Using Quick Checks for Understanding to Inform Your Teaching

Description

Formative assessment should do more than collect data. It should provide meaningful insights that help educators make informed instructional decisions. Looking for simple, effective ways to check for understanding without adding to your workload? In this course, Chrissy Romano shares practical formative assessment strategies designed specifically for K–2 classrooms. Educators will explore quick, developmentally appropriate techniques for gathering evidence of student learning, identifying misconceptions, and monitoring progress throughout the instructional day. Participants will also learn how to use assessment results to make real-time instructional adjustments that support student success. By the end of this course, educators will walk away with ready-to-implement formative assessment strategies, a toolkit of time-saving practices, and step-by-step guidance for using assessment data to drive instruction.

Objectives

1. Identify formative assessment strategies that effectively gather evidence of student learning.
2. Explain how formative assessment supports instructional decision-making and student growth.
3. Implement developmentally appropriate strategies for checking understanding during instruction.
4. Interpret assessment evidence to identify strengths, misconceptions, and learning gaps.
5. Assess the usefulness of formative assessment data in guiding instructional responses.
6. Develop a personalized toolkit of formative assessment practices that can be integrated into daily classroom routines.

Key Take Aways

• Understand the difference between formative assessment practices that provide actionable instructional information and those that do not.
• Learn quick and effective strategies for checking student understanding during instruction.
• Explore methods for identifying student strengths, needs, and misconceptions.
• Discover how to use formative assessment data to make timely instructional adjustments that improve learning outcomes.