Dr Rashid Nasser Al Maamari, 2014

This paper highlights the current differences among assessment experts in the way they perceive and define formative assessment. It stresses the need for an operational definition for formative assessment as a basis for any research study that investigates the impact of formative assessment on students’ learning and teachers’ instruction. It also summarizes the concerns that some experts have about the use of summative assessment and their argument for the use of formative assessment instead. The paper provides examples on some of the prominent formative assessment tasks in the literature along with purposes and characteristics of formative assessment. Issues and concerns about the validity and reliability of formative assessment are discussed and some of the arguments and counter-arguments of some of the assessment experts are highlighted. The paper also provided some recommendations as to how formative assessment should be implemented best. Finally, some literature on the impact of formative assessment on students’ learning achievement and teachers’ instruction is discussed.

This book in IRA's Essential Readings series is a collection of research-based and peer-reviewed articles that have appeared in past IRA publications. Well-respected authors address various reading assessment topics such as the role of teachers, a historical view of reading assessment, the importance of formative assessment, and the consequences of assessment. Each article is followed by questions for reflection. Afflerbach discusses the importance of assessing the affective aspects of reading development as well as the cognitive, and notes that there is a decided lack of alignment between what we know about the reading process and how we assess it. (NOTE: This review was originally published in Talking Points.)

The this paper has two foci. The first is to present an account of how we developed formative assessment practices with a group of 36 teachers. This is then complemented by a reflection on the productive and positive experience of these teachers, in the light of learning principles, of changes in the roles of teachers and pupils in the task of learning, and of effects on the self-esteem and motivation of pupils. Attention then shifts to the second focus, which is on the ways in which these teachers struggled with the interface between formative assessment and summative testing. The conclusion is that the potential of enhanced classroom assessment to raise standards may never be fully realised unless the regimes of assessment for the purposes of accountability and certification of pupils are reformed.

The present report addresses the need to describe and explain the important features of formative assessment when used with instruction. There are nine principles that explain both theory and practice in the conduct of formative assessment inside the classroom. These nine principles serve as a set of expectations to help teachers ascertain better practice of formative assessment when teaching. These nine principles include: (1) Formative assessment works along with the perspectives of assessment “for” and “as” learning; (2) Formative assessment is embedded with instruction; (3) Helping the students focus on the learning goal; (4) Diagnostic assessment on the target competency serves the function of formative assessment; (5) Formative assessment moves from determining discreet skills to integrated skills; (6) Using continuous and multiple forms of assessment; (7) Feedback practices using assessment results; (8) Working out with students to reach the learning goal; and (9) Deciding to move instruction to the next competency.

Journal of Education and Practice, 2017

Learning is acclaimed to be a paramount and effective source of changing behavior across the world. To measure the behavior, there are techniques and skills to be learnt. Assessment in learning process enables the individual to examine the effectiveness of the various methods and techniques that the efforts are targeted or not and to see that the teachers, learners and instructional process in on the road to success. Formative assessment plays a decisive role to get the job done. The objectives of the study were to investigate the teachers’ perception about the usefulness of formative assessment in learning process and to get inform the educators about the worth of formative assessment process. All the working male teachers at primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels in District Mardan constituted the population of the study. Four hundred government school teachers for Boys were selected randomly as sample of the study. Among those 400 teachers, 300 were randomly selected for...

International Journal for Innovation Education and Research

Integrating different formative assessment strategies into daily instruction are the current assertion to improve students’ learning, particularly in science education. However, the practice of assessment for learning is not straightforward. It depends on many factors. Thus, this study was aimed at investigating science teachers’ perception on the pedagogical power of formative assessment to support students’ learning. The participants of the study were 153 science teachers in East Gojjam Preparatory schools. Questionnaire, semi-structured interview and lesson observation were used to get valid information about the issue. Percentage and mean were used to analyse the quantitative data. For the qualitative data content analysis was used. The results showed that teachers who participated in this study perceived formative assessment as variety of tools used to evaluate learning at the end of the lesson continuously. This was evident by their response inconsistency to items in the quest...

2018

The use of formative assessments, or other diagnostic efforts within classrooms, provides information that should help facilitate improved pedagogical practices and instructional outcomes. However, a review of the formative assessment literature revealed that there is no agreed upon lexicon with regard to formative assessment and suspect methodological approaches in the efforts to demonstrate positive effects that could be attributed to formative assessments. Thus, the purpose of this article was to set out to clarify the terminology related to formative assessment and its usage

Bangladesh Medical Journal, 2016

The existence of a plethora of empirical evidence documenting the improvement of educational outcomes through the use of formative assessment is conventional wisdom within education. In reality, a limited body of scientifically based empirical evidence exists to support that formative assessment directly contributes to positive educational outcomes. The use of formative assessments, or other diagnostic efforts within classrooms, provides information that should help facilitate improved pedagogical practices and instructional outcomes. However, a review of the formative assessment literature revealed that there is no agreed upon lexicon with regard to formative assessment and suspect methodological approaches in the efforts to demonstrate positive effects that could be attributed to formative assessments. Thus, the purpose of this article was two-fold. First, the authors set out to clarify the terminology related to formative assessment and its usage. Finally, the article provides a ...