1. D GIN
ESI N G
C M O (FO M TI VE)
O MN RA
ASSESSM TS
EN
A DA P T E D I N P A RT F ROM K . B RA DL E Y , A. L A RE A U, A ND S .
P A L MA

2. OUR DAY
Essential Questions
What are common assessments?
How do common assessments connect to other powerful
instruction and assessment practices?
What are the components of a quality common assessment?
What are the benefits of using a common assessment to both
teachers and students?
Objectives
Differentiate between and among different types of assessments and their
purposes
Improve our assessment literacy through deeper understanding of the
assessment design process
Create a first draft common assessment for use in grade and/ or content
area
Receive tools for evaluating and improving quality of common
assessments
Outcome
Common assessment
creation

3. PERUSE, REFLECT, QUESTION…

4. BEGINNING THE PROCESS…
 Which standard will you be teaching?
 What areas of concern do you have based on recent assessments? Why?
Design a Common Formative Assessment
that will provide you with a laser-like focus to plan precise instruction for
students’ needs!

5. THE POWER OF
COMMON ASSESSMENTS
Not standardized tests,
but rather teacher-
created, teacher
owned assessments
that are
collaboratively scored
and that provide
immediate feedback
to students and
teachers.

6. WHAT ARE COMMON
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS?
Assessments for learning administered to all students
Provides a predictive value of how students are likely to
do on the next level of assessment in time for
teachers to make instructional adjustments
Items collaboratively designed by participating teachers;
represent common, agreed upon expectations
Items represent priority standards only
Items aligned to district and state tests
Results analyzed in Data Teams in order to differentiate
instruction

7. TASTE TESTING
When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative;
when the guests taste the soup, that’s
summative.
7

8. BALANCED ASSESSMENT SYSTEM
A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF RESPONSIBILITY
FORMATIVE BENCHMARK/INTERIM SUMMATIVE
TEACHER
PRINCIPAL
DISTRICT

9. PRIORITIZING STANDARDS
Endurance: Will this standard or indicator provide students with
knowledge and skills that will be of value beyond a single test date? Is
this knowledge you need in life?
Example: Proficiency in writing will endure throughout students’
academic career and professional life.
Leverage: Will this provide knowledge and skills that will be of value
across multiple disciplines?
Example: Reading a graph will help students be successful in math,
social studies, science and language arts.
Readiness: Will this provide students with essential knowledge and skills
that are necessary for success in the next grade level, high stakes test
or the next level of instruction?
Example: Students’ knowledge of letters and their sounds is essential
for learning to read text.

10. THE TEN STEPS FOR DESIGNING COMMON
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
Laying the Standards Foundation: Steps 1-6
1. Choose an Important Topic
2. Identify Matching Priority Standards
3. “Unwrap” Matching Priority Standards
4. Create a Graphic Organizer
5. Determine the Big Ideas
6. Write the Essential Questions

11. THE TEN STEPS FOR DESIGNING COMMON
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
Creating the Assessment: Steps 7-10
7. Write Selected Response Items
8. Write Constructed-Response Items
Match the language
9. Write Essential Questions – Big Idea Directions of the standard
10. Create Scoring Guides for Constructed-Response Items

12. THE TEN STEPS FOR DESIGNING COMMON
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS
Laying the Standards Foundation: Steps 1-6
1. Choose an Important Topic
2. Identify Matching Priority Standards

13. Grade
Level
Authors
Assessment
Topic
Matching Priority Standard
Number Grade Specific Standard

14. The Ten Steps for Designing
Common Formative Assessments
Laying the Standards Foundation: Steps 1-6
3. “Unwrap” Matching Priority Standards
4. Create a Graphic Organizer

15. Circle the verbs
(skills)
Number Grade Specific Standard
Reading Describe characters in a story (e.g. their traits,
Standard for motivations, or feelings) and explain how their Underline the nouns
Literature #3 actions contribute to the sequence of events. (concepts)
Skills Concepts
Describe Characters in a story
Explain Actions
Contribute Sequence of Events

16. Number Grade Specific Standard
Skills Concepts

17. TASK DECONSTRUCTION
WHAT DO STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW AND
BE ABLE TO DO TO BE SUCCESSFUL?
Student Know: Know: Know: Do: Do: Do:
Character Trait and Story Write to Comprehend Follow
feeling events explain story multi-step
vocabulary directions
A a a a a a a
B a ? a a a a
C a no a no a no
D a no no no no no
E ? no no no no no

18. TASK DECONSTRUCTION
WHAT DO STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW AND
BE ABLE TO DO TO BE SUCCESSFUL?
Student Know: Know: Know: Do: Do: Do:
A
B
C
D
E

19. The Ten Steps for Designing
Common Formative Assessments
Laying the Standards Foundation: Steps 1-6
5. Determine the Big Ideas
6. Write the Essential Questions

20. Big Ideas from “Unwrapped” Priority Standards
Authors intentionally create characters with specific traits,
motivations and feelings that impact the plot.
Understanding a character’s traits, motivations and feelings will
allow you to make realistic predictions, and connect to and
make inferences about the character, in order to help you better
understand what you are reading.
Essential Questions Matched to Big Ideas
How do a character’s traits, motivations and feelings
Essential questions lead impact the story?
students to the big ideas
How does understanding a character's traits, motivations and
feelings help you better understand what you are reading?

21. SAMPLE BIG IDEAS AND
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
Essential Questions Big Ideas
Facts, opinions, inferences! What’s Knowing the difference between
the difference and why should we facts, opinions and inferences helps
know? you make your own decisions
about what you read.
What are literary devices? Why do Literary devices enhance and
authors use them? deepen fiction’s impact on the
reader.

22. LET‟S PRACTICE…CHECK OUT THE
EXAMPLES…
Big Idea:
•
Essential Question:
•

23. The Ten Steps for Designing
Common Formative Assessments
Creating the Assessment: Steps 7-10
7. Write Selected-Response Items
8. Write Constructed-Response Items
General Guidelines…
1. Questions should be written with clear, concise language and be bias-
free
2. Questions should require students to apply knowledge, rather than
recall from memory
3. Aim is for 80% of students to get 35-40% of pre-test correct
4. Assessment should be a multiple-measure assessment:
(selected response, constructed response, essential question)

24. WRITE SELECTED-RESPONSE ITEMS
Main parts: correct and Don‟t use humor –
distracters (incorrect, distracts students
but plausible) Positive wording, no
Distracters reflect negatives(not, never,
common except
misunderstandings Avoid “all of the above”
Clear directions, no or “none of the
ambiguity above”
“Best” preferable to Vary position of right
“correct” answer for answers
critical thinking List choices in logical,
Answer choices equal in alphabetical or
length numerical order
we want students to analyze all answer choices

25. WRITE SELECTED-RESPONSE ITEMS
Which word BEST describes how Jordan feels walking up to Mrs.
Radcliff ‟s house?
a. excited
b. terrified
c. hopeful
d. confident
Which line BEST describes why Jordan doesn‟t run away from
Mrs.
Radcliff ‟s house?
a. He knew the bicycle he wanted cost a lot of money
b. The step creaked. “I can fix that, too.”
c. “You are just in time!” said Mrs. Radcliff.
d. “I always have hot chocolate this time of day.”

26. WRITE SELECTED-RESPONSE ITEMS
1.
a.
b.
c.
d.
2.
a.
b.
c.
d.

27. WRITE CONSTRUCTED-
RESPONSE ITEMS
Set clear and specific context for problem in directions
Indicate what is to be included without “giving it away”
Help students perform within time constraints: specify
time constraints, acceptable response length
Always include a picture in text if mimicking CMT
Write sample responses to evaluate question quality
Don‟t confuse writing skills with what you are assessing
Critique for bias or possible disadvantage for students
Use scoring guide to evaluate student product or
performance

28. WRITE CONSTRUCTED-
RESPONSE ITEMS
1. What character trait best describes Jordan? Include two events from
the text to support your answer.
2. What do you think Jordan would do if Mrs. Radcliff acted bossy and
crabby? Use two examples from the text to prove your answer.

29. WRITE CONSTRUCTED-
RESPONSE ITEMS
1.
2.

30. The Ten Steps for Designing
Common Formative Assessments
Creating the Assessment: Steps 7-10
9. Write Essential Questions – Big Idea Directions
10. Create Scoring Guides for Constructed-Response
Items

31. WRITE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
How do Jordan‟s traits, motivations or feelings impact the story?
How does understanding a character's traits, motivations and feelings
help you better
understand what you are reading?

32. WRITE ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

33. QUANTIFY THE FOLLOWING TERMS…
Partial
(% OUT OF 100)
Complete
Some
Few
Always
Occasionally
Adequate

34. CREATING A SCORING GUIDE
Performance criteria shared before students begin
work
Contains specific language understood by all:
students, teachers, parents
Specificity is critical – aim for qualitative and
quantitative criteria
Referred to frequently during task, then used to assess
completed task
Clearly linked to standards and assessment items
Tip: Begin by determining goal or proficiency, then
increase or decrease levels

35. CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE
SCORING GUIDE
Score of 2:
• States how Jordan would act (relevant to character traits from
text – for example determined or polite)
• Includes two specific examples that illustrate Jordan’s character
(Examples: “Anything for the bike,” or speaks politely to Mrs.
Radcliff, “Yes, ma’am.”)
Score of 1:
• States how Jordan would act (relevant to character traits from
text – for example determined or polite)
• Includes one example that illustrates Jordan’s character
(Examples: wants a bike, talks nicely)
Score of 0:
• Irrelevant or inaccurate response

36. CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE
SCORING GUIDE
Score of 4: Exceeds Expectations
•
Score of 3: Meets Expectations
•
Score of 2: Progressing Towards Expectations
•
Score of 1: Inaccurate or Incomplete Response
•

37. ANALYZE CFA AND RUBRIC SAMPLES
Does the CFA: Is the rubric language:
 Contain multi-  Specific
measures?  Measurable
 Allow you to „see‟ the  Observable
students‟ thinking?
 Understandable
 Highlight concept
misconceptions?  Matched to task
directions
 Allow you to
differentiate
instruction?

38. SHARING
GALLERY WALK
1) Review each CFA
2) Provide feedback:
 One compliment…
 Something to consider…

39. THE TRUE PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT
MUST BE, FIRST AND FOREMOST,
TO I NF OR M
I NS TRUCTI ONA L
D E C I S I ON MAKI NG .
L. Ainsworth and D. Viegut, Common Formative Assessments, 2006, p. 21