Case Studies: Overview | Summative | Formative | Assessment for Learning
If teachers are held accountable for student learning results, districts should, in turn, provide them with access to data to improve their instruction. This requires an assessment regime that is characterized by ongoing student assessment. In this regime, assessment must not be viewed as a one-time process that occurs at the end of the year. Rather, an integrated assessment system consists of the following elements:
- Summative assessments. Summative assessments are formal exams intended to evaluate the extent of student learning at a particular point in time.
- Formative assessments. Formative assessments are ongoing measures designed to provide information regarding students' progress toward mastery of broader content standards.
- Assessments for learning. Assessments for learning are a particular type of formative assessment that occurs throughout the learning process to provide teachers with invaluable information about student needs which can, in turn, be used to immediately inform instructional practice.
An integrated assessment system aligns summative exams with formative assessments administered throughout the school year and offers professional development that trains teachers to understand how to use assessments to improve student learning.
Critics have argued that test-based accountability has negatively affected the education system by narrowing the core curriculum and reducing instruction to test preparation activities. Used in these ways, assessment does not positively impact student learning. However, an integrated assessment system would improve the quality of summative exams, purposefully align formative assessments to these exams, and provide teachers with the requisite training to use assessments in ways that maximize not just measure student learning. Used in these ways, assessment has been shown to increase student achievement, particularly for low achievers.
An integrated assessment system would improve on the current state of affairs and confer the following benefits:
- Enhanced classroom practice. When a broad range of rigorous assessment techniques is put to use, educators can use data to make instructional adjustments and extend student learning.
- Data-driven school improvement. Assessment can yield meaningful data that provide teachers and administrators with the information they need to drive school improvement efforts. For example, assessment results can serve as the foundation for conversations in professional learning communities.
- Student empowerment. Not only does quality assessment provide teachers with valuable information about their students' progress so they can adjust their classroom instruction, but if used appropriately, it can also empower students to take ownership over their own learning process.
Developing an integrated system where assessments drive improvement will be challenging. States and districts interested in undertaking this effort will need to evaluate current assessment practices to determine the extent to which assessment is being used to enhance teaching and learning. The following recommendations are based on existing research and evaluation. For additional resources, see the websites and tools section.
- Set clear and meaningful standards. Current standards are often too broad and too numerous for teachers to translate into instruction and cover over the course of a year. Before an integrated assessment system can be put into place, a set of rigorous, internationally-benchmarked standards should be created. These standards need to address the most important curricular aims, use clear teacher-friendly language, and align across grade levels. Given the challenges associated with developing high standards, states and districts would be wise to work together, and collaborative efforts, such as the Common Core State Standards Initiative, are already underway.
- Design accurate and rigorous assessments. Any assessments used for accountability must meet standards of validity and reliability. Assessments need to be closely aligned with the standards and curricula, have appropriate stretch at the ends of the distribution, and be available in fresh, non-redundant, and equivalent forms.
- Develop longitudinal data systems. States should design and implement longitudinal data systems that trace individual students over time. These systems help teachers, principals, and district-level administrators analyze individual student data and design targeted interventions. Funding is available for states interested in developing these systems. See the National Center for Education Statistics's toolbox for additional guidance.
- Design accessible, user-friendly data systems and reports that can be linked to instruction. Districts must develop data systems that provide educators with user-friendly information. This information should be made accessible to all relevant stakeholders - including parents, teachers, principals, and district leaders. Information provided by these data systems should be used to drive professional development and increase collaboration among educators. It should also help educators make decisions about how to target intervention and improve practice.
- Provide professional development to build assessment literacy. Assessment practices are most likely to have a positive impact on teaching when teachers have opportunities to share their expertise and build their understanding. Professional development should focus on defining the purpose of assessment, designing appropriate assessments, and using assessment data to drive instruction. All constituencies - building principals, superintendents, and curriculum and instruction leaders - must participate in professional development geared towards developing these skills. This will help ensure that a positive culture focused on how assessment can be used to meaningfully improve student learning is sustained over time.
For more information on specific types of assessments, refer to the case study pages.
- Crafting Curricular Aims for Instructionally Supportive Assessment
(W. James Popham, unpublished manuscript, February 2003)
In this brief, the author defines the kind of curricular targets that could serve as the basis of an instructionally supportive accountability system and discusses their key attributes. They must (1) assess important knowledge and skills, (2) provide assessment descriptions, (3) provide skill by skill reporting of test results, and (4) assess teachable knowledge and skills. The author also provides evaluation criteria for standards, as well as sample exemplar items. - Developing Assessments to Inform Teaching and Learning
(Kristin M. Bass and Robert Glaser, Center for the Study of Evaluation, May 2004)
This report considers assessment practices that improve student learning by communicating learning goals, interpreting student performance, tracking progress over time, and suggesting appropriate corrective actions. The report describes properties of good assessment design including essential design elements for tasks, score forms, and interpretive materials that maximize the information provided by assessments. - Implementing Data-Informed Decision Making in Schools - Teacher Access, Supports and Use
(Barbara Means, et al., U.S. Department of Education, 2009)
The authors developed a conceptual framework for this study that identifies six prerequisites and supports for data-informed decision making: (a) state, district and school data systems; (b) leadership for educational improvement and the use of data; (c) tools for generating actionable data; (d) social structures and time set aside for analyzing and interpreting data; (e) professional development and technical support for data interpretation; and (f) tools for acting on data. They then studied the use of this framework in select districts and discovered that many systems lacked the kind of resources and training teachers needed to use data to guide instruction. - Integrated Assessment and Instructional Resources System
(Jason L. Meyers, David Shin, and Paul Nichols, Assessment & Information Group of Pearson, March 2008)
In this policy brief, Pearson researchers discuss how assessment systems are most effective when they have the following features - (1) rapid delivery, (2) audience-specific reports, and (3) access to appropriate educational resources. The Perspective Reporting System they have designed integrates assessment, instruction, and learning through four components - (1) score reports, (2) an online portal, (3) instructional resources, and (4) a learning locator service. For additional research on assessment conducted by Pearson, click here. - The Role of Interim Assessments in a Comprehensive Assessment System: A Policy Brief
(Marianne Perie, et al., The Aspen Institute, November 2007)
The Aspen Institute and Achieve, Inc., partnered with the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment to write this brief. The authors define interim assessments, discuss how they can be integrated into a broader system, evaluate current commercially available products, and provide recommendations. Specifically, they suggest that districts (1) conduct a cost-benefit analysis, (2) build capacity for effective formative assessment practices, and (3) evaluate effectiveness. Meanwhile, states should (1) establish and maintain vision, (2) provide funding, and (3) institute strong professional development and accountability policies. - Training Educators to Develop Good Educational Tests
(Patricia Jo McDivitt, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, 2003)
In this study, the author presents an assessment training model that will help build educators' understanding of the link between assessment and instruction. The article discusses how to implement the following steps of the training process: (1) defining the purpose of assessment; (2) developing content domains and understanding validity; (3) developing an assessment blueprint; (4) developing assessment question specifications; and (5) writing and reviewing assessment questions.
For additional information, Measured Progress has compiled research on formative and summative assessments as well as on the power of an integrated assessment system. The Education Resource Information Center (ERIC)'s Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation also provides balanced research on educational assessment, evaluation and research methodology in their Assessment Library. The ERIC/AE Test Locator allows users to locate hundreds of tests and instruments available in the public domain.
The following resources contain additional ideas and information about integrated assessment. These tools cover topics such as identifying existing formative and summative assessments, creating accurate and rigorous assessments, and ensuring assessment literacy and accessible reports.
Identifying existing formative and summative assessments
- Educational Testing Service's K-12 Education Division is a leading provider of custom large-scale assessments, products, and services that help students, teachers, school leaders, and parents. Search the ETS Test Collection, the world's largest test collection database, for a comprehensive listing of commercial and non-commercial educational tests.
- Pearson provides assessments for educational, clinical and psychological use. Pearson's K-12 assessment practice offers tools to address the key areas of measuring academic achievement. See all of Pearson's products and services.
- National Board on Educational Testing and Public Policy monitors tests for appropriate use and technical adequacy. The Board focuses primarily on tests that are highly consequential for students, teachers, and schools. These include tests used in making admissions, promotion, or graduation decisions and tests used to evaluate schools and school reform.
Creating accurate and rigorous assessments
- The following tips for writing high-quality multiple choice, short answer and essay assessment items have been created by The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.
- The Authentic Assessment Toolbox is a how-to guide for creating authentic tasks, rubrics and standards for measuring and improving student learning.
- WestEd's Assessment & Standards Development Services (ASDS) works at the local, state, and national levels in planning, developing, implementing, and evaluating standards and assessment tools, methods, and systems. ASDS regularly performs alignment studies to examine the content validity of assessments used for accountability and formative or diagnostic purposes. Such studies report the degree to which a test assesses what it is intended to measure, in terms of content breadth, depth, and complexity.
Ensuring assessment literacy and accessible reporting
- Measured Progress works with state clients nationwide to provide customized large-scale assessments for K-12 students. The Progress Toward Standards assessment family offers classroom assessments and an item bank that can be used by local educators to measure student knowledge relative to state and national standards. Measured Progress and its partners also offer professional development programs and a variety of resources to improve assessment literacy.
- Northwest Regional Education Laboratory's Assessment Program is dedicated to supporting teachers to use on-going and continuous assessment to improve educational outcomes for students. NWREL offers training institutes, teacher-team training, and technical assistance to schools and districts on the design of classroom assessment practices to improve content area instruction. They actively engage teachers in modifying existing courses by using a sequential six-stage Teaching-Learning Cycle that connects curriculum, assessment, and instruction in a standards-based model of education.
Additional information about training teachers to use data to drive instruction can be found on the Value-Added Training page.
- Assessment for Learning
(Paul Black, et al., McGraw-Hill Education, 2003)
Assessment for Learning is based on a two-year project involving thirty-six teachers in schools in Medway and Oxfordshire. After a brief review of the research, successive chapters describe the specific practices which teachers found fruitful and the underlying ideas about learning that these developments illustrate. Later chapters discuss the problems that teachers encountered when implementing the new practices in their classroom and give guidance for school management and Local Education Agencies about promoting and supporting the changes. - Assessment for Learning: An Action Guide for School Leaders, 2nd ed.
(Stephen Chappuis, et al., Educational Testing Service, 2005)
This book helps administrators gain a clear vision of what excellence in assessment looks like and what it takes to achieve that vision. The specific competencies leaders need to support assessment for learning are identified, with activities and resources to help them learn and apply the skills. The second edition includes the DVD of Rick Stiggins' presentation, New Mission, New Beliefs: Assessment for Learning, and a CD-ROM with more that thirty individual and group activities, teaching resources, and planning tools. - Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing It Right - Using It Well
(Rick Stiggins, et al., Educational Testing Service, 2007)
This book is the core of a larger, comprehensive professional development program in student involved classroom assessment that teaches standards of assessment quality and how to match achievement targets to assessment methods. It also helps teachers learn to involve students in the assessment process and provide descriptive feedback to students. Use of the lessons in this book can help save professional development time and resources through presentation in learning team models. Includes DVD and CD-ROM practices and presentation. - Data Wise: A Step-by-Step Guide to Using Assessment Results to Improve Teaching and Learning
(Kathryn Parker Boudett, Elizabeth City, and Richard Murnane, eds., Harvard Education Press, 2005)
Data Wise presents school leaders with a clear and carefully tested blueprint for using assessment data. It shows how examining test scores and other classroom data can become a catalyst for important schoolwide conversations that will enhance a school's ability to capture teachers' knowledge, foster collaboration, identify obstacles to change, and enhance school culture and climate. Data Wise in Action, a companion and sequel, tells the stories of eight very different schools following the Data Wise process of using assessment results to improve teaching and learning. - Educational Assessment of Students, 5th ed.
(Anthony J. Nitko and Susan M. Brookhart, Merrill, 2007)
This book provides an overview of various types of assessment practices. Features include hundreds of examples, directions for crafting both traditional and alternative assessments, checklists for evaluating classroom assessments, scores of strategies for assessing problem solving and critical thinking, and methods for aligning classroom assessment with state standards and NCLB requirements. - Transformative Assessment
(W. James Popham, ASCD, 2008)
This book discusses the research base on formative assessment and provides step-by-step guidance on how to use formative assessments to improve both teaching and learning. The author recommends steps for implementing formative assessment at four levels of the system: (1) teachers' instructional adjustments; (2) students' learning tactic adjustment; (3) classroom climate shift; and (4) school-wide implementation.