Case Studies: Overview | Summative | Formative | Assessment for Learning
Formative assessments are ongoing measures designed to provide information to both the teacher and the student regarding student progress towards mastery of broader content standards. The key to formative assessment is the role of feedback, which allows students to correct conceptual errors and encourages instructors to modify instructional activities in light of their effectiveness. In this way, formative assessments can build student motivation as students receive continuous feedback on their progress towards standards. Multiple forms of formative assessment should be used in an integrated assessment system:
- Benchmark assessments. Benchmark tests should mirror summative tests in content, format, and reporting, and, as a result, accurately reflect student mastery and progress toward end-of-the-year targets. Such exams should be administered at regular intervals throughout the school year in order to provide teachers with information regarding their students' progress toward meeting the standards that will be measured on the summative exams.
- Feedback assessments. Feedback assessments do not necessarily mirror the summative exams. Instead, they should be designed to provide teachers with detailed information on how their students are doing across a wide range of knowledge and skills. Feedback assessments can be developed by first examining local standards and breaking them down into discrete knowledge and skills that will build over the course of the year.
A 2008 study of formative assessment policies and programs of states in the Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest (REL Southwest) revealed many promising practices. The report describes formative assessment practices in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas using data gleaned from document analyses, interviews with state- and district-level representatives, and a review of locally-designed formative assessment practices. While the findings show a great degree of variation in how formative assessment is defined, regulated, and used both across and within these states, the report highlights a host of both home-grown and commercially available assessment programs that can be used for formative purposes.
- Arkansas. The Arkansas Target Testing initiative is a cross-district initiative intended to provide participating districts with a cost-effective formative assessment tool. The databank includes both multiple-choice and constructed-response math and literacy items that are aligned with state standards and were developed by local content experts. For each content area, teachers are provided with pacing guides to focus their instruction on students' strengths and weaknesses prior to the Arkansas state exams. Workshops on using data effectively are also available for participating districts.
- Louisiana. Union Parish School District in Farmerville, Louisiana, employs Pearson's Classroom Performance System. Using hand-held response devices, students submit their responses to teachers which allows for in-the-moment instructional adjustments. Using this system, teachers can track student learning outcomes, administer self-paced testing, and create custom reports for students, parents, and school and district leaders.
- New Mexico. The Las Cruces Public School District meets its formative assessment needs by using the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) developed by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). The MAP is a computer-adaptive test capable of providing teachers with timely and accurate student performance data that enables them to identify and address each individual student's learning needs. The Las Cruces Public School District also supports formative assessment processes by incorporating them into the district's Curriculum Alignment Matrix, which combines content-specific pacing guides with state and classroom test results and guides teachers in using student assessment data formatively.
- Oklahoma. The Jenks Public School District uses two formative assessment programs. First, the district has created a locally-developed diagnostic system in which pre- and post-tests are administered prior to and following instruction. Teachers regularly review these pre- and post-tests to ensure they remain reliable measures of student knowledge and skills and that teachers use the results in formative ways. The second program used by Jenks Public Schools is the Essential Elements program which focuses on developing instructional priorities, called essential elements, for each class. Students are regularly assessed on these instructional priorities to monitor progress and inform instructional decision-making.
- Texas. The Clarksville Independent School District used a grant award from the Texas Technology Immersion Program to adopt the CTB/McGraw-Hill's i-Know program, a technology-based formative assessment system to increase student achievement. Students and teachers in three K-12 schools are provided with laptops to be used to administer online tests linked to key learning outcomes. Teachers receive extensive professional development in using electronic data to improve instructional methods and promote student learning by isolating areas for intervention. The i-Know program includes assessment items developed both from national and Texas content standards. The program enables teachers to gain immediate feedback on student learning while students are still engaged in learning activities.
The following resources provide additional information on developing formative assessments.
- Park University has developed helpful guidelines for understanding the purpose and uses of formative assessments.
- This article by Stephen Chappuis and Jan Chappuis, originally published in Educational Leadership, compares and contrasts summative and formative assessments, as well as successful and unsuccessful formative assessment techniques.
- The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning has created the following tips for writing high-quality multiple choice, short answer and essay assessment items.
- The Authentic Assessment Toolbox is a how-to guide for creating authentic tasks, rubrics and standards for measuring and improving student learning.