There are many different types of assessments educators will use to assess their students. The two main assessments this paper will be discussing are formative and summative. Formative assessments are complete as students are learning, while summative assessment are completed at the end of learning (exam). The formative assessment specifically concentrates on observing the students’ progress and response during instruction (Black, et al., 2003). This assessment allows the students to receive instant feedback during their learning development. The summative assessment focusses on confirming what the students have learned at the conclusion of a lesson or at the end of the term (Wiggins, 1998). This assessment assists in the decision of what instructional and learning goals were met. Alternative assessments need to be completed, due to not all students are capable of showing what they comprehend on all assessments. Some students are too young to even take a summative assessment.
Formative/Summative Assessments Mrs. Muscato uses the Brigance assessment. This assessment used specifically with children from birth to the first grade and required by her school district. Early childhood students’ assessments need to be simplified due to their age. When the class is working at the calendar the educator can ask questions about the day, date, or pattern. The educator needs to remember to give feedback immediately. A summative assessment in this age group includes space to add
The term ‘formative assessment’ is used to describe the activities and processes used by teachers and learners to gather information that informs future teaching and learning. Assessment becomes formative if the information gathered is used as feedback to adapt and modify teaching and learning (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p.2). There are a variety of different methods and techniques that can be used by teachers and learners that can contribute to enhancing learner progress. These include
Assessment, both formative and summative, plays a significant part in the learning experience as it determines progression and enables learners to demonstrate that they have achieved their desired learning outcomes.
Haydn (2009 cited in Capel et al 2009 page 329) defines assessment as "all those activities which are undertaken by teachers, and others, to measure the effectiveness of teaching and learning".
Assessment is a valuable tool to measure students learning and achievement. It is an essential element for teacher to reflect on what and how they teach. To assess students is to collect evidence of their learning. Teachers use the information to modify their lesson plans and adjust their instructional methods; students need feedback on their performance to concentrate on their vulnerable areas. Assessment is necessary for parents to reinforce their children strength and assist them where extra attention is required. The data collected will inform school
Initially in this assignment, I intend to describe and evaluate two different assessment methods, which I use to assess the progress of my learners.
Assessing the children understanding is considered to be a good indicator of their learning and development process (Reys et al., 2012). Stiggins (2002) discussed the difference between the children’s assessment for learning and assessment of learning. Teachers need to be familiar with both. Assessment for learning (or as we call it the formative assessment) helps the students to learn more about different concepts and increase the opportunity to develop various skills. On the other side, assessment of learning (summative assessment) is to give the teacher an evidence of students’ achievements for purposes of accountability and reporting. For example, assessment for learning can include the teacher’s observations, in-class assignments,
Ch. 2 – Who are the various users of assessment and its results? What specific instructional decisions can be made based on assessment results? Why must we build balanced assessment systems to support the instructional programs we offer students? This chapter nails down the purpose of assessing, which is gathering information to inform teachers of students of their instruction and learning, respectively. In this way, assessment is individualized to each student and classroom, and because all students/classes are different, it should inform the teachers of what is working or not working in the classroom, which should then influence some sort of change to instruction. This chapter also talks about the different levels of assessment – from the individuals
Kindergarten students will take part in a summative assessment that will measure their ability to 1.) Use descriptive words to describe shapes in the environment, 2.) Name particular shapes without guidance, and 3.) Create art using and incorporating a variety of shapes with at least 85% accuracy. During the summative assessment students will complete a short test that consists of six questions. Each student will receive a test handout with the questions:
Assessment for learning is any assessment for which the first priority in its design and practice is to serve the purpose of promoting further student learning and enabling improved student learning through purposeful interaction and providing meaningful feedback. Formative assessment is specifically intended to generate feedback and feed forward on performance to improve, accelerate and enable learning (Sadler, 1998). Formative assessment can and should occur throughout a daily class, through implementation of learning and teaching strategies that lead to both oral and written feedback. The Formative assessment approach is equitable and reliable, producing some significant indicator of student developed understanding that links directly to the syllabus outcomes. This then allows the teacher or other students to respond by trying to
Recently, whenever I hear current teachers discussing about assessing students, ‘Formative Assessment’ is sure to be highlighted. Nowadays this method (formative assessment) is becoming popular among schools and is being applied widely in schools including my own school. Loughland and Kilpatrick (2015) identified in the few past decades, formative assessment has turned out to be the main goal for teachers and educational systems. On the foundation of Loughland and Kilpatrick (2015) findings and from my experience in the field of teaching, I found out nowadays teachers and school stakeholders strongly feel that formative assessment is the best method to assess in order to enhance students’ learning. For these evident reasons, I am interested in finding
Ms. Jones assumed her students understood the content when in reality students did not understand the crucial ideas. Ms. Jones would have realized her students were not learning the intended learning if she would have paused to conduct formative assessments throughout the unit instruction. Once, Ms. Jones decided to include target-learning goals, allowing her to monitor students’ learning progress and implement remediation immediately. The most effective classrooms provide students will multiple learning opportunities. The teacher needs to assess their students often through formative assessments to ensure their students are learning the crucial information provided throughout the instructional strategies. Formative assessments allow teachers to adjust their instructional strategies based on students’ results from the formative assessments before students engage in the unit’s summative
To successfully conduct this type of instructional practices of assessing students daily the teacher or planning committee must plan for these assessments that link with the learning of all students (Fennell, Swartz, McCord, & Wray, 2015). There has been a disconnection of what is expected of the instructional staff in order to accomplish success. According to Fennell, Swartz, McCord, & Wray (2015), there is little to no research of how to conduct formative assessment as an instructional tool and for that reason (Schneider and Meyer’s 2012), believes that teacher are not adequately re-teaching or providing intervention which is hindering students success rates.
In today’s schools, teachers are trying to decide which form of assessment, formative or summative, is a better measure of student’s abilities. Teachers are constantly pressured to make sure their students are doing well on state wide assessments, therefore, making sure their students have the skills they need to succeed on these tests is extremely important. Formative assessment gives the student and teacher feedback as the information is gathered (Cotton, 2017). Where summative assessments are better for capturing the amount of material learned and the quality of learning at the end of a large unit or amount of information (Dixson and Worrell 2016). Teachers are on the warpath researching which method is the most effective way of assessing students.
Throughout my current educational coursework and field experiences, I have explored and engaged in the use of multiple assessments to gather both formative and summative data to check for student knowledge of the standards. As stated by Bransford (1999), "Assessment should mirror good instruction; happen continuously as part of instruction; and provide information about the levels of understanding that students are reaching.” Any type of assessment is an important assessment that helps teachers assess students whether it is a formative or summative assessment.
Students may not take it as seriously as summative assessment. It can be a time taking process. Students need different kinds of formative assessment at different stages in their learning.[2]