Using Pencil/Paper Summative Assessments for Formative Assessment- A Google Approach.

If there is one thing that I have learned in my position it is this: teachers feel that summative assessment is important and that summative assessments in the form of tests are a regular practice of 7-12 teachers. In my role with our team one of the things that we continually work on is the teacher use of formative assessment with students. Just to illustrate this point we use videos and research from people like Rick Wormeli to emphasize that point.

What we miss sometimes is helping teachers make the link between summative assessments, like tests and formative assessments. To frame it a different way, how can a teacher use tests for formative purposes? The answer depends upon to what extent technology is leveraged in the process. For example if the test is online within a LMS like Brightspace with autograding and scoring within the LMS then the analytic data that comes with placing that test online is very simple. If the test is online in a Google Form then using the using an add on for Google Sheets called Flubaroo would allow for a more detailed item analysis of the test, an analysis that could be used to target problem areas for intervention before a retest or to identify areas for focus in final examination review. Conditional formatting in a Google Sheet can also allow for a more detailed analysis to be completed. However, what happens if the test is administered in pencil/paper format? What then? A possible solution is the focus of this blog post.

Teachers, when talking about the possibility of summative assessments and digital spaces, express validity and reliability concerns when implementing online testing. As a result they do not shift to testing online, depriving themselves of the opportunity to use summative tests for formative purposes without serious increases in workload. However there is a way to have the best of both worlds and it comes back to the use of Google Forms, Google Sheets with its toolset, and the Flubaroo add on. 

To start let's say that a teacher has a test that has ten selective response and four constructive response items. The first step would be to have the answers for the selective responses and the scores for the constructive responses entered into a spreadsheet via a Google Form. To do that, ten blank multiple choice items need to be created and four short answer questions need to be created in a Google Form. The images below show exactly what is needed to ensure the data is entered correctly.

With the Google Form created, the teacher then would need to provide the link to the Google Form to students to allow them to enter their results from their pencil/paper tests. This can be done within Google Classroom. a shortened url or even a QR code. 

The results from the Google Form land in the response area and the results also land in a Google Sheet. It is the Google Sheet that we need to be in because it is there we can do a detailed data or item analysis. To start the analysis we will look at some sample data as indicated in the image below.

I have 3 selective response items and 2 constructive response items added for demonstration purposes. 

In focusing on the selective responses and the data analysis we need to use an add on called Flubaroo. With Flubaroo all that needs to be done is to select the questions to be graded (we will skip the constructive response items), choose the answer key (so ensure you, as the teacher, have submitted the answer key in the Google Form) and Flubaroo does the rest. Below are the images that illustrates this process.

But what about the constructive response? This is where we can use the features of Google Sheets to complete the analysis. The images below the use of formulas and conditional formatting to achieve this task. 

This is but one way to use conditional formatting. Here is a different option using the second constructive response column.

With the use of Flubaroo and Google Sheets functionality, a teacher can conduct a detailed analysis of any summative assessment. With the ease of use that is inherent within Google Form creation and dissemination, the collection of data from a pencil/paper summative assessment like a test can be completed by any classroom teacher. So, after reading this blog, it should be clearer to the reader that the use of pencil and paper summative assessments should not be an impediment to their use for formative assessment purposes. Because as Rick Wormeli points out, kids can learn without summative assessment but cannot learn without formative assessment. We can have the best of both worlds, if we leverage technology to make it easier and more efficient.