Formative 5 : Everyday Assessment Techniques for Every Math Classroom

"This highly practical and readable book gets right down into the detail of what good formative assessment looks like in math classrooms, and shows how teachers can make this a part of their regular planning and instruction."
―Dylan Wiliam, Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment, University College

Imagine how it would feel to not worry about how to plan, teach, and check for student mathematical understandings and related proficiencies. Imagine if this important process felt like a natural, every day, part of your lesson preparation instead of an extra thing to do. This must-have resource shows the way. 

NCTM Past President, Francis "Skip" Fennell, and nationally-recognized mathematics educators Beth McCord Kobett and Jonathan (Jon) Wray, offer five of the most impactful, proven assessment techniques―Observations, Interviews, "Show Me," Hinge Questions, and Exit Tasks― you can implement, every day. Tried and tested by teachers just like you, you’ll find that this palette of classroom-based techniques will truly assess learning and inform teaching.

Research and classroom practice indicates that formative assessment is poorly understood. This book gives you a concise, research-based, classroom-dedicated plan with lots of tools, activities, classroom vignettes, and student work to guide your daily use of these techniques – The Formative 5.

Both within and between lessons, K-8 teachers of mathematics will learn to

• Think and go beyond assessment of learning, focusing on assessment for learning
• Directly connect assessment to planning and teaching
• Engineer effective classroom questioning, discussions, and learning tasks
• Provide success criteria and feedback that moves students forward
• Integrate the Standards for Mathematical Practice
• Activate student self-assessors who take ownership of their learning 

Includes a book study guide, tools and templates, and a companion website with downloadables and multi-media examples of student discussion in the classroom. The Formative 5 will help you build your mathematics-related formative assessment capacity through daily use of these five key techniques, leading to regularly monitored and improved learning opportunities for your students.

Now Available: The On-Your-Feet Guide to The Formative 5

Francis (Skip) Fennell is professor of education and Graduate and Professional Studies, emeritus at McDaniel College in Maryland. He is a former classroom teacher, principal, and supervisor of instruction, and past president of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), the Research Council on Mathematics Learning (RCML), and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). He is a recipient of the Mathematics Educator of the Year Award from the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics (MCTM), the Glenn Gilbert National Leadership Award from NCSM: Leadership in Mathematics Education, the Excellence in Leadership and Service in Mathematics Teacher Education Award from AMTE, the James Heddens Distinguished Service Award from RCML, and Lifetime Achievement Awards from both MCTM and NCTM. Skip’s many publications including Achieving Fluency: Special Education and Mathematics (NCTM, 2011), and The Formative 5: In Action (Corwin, 2024) have been influenced by his classroom experiences and decades long focus on assessment, number sense, fractions, elementary mathematics specialists and teacher education.

Beth McCord Kobett serves as Professor and Dean in the School of Education at Stevenson University, where she works closely with early childhood, elementary, and middle school preservice teachers. She brings experience as a classroom teacher, mathematics specialist, and university supervisor.  Beth served on the NCTM Board and served as president of Association of Maryland Mathematics Teacher Educators. Beth has authored ten mathematics education books and supports professional learning efforts nationwide. She has been honored with awards such as the MCTM Mathematics Educator of the Year and Stevenson’s Rose Dawson Award for Excellence in Teaching. Deeply committed to her students, she strives to create a supportive, strengths-based learning environment that fosters curiosity, collaboration, and meaningful growth.