Operationalization of Formative Assessment in Writing: An Intuitive ‎Approach to the Development of an Instrument

The current study aimed to develop a Formative Assessment of Writing (FAoW) instrument through operationalizing Black and Wiliam’s (2009) Formative Assessment (FA) and Hattie and Timperley’s (2007) feedback model. Following intuitive approach of scale construction (Hase & Goldberg, 1967), a comprehensive review of the literature was undertaken, and 30 Likert scale items were devised.  The items tapped students’ experiences of FA practices in writing classrooms and their attitudes towards the helpfulness of each practice.  In a focused group interview, the items were intuitively classified by three experts of writing and assessment based on the five components of FA (clarifying criteria, evidence on students’ learning, feedback to move learners forward, peer assessment and autonomy) and in three stages (“Where the learner is going/Pre-writing, “Where the learner is right now/Writing and “How to get there/ Post-writing”). The expert interviews resulted in revisions and 20 additional items. They also agreed that items in FAoW instrument corresponded with the theoretical frameworks of FA as well as the three stages of feedback.