With the support of a CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation, Erin Furtak has been investigating how a long-term professional development program centered on a learning progression for natural selection can support high school teachers in iteratively designing, enacting, and revising formative assessments.
Furtak co-authored the recently published book, The Feedback Loop: Using Formative Assessment Data for Science Teaching and Learning, which explores alternative ways to gather and use student data besides standardized test scores. Step by step, the chapters:
- introduce the Feedback Loop framework;
- highlight ways to set goals, develop tools, analyze data, and draw inferences;
- tell how to close the loop by connecting inferences and goals through feedback; and
- explain techniques for using the full loop to inform instruction.
Erin Furtak is Associate Professor of Education specializing in Science Education. Her work focuses on how to support secondary science teachers in improving their everyday formative assessment practices.
Overview:
What really helps your students learn science: Labs? Group work? Certain types of problems or test questions? Something you never even thought about? Find out with data that go way beyond what standardized test scores tell you. The Feedback Loop describes a process by which you design formative assessments of what you do and collect a variety of forms of data. Then, the book shows you ways to actually use the information to improve your teaching.
Drawing on research-based findings and the experiences of both new and veteran classroom teachers, the guide offers practical ideas for middle and high school teachers, regardless of discipline. The first chapters introduce the Feedback Loop framework; highlight the four elements of goals, tools, data, and inferences; and explore how to close the loop by connecting inferences and goals through feedback. Later chapters show how to use the full loop to inform your instruction. The book supports the Next Generation Science Standards and includes classroom vignettes that ground the ideas in real-life situations. Meant to illuminate without overwhelming you, The Feedback Loop’s data-driven approach will support student learning and help strengthen your teaching practice in your very next lesson or unit.
Purchase this book here, and browse sample pages of this title for free at the National Science Teacher Associations Science Store website.
Related Faculty: Erin Marie Furtak