This module provides an introduction to formative assessment, its importance and role in North Carolina’s 21st Century Balanced Assessment System. At the end of the module, participants will be able to say, I can...
- Explain the purpose of formative assessment and why it is defined as a process;
- Distinguish between formative assessment and benchmark/summative assessment;
- Articulate how formative assessment is used in their classroom/school and how they plan to use formative assessment in the future.
(1 hr. estimated seat time and 1hr. total time)
Welcome to North Carolina’s
Formative Assessment Learning Community’s Online Network
NC FALCON
NC FALCON consists of Formative Assessment professional development modules that support the implementation of Formative Assessment in classrooms. Each module features a Professional Learning Community where educators can share successes and challenges through positive collaboration.
Teachers employed in a North Carolina public school must access online courses located in the HOME BASE: NC Educator Effectiveness System in order to receive course credit. Users who enroll in the modules on center.ncsu.edu/ncfalcon can complete the modules but activity on this site will not be reflected in the HOME BASE system and therefore credit will not show up in their human resources activity transcript.
Thank you for visiting the site and we hope you enjoy the experience with NC FALCON.
View the NC FALCON navigation tutorial video to learn about navigating through NC FALCON.
NC FALCON SITE NEWS
Self-Reflection and Peer Observation of Formative Assessment in the Classroom
If you are interested in improving your use of formative assessment practices, use the tools found in the new resource, “Using the Formative Assessment Rubrics, Reflection and Observation Tools to Support Professional Reflection on Practice”. This document includes rubrics, guidelines, and tools for self-reflection and peer observation of formative assessment. Individuals, formal or informal groups, or professional development planners and participants can use these tools. To view or download this document, click here.
Note: The rubrics along with the reflection and observation tools were not developed for summative evaluations. Read the document contents for more details about the intent and purposes for the tools.
Using Home Base to Support Formative Assessment
Are you using the formative assessment process in your classroom? Do you want to know how to use tools in Home Base to effectively support formative assessment as a process? The purpose of this document is to explain how certain features in Home Base can be used to support the formative assessment process. While the formative assessment process will occur most of the time in the classroom outside of Home Base, this document details how and where certain attributes of formative assessment can be addressed using Home Base as a tool to inform instruction and guide student learning. To view or download this document, click here.
Why should you use formative assessment in the classroom?
Formative assessment is a part of North Carolina's Balanced Assessment System which includes formative assessment, interim/benchmark assessments, and summative assessments. Formative assessment assists teachers in identifying where it is necessary to make adjustments to instruction in order to help students achieve the intended instructional outcomes defined by the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. To view or download a visual guide of North Carolina's Balanced Assessment System and Integrating Instruction into Assessment Model, click here.
Available courses
An exercise in writing clear learning targets and defining criteria for success to help students answer the question: Where am I going?
(1 hr. estimated seat time and 4hrs. total time)
An exercise in collecting and documenting evidence of learning to help students answer the question: Where am I now?
(1 hr. estimated seat time and 2hrs. total time)
An exercise in analyzing evidence and providing descriptive feedback to help students answer the question: How do I close the gap?
(1 hr. estimated seat time and 4hrs. total time)
An exercise in exploring the administrator's role in formative assessment, as outlined by the North Carolina Standards for School Executives, and its implementation in the school or district.
(1 hr. estimated seat time and 4hrs. total time)
What happens when you collect evidence of learning and find that a child is missing a foundational skill that would allow him/her to read the designated text? What happens when a child struggles with a text beyond his/her capacity for comprehension?
This resource is designed for Kindergarten through fifth grade educators is full of early literacy strategy examples that address the foundational skills that must be in place for a child to make reading connections through the staircase of increasing text complexity and progressive reading comprehension. The strategies address foundational skills in the standards, the National Reading Panel’s five components of reading research, and the Fountas and Pinnell Continuum of Early Literacy Skills, all based on the North Carolina Teacher Academy’s work with leading national early literacy experts.
This section provides participants with additional resources to enhance their implementation of formative assessment. These resources include videos of implementation, research to support formative assessment, and other background information.
Are you looking for resources to assist in your implementation of the formative assessment process? Teachers across North Carolina developed Formative Assessment Plans that align with standards to use during the implementation of the formative assessment process during instruction. Plans are available for various grade levels in Arts Education, Career and Technical Education, English as a Second Language, English Language Arts, Healthful Living, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and World Languages.