Formative and Summative Assessment in Foreign Language Education Assessment has progressed from traditional testing to an alternative (authentic) performance assessment, following an interactive, learning-based pedagogy. Assessment is, in its formative and summative forms, one of the most important element to consider seriously when planning a unit. It carries within it different meaning to teachers as well as learners. It plays an important role as feedback to the student and teacher. It shows the students where they stand and where they should put more effort in, to reach mastery. It provides teachers with information on the actual level of development the students are at, so that lessons are developed accordingly. “The aim of assessment is primarily to educate and improve student performance, not merely to audit it” (Wiggins, 1998, p. 7). Formative and summative assessments could be informal or formal depending on the way the teacher prepares the student for the task and the initial goal behind the assessment. For example a portfolio could be used for formative (informal or formal) assessment as well as summative (informal or formal). Formative Assessment Formative assessment and why it needs to be used. Colby-Kelly and Turner (2007) define formative assessment as “the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for making substantively grounded decisions or judgments about the product of a learning task”. In our school, formative assessment, in both its formal and
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
Formative assessment, or assessment for learning as it is often called, is the assessment that
A formative assessment provides informal feedback and information during the teaching process. This assessment measures student progress and performance thus allowing further improvement and development. It can also assess the teacher’s progress as an instructor, enabling the teacher to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching methods.
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
For example a task or activity is not formative unless the information it provides is actually used to take learning forward. The distinction is undoubtedly useful in helping to understand the different uses of assessment. What a pupil does or says will be observed and interpreted by the teacher, or other learners, who build on that response to develop a dialogue aimed at helping learners to take their next steps. This is formative assessment, AML– SC2005011237 2 TDA 3.7 Support assessment for learning which contrasts with summative assessment.
Formative Assessment- The formative assessment is the annotated passage reading assigned on the first day. If students read and took notes, answering the five w’s of who, what, where, why, when they will receive the full ten points. The other formative assessment will be the participation and note sheet handed in at the end of day four regarding Aaron Huey’s photos. If students took notes, wrote their opinion and joined in class discussion at least once they will receive the full ten points.
The portfolio can effectively be used for summative and formative assessment. The first evaluation will involve a private conversation between the student and the educator. This would be a formative assessment. This assessment concentrates on observing the students response to instruction. Formative assessment gives instant feedback to the educator and student
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
Coffey, J. E., Hammer, D., Levin, D. E & Grant, T. (2011). The Missing Disciplinary Substance of Formative Assessment. Journal of research in science teaching. 48 (10) PP. 1109–1136 (2011) College of Education, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 2 Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 3 St. Paul School, Baltimore, Maryland Received 17 April 2011; Accepted 5 August 2011. Retrieved from file:///Users/EleanorNewbold/Downloads/Coffey_et_al-2011-Journal_of_Research_in_Science_Teaching.pdf
(Formative Assessment - Assessment for learning takes place during learning, working with the pupil to determine what is being learned and identifying what the 'next steps ' should be. It is based on day to day classroom practice, where both teachers and pupils use feedback to improve the learning.)
Assessments are vital to the educational process. They provide feedback about what the students know and what they may need to learn in order to obtain the content within a given curriculum. It provides teachers with a glimpse into the student’s readiness on a particular topic or subject. One of the six key principles of having an effective differentiated classroom is having a formative assessment that informs teachers on the effectiveness of their teaching. It also provides teachers with the readiness levels of their students and shows them exactly where the students’ readiness, interests, and learning profile needs really are (Tomlinson, 2014).
The first article that I viewed was on Edutopia and it was titled Why Formative Assessments Matter. This article was a very helpful in that it was a review of what formative assessments are, why they are used, and when and how you use them. The middle part, why they are used, it reinforces that they are used for, to inform, not to punish. This is important to remember as we are assessing and planning instruction for students each day. Learning and showing what you have learned should never feel like a punishment. At the end of the article, in the last section, there were suggestions on ways to formatively assess students in a way that would not feel as though they are being punished. Instead, they are enjoying showing what they have learned. The last tip in this article was to watch, look, and listen. It is important to remember that to formatively assess students you must constantly
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