Bringing Formative Assessment Strategies to Virginia Public Schools

ICF的员工 at the ARCC supported the VDOE across four key areas:

• 信息: We gathered the best-available research on formative 评估 strategies to encourage systemic change at the classroom level. This evidence was critical to gaining the trust of teachers.
• 技能: We collaborated with VDOE staff in maintaining an online learning community, 比如创建内容, 组织活动, facilitating synchronous and asynchronous interactions, 监测参与情况.
• 结构: The team tested structures to determine the best way to support educators in the community. Some offline activities—such as in-person orientation meeting—bolstered online participation.
• 流程: VDOE staff implemented and modeled a low-cost process to deliver, 监控, 评估在线学习. The community was assessed annually and made changes based on participant input.

成功, the initiative required exploration of both formative 评估 strategies and online learning communities. We connected department leaders in instruction, 评估, and school improvement with a formative 评估 expert. This consultant shared extensive evidence and provided access to learning content used in other states.

We then restructured the content into a sequence for easy delivery via the internet. Our team built manageable units for schools to use within their learning communities. At first, we facilitated the platform while VDOE staff expanded skills. But, over time, their internal team took over full operation.

Six districts took part in the initial pilot. Each school was responsible for creating its team and introducing the formative 评估 materials. 通过Google+社区, teacher teams could check-in online with colleagues across the state, VDOE代表, 以及我们的ARCC顾问. 这就允许了相当大的独立性, but enough transparency for VDOE and ARCC to 监控 progress.

我们指导团队并提供支持, such as helping with any tech issues affecting the online community. VDOE leads and ARCC consultants collaborated throughout the initiative’s evolution. 最后, VDOE staff reported “huge gains” in understanding formative 评估, both within the department and among the schools.