Formative Assessment That Works: Essential Strategies to Drive Student Growth

Dr. Shané Beauford • July 10, 2025

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The GPS-Formative Assessment Link

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Think about the last time you used GPS to get somewhere. Maybe it was a new spot across town, or maybe it was a place you’ve been before, but you still wanted a little backup. GPS doesn’t just hand you directions and hope for the best. It checks in along the way. It lets you know if there’s traffic, if you’ve made a wrong turn, or if there’s a faster route you could take.

Satellite with blue solar panels and antenna emitting signal waves.

Similarly, think about your classroom. What helps you stay on top of how things are going? What lets you know if your students are on track or if it’s time to reroute?

That’s the role formative assessment should play. Sometimes, it’s just a quick check: a thumbs-up, a short quiz, or an observation that we don’t always capture. The real value comes after the check, when we apply what we’ve learned.

Beyond the Data

Formative assessment isn’t just about gathering data. It’s about using data to guide instruction in real time: to notice where students are, where they’re headed, and how we can help them move forward. In other words, like GPS, you are constantly tracking student progress and making instructional decisions for students’ success.

Thus, that’s the focus of our upcoming Virtual Learning Community (VLC): Using Formative Assessment to Drive Instruction .

This facilitated, 25-hour experience will provide you:

  • – Formative assessment examples and how to use them
  • – Sample instructional moves to make based on what students show you they need
  • – Strategies for collecting and responding to student learning data

Spreadsheet example

Together, we’ll explore four categories of assessment. You’ll walk away with tools you can use right away and a clearer sense of how to make formative assessment a natural part of your teaching practice.

This is an opportunity to rethink how assessment is integrated into your practice and to design tools that truly support learning in motion.

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