The Importance of Real-Time Formative Assessment Data for Administrators

Insights from real-time formative assessment data can help administrators improve student outcomes and better support staff

The recent disruptions in education have made it a priority for administrators and other district stakeholders to quickly identify students who need interventions and determine the most effective way to tailor instruction and address unfinished learning. To ensure every student has access to the best opportunities in life, every educator needs technology to help students succeed.

In part one of this blog series, we discussed the importance of real-time formative assessment data for teachers in personalizing instruction and accelerating learning gains. In this blog post, we cover how the benefits of real-time formative assessment data extend to administrators.

Leading with Formative Assessment

In a nutshell, formative assessments evaluate student understanding during a lesson and highlight any areas of improvement throughout the learning process. The data from formative assessments is critical in actively monitoring student progress and guiding instructional decisions. When leading a school or district, having the most relevant data is essential to optimizing K-12 curricula for student success. The right information paints a complete picture of student achievement and demonstrates whether your courses and curriculum lead to the student outcomes you want to see.

Formative assessment data can help you identify at-risk students throughout the year instead of at the end of the year. This way, you have an idea of how students will likely perform on upcoming tests, and you can share these insights with your educators so they can adjust learning plans and instruction for struggling students throughout the year. These real-time insights reduce the likelihood that students will progress without understanding key concepts.

How Real-Time Formative Assessment Data Benefits Schools

Real-time formative assessment data can highlight common trends that should be the center of collaborative focus at the school or district level. For example, imagine an assistant principal trying to identify which students need help with last year’s math curriculum to group students across classes and make the best use of their limited remediation and intervention resources. With real-time formative assessment data, you can determine which students should be grouped together and which teaching and learning practices were most effective in preparing students to demonstrate proficiency. Plus, you’ll reinforce the shared responsibility for learning among administrators, teachers, and students.

The benefits of real-time formative assessment data can apply to educator learning, too. Say your district’s head of science curriculum would like to identify which staff could benefit from additional professional development (PD) around a specific set of teaching standards that your state recently updated. Teachers can receive additional support with data-driven evaluations and tailored professional learning resources based on insights from formative assessment.

How Districts Can Improve Student Outcomes with Data

Forward-thinking schools, districts, and states have leveraged insights like those from real-time formative assessment data to see the whole student and reimagine personalized learning. With the right tools, you can collect a wealth of information about your students and educators far beyond one-dimensional performance data from summative assessments. This data is helpful in providing targeted support to both students and families. Connecting various data points throughout the learning process equips you to extract meaning, drive purposeful action, and improve student outcomes.

Address Unfinished Learning with Formative Assessment Data

To support each student in the best way, relevant, helpful, and easy-to-access data is necessary. A comprehensive student assessment platform like PowerSchool Performance Matters can help you get the actionable data you need to understand who needs intervention and where to direct your focus. Plus, this software does the heavy lifting for you, so you can also relieve your staff from hours of reporting tasks and keep their focus on supporting students. Boost improvements in classroom performance with intuitive, actionable insights at your teachers’ fingertips.