Waving the Flag for Formative Assessment

Every educator knows what "a teachable moment" is. It's the brief period of time when events serendipitously conspire to teach students something that otherwise might be difficult for them to learn. Teachable moments are really quite special, and they don't come along all that often. A teacher who wastes a teachable moment, therefore, commits a pedagogical sin of omission.

Interestingly, American educators are now on the cusp of a different sort of special moment. In this instance, it stems from a unique historical occasion during which teachers' adoption of the formative-assessment process should be advocated with both honesty and unparalleled zeal. Yes, this is formative assessment's "advocatable moment."

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