The role of formative assessments to gauge student understanding has become more important than ever following COVID-related disruptions, including significant learning gaps in reading and mathematics. But it can be tough to switch from being test-oriented to learning-oriented.
Focusing on learning-oriented techniques like formative assessment can help address unfinished learning. That’s because these diagnostic check-ins are essential to guiding lesson planning and adjusting instruction to support students’ progress and improvement.
The Strengths of Formative Assessment
When teachers constantly monitor student progress and adjust instruction to ensure continuous improvement, they find it easier and more predictable to progress toward meeting the standards on summative assessments.
By understanding exactly what their students know before and during instruction, educators have much more power to improve student mastery of the subject matter than if they find out after a lesson or unit is complete.
The strength of formative assessment lies in the critical information it provides about student comprehension throughout the learning process and the opportunity it gives educators to provide students with timely and action-oriented feedback. With formative assessment, educators can adjust instruction so that every student has a chance to learn and re-learn.
The students performing on the outer edges of the standard curve—the struggling and the gifted—particularly benefit from formative assessment. These students have learning needs that are often unique and specific, and the teacher needs timely data to address them. Additionally, using consistent formative assessment to address learning gaps—regardless of the cause—ensures that teachers can provide timely remediation.
9 Benefits of Formative Assessment
The benefits of well-implemented formative assessment include:
1. Defined learning goals
Monitoring student progress regularly helps keep learning goals top of mind so students have a clear target to work towards, and teachers can help clear up misunderstandings before students get off track.
2. Increased rigor
Practicing formative assessment helps teachers collect information that indicates student needs. Once teachers understand what students need to be successful, they can create a rigorous learning environment that will challenge every student.
3. Improved academic achievement
Providing students and teachers with regular feedback on progress toward their goals is the primary function of formative assessment that will aid in increasing academic achievement. Formative assessment helps students close the gap between their current knowledge and learning goals.1
4. Enhanced student motivation
Because formative assessment involves setting learning goals and measuring the progress towards those goals, motivation increases. When students have a focus on where they’re aiming, results skyrocket.
5. Increased student engagement
Students need to find meaning in the work they do in the classroom. Connecting the learning objectives with real-world problems and situations draws students into the instructional activities and feeds their natural curiosity about the world.
6. Focused and targeted feedback
Descriptive feedback should highlight gaps in understanding and specifically inform students on how they can improve their learning rather than listing what they got wrong, thus facilitating a reciprocal learning process between teachers and students.2 3
7. Personalized learning experiences
A close analysis of formative assessment data allows teachers to examine their instructional practices to determine which produce the desired results and which do not. What works for one group of students may not work for another group.
8. Self-regulated learners
Teaching students the requisite skills to monitor and take responsibility for meeting their goals creates self-regulated learners. Give students examples of high-quality work and multiple opportunities to review and correct their work to build independent and autonomous thinkers.
9. Data-driven decisions
Using the data gathered from frequent learning checks empowers teachers to make sound, informed decisions grounded in data.
An Educator’s Guide to Common Assessments
Get your copy of this K-12 guide to dive into everything you need to know about the SAMR model.
Get the eBook- (Greensetin, 2010). What Teachers Really Need to Know About Formative Assessment. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
- (Filsecker & Kerres, 2012). “Repositioning Formative Assessment from an Educational Assessment Perspective: A Response to Dunn & Mulvenon.” Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 17(16) 1–9.
- (Black & Wiliam, 1998). “Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessments.” Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139–144.
