Date of Award

January 2013

Degree Type

Open Access Thesis

Document Type

Master Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Mathematics and Statistics

First Advisor

Robert John Thomas

Department Affiliation

Mathematics and Statistics

Second Advisor

Lisa Whitis Kay

Department Affiliation

Mathematics and Statistics

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore the implementation of formative assessment in the mathematics classroom. Formative assessment is considered to be any data-driven activity that an educator uses to help guide and improve instruction. While there is an abundance of research that concludes that formative assessment does indeed improve student achievement, practical methods of implementation are not thoroughly discussed. To partially determine which methods of formative assessment most positively impact student achievement, a study was conducted at Lafayette High School. The researcher compared two popular methods of formative assessment: daily exit slips and unit probing (pre-, middle-, and post-testing). While the data collected through research indicated that the use of unit probing showed more growth over the span of a unit than the use of daily exit slips, the study does not allow generalization as to which method of formative assessment improves student achievement more.

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