The Use of Formative Assessment in First Grade

In every classroom, the teacher, is responsible for assessing their students progress to see if they are meeting the requirements set in place by the state, district, and or school. According to the Public Schools of North Carolina, formative assessment is “a process used by teachers and students during instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to help students improve their achievement of intended instructional outcomes.”

It is important to understand that formative assessment occurs when teachers give feedback to students. This feedback than allows the students to improve their performance by doing tasks and allowing them to ask questions! The main focus of formative assessment therefore is how do I (the teacher) help students improve their performance? This means the teachers has to alter or fix their  instruction; formative assessment does not label, sort or classify students, it simply pushes EACH student to do better.

According to Black and Wiliam (1998) in a study they performed, they define assessment to broadly include all activities that teachers and students undertake to get information that can be used diagnostically to alter teaching and learning. Formative assessment should take place all over the classroom not just at the end to measure student growth like summative assessment; it should happen before, during and after with relevant specific feedback allowing for growth.

In first grade, the benefits of adopting a formative assessment approach are endless. Since formative assessment relies on both the student and the teacher it becomes clear that each party has a responsibility for learning to occur. First grade focuses heavily on reading. There are many ways for this practice to be adopted into a reading program.

In reading, it is imperative that the teacher know where each individual student stands, what level they are reading on, who else reads at a level near or equal to them. When teachers know how students are progressing and where they are having trouble, they can use this information to make necessary instructional adjustments, such as reteaching, trying alternative instructional approaches, or offering more opportunities for practice. These activities can lead to improved student success. 

A teacher that adopts a formative assessment will see it has many beneficial attributes and their classroom with surely succeed. Once a student feels like their teacher has made their classroom a place where they are safe and feel secure, they will do the rest! This is hard work, but do not worry! Your hard work will help students feel secure, take more academic risks, and try again until they succeed. Continue to communicate the relationship between effort and achievement as well as your belief that your students will succeed.

 Each teacher has a different way to introduce and conduct formative assessment. All schools today face standardization through testing, but by using formative assessment teachers can help their students be prepared for these tests, by teaching them necessary skills and giving them feedback. But it remains evident that collaboration between student and teacher is essential in a successful formative assessment.