LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature Review

Implementing Short Cycle Assessments Through Technology in Math

Ashley Carr

BGSU EDTL 6320: Fall 2019

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Background

In Transformational Change: A how-to guide for educators, Kathy Dyer and George

Thompson (2018) explain that “Transformational change is a result of either organizational

transformation or the implementation or installation of a program, project, or initiative that

impacts the structure and culture of the organization. Transformational change takes time and

requires support and commitment from everybody involved. Through a Needs assessment

survey, it indicated that teachers at my school are in support of transformational change and

would like more support and guidance for integrating technology successfully and correctly into

their classrooms. One area that really stuck out to me was the need for more information on how

to collect and analyze data to reflect on professional practices and to make decisions about the

use of technology. After looking at the survey results and talking with teachers in my building it

is clear that teachers are searching for ways to engage students in content, outside the traditional

approaches of instruction.

One change that could be made to support transformational change at my school and in

my Math classroom, is to implement more formative short cycle assessments. After completing

the strategic plan analysis, it became clear to me that there is not very many goals or objectives

in strategic plans that are written for the students. Most of the goals are written with the teachers,

administrators or community in mind. Short cycle assessments allow for student self-regulation

as well. Through a synthesis of transformational change, the strategic plans of three different

schools, my vision for the future classroom, and the needs assessment survey results, it is

imperative for educators to have a leader to advocate in support of change within the district.
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Introduction

Short Cycle Assessments are a type of formative assessment that occur during lessons for

planning and revising instruction for student mastery of the content being taught. Unlike

summative assessments, which provide an overall view of a student’s growth from the beginning

to the end of a class, formative assessments allow teachers to assess students as they learn and

adjust curriculum to focus on areas where students may need more help (Zimmerman 2018). To

what degree does completing online formative short cycle assessments given throughout a lesson

on a weekly basis improve Perrysburg Junior High School 8th grade Math students’ performance

on curriculum assessments when compared to a group of students who are not using the

formative short cycle assessments. I hypothesize that formative short cycle assessments in the

Math classroom will provide teachers with a source of data that would allow them to evaluate

their teaching practices, allow students to see their level of understanding of a topic throughout

the unit and provide data that will allow for individualized teaching and learning. There are a

variety of online resources that allow teachers to create formative short cycle assessments and

collect data and provide feedback quickly and effectively.

Research Findings

There is a substantial amount of research to support, when implemented appropriately,

formative assessments have a number of benefits for teachers and students. In, Formative

Assessment Strategies for Every Classroom, Susan M. Brookhart (2010) explains that “Research

on the use of formative assessment has shown that when teachers practice good formative

assessment and students participate in it, both achievement and motivation increase” (p.1).

Formative assessment helps identify what students can do with help and what they can do
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independently. Participating in formative assessment involves students in active learning, keeps

them on task, and focuses them on learning goals (Brookhart 2010). Formative assessment

allows students to receive feedback on what they need to do to improve. It shows them what to

do next to get better. When it comes to assessing student knowledge levels, data has

empowered more schools to choose formative assessments versus summative assessments

(Zimmerman 2018). Using formative assessment requires a willingness to embrace change at all

levels-from guiding mindsets, philosophies and classroom culture, to daily schedules and lesson

plans (Berkeley & Lewis 2019).

Formative assessments give teachers feedback that is useful for guiding their instruction

in the moment. The end result is that these formative assessments empower teachers to improve

their own instruction because the insight gained by the teacher in terms of students’ thinking

helps them change what they’re going to be doing in the next minute, hour, and class period

(Lanoue 2018). The best formative assessment involves both students and teachers in a recursive

process (Brookhart 2010). Formative assessments help determine when and where interventions

or differentiation is needed. “There are many kinds of assessments that educators use in the

classroom-what makes them “formative” is when the information from the assessment is used to

adapt instructional approach to meet students’ learning needs” (Zimmerman 2018). There are a

variety of ways to formatively assess that provide data on our students’ understanding of a topic

or skill, which, in turn, allow you to differentiate for students accordingly (Mcglynn & Kelly

2017).

Formative assessments also provide students with information that allows them to take

ownership of their own learning. Participating in formative assessment involves students in

active learning, keeps them on task, and focuses them on learning goals (Brookhart 2010).
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Students need to be involved both as assessors of their own learning and as resources to other

students (Garrison & Ehringhaus 2007). “One of the key components of engaging students in the

assessment of their own learning is providing them with descriptive feedback as they learn. In

fact, research shows descriptive feedback to be the most significant instructional strategy to

move students forward in their learning” (Garrison & Ehringhaus 2007). Eddy, Harrell and

Heitz explain that “the use of short-cycle formative assessment has the potential to detect and

immediately address early errors in understanding so that they may be changed before becoming

a part of the overall knowledge structure of the student.” They go on to say that “the result

should allow students to (a) become more effective learners, (b) have greater self-confidence in

their ability to learn, and (c) become self-regulated learners who are capable of a lifetime of

learning. (2017)

Formative assessment is not a high stakes test. Many students suffer from test anxiety so the

benefit of formative assessments is that often times they are not graded. Many students suffer

from test anxiety and do not perform very well when they know they are being assessed for a

grade that will impact their overall grade in the class. One distinction is to think of formative

assessment as “practice” (Garrison & Ehringhaus 2007). One of the unspoken benefits of this

type of learning and assessment is that it helps create a culture where risk taking and making

mistakes are productive for reaching the ultimate goals of both students and teacher (Lanoue

2018). Summatives are naturally going to carry more weight in a student’s overall grade;

formatives will be more frequent but present a lighter impact (Catapano 2015). They are free to

pay attention to figuring out how they are doing and what they need to work on without worrying

about a grade (Brookhart). Consider formative assessments as their opportunity to play,

experiment, fail, and figure out what it takes to get stronger (Catapano 2015).
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Kathy Dyer writes in Formative Instructional Practice-Using the Results and Data are What

Matters (2018) that educators should strive for three distinct things:

1. The use of formative assessments has to be such that the data collected allows the teacher

to differentiate the levels of understanding among the learners.

2. Both learners and teachers need to be able to use the results to see what the level of

understanding actually is, and when the learner can make adjustments independently or

may need assistance.

3. When the learner’s understanding is deep enough, the skills and knowledge transfer to

new situations. The evidence gathered should provide information about that transfer.

This data gathered and used formatively informs the decisions learners and teachers make

regarding next steps.

Conclusion

There are times when there are two or three weeks in between summative assessments over a

unit. I believe that implementing formative assessments in my Math classroom on a weekly basis

will help not only myself with what directions to go with my lesson planning but also for my

students to see the errors they are making before they take the end of the unit Test. Formative

assessment strategies in mathematics can help support motivation by building confidence for

challenging tasks (Beesley, Clark, & Dempsey, 2018). Formative assessment is an essential part

to not only teaching but also learning. While summative assessments (like unit tests or final

exams) are familiar curricular tools, it is imperative that teachers properly employ formative

assessments to most powerfully impact their students’ learning (Catapano 2015).

Professional development will be needed to help support teachers in using formative

short cycle assessments, not just learning about them. Continuous professional development
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sessions will need to be provided that allows time to work on formative assessments that are

linked to individual subjects and curriculums. There are many online tools that can assist

teachers in creating and delivering formative assessments such as Edulastic, Nearpod, Spiral and

Formative. These online tools help teachers quickly create quizzes, surveys, polls and other

assessment materials, which can then be manipulated individually to fit the growth of each

student and generate data pools of new types of student data. (Zimmerman 2018). The influence

of formative short cycle assessments drives teachers and students to continue the progression of

systematic transformational change in education.

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References

Beesley, A.D., Clark, T.F., Dempsey, K, Tweed, A. (2018) Enhancing Formative Assessment

Practice and Encouraging Middle School Mathematics Engagement and Persistence.

Retrieved September 16, 2019 from https://onlinelibrary-

wileycom.ezproxy.bgsu.edu/doi/full/10.1111/ssm.12255

Berkeley, M. & Lewis, B. (2019) How Formative Assessment Transforms the Classroom, From

Culture to Lesson Plans. Getting Smart. Retrieved September 16, 2019 from

https://www.gettingsmart.com/2019/01/how-formative-assessment-transforms-the-

classroom-from-culture-to-lesson-plans/

Brookhart, S.M. (2010) Formative Assessment Strategies for Every Classroom: An ASCD

Action Tool, 2nd Edition. Retrieved September 16, 2019 from https://www-tandfonline-

com.ezproxy.bgsu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1080/19477503.2017.1308699

Catapano, J. (2015) Classroom Mangement: Best Uses of Formative Assessments. Teachhub.

Retrieved September 16, 2019 from https://www.teachhub.com/classroom-management-

best-uses-formative-assessments

Dyer, K. (2018, May) Formative Instructional Practice-Using the Results and Data are What

Matters. NWEA. Retrieved September 16, 2019 from

https://www.nwea.org/blog/2018/formative-instructional-practice-using-the-results-and-

data-are-what-matters/
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Dyer, K.; & Thompson, G. (2018, January). Transformational Change: A how-to guide for

Educators. Retrieved September 16, 2019 from

https://www.edcircuit.com/transformational-change-school-districts/

Eddy, C., Harrell, P., & Heitz, L. (2017) An Observation protocol of short-cycle formative

assessment in the mathematics classroom. Retrieved September 16, 2019 from

https://www-tandfonlinecom.ezproxy.bgsu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1080/19477503.2017.1308699

Garrison, C., & Ehringhaus, M. (2007). Formative and summative assessments in the classroom.

Retrieved September 16, 2019 from

http://www.amle.org/Publications/WebExclusive/Assessment/tabid /1120/Default.aspx

Lanoue, N., (2018, July) How Do Formative Assessments Benefit Elementary and Middle

School Students?. KnowAtom. Retrieved September 16, 2019 from

https://www.knowatom.com/blog/how-do-formative-assessments-benefit-students

Mcglynn, K. & Kelly, J. (2017 December) Using Formative assessments to differentiate

instruction. Science Scope. Retrieved September 16, 2019 from

http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.bgsu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=f82

2fabf-e871-4195-9558-483a05c68b47%40sessionmgr4008

Zimmerman, E. (2018). Data Driven Instruction: How Student Data Guides Formative
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Assessments. EdTech. Retrieved September 16, 2019, from

https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2018/10/data-driven-instruction-how-student-

data-guides-formative-assessments-perfcon