Fostering High Quality Formative Assessment

 Formative assessment is assessment that is ongoing. This occurs before, during and after instruction is complete. Learning is student centered in this approach and is an assessment for learning  (not an assessment of learning.) Formative assessments can be formal or informal and feedback rather than number scores can be given to the students.

The central purpose of formative assessments is the feedback , like "comments only" given to the students. Students can receive good quality feedback from a formative assessment in place of a score. Students are given the opportunity to take the lead in formative assessment and good feedback can help them see exactly what they are achieving and what they can do to improve. 

I believe that the practice of student centered learning can connect to the research based strategy of reinforcing effort. Students are being held accountable for his or her learning in formative assessment there for if they do not put the effort into their learning and success it can lead to failure in the assessment. If the students are encouraged and reassured they will put forth the effort to succeed.

. If the students in a classroom are given the assignment to write a paper about one the presidents of the United States they would be given the opportunity to write rough drafts, turn those in to receive feedback, conduct peer and self evaluations, hold a conference with the teacher, and possibly turn them in two or more times before they hand them in for an actual grade.

My students did an project with me this morning on the life cycle of the frog. When the lesson began we talked about how things are babies before they become adults. I then gave them cards with the life cycle printed on them and not having seen the life cycle of the frog before they had to try and put the cycle in order, they were allowed to consult me but I would not tell them what order anything went in until they were correct completely. I would give hints but I would not directly tell them. After they made corrections the students had to draw the cycle they decided on and submit it for a summative grade.

When providing feedback one must remember to provide good and helpful feedback. Also it is good to give positive feedback so the confidence is boosted and not torn down.

Two advantages of high quality formative assessment are that students are given a real role of responsibility and that teachers can see what students are motivated and help build the motivation of the ones who show less.

Some of the challenges of providing formative assessment are time (it is very time consuming for the students because of drafts and final products and time consuming for the teacher because they have to provide feedback to all of the students,) and parents, parents may think that the teacher is not teaching when using this method because it is student driven.