Giving Compass' Take:

• Getting Smart shares some lessons from a peer-to-peer teacher "field trip," in which educators discussed how to integrate formative assessment into different schools.

• Takeaways include learning to be patient and not being afraid to fail. What can this "field trip" teach us about the importance of professional development and flexibility in the education space?

• Here's more on how to scale formative assessment through the The How I Know Project.

A group of teachers set out on an adventure (aka field trip!) to conduct classroom observations and to seek out answers to some of their key questions about formative assessment. What better way to learn than a field trip? Here were some of their guiding questions:

  • What does formative assessment practice look like in action?
  • What are ways that teachers learn formative assessment?
  • Where do they get stuck?
  • What does day-by-day, minute-by-minute assessment look like in action?
  • How do teachers begin their learning in formative assessment?
  • What systems or structures best support teachers to learn formative assessment?

Teachers and leaders from the Austin ISD (all of whom are participating in the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation How I Know initiative) team visited Summit View Elementary School in Sunnyside, Tucson to explore these questions — both to deepen their understanding of formative assessment generally, and also to inform their own learning goals as they enter their second year of the How I Know formative assessment pilot.

Read the full article about the power of teacher-to-teacher observations by Nancy Gerzon and Mary Ryerse at Getting Smart.