Six steps to formative classroom assessment

By Hannah Haynes

Formative classroom assessment, a process between educators and students involving ongoing feedback to improve learning and teaching outcomes, has become an increasingly essential part of effective teaching. In a recent conversation with WIDA founder Tim Boals and WIDA chief of staff Merideth Trahan, educators Gabby Cardenas and Mayra Carrasco shared insights into how they’ve integrated formative assessment into their practice to foster deeper learning, collaboration and independence among their students. Gabby and Mayra are both multilingual and have spent much of their careers working with multilingual students. Together, they provide actionable strategies for educators looking to strengthen their approach to classroom assessment.

Build a classroom culture of safety and ownership

Key takeaway: Create a space where students feel safe to take risks and own their learning.

Gabby emphasized the importance of fostering a classroom culture where students feel comfortable admitting what they don’t know and taking steps to figure it out. This begins with teaching students to embrace vulnerability in learning.

“Discomfort can be scary, but that’s where learning happens,” Gabby said.

She described intentional strategies like collaborative grouping to allow students to rely on their peers as thinking partners. In her classroom, students not only felt safe asking questions but also developed independence, learning to utilize resources like bulletin boards and their peers as tools for problem-solving.

Your classroom can be a teacher, too

Key takeaway: Design the learning environment to empower student independence.

Mayra and Gabby described the classroom environment as an active participant in the learning process. Every tool, poster and resource had a purpose, and students were explicitly taught how to use them to solve problems or seek feedback.

Formative assessment doesn’t start on the first day of school with polished, complete practices. Instead, it begins with teaching students how to use classroom resources, collaborate effectively and manage their learning environment.

“Even if the kids are second, third or fourth graders, we’re teaching them how to use all the materials in the classroom. Every little thing is a lesson within itself,” Mayra explained.

By building these skills early, teachers can later focus on deeper conversations without constant interruptions. Mayra and Gabby stressed that students must learn how to advocate for themselves—knowing how to seek help from peers or classroom tools instead of relying solely on the teacher. This independence creates the conditions for formative assessment to thrive.

Formative assessment as real-time feedback

Key takeaway: Assess learning as it happens to inform immediate teaching decisions.

Years ago, Tim observed how Gabby used formative assessment in real time by sitting with groups, prompting discussions and listening intently. Rather than relying solely on end-of-unit assessments or even daily reflections, Gabby engaged in in-the-moment conferencing.

“We really felt that in order to help our students, it had to be in the moment,” Gabby said. “It had to be as they were trying to work out a problem. It's in conferencing with them and sitting next to them that you could ask questions and help them in the moment.”

Instead of providing direct answers, Gabby asked students probing questions to uncover their understanding and thought processes. This shifted students’ focus from an answer being “right or wrong” to explaining their thought process and reflecting on their learning journey.

Leverage peer collaboration for learning and feedback

Key takeaway: Empower students to question and learn from one another.

Over time, Gabby and Mayra noticed that the questioning strategies they modeled during student conferences were being adopted by their students. Students began asking each other thoughtful questions, reflecting the classroom norm of shared inquiry.

“It’s not about whether the answer is right or wrong—it's about explaining it. We’re going to question each other’s thinking, and that’s just what we do as learners,” Gabby said.

This collaborative environment fostered critical thinking, and it allowed students to build their confidence by explaining their reasoning to peers.

“Encourage peer-to-peer questioning to create a culture of shared learning,” Mayra said. “It helps students to internalize higher-order thinking skills and supports mutual growth.”

Gradual progression toward dynamic learning

Key takeaway: Effective formative assessment is built gradually over time.

Mayra emphasized that the fluid, dynamic conversations observed in her classroom didn’t happen overnight. It required weeks of intentional effort to teach classroom systems, establish norms and build student capacity for independence.

“By the time you get to the middle of the year, the conversations are super dynamic,” she said. “You work toward that over the course of the year.”

Be patient and be consistent. Build the foundation for formative assessment step by step, knowing the payoff will come as students develop independence and collaboration.

This level of dynamic learning allows educators to interweave content areas together, which is especially beneficial for multilingual learners. Teaching sentence stems across all the subject areas can help students make connections and learn on a deeper level, Mayra said.

Professional development as a foundation

Key takeaway: Teacher collaboration and continuous learning is essential.

Both Gabby and Mayra emphasized the importance of ongoing professional development and collaboration. They used to work together in the classroom, and they trusted one another.

“Mayra was the lead in literacy. She was the go-to literacy teacher. And I was the lead teacher for math,” Gabby said. “Because we trusted each other and divided the work, I would go even deeper with our math lesson plans and then hand them off to Mayra. I was able to really focus on math and plan what we were going to do each week. She was able to do the same for literacy.”

Professional development and collaboration are key to the process. They suggest finding at least one other teacher to be a partner in the work. Bounce ideas off of them, ask them to observe your classroom and discuss strategies.

Closing advice: Trust, experiment and grow together.

At the end of the conversation, Gabby and Mayra reflected on their journeys. Tim and Merideth asked them for their final piece of advice for educators.

Gabby emphasized trusting your students.

“Let go and see what your students come up with,” she said.

Giving students ownership of their learning can feel daunting, but it’s in these moments of autonomy that students surprise us with their capabilities.

Mayra offered equally actionable advice:

“Try one thing. Every time you leave a meeting, what is it you’re going to implement right now? Those are the things that stay long term,” she said. “After reading this article, what’s one thing you’re going to try out?”

About the educators

Gabriela Cardenas is a K-8 Instructional Coach, with 19 years of teaching experience at Para Los Niños Charter Elementary School in Los Angeles and UCLA Lab School. She is the 2016 recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Mayra Carrasco is a demonstration teacher at UCLA Lab School with 22 years of experience, including 12 years at Para Los Niños Charter Elementary School. She holds a master's degree in education with a focus on curriculum and instruction and has mentored teachers through both Loyola Marymount University and UCLA teacher education programs.