January 20, 2025
By Eboney McKinney and Barbara Jones
In 2019, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) embarked on a transformative journey to improve student outcomes through formative assessment. Central to this effort was an invaluable partnership with WestEd via the Region 15 Comprehensive Center (R15CC). Together, ADE and WestEd forged a systematic approach to building a shared vision, empowering leaders, and creating a statewide framework for formative assessment.
This collaboration represents the power of partnership in fostering sustainable change for educators and students across Arizona.
A Shared Vision for Formative Assessment
At its core, formative assessment is a process of evidence-based inquiry that involves setting learning goals, developing success criteria, and using real-time feedback to guide next steps. Recognizing its potential to drive student agency and improve student outcomes–especially for historically underserved students–ADE partnered with WestEd to scale formative assessment across the state. This multiyear initiative was made possible by a shared understanding that meaningful change requires collaboration, research-based practices, and capacity-building at all levels of the system.
Co-designing the Arizona Formative Assessment Framework
The Arizona Formative Assessment Framework, developed through this partnership, provides coherent and actionable support for formative assessment implementation. In this effort, ADE and WestEd worked closely to define the responsibilities and success criteria for various role groups across the state education system in support of formative assessment practices in the classroom. The framework development process included the following:
- Rigorous Research: Collaborative working sessions involved reading and analyzing academic articles to ground the framework in evidence-based practices.
- Collaboration: Monthly meetings with cross-program state leaders, with periodic input from district teams and educators, helped refine ideas and build consensus.
- Vision Alignment: Shared discussions ensured that the framework addressed equal opportunity, student agency, and a learning culture.
The result was a comprehensive document that provides Arizona’s education community with a roadmap for embedding formative assessment into every classroom.
Building Capacity Through Partnership
In addition to helping develop the framework, WestEd provided critical expertise and support for designing and implementing strategies to build capacity at every level:
- Lab Classrooms and Demonstration Sites: The creation of classroom models in which educators can observe effective formative assessment practices provided spaces that became hubs for professional learning and innovation.
- Leadership Training and Support: ADE staff and district leaders were able to develop the skills to guide and sustain formative assessment practices through workshops and working groups.
- Statewide Professional Development: The organization of virtual site visits, cross-agency learning sessions, and online micro courses ensures that educators and leaders have access to tools and strategies for success.
- Website Development: The redesigning of an ADE website page provides updated formative assessment information, resources, professional learning opportunities, and the framework itself.
- Promotion of Equal Opportunity and Agency: This partnership prioritized student-centered learning, helping educators create environments in which students actively promote their own learning progress.
Positive Outcomes of Collaboration
The partnership between ADE and WestEd will have a lasting impact on Arizona’s education system. The conditions have been set for students to take ownership of their learning through co-creating success criteria and receiving actionable feedback. Teachers have the resources to transition from information providers to facilitators of learning. And, most importantly, the collaboration has fostered a culture of equal opportunity and achievement across the state.
A Model for Future Partnerships
The Arizona Formative Assessment Framework is a testament to what can be achieved when state agencies and educational organizations work together toward a common goal. The collaboration between ADE and WestEd will not only transform classrooms but also serve as a model for how partnerships can drive systemic change.
As ADE continues to scale these efforts, the lessons from this partnership will guide future initiatives, ensuring that every student in Arizona benefits from a learning experience grounded in agency, equal opportunity, and excellence.
Visit the ADE website to download the formative assessment framework!
The content of this article was developed under a grant from the Department of Education through the Office of Program and Grantee Support Services (PGSS) within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), by the Region 15 Comprehensive Center at WestEd under Award #S283B190053. This contains resources that are provided for the reader’s convenience. These materials may contain the views and recommendations of various subject matter experts as well as hypertext links, contact addresses, and websites to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any outside information included in these materials. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or policies of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, enterprise, curriculum, or program of instruction mentioned in this document is intended or should be inferred.