A Definition of Formative and Summative Assessments
When one thinks of the term assessment, they will most likely think of a test. This is what we know as summative assessment. Summative assessment can be defined as evaluation of student learning at the end of a unit (Formative vs. Summative).
For more than 20 years, formative assessment has been highly researched and even accredited as a critical part of a teacher’s pedagogy. In the last decade it (formative assessment has become something of a buzzword and in some cases a mandate in k-12 schools across the country. Formative assessment can be defined as a part of the instructional process intended to gather information and provide feedback for both students and teachers that allow for needed
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Furthermore, because of the pressure of high stakes testing there have been many negative side effects such as low motivation among teachers and students, test anxiety, lack of creativity in curriculum and teaching to the test (Harlen, 2005).
Formative assessments inform instructional practices. If used correctly formative assessments can be an advantage that allows students to know what areas they should study further and what areas they are competent in. It also teachers valuable information that will help them in lesson planning. Again, they key use to use data from the formative assessments effectively. If teachers merely assign an exit ticket with three questions at the end of every class, but they never check them for understanding or use the information to guide instruction, then it is not truly a formative assessment.
There is so much research out there on formative assessment. Unfortunately, there is not a great deal of empirical evidence that can directly such as the use of many suggest forms of formative assessment to gains on summative assessments (Dunn & Mulvenon, 2009).
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Assessments were not aligned and incongruent with what was happening in the classroom. It was difficult to accurately measure student success (Polikoff, Porter, & Smithson, 2011). One of the greatest contributors to the difficulty of aligning assessments to standards is that the standards are so complex (LaMarca, 2001.) How can a single assessment demonstrate mastery of so much content? Also, some assessments items measure multiple standards. This can be difficult to analyze. Furthermore, some assessment contain content that is neither developmentally appropriate for the intended audience or it may content that is not mentioned in the standards (Polikoff, Porter, & Smithson, 2011). This can be discouraging and frustrating for both students and
Elwood, J. (2006). Formative assessment: possibilities, boundaries and limitations. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 215-232, doi:10.1080/09695940600708653
Current educational policy and practice asserts that increased standardized student testing is the key to improving student learning and is the most appropriate means for holding individual schools and teachers accountable for student learning. Instead, it has become a tool solely for summarizing what students have learned and for ranking students and schools. The problem is standardized tests cannot provide the information about student achievement that teachers and students need day-to-day. Classroom assessment can provide this kind of information.
tests were primarily employed as measures of student achievement that could be reported to parents, and as a means of noting state and district trends (Moon 2) . Teachers paid little attention to these tests, which in turn had little impact on curriculum. However, in the continuing quest for better schools and high achieving students, testing has become a central focus of policy and practice. Standardized tests are tests that attempt to present unbiased material under the same, predetermined conditions and with consistent scoring and interpretation so that students have equal opportunities to give correct answers and receive an accurate assessment. The idea is that these similarities allow the highest degree of certainty in comparing result...
Assessments have always been a tool for teachers to assess mastery and for a long time it was just to provide a grade and enter it into the grade book or report card. Through resources in and out of the course, there has been a breath of new life into the research on how to use assessments. They take many forms and fall within the summative or formative assessment category. Sloan (2016) addresses how formative assessments has traditionally been used by teachers to modify instruction, but when we focus on a classroom that is learner-centered “it becomes assessment for learning as opposed to assessment of learning” (slide 4). The fact is, the students are the ones that should be and are the ones using the data we collect through assessments, since it is our way of providing feedback in order
Formative assessment is sometimes referred to as assessment for learning (Bell & Cowie, 2001). The purpose of formative assessment is to monitor where students are in their learning, what they need to learn next and which teaching strategies are in place (Hodgson, 2010). Formative assessment takes place over a period of time and occurs while students are learning (Raban, 2010). There are many types of formative assessment that can be used, including questioning, observation, checklists, brainstorming and card sorting (DET, n.d.). Questioning and observation were formative assessment strategies used throughout the exploration and explanation of lessons.
Teachers use a range of formative assessment tools and teaching approaches to gather evidence for the purposes of: monitoring and measuring student learning; providing students with feedback; and providing feedback to inform teaching and modifying instructional strategies to enhance students’ knowledge and performance in mathematics (ACARA, 2015; DEECD, 2009; McMillan, 2011; Taylor-Cox, & Oberdorf, 2013). Regular use of formative assessment improves student learning as instruction can be adjusted based on students’ progress and teachers are able to modify instructions to cater to students’ individual needs (Black & Wiliam, 2010; Taylor-Cox, & Oberdorf, 2013). Various forms of informal and formal formative assessment methods are conducted as learning takes place, continuously through teacher observations, questioning through individual interactions, group discussions and open-ended tasks (McMillan,
There is added pressure to schools to get better scores which adds pressure to the educators and the students. The added pressure can cause health problems with the students or the educators. If health problem come from the stress of the tests it could negatively affect the student’s ability to learn (Pros and Cons, 2013). The test itself is a problem as well. The test is supposed to be unbiased based on the grade level but in most cases the test is not. As much as they try...
However, a formative assessment is ongoing and is used to check for students’ understanding throughout a lesson. Both work samples “matched learning objectives” and I was able to identify the students’ strength and weaknesses. I was also able to “analyze assessment data to understand patterns and gaps in learning” to guide my future instructions. In the word problem assessment, I recognized where the student was struggling and gave “effective and descriptive feedback” to address the area that she needs work in.
This method of monitoring and evaluating our academic success has its drawbacks. Standardized testing tends to be corporate run, narrows curriculum, afflicts too much stress on the youth of our nation and is not always fairly scored. Standardized testing should be extremely modified to accommodate everyone and their different strengths, or be eliminated altogether. Scoring on high-risk test has been known to have low and questionable validity. With this irregularity it emphasizes how unjust, unethical and unreasonable subjubjecting students to these test can be.
Teachers and school administration, have you ever wondered whether the standardized tests you are giving your students is accurately displaying their knowledge? Or whether the material on the test is actually required to know to be successful in each student’s life? It is estimated by Valerie Strauss, from the Washingtons Post, that between kindergarten prep and 12th grade the average American student takes over 112 standardized tests (Strauss, Valerie). This means that students are going through the stress, headaches, and time consuming agony to take around eight or nine tests each school year on top of the tests within each class. People often believe that standardized test correctly represent a student’s academic knowledge and learning and
Standardized testing has become a wide-spread problem to numerous school systems. Many schools have become reliant of tests given at the state level for most students in elementary, middle, high school, and college. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), American College Testing (ACT), Advanced Placement (AP), and many other state tests have become an inadequate way of measuring a students’ achievement. The state does not have as much concern for the other necessities of a child’s learning. Students need further types of evaluation, not only the knowledge and skills needed for one test.
Although somewhat vague compared to summative assessment, several key features help frame formative assessment. First, formative assessment happens while learning is taking place as opposed to at the end of content delivery. Rather, this is considered “assessment for learning,” (Chappuis, J., Stiggins, Chappuis, S., & Arter, 2012, pg. 5). The format is formal or informal, but the outcome in its use is an in-progress check of what students know and what students do not know. Chappuis, Stiggins, Chappuis, and Arter (2012) define formative assessment as, “Formal and informal processes teachers and students use to gather evidence for the purpose of improving learning,” (pg. 24). Second, this type of assessment is used to make instructional strategy adjustments. If student learning did not happen via one instructional method, the teacher must make the necessary accommodations to reteach the concept or skill. Next, it is not only used by teachers for feedback on instruction, but formative assessment is also used for providing timely, descriptive feedback to students and extends to allow for student self-assessment (Chappuis, J., Stiggins, Chappuis, S., & Arter, 2012; Popham, 2008). Formative assessment provides opportunity to provide specific feedback to students on where they are currently in their learning, and where they should be headed.
Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a
In spite of the importance of assessment in education, few teachers receive proper training on how to design or analyze assessments. Due to this, when teachers are not provided with suitable assessments from their textbooks or instructional resources, teachers construct their own in an unsystematic manner. They create questions and essay prompts comparable to the ones that their teachers used, and they treat them as evaluations to administer when instructional activities are completed predominantly for allocating students' grades. In order to use assessments to improve instruction and student learning, teachers need to change their approach to assessments by making sure that they create sound assessments. To ensure that their assessments are sound they need include five basic indicators that can be used as steps to follow when creating assessments. The first of these indicators and the first step a teacher must take when creating a sound assessme...
Cauley, K.H. & McMillan, J.H. (2009). Formative assessment techniques to support student motivation and achievement. Clearing House, 83(1), 1-6.