Fanatically Formative: Successful Learning During the Crucial K-3 Years

Abstract

What knowledge and skills do children possess when they start school? How prepared are they for the social and academic demands of the classroom? Can they get along in a large group of children? Can they sit still and pay attention? Are they interested in learning? How do knowledge, skills, and behavior vary across individuals and among groups of children, such as older versus younger pupils, girls versus boys, and children from high-risk as opposed to more ordinary family circumstances? Why is it important to know what children are like at school entry?The answers to this question are important for policy and practice. What a child knows and how he or she behaves are products of both genetic endowment and the child's experiences before entering school (Willerman 1979;Plomin 1990). Thus, measures of children's knowledge and behavior at school entry can serve as indicators of how well families, child-care institutions, and preschool programs prepare children for school. At the same time, these measures provide guidance about what kind of curriculum might be appropriate for the first year of school (Freeman and Hatch 1989;Knudsen-Lindauer and Harris 1989). If teachers are aware of the skills and abilities that the typical child has mastered before the first day of class, teachers and school systems are less likely to design a course of study that is either too challenging or not challenging enough for the typical child. In this regard, it is useful to appreciate not only what the average child knows at school entry but also what the range of knowledge is across an entire class of children.Group differences at school entry are important for appraising how well the schools have done at the end of the first and subsequent school years. Although differences in achievement found at the end of the school year may have been present at the beginning of the year, we cannot know this unless skills are measured at the beginning of the year. Without this information, we cannot properly appraise how much growth has occurred. It may be concluded erroneously that schools are producing superior achievement because of the high caliber of their instruction, when, in fact, schools may be maintaining (or even diminishing) advantages that their pupils had when entering school. Why is it difficult to assess early knowledge and skills?Although measures of children's knowledge, skills, and behavior at school entry are valuable, such measures are not easy to obtain. Most children can neither read nor write when they enter school, so we cannot simply distribute test booklets and ask Entering Kindergarten young children to provide machine-scoreable answers to a series of multiple-choice questions. In-person, one-on-one assessments are required. Each assessment session should not be lengthy because young children tire easily and have limited attention spans. Even individualized assessments may not reflect a beginning pupil's knowledge because of individual differences in shyness with unfamiliar adults or because the child comes from a family...

Rethinking Teacher Education for the 21st Century

“…The findings from the data correlate with the literature found regarding how formative assessment is used 'in the moment' to inform learning (Black and Wiliam, 1998;Sornson, 2012;Antoniou and James, 2013). Within the questionnaires, there was an abundance of relevant responses encompassing this theme.…”

“…Clarke (2014) reciprocates this idea, explaining that mid-lesson 'learning stops' enable pupils to actively improve their work by seeing excellent examples and discussing possible improvements. Furthermore, Sornson (2012) refers to formative assessment as an ongoing, dynamic process because it delivers information during the instructional process. This part of the conceptual framework is significant because the pedagogy of formative assessment is designed upon making modifications to teaching to meet the needs of the children and as Leahy et al (2005, p. 18) suggests, "In a classroom that uses assessment to support learning, the divide between instruction and assessment blurs."…”

The Effects of Using the Essential Skills Inventory on Teacher Perception of High-Quality Classroom Instruction

“…Covering more content has not led to improved learning outcomes, and in many cases leads to gaps in understanding that can negatively affect a child's learning for the rest of his life (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2011;Sornson, 2012aSornson, , 2012bSornson, , 2012c. By the beginning of fourth grade, the point at which we can accurately predict long-term learning outcomes, only 33% of American children are at proficient reading levels (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2010).…”