Practitioners' Conceptualizations of Formative Assessments in a Response to Intervention Model

• In Event: 16.056 - Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: 16.056-10 - Examining the Examiners: Effects of the Assessment Discourse on and Through Teacher Work Effects of Teacher Practice

Abstract

Response to Intervention (RtI) affords practitioners the opportunity to utilize formative assessment data in developing academic interventions for students. However, few empirical studies actually examine what forms of formative assessment are driving decisions regarding student interventions, or even how practitioners conceptualize these measures. In this study, cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) is used to analyze practitioners’ understandings of formative assessments within the context of RtI at one public urban elementary school. Preliminary findings reveal that formative assessments are viewed as indicators of student learning, though not always the quality of teachers’ instruction. The assessments are also seen as situated on the low end of a decision-making hierarchy, meaning they oftentimes take a back seat to mandates or district policies.

Author

• Joyce Melissa Gomez-Najarro, California State University - Fullerton