Discussion Questions CHAPTER 4 HINGE QUESTIONS Hinge Questions: Background and Basics Planning for Using Hinge Questions Tools for Using Hinge Questions in the Classroom Technology Tips and Tools for Recording Hinge Questions Using Hinge Questions in YOUR Classroom Summing Up Professional Learning Discussion Questions CHAPTER 5 EXIT TASKS Exit Tasks: Background and Basics Planning for Using Exit Tasks Tools for Using Exit Tasks in the Classroom Technology Tools and Tips for Exit Tasks Using Exit Tasks in YOUR Classroom Summing Up Professional Learning Discussion Questions PART III Next Steps CHAPTER 6 IT’S YOUR TURN! Why Formative Assessment? Issues and Opportunities Chapter 1: Observations Chapter 2: Interviews Chapter 3: Show Me Chapter 4: Hinge Questions Chapter 5: Exit Tasks What’s Next? Appendix: Book Study Guide References Index