Diagnostic, Formative, and Summative Assessments

Introduction

Penda Science features ‘assessment’ activities, where students can answer multiple-choice questions on every standard they are exposed to in each grade level. These assessment activities give students practice similar to what they will see on semester exams, high-stakes state assessments, and end of course exams, in addition to providing data for each part of the learning process - diagnostic (before learning), formative (during learning), and summative (after learning). Teachers, students, as well as school and district personnel can track student progress to determine their level of mastery at all points of the learning process. According to The Institute of Education Sciences, teachers should “make data part of an ongoing cycle of instructional improvement” and “teach students to examine their own data and set learning goals...This data analysis process can motivate both elementary and secondary students by mapping out accomplishments that are attainable, revealing actual achievement gains, and providing students a sense of control over their own outcomes.” Penda’s assessment activities help ensure that teachers meet this instructional best practice while giving educators more time to use data to inform their teaching. 

Classroom/Instructional Practice

Penda’s assessment activities, combined with line-item analysis reporting tools can be used to collect student data in a variety of ways. These can range from diagnostic assessments as well as formative, and summative assessments after the delivery of instruction. Teachers will no longer have to make, print, grade, and track student data by hand - the Penda platform does all of this for them. Educators can see what each student scored on their first attempt (pre), last attempt (post), or best attempt (proficiency) by standard. Furthermore, teachers and administrators can pull data reports by student groups and classes in order to further guide instruction, intervention, and preparation for high-stakes state assessments or end-of-course exams. Therefore, all classroom personnel can use Penda as a means to inform their best practice of using data as an ongoing part of instructional improvement. This not only helps students reach their individual goals but it supports teachers in cultivating their instructional skills. 

Impact on Student Learning 

By allowing students to assess their understanding of each standard and get immediate feedback while on Penda’s gaming platform, they will more likely be intrinsically motivated to reach a level of mastery on every standard. Studies have shown that “...student analysis of their own assessment data...led to statistically significant gains in student achievement” (Philips et al., 1993, as cited in Hamiliton et al., 2009). Furthermore, other studies have shown ”statistically significant gains in achievement for students given access to an interactive website reporting student test scores” (Robinson and May, 2007, as cited in Hamilton et al., 2009), for which the Penda platform can serve as an instantaneous interactive site for students’ assessment of their own data. All students will have the opportunity to master each standard, as assessment activities contain the immersive reader and language translator tools. Students also have the opportunity to relearn and reassess their understanding all on their own until they reach 80% or higher (green indicator, mastery).

Give It A Try - Here's How:

1. Assign an assessment activity from the previous grade to assess student retention and to identify learning gaps for remediation (i.e. assign ‘Grade 6 Assessment’ activity to your current grade 7 students).
2. Assign an assessment activity for the current grade to diagnose what students may already know, in order to inform lesson planning, pacing, and acceleration (i.e. assign ‘Grade 7 Assessment’ activity to your current grade 7 students).
3. After instructional delivery on a standard, assign an assessment activity as either formal or summative assessments with the expectation of an 80% or higher mastery goal.
4. Reteach (if class comprehension averages below 70%) or remediate (for individual students between 70% and 80% understanding) the standard as needed based on individual students’ and classes data.

Artifact/Example: