Assessment for Learning

Bill Blynt
Jul 14, 2008

Since NCLB, the amount of testing students are subjected to in our schools has increased dramatically. Although driven by federal and state testing requirements, this surge in testing goes well beyond these mandates. Schools use test results for many purposes; three examples are:  identifying students who may qualify for additional services, predicting how students will do on high stakes state assessments, monitoring student performance and adjusting instruction accordingly are three such examples.

Educators across the country are debating and discussing assessment. Most of these discussions focus on the distinction between summative and formative assessment. Educators spend considerable time trying to determine if an assessment is summative or formative. The discussion should not focus on the actual testing materials but should rather focus on what is done with the results of administering these assessments.

An assessment is summative if the results are used to make a judgment about a student, classroom or school performance. The results are final. The student, teacher or school is unable to impact these results. They are 'out of time'. An assessment is considered formative if the data obtained from the assessment are used to adjust instruction to improve future results. The student, instructor or school has time to make changes, address student learning needs and improve results on future assessments. This assessment is administered 'in time'. It serves as a practice that provides feedback to the teacher and student on their progress toward mastering a learning goal. The results are analyzed and used 'in time' to impact the students performance on a future summative assessment.

The strength of formative assessments is best realized when classroom teachers are able to align their classroom performance assessments (questions, quizzes, performance tasks, unit tests) to district benchmark assessments and/or state assessments.   Teachers use these 'formative assessments' to check for understanding, adjust instruction as needed and provide students opportunities to practice tasks they will face on corresponding high stakes state assessments.

The power of formative assessment rests in the impact the data collected from such assessments has on instruction. The more the data are used to adjust instruction at the classroom or individual level, the greater the impact these assessments will have. For a school or teacher to maximize the use of these data, the allocation of instructional time and the type of learning activities utilized must be adjusted to address issues identified from the formative assessment results.