This document provides a suggested outline for facilitating a group session where teachers can use the formative assessment in maths video to reflect on their own practice. It could also provide guidance for activities for self-directed reflection.
This resource was created by Ochre Education in partnership with AERO.
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The activities in the resource aim to:
- build knowledge of formative assessment (particularly checking for understanding and providing feedback) and of AERO’s guidance in this area
- assist in developing teaching strategies involving formative assessment
- encourage teachers to embed formative assessment in their practice.
Australian Professional Standards
Facilitator preparation
The following is an example checklist to help you prepare for the session.
Review the materials
- Read AERO’s Tried and Tested Formative assessment practice guide.
- Watch the Formative assessment in maths video, noting down key points that would be valuable for your team and any aspects you think might need clarification.
Plan the session
- Make sure to give your team sufficient notice about the session so they have time to do the pre-work.
- Consider how the session can specifically assist your school and your students.
- Think about what you want your participants to be able to do as a result of this session. For instance, identifying what it is that you want students to know and be able to do as a result of the sequence of lessons, or methods by which you might collect information that students have progressed in their learning.
Consider how change will be promoted in your school
- How might teachers discuss and decide how to check for understanding and provide feedback how teachers might support the work of their colleagues, and what additional resources and learning might be required.
Prepare to facilitate
- Read through this resource and highlight the key elements and the questions you plan to ask.
- ‘Road-test’ the session with one of your colleagues to clarify any aspects of formative assessment that you are unsure about and to make sure you are confident with each step.
'Formative assessment in maths' video
In this video, Sue Davis explains how she uses formative assessment in her maths lessons.
Attendee preparation
The following is an example checklist of pre-session work to set participants before they attend.
- Read AERO’s Formative assessment Tried and Tested guide.
- Identify a formative assessment approach that you have used to collect information on whether students have mastered a skill or set of knowledge can help you to focus the session, and connect to practices used in your context. View annotation
Formative assessment session agenda
The following outlines a possible agenda for a 45 minute group session.
Post-session review
This could be in the form of another meeting, online session, peer coaching session or some other format agreed by the group.
- Share the practice activities from each team member with the rest of the team, if they are happy for this to happen.
- Reconvene the team after several weeks to review key aspects of formative assessment (with a focus on checking for understanding) and to share experiences. Questions to ask could include include:
- What changes to practice have been relatively simple?
- What parts have been challenging for you?
- How can the school assist you to implement formative assessment in your classroom?
Meeting reflection
It is important for you to reflect on the session and the progress of your team. The following questions can help you think about the outcomes and next steps for improving the quality and consistency of formative assessment.
- Were there differences in expertise between members of the group?
- Are there members of the team who you felt left the meeting still a little unsure of what effective practice looks like? What could you do to follow up and provide support?
- What are the aspects of breaking down content that require further learning?
- What parts of the session worked well for the group?
- What aspects were less successful?
For more information
More resources from our partnership with Ochre Education:
Teaching practices in Ochre lessons
Lesson resources by Ochre
Practice hub
Asking participants to identify one aspect they would like to learn more about will help you to focus the efforts of the session. Is the session going to primarily discuss formative assessment as a concept? Or how common misconceptions can be identified? Or perhaps how a teacher can identify at what stages they will want to assess student understanding of curriculum content during a lesson. Or perhaps how feedback can be given to students during a lesson to help them to master the content.
The purpose of this section is to revise elements of the Tried and Tested guides and to emphasise the key points of learning for the team before watching the video.
Formative assessment is a complex teaching practice that is often misunderstood. At this point it is worth checking with your team about what they might need to discuss, as this will help focus the session.
If you have identified aspects of the video that are particularly important for your team, you may wish to pause at certain points to reiterate a point or idea.
This is an opportunity to discuss some key questions from the video. Encourage your team to be specific about teaching strategies rather than talking generally about formative assessment.