Formative Assessments and Adaptability

This week's reading, Assessments to Guide Adolescent Literacy Instruction, focuses on the use of formative assessments in the classroom and how the information gathered from these assessments can be utilized by teachers to mold their lesson plans to fit their students needs. The reading states that  "Assessments given to obtain information useful for guiding instruction are typically referred to as formative assessments." There are three different types of formative assessments: Classroom based assessment, benchmark assessment, and formal and informal screening and diagnostic assessments." Much of this article focused on classroom based assessments, which are the daily assessments used by teachers to monitor their students progress through out a lesson. The reading later explains that the information gathered from these types of assessments is only useful when the teacher who gathers it is able to adapt to their approach to instruction based on the information stating that " formative assessments are only effective if they are followed by effective instructional responses or appropriate feedback."

I completely agree with this statement, it is extremely important for a teacher to know how to successfully take the information they have gather and use it to adapt their lesson plans to fit their students needs, but it is also important for teachers to understand how to adapt on the spot if the information they have gathered requires it. One example that is given in the reading is of a teacher who was instructing an eighth grade class of children with learning disabilities. The class was learning how to analyze text to find evidence to support an argument. As the teacher walked around the room she noticed that many of her students were not using the correct strategies needed to efficiently find the information that was required to support their arguments, so asked them to explain how they were analyzing it. After the students explained their technique, she adapted to the situation based on the information that she had just received, and created a "mini-lesson" on the spot to teach her students more effective tools and strategies that they could use while analyzing text. After, this she made a note to remind herself to monitor students independent use of the strategies, so she could further assess thief progress. 

The reason I think this example is so important is because it shows how you can effectively use the information gained through formative assessments and quickly adapt your lesson plan to fit your students specific needs. Also, the ability to when know how to take the information you have gathered and improvise on the spot allows you to quickly clear up any misunderstanding in your classroom and allows you and opportunity to provide scaffolding for your students to improve their knowledge and chance of success in your classroom.