BREAKING NEWS: Middle School Student Likes Formative Assessments!

Auggie (front-left) and his classmates sift through notes while
completing a formative assessment quiz in Ms. Rathjen's 7th 
grade science class.

Curriculum standards, learning targets, formative assessments, Google Forms and Sheets, Flubaroo, and science notebooks--all of these pieces are working harmoniously in the 7th grade science classrooms of Angela Rathjen and Angela Schneider at Sperreng Middle School.

What are they doing?

In order to help students understand their learning goals and monitor their progress, Ms. Rathjen and Mrs. Schneider have developed goal sheets for each unit that students can insert into their science notebooks.  Each curriculum standard has been transformed into a learning target (or "goal") written in student-friendly language using the verbs and vocabulary that students need to know and be able to do.

After completing lessons developed for mastering a learning goal, students complete a formative assessment on their device using Google Forms which is then graded using Flubaroo.

Is that it?

No!  The students receive an email from Flubaroo showing their score, the questions they missed, and what they need to work on.  In addition, Ms. Rathjen and Mrs. Schneider now have individualized
feedback detailing each student's progress, helping them to target unique gaps in their understanding.

A sample goals sheet (not Auggie's).

Do students like it?

At least one student does.  I asked Auggie, a 7th grader in Mrs. Rathjen's science class, what he likes
best about formative assessments.

"We do this right after we learn the subject matter.  If you're not happy with your scores, you can do a retake.  Retakes are helpful if you get a bad grade."

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For information on Flubaroo and Google Forms, follow this link.