Sound Assessment Design
“Understanding the important learning targets is the essential foundation of sound assessment, and of good teaching too. Only when we understand the academic subjects we teach will the achievements targets our students are to master be clear.”
Stiggins et al., 2004
Lesson Outcomes
As a result of this lesson, you will
- Develop a better understanding of the components and characteristics of a quality formative assessment.
- Develop a better understanding of various types of assessment items and the pros and cons of each type.
- Continue using a backwards design approach and a template form to write a formative assessment.
- Evaluate your formative assessment for quality.
Recommended Prerequisites
- Common Formative Assessment: Overview and Purpose of Assessment
- Common Formative Assessment: Meaningful Learning Targets
Reflective Questions
- What decisions drive the type of assessment items to use in common formative assessments?
- What are the essential components needed to create a quality formative assessment?
- What are the characteristics of quality Selected Response, Constructed Response and performance tasks?