Formative Assessment for Secondary Science Teachers

"This book places students center stage in the discussion of how we know what students know. Using formative assessment to understand student learning is a theme grounded in good teaching and good assessment!"
―Jo Topps, Regional Directorth
K–12 Alliance/WestEd

"This book incorporates current research and not only provides an explanation of the necessity of formative assessment, but offers a system for planning lessons and a variety of tools to implement formative assessment in the classroom."
―Susan Leeds, Science Department Chair and Gifted Studies Teacher
Howard Middle School, Winter Park, FL

Use this powerful tool to enhance science teaching and learning!

Research has shown that when teachers use formative assessments effectively, they have a clearer understanding of what students know and are better able to design instruction that meets learners′ needs. This practical guide shows teachers how to create and implement formative assessments in their middle and high school science classrooms.

Grounded in extensive and solid research, this guide covers all science content areas―physics/physical science, life science/biology, earth and space science, and chemistry―as well as five types of formative assessments: big idea questions, concept maps, evidence-to-explanation, predict-observe-explain, and multiple choice. Teachers will find additional support in:

• Richly detailed, concrete examples of the five types of assessments
• In-depth guidelines for implementing the assessments
• Brief case studies with transcript excerpts that demonstrate how teachers have used formative assessments
• Easy-to-use templates to help analyze lessons in current units and identify places for inserting formative assessments

With this easy-to-use, hands-on guide, any teacher can learn how to use formative assessment strategies to improve student achievement in science!

Erin Marie Furtak, had a brief career as a high school science teacher before completing her PhD in curriculum and teacher education at Stanford University in 2006 as an advisee of Richard J. Shavelson. Then, with the support of a Chancellor Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, she moved to Germany to complete a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin and the Leibniz Institute for Science Education in Kiel. She studies professional learning environments that support science teachers in formative assessment design and practice. Her research has been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2011). She is now Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction: Science Education at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she has worked since January 2008.