Summative Assessment in Distance Learning

Whether schools are using regular grades or not, teachers need to accurately assess
learning while their students are at home. These are some helpful ideas to consider.

By Andrew Miller
April 28, 2020

NAO / Twenty20

All of us are challenged with trying to implement effective teaching in this distance
learning environment, and assessment is certainly part of that. Many schools are
wrestling with grading practices, with some choosing pass/fail structures and others
are sticking with traditional grading practices. And of course, there are others who
are somewhere in between. But all of us will need summative assessments of student
learning, whether we report them as a grade or pass/fail.

It’s important that we not rely solely on tried-and-true summative assessment

practices and strategies during this time—we should reflect on those practices and
strategies and approach assessment differently. Some of our practices may shift.
Here are some points to consider as you reflect on the shifts needed to arrive at
effective summative assessments of your students’ learning.

IMPLEMENTING SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT IN DISTANCE LEARNING

Stop assessing everything: By everything, I mean every single content standard. In
order to make a “guaranteed and viable curriculum,” we need to make strategic
decisions about what is “need to know” and what is “nice to know.”

This is an idea we should apply in both in-person and distance learning. However,
with distance learning, this is a further call to distill our curriculum to essential
learning and target specific standards and outcomes. All of us in the distance learning
world know it will take much longer to move through our curriculum, so there is not
enough time to cover what we intended when we had being in the classroom in mind.

Take this time to work with teams to further clarify which standards are priorities to
ensure that you’re assessing the essentials. Consider using the R.E.A.L. criteria—
Readiness, Endurance, Assessed, and Leverage—to help you make those decisions.
These criteria were developed by Larry Ainsworth, an expert in curriculum design and
power standards.
Assigning performance tasks and performance items: This isn’t a new practice for
assessment, but in these times of distance learning, it’s important that the
assessments we design for students demand that they apply their knowledge to new
and novel situations. Performance tasks do that, and they create engaging multistep
opportunities for students to show what they know. Performance items are similar,
appearing in many traditional exams. Both require students to perform by applying
their thinking; performance items are more limited in scope and often assess a single
standard or skill.

When teachers express concerns around cheating or academic honesty, I recommend

that they change their assessments to be more performance-based. Teachers can also
consider long-term PBL projects that also leverage performance tasks.

Moving from one big event to a series of smaller events: Performance tasks are a
research-based practice to assess student learning. However, the tasks we give
students may be too much for them during this time of uncertainty and anxiety. If
students are required to complete multiple performance tasks, across multiple
disciplines or classes, that can create stress that is detrimental to student wellness.

Depending on what is being assessed, teachers may be able to take these tasks and
split them into shorter tasks or performance items to be completed over a longer
term rather than in one sitting. As a performance task often assesses multiple
standards, it can be broken apart into discrete mini-tasks that each assess an
individual standard or learning target.

Using conversations and oral defense: Anthony Poullard, an associate principal at

Korea International School, said that “students must always be prepared to explain
their thinking or learning with their teacher, and they know that a teacher may ask
for an explanation of assessment answers one on one.” In an article on formative
assessment in distance learning, I discussed conversations as one of the best ways to
check for understanding, and this holds true for summative tasks as well. Students
can do presentations or engage in an oral explanation or defense of their final
product. This provides further evidence of student learning.

Leveraging technology tools: I want to first acknowledge the inequities here. We

know that many students do not have access to technology, so these strategies may
not apply. However, there are ways to use technology to support summative
assessment practices. You can have students take the assessment at the same time,
during a synchronous virtual session. This is similar to timed in-class writing.
Schoology, for example, allows you to time quizzes and tests. Tools like Draft Back, a
Google Chrome extension, can show patterns in work submitted and play back the
process. And student-created videos are great tools for students to share what they
know.

Teaching academic honesty and trust students: We need to acknowledge there is no

foolproof way to ensure academic honesty, and that is OK. Education consultant Ken
O'Connor explained in a recent webinar that we need to educate students about
academic honesty, adding that if there is a problem in this area, we may not have
intentionally educated students on it.

Instead of a deficit-based approach to assessment—expecting that students will

cheat—we need to have an asset-based approach where we trust them to do the
right thing and engage them in teachable moments around academic honesty.
Teacher expectations matter.

Using professional judgement: Ultimately, teachers need to use their professional

judgement when summatively assessing students and determining scores. Teachers
can decide that a summative assessment should instead be formative and then
reteach and support students in learning before attempting another summative
assessment. And if a teacher wonders about a student’s academic honesty on a
summative, they can meet with that student to make an informed judgement. We
need to trust not only students but also our teachers.

I want to emphasize that these are strategies, not necessarily solutions. As O'Connor
says, the “order of operations” in teaching should be: first, student relationships and
wellness; second, learning; and third, assessment. When we approach assessment
practices, we should not lose sight of our priorities.
https://www.edutopia.org/article/summative-assessment-distance-learning
Distance Learning Considerations
This page provides considerations for designing and implementing
distance learning opportunities for all students. It includes specific
state and local educational agency (LEA) approaches that can guide
decision-making.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Main Web Page

Distance Learning Main Web Page

This information was formerly titled Distance Learning published on

March 17, 2020.

On March 13, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-

26-20 regarding the physical closure of schools by local educational
agencies (LEAs) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The order
provides that even if schools close temporarily because of COVID-19,
LEAs will continue to receive state funding for those days so that they
can:

 Continue delivering high-quality educational opportunities to

students to the extent feasible through, among other options,
distance learning and/or independent study;
 Provide school meals in non-congregate settings through the
Summer Food Service Program and Seamless Summer Option,
consistent with the requirements of the California Department of
Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture;
 Arrange for, to the extent practicable, supervision for students
during ordinary school hours; and
 Continue to pay employees.

This guidance provides a framework for how LEAs can continue to

deliver high-quality educational opportunities to students when the
school site is physically closed and the LEA has suspended onsite
instruction. In providing this instruction, it is critical that LEAs take
steps to ensure that these opportunities are available to all students
to the greatest extent possible, including economically disadvantaged
students, students with disabilities, and English learners.

Distance Learning
This document provides guidance concerning how districts can
provide distance learning opportunities for students. In addition to the
guidance, a set of Appendices provides curated distance learning
resources and information about contributions from many
organizations that you can use to expand access for students to WiFi,
devices, and learning opportunities that are not device-dependent.
CDE is also connecting with other vendors, including publishers, who
are providing free access to their materials, products, and programs
over the coming months.

We anticipate that the list of resources will be regularly updated. That

information will be available on the CDE Coronavirus (COVID-19) web
page and updated on an ongoing basis. CDE will also update this
guidance as necessary to reflect additional information as it becomes
available. In addition, educators can learn more about how to teach
on-line through any of a number of courses, including those listed
on Get Educated and here Google for Education .

Considerations for Developing a Distance Learning Plan

For the purpose of this guidance, “distance learning” means
instruction in which the student and instructor are in different
locations. This may include interacting through the use of computer
and communications technology, as well as delivering instruction and
check-in time with their teacher. Distance learning may include video
or audio instruction in which the primary mode of communication
between the student and instructor is on-line interaction, instructional
television, video, telecourses, or other instruction that relies on
computer or communications technology. It may also include the use
of print materials incorporating assignments that are the subject of
written or oral feedback.

School districts, county offices of education, and charter schools

(local educational agencies/LEAs) should immediately begin
developing a plan for distance learning for their students and providing
training and professional development for their teachers to implement
the adopted distance learning strategy as effectively as possible. LEAs
will need to assess their ability to deliver instruction both in an online
setting and also in a non-technological setting, keeping in mind that
not all children and families have access to devices or high-speed
internet, and that the LEA may not be able to meet the needs of all its
students through online instruction.

Elements of the plan might include, but not be limited to, the following:

 Short- and long-term goals, accounting for the length of time

currently planned for the school site to be closed and for the
possibility that the closure may need to be extended based on the
best evidence available in the future
 Plan to assist teachers in analyzing the course sequence prior to
closure so that they can develop a plan to cover the content and
standards necessary to complete the planned course syllabus and
to provide training on how to continue to deliver instruction
 Continuum of delivery options for various grade levels, such as a
fully online curriculum or online curriculum with individualized or
small group interaction with teachers.
  Continuum of delivery methods, such as a combination of
technology, innovative use of other media (such as television),
paper packets, or onsite meetings for a limited number of
students, consistent with social distancing requirements
 Plan for how to allow teachers to engage with one another to
calibrate on offerings for students, exchange of effective
practices, or adjusting approaches to ensure engagement with
students.

This document is organized to provide specific guidance for different

scenarios a school or district may need to consider in order to create a
plan for distance learning during this time of school closures. In
addition, Appendix 1 offers a wide range of resources, and Appendix
2 offers concrete guidance for remote learning assembled by a
number of California districts and county offices, led by the Riverside
County Office of Education. It treats issues of pedagogy and
accessibility, offering wide-ranging content, tools, and resources, as
well as advice about infrastructure and devices. Appendix 3 offers
guidance for developing an on-line course.

Considerations to Ensure Equity and Access for All

Students
Although many families have the devices and appropriate connectivity
in place, the most at-risk children whom LEAs serve may not.
Fortunately, because state assessments require students to be
familiar with working digitally, many LEAs have already developed a
framework for incorporating digital materials into every day
instructional practice. LEAs should build on that work, including any
pre-existing assessment of access to devices and internet
connectivity for their students and in the community, as they plan to
implement distance learning strategies during the physical closures of
schools in response to COVID-19.

In these difficult times, we cannot lose track of the needs of our most
disadvantaged students. LEAs will need to solve a variety of concerns
about access, which this guidance seeks to support. Importantly, the
California Constitution prohibits LEAs from requiring students to
purchase devices or internet access, to provide their own devices, or
otherwise pay a fee as a condition of accessing required course
materials under the free schools guarantee. Additionally, California
law requires that all students have access to standards-aligned
textbooks or instructional materials in the core subjects, for use in
class and to take home. This standard is grounded in the principle of
equal educational opportunity under the California Constitution.

Depending on the extent to which students have access to devices

and internet at home, LEAs should assess whether an
e-learning/distance learning strategy would provide the most
meaningful educational opportunity for students and, if so, steps they
can take to ensure equitable access. It's important to note that
equitable access does not require that LEAs offer the exact same
content through the same channel for all students. Instead of
abandoning a promising e-learning approach because not all students
will have equal access to it from home, the plan should include an
analysis of alternate deliveries of comparable educational content.
These alternate deliveries might include providing students access to
a device or internet at school or a community site, consistent with
social distancing guidelines.

Additionally, in developing plans for distance learning, LEAs may wish

to consider what is realistic in the short-term (i.e., the first week or
two of a school closure) and what may be possible should a longer-
term closure become necessary. It is to be expected that LEAs’ ability
to deliver robust and meaningful educational opportunities will
increase as they have more time to assess e-learning options, the
degree of access to devices and internet among their students, and
plan with their staff to develop content and operationalize effective
instructional delivery channels.

Accordingly, in developing distance learning strategies to continue

delivering educational services during a school site closure, LEAs
should assess how all students will be able to access e-learning,
looking at all of the following factors:

 Whether a student has access to the internet,

 Whether a student has access to a device and what alternatives
exist for them to access a device,
 How familiar a student is with the device and necessary support to
ensure they are familiar with navigating its features, and
 Additional support for teachers.

We are actively working with service providers and others in the

private sector to develop partnerships to support students and LEAs
during this crisis through offering free high speed internet access,
devices, and other opportunities.

Key Considerations and Continuum of Options

As noted above, it is likely that the school’s distance learning plan will
contain a combination of all of the options and considerations below.
Schools and districts should ensure that their plan addresses the
needs of those students who have a device and access to the internet
and those students who do not.

Decisions about the necessary programmatic adjustments to transition

to distance learning should involve necessary consultation with local
public health officials and labor partners, if applicable, about how we
collectively work together to meet the needs of our community in the
face of this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic.
In considering the development and implementation of a distance
learning plan for schools, school administrators need to consider:

1. What are the existing resources (including hardware, licensing

agreements with vendors, WiFi availability, etc.) that be can
leveraged to more seamlessly transition to a distance learning
environment?
2. What processes need to be developed to ensure that equitable
access and opportunity is offered to students?

When considering those two key questions, school officials will then
need to assess the continuum of available strategies. Most schools
will need to offer multiple options and a combination of strategies to
students, depending on accessibility to devices and the internet.
These strategies will likely change, both in the short- and long-term.
The plan should focus on how to deliver educational content to
students across all platforms and delivery methods.
LEAs should also consider the means by which students access
content. In many situations, students are using mobile devices, such
as smartphones and application-based versions of a given platform
software in place of web-based portals. While it is safe to assume
mobile devices can access the internet through WiFi capabilities,
many students rely on 4 and 5G data plans to go online.

Figure 1 below illustrates a continuum of delivery strategies, followed

by key considerations for LEAs as they assess how to incorporate
strategies on this continuum into a distance learning plan, based on
their student population and community needs:

Figure 1: Continuum of Options

Long description of Figure 1: This is a continuum of options which
contains five boxes representing delivery strategies. They are as
follows: Teacher interaction and assistance through online learning
platform to online curriculum for students to work from home to online
curriculum in computer lab or classroom, consistent with social
distancing guidelines to paper packets of instructional materials for
students to work on at home to in person setting consistent with
social distancing guidelines.

Students with 1:1 Access to Devices and to the Internet at

Home
For students who have access to devices or schools that offer a 1:1
device program and the LEAs has a platform to provide an online
learning environment, please consider the following strategies to
support students and teachers in transitioning to digital learning:

 Maintaining school district technology support to those programs

and resource adjustments if not all schools have access to these
programs;
 Student/family access to technology assistance if troubleshooting
is necessary;
  Necessary modification and adjustment of the curriculum to
ensure a quality instructional program design that includes a
course structure, content presentation, virtual collaboration and
interaction opportunities that are planned across the length of the
school closure; and
 Ensure that guidance is provided for how to effectively
differentiate instruction and support for students in the class who
need additional support, including, but not limited to, students with
disabilities and English Learner students.

Example:
Westlake Charter School (WCS)

has crafted a digital space to offer daily academic and social-

emotional lessons to its students. Families were surveyed about their
technology needs so that the school was able to provide assistance to
families that needed to access internet and a device. First, using
Google Sites, the team built a simple website to house all teacher
resources; the team crafted a distance learning manual which was
posted to the site; feedback forms were crafted and FAQ pages were
launched; and access was created to the delivery sites where
teachers would eventually deliver content. Next the adminstrative
team built a Distance Learning site for families to visit. Each grade
level and subject area has its own page and each page is organized
into days of the week.

The school has organized staff into collaborative groups that are
meeting via video chat to curate daily lessons by grade level. Students
will engage in at least one structured academic lesson and one social-
emotional community building lesson each day, delivered digitally by
their own classroom teacher. Further online learning resources are
offered to extend learning beyond these structured lessons using a
variety of online curriculum. Staff are building lessons that reflect
Universal Designs for Learning (UDL), offering options such as UDL
playlists to engage students in these distance learning opportunities.
All lessons are being delivered through Google Classroom,
incorporating videos of the teachers speaking and reading directly to
students, as well as curating a wide variety of learning resources. The
Google Classrooms are organized on Google Sites, shared with
families, which structure daily learning for each grade level.

If students at your school(s) have 1:1 access to devices and you do not
have a platform to provide an online learning environment, then please
consider the following:

 Utilizing a free online learning platform or free learning

management systems that includes professional learning and/or
easy guidance for teachers, some examples are Google classroom,
Seesaw, etc. See the resources at the end of this page for more
examples;
  Constructing engagement with students that leverage basic
features of the platform such as filling out shared documents, etc.
to enable faster adaptivity to the new environment; and
 Developing a lesson and course sequence that involves
combinations of both independent and online learning
engagements.

Example:
Miami-Dade Public Schools

has a detailed plan, which includes information regarding content

delivery, mobile devices, and internet access. The plan describes
materials available by grade level, including core and supplementary
materials, as well as materials for students with exceptional needs.
The district also has a support hotline for teachers, students, and
parents seeking assistance with distance learning.

Please see the “Resources” section to this document for a list of

online coursework providers.

Students with Limited Access to Devices or the Internet

 Consider leveraging mobile devices as an option for engagement,

e.g., loading Webex or Zoom to engage via mobile devices;
 Lend students district-owned devices, possibly on a rotating basis
if there are not a sufficient number of devices, to provide devices,
to each student for the duration of the closure;
 Consider options for preloading and distributing USB drives or
devices with relevant content and materials for students who may
not have access to internet at home;
 Open up the computer lab or classroom with computers,
consistent with social distancing guidelines;
 Develop an instructional sequence of activities that aligns to grade
level standards and student needs;
 Partner with the local cable company to provide instruction
modules through the local television channel;
 Partner with a funder to increase the access of internet to
students;
 Provide a paper instructional packet, similar to an independent
study packet, picked up at school or delivered by staff; and
 Provide teacher interaction through phone calls or small group
sessions at the schoolsite, consistent with social distancing
guidelines.

Example:
The Los Angeles Unified School District announced a partnership with
its local PBS station to provide standards-based instructional content
to students in math, history, and other subject areas. The
programming will be accompanied by lesson plans and take-home
assignments for students to complete. Los Angeles Unified teachers
will have training utilizing PBS LearningMedia, a national resource that
offers additional content to support educational assignments. PBS
SoCal and KCET will provide educational resources via television
broadcast, both on-air and online. The initiative entails three local
public media channels broadcast content specifically targeted to kids
Pre-K through the 12th grade. The partnership can support other
partnerships between public media organizations and school districts,
as PBS SoCal and KCET work together to deliver a satellite feed that
other public media stations can use.

The same programming will also air in the San Francisco Bay Area
through PBS member station KQED in San Francisco, which is leading
the development of digital resources that align to state standards.
This robust digital toolkit for educators and students includes:
standards-aligned PBS video content, associated lesson plans and
support materials, as well as online training sessions hosted by KQED
for teachers. The PBS Learning Media materials will be offered in
conjunction with the on-air content and will be available online.
Content also streams on PBS SOCAL and KCET and on the free
KCET app (available on Roku and Apple TV), the PBS Video app
(available on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, the
App Store and Google Play), as well as on YouTube. Districts might
also consider partnering with their local cable access channel.

Considerations for Students with Disabilities

Students with disabilities are particularly vulnerable, and continuing
support from the state’s educators is critical during these uncertain
times. LEAs that physically close schools should focus their planning
efforts on how to continue serving these students, by tailoring
distance learning to provide educational benefits to students with
disabilities, to the greatest extent practicable under the
circumstances.

At this time, the federal government has not waived the federal
requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA). Accordingly, IDEA’s requirements, including federally mandated
timelines, continue to apply. The United States Department of
Education (US ED) Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)
issued guidance (PDF) explaining how these obligations operate in
the context of school closures in response to COVID-19.

The OSEP guidance recognizes that, given the unprecedented situation

created by the threat of COVID-19, exceptional circumstances may
affect how a particular service is provided under a student’s
individualized education program (IEP). While distance learning can
provide educational benefit to many students with disabilities, it is
important to consider the unique learning needs, accommodations and
supports noted in each student’s IEP.
CDE will convene a workgroup of practitioners and experts in special
education to assess various models for effectively serving students
with disabilities in a distance learning environment, including
promising practices and specific strategies that LEAs are
implementing in California and around the country. Additional guidance
will be forthcoming shortly.

In the meantime, below are some considerations and suggestions for

continuing to support students with disabilities as LEAs implement
distance learning strategies.

 Individualized Instruction in Distance Learning Settings.

As an LEA considers options for distance learning, the LEA should
generally assess the extent to which its students with disabilities
will be able to attain educational benefit under each option.
Depending on a student’s particular needs and the distance
learning options available to the LEA, LEAs may also need to
develop plans to provide additional services to some students with
disabilities when onsite instruction and regular school operations
resume.

 Related Services.
To the greatest extent possible, LEAs should continue providing
related services consistent with the student’s IEP. This may
involve providing services on one or more schoolsite, consistent
with social distancing guidelines and accounting for the health
needs of students and staff.

 Assistive Technology.
LEAs should also be flexible in providing access to school-
purchased assistive technology devices when necessary,
consistent with law, to ensure children have access to devices
they typically use at school.

 Nonpublic Schools and Agencies (NPS/A).

Because NPS/A provide critical programs and related services to
students with disabilities, CDE encourages continued payment to
NPS/As. LEAs should work with NPS/As to take advantage of
services that can be offered by NPS/As that elect to continue to
provide services during school closures. In addition, LEAs and
NPS/As should work collaboratively to ensure continuity of
services for students currently served by NPS/As, pursuant to the
IEP, including exploring options related to distance learning. In
light of continued funding provided to LEAs under Executive Order
N-26-20 to offer educational opportunities to all students during
school closures, LEAs are encouraged to review master contracts
with NPS/As and explore options for payment given the likelihood
of student absences and the fiscal impact on NPS/As.
The resource guide offered in Appendix 1 includes links to on-line
learning resources and strategies for students with disabilities. The
Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities , from OSEP,
provides guidance for parents and teachers, and Common Sense
Media’s Best Special Education Apps and Websites offers
information on an array of tools. The guidance for on-line instruction
from Riverside County Office of Education in Appendix 2 also includes
suggestions for supporting students with disabilities.

Considerations for English Learners

In considering its distance learning plan, an LEA should also have a
plan for providing language development instruction and services for
English learners, aligned to the LEA’s language acquisition program.
While many English learners may benefit from accessing learning
through alternative learning platforms, it is important to consider the
unique learning needs and supports that are necessary for language
development.

Accordingly, although distance learning may provide a valuable

alternative during uncertain times of physical school closures, it is
important to evaluate a student’s progress toward language
acquisition when the regular school session resumes to determine
whether a student may need additional services and supports to
account for how the distance learning program may have impacted the
student’s progress toward proficiency while onsite instruction was
suspended.

Leveraging Transportation Resources to Support Distance

Learning
School districts should consider ways to repurpose and redirect
resources to support distance learning activities, especially those
resources that may not be used to capacity while schools are closed.
One example of this is student transportation and transportation staff.
Several states and school districts have repurposed the use of buses
for the transport of goods, materials and resources.

For example, South Carolina will equip 3,000 school buses with WiFi to
serve as hotspots for students who lack internet access. An additional
6,000 school buses will be used to deliver instructional materials.

Student transportation operations – either run in-house by a school

district or contracted by the school district – can be redeployed to help
with:

 Distribution of meals to students in most need,

 Access to wireless equipment to make hot spots available to
students unable to access a WiFi connection without leaving their
home, and
  Distribution of instructional packets to students that do not have
or are unable to gain access to the internet.

Conclusion
These are uncertain times, and we know that planning is difficult given
the constantly evolving situation. An LEA’s distance learning plan will
also need to continue to evolve, both in the short-term and long-term,
i.e., in the first few weeks when the school site is closed or in the
longer term if the closure extends into a longer period. While many
students have access to devices and the internet at home, LEAs
should consider whether an e-learning or distance learning strategy
would be effective and then consider how to provide equitable access
to those students without access, ensure equity, and provide for
students with disabilities and English learners. The plan will need to
be adjusted as local circumstances change, with the focus on ensuring
and improving the opportunities provided to students.

Questions: Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resurces

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Last Reviewed: Tuesday, May 19, 2020
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 Published on Education for Global Development

Are students still learning during

COVID-19? Formative assessment
can provide the answer
 JULIA LIBERMAN
 VICTORIA LEVIN
 DIEGO LUNA-BAZALDUA

|APRIL 27, 2020

This page in:

Image

Students studying in a classroom in Armenia

As schools around the world have closed due to coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic (and many have extended closures for the remainder of the school
year), students, teachers, and parents are settling into the "new reality" for the
foreseeable future. Many schools are implementing their distance learning
contingency plans (some of them put together recently), and connecting
students and teachers through online platforms and tools. National and local
governments are partnering with broadcasting service providers to deliver
educational content via television and radio during dedicated hours. Under
these unexpected circumstances, teachers and parents have had to quickly
adapt to teaching in this new reality to ensure that students engage in
learning.
What are the learning assessment challenges and priorities in the
current context?
Assessment of student learning is "the process of gathering and
evaluating information on what students know, understand, and can do
in order to make an informed decision about the next steps in the
educational process." (See What Matters Most for Student Assessment
Systems: A Framework Paper). Learning assessment is a fundamental
feedback mechanism in education, allowing all stakeholders of the learning
process to understand what is being learned and where learning resources
need to be focused. Assessment may take different modalities depending on
its purpose. Along with high-stakes examinations and large-scale
assessments, formative assessment is, under normal circumstances, carried
out by teachers in the classroom as part of the teaching process and
encompasses everything from teacher observation to continuous feedback to
homework. Formative assessment is particularly relevant to understand the
learning needs of each and every student and to adjust instruction
accordingly. In addition, teachers usually implement summative
assessments whereby specific educational content is reviewed to determine
the extent to which students reached the expected learning goals and
acquired critical knowledge and skills.
Prior to the COVID-19 crisis, all modalities of learning assessment had been
strongly dependent on students' physical presence – either for administration
or for observing the learners' daily progress. Current school closures
necessitate development of alternative approaches to delivering the critical
feedback function of learning assessment. While all types of assessment of
student learning are important, the need for formative assessment right now
is particularly critical because learning needs to take place outside of the
physical classroom, and teachers and parents-turned-teachers need to
understand whether students are absorbing the content that is delivered to
them in formats that differ from business-as-usual.
How can formative assessment support learning in the context of school
closures?
Formative assessment can be administered in synchronous and
asynchronous forms. In the synchronous form, where the teacher and the
student are working together at the same time (via online platforms
like Zoom and Microsoft Teams), as well as directly by phone, teachers can
provide feedback to students in real time. The United States has a history
of combining TV instruction with synchronous phone-based connection
between learners and teachers. In the 1990s, the Los Angeles Unified School
District in California worked with the local TV channel to produce "Homework
Hotline," an educational TV program that was paired with teachers connecting
to students using a toll-free number.
In the asynchronous form, where students and teachers are separated by
both space and time, online tools such as Google
Classrooms and Moodle can help teachers to provide feedback to students
through questions, tasks, activities, and quizzes. Various online applications
such as Recap: Video Response and Reflection for Education, WURRLYedu,
and Screencastify can be used to record performance tasks created by
students and shared with teachers. Especially for younger students, parents
also need specific guidance on how to communicate the results of formative
assessment to teachers. These instructions should be made available in
electronic and/or printed form and emailed or mailed to homes or made
available for pickup from the school or other designated location.
Even in low-resource and low-connectivity contexts, formative
assessment can happen during school closures. Teachers can provide
feedback to students through mailed or emailed instructions and tasks.
Messaging platforms (such as Messenger and WhatsApp) can also be used:
companies are making available solutions that allow teachers to design,
deliver, and track multiple-choice and short answer assessments through text
messaging. In the United States, when Florida issued stay-at-home guidance,
Miami-Dade County Public Schools moved the physical distance learning
helpline center that had been created at the start of the school closures to a
virtual format, with questions from students, teachers, parents, and
administrators on learning content and technical issues being routed, via a
software program, to the computers of content-area and information
technology experts.
Direct phone calls between teachers, students, and parents can also be
utilized even under lockdowns. "Homework hotlines" have been used in
several states prior to COVID-19 to provide feedback to students and parents,
and they have expanded in some locations during COVID-19 to support
learning. This has been done in Tennessee, where dedicated local phone
numbers connect students and parents to certified teachers who provide
support in many school subjects in English and in six other languages,
in Kansas, and in Michigan, with the latter also providing mental counseling
and emotional support as well as support for students with disabilities and/or
special/diverse educational needs through a toll-free phone number. In
addition, homework hotlines have been created to support students with print
disabilities during COVID-19, as demonstrated by National Homework Hotline
for Blind/Visually Impaired Students (NHH-BVI).
Irrespective of how formative assessment is communicated, it needs to
be valid, timely, constructive, and specific to the learning needs of the
child. The validity element is linked to the alignment of assessment content
with the knowledge content the student should have acquired as part of the
learning process. The timeliness aspect refers to the opportune use of the
assessment to take quick action and provide remedial support if needed.
The constructiveness element refers to the assessment's capacity to deliver
feedback to the student and for the student to gain information that helps him
or her identify misunderstandings, get guidance on how to improve, and
understand the goals of the learning process. Finally, the specificity of
formative assessment implies its ability to inform teachers and students about
whether specific learning goals are being reached, and what is needed in
case they are not there yet. Teachers and parents need to be empowered
with resources and means to conduct formative assessment in line with these
elements, even in low-resource environments.
Various resources can be used by teachers and parents to support formative
assessment in the context of COVID-19, and companies are making
their tools more available to a broad range of users during this time (however,
in choosing any specific tool, it is important to check the contract terms and
confirm that the its use is in line with all applicable laws and regulations).
Some examples of applications for formative assessment use
include DreamBox Math (which provides math instruction based on
performance and enables teachers to create targeted activities using
the AssignFocus option), Questbase (a free online tool to create quizzes
compatible with most browsers and IOS), and Woot Math (a free application
that automatically generates and assesses thousands of problems to meet
each student's learning needs). In low-resource contexts, where connectivity
and access to smart devices cannot be taken for granted, printed materials
can be developed to support early reading skills for younger children, and to
provide support for teachers and families.
Even though in many places it is currently not possible for teachers and
students to come together in the same space, it is necessary for teaching and
learning to continue to avoid learning losses and to stay on track in
decreasing learning poverty. Formative assessment can help all students to
continue along their learning trajectory, providing them, their parents, and their
teachers with the necessary information to support the learning process, albeit
from a distance.

https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/are-students-still-
learning-during-covid-19-formative-assessment-can-
provide-answer