Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan Wiliam
I recently finished reading Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan Wiliam. The book was incredibly thought provoking and offered many different ways to use formative assessment in the classroom.
The first two chapters of this book were very statistic oriented. They were, however, interesting because of the facts presented. For instance, on page 7, Dylan Wiliam points out how necessary higher education is becoming in our society, especially in manufacturing jobs: “Almost half of the manufacturing jobs that did not require a high school diploma in 2000 were gone by 2015, while the number of manufacturing jobs that required at least a master’s degree rose by 32 percent” (p 7). Wiliam also suggests that the quality of the teacher in a classroom impacts a student’s success far more than the class size, and how students are grouped (p 16). A study referenced in chapter 2 notes that using assessments as a tool for growth is possible, but that it requires five elements: providing effective feedback, involving students in their own learning, adjusting our teaching according to the assessment results, recognizing the influence assessment can have on students, and needing students to be able to self-assess and improve (p 41). These five elements are the base for the rest of the book. The first two chapters absolutely had me intrigued and wanting to learn more about how to use formative assessment effectively in my own future classroom.
Chapter 3 focuses on rubrics, making the argument for and against them. More importantly, it explained why and how teachers need to be sharing their “learning intentions and success criteria with their students” (p 57). There were three main points made about rubrics: they rely on description of quality, which means they are up to interpretation; they focus more on the grade than improving; and because only specific aspects of the quality of work are identified, other important aspects are overlooked. Something I will definitely use in my classroom is strength and weakness discussions along with model papers, in which the whole class looks over pieces from past classes (unnamed, of course), and discuss the strengths and weaknesses in them. For students like myself, seeing examples is very helpful. I also really enjoy the “WALT (We are learning to), WILF (What I’m looking for), and TIB (This is because)” acronyms (p 80). I want to use this in my classroom because it is straightforward and shows your students exactly why and how they are doing the task.
Chapter 4 is about ways to pretest students, and assess where they are before you begin. “The most important factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows, and that the teacher’s job is to ascertain this and to teach accordingly” (p 122). I like the idea of Plickers and other all-student response systems. Something like Plickers, when used properly, can help the teacher decide what to teach next and how. It is a very quick system as well and only requires some printable paper cards and a smartphone. The responses from these polls can be anonymous to the class, but the teacher can still see who answered with what, making it a great tool for differentiated instruction if necessary.
Chapter 5 is all about the quality of feedback that teachers give and the impact that good and bad feedback can have on our students. The chapter raised several interesting points about feedback that I had not thought of, such as timing. Another major idea in this chapter is about point-based or grade-oriented feedback. If the teacher hands back a paper with just comments, students will be motivated to improve based on those comments. There are two concepts that I would love to apply in my own future classroom. Busywork such as asking a student to copy a table when they say they cannot do any of the work, according to Wiliam, provides “time for the student to make sense of the task herself” (p 128). Another big idea was Minus, Equals, Plus. In addition to comments on the work, the educator will add “a symbol of -, =, or +, depending on whether the work submitted was not as good as, about the same as, or better than his or her last work on the topic” (p 143). I like this idea because it ensures that students cannot compare their grades to one another, and encourages improvement.
Chapter 6 is about peer assessment, and how beneficial it can be to students when executed correctly. Four factors were introduced to explain how peer assessment can be used effectively: motivation, social cohesion, personalization, and cognitive elaboration. One strategy I would like to use in my own classroom from this chapter is “peer improvement of homework” (p 160). By keeping students unaware of whether or how the homework would be checked and graded, more students started doing the homework, the work was neater, and the quality was higher. The teacher will either grade the work themself, pass out rubrics to self-evaluate, or have everyone swap with a neighbor. I also really like the idea of a homework help board where students post questions they had about the homework, and other students would seek out the person who asked the question, and try to help. However, I would rather have the student post the question to the board with sticky notes, or do this online so the teacher has a record and can address misconceptions.
Chapter 7 discusses the pros and cons of using various forms of student self-assessment. Getting students involved in their learning improves achievement across the board. One main idea that really attracted my attention was self-regulated learning in which metacognition and motivation are both crucial skills. The one idea I really enjoyed and would consider using in my own classroom is a learning portfolio. This is different than a performance portfolio because it highlights the entire learning process rather than just the summative assessment. This is also beneficial because students can see what has improved, and will know what to do to continue improving. I also really like the idea of learning logs where a student records what they may have learned that day, how they felt about the class, and more. Again, this gives students ownership of their own work, which is very powerful.
I recommend that all educators read this book because it provides excellent resources and strategies for the classroom. If you are a teacher who is wondering whether formative assessment is worth their time, this book is for you!
Source:
Wiliam, Dylan. Embedded Formative Assessment. Solution Tree Press, 2018.
