Common Formative Assessments 2.0

Upgrade your CFAs using CFA 2.0

Common Formative Assessments 2.0 presents a powerful, research-based process for improving teaching and student learning that is applicable to all standards, all grades, and all content areas. CFA 2.0 is so much more than assessment design. It shows teachers how they can intentionally align standards, instruction, assessment, and data analysis in every unit of study. The CFA 2.0 process is not limited to assessment design only. Rather, it is a system of intentionally aligned components (standards, instruction, assessments, and data analysis) that all work together to improve student learning. 

Even a timeless process needs to remain timely. This expanded, all-new edition of the definitive guide to common formative assessments features new field research and proven strategies that will enable educators to make more accurate inferences about student understanding so they can adjust instruction to improve student learning.  

Readers will learn to

• Build the "highway" to aligned assessments
• Use the CFA 2.0 design steps to upgrade their own assessments
• Decide the learning intentions and student success criteria for a unit of study
• Evaluate and revise assessment questions for quality
• Plan the learning progressions for students to attain the learning intentions
• Create quick progress checks to coincide with the learning progressions
• Use assessment results as feedback to adjust instruction and student learning strategies
• Gain new knowledge and skills for creating, revising, and improving grade- and course-level common formative assessments

Author Larry Ainsworth provides busy educators and leaders with a practical, how-to guide filled with information, examples, and action steps to assist all K–12 grade- and course-level teams in making this completely re-envisioned process their own.