What are “formative” and “summative” assessments?
April 23, 2010
Formative assessments are a fancy name for testing, observing, or measuring in some other way what a student has learned– for diagnostic purposes. This is done during the course of instruction so that a teacher knows if students are “getting it.” Then the teacher modifies the delivery of the material accordingly. The Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) are formative, because they aid instructors in knowing where their students stand, and how or whether to modify the instruction.
Summative assessments are done at the end to see if the student has learned whatever the learning goals were. The High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) is summative.
Fancy words for traditional concepts?
These are fancy words for what should have been going on all this time. Gauging where a student stood for diagnostic purposes and measuring what a student learned were supposed to be the purposes of the WASL from the start! What was happening all these fifteen years??
Sadly, all the diagnosing and final testing in the world still won’t help the students if the curriculum has no content. Unless the curriculum is based on core knowledge instead of F-rated standards Washington’s student learning will not significantly improve. (See the 2006 Fordham report evaluating states’ education standards. Washington’s standards received F’s in English, Math, and History, but we did receive a D in History and a C in Science. )
Tags: assessments, formative, summative
Formative assessments are a fancy name for testing, observing, or measuring in some other way what a student has learned– for diagnostic purposes. This is done during the course of instruction so that a teacher knows if students are “getting it.” Then the teacher modifies the delivery of the material accordingly. The Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) are formative, because they aid instructors in knowing where their students stand, and how or whether to modify the instruction.
Summative assessments are done at the end to see if the student has learned whatever the learning goals were. The High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE) is summative.
Fancy words for traditional concepts?
These are fancy words for what should have been going on all this time. Gauging where a student stood for diagnostic purposes and measuring what a student learned were supposed to be the purposes of the WASL from the start! What was happening all these fifteen years??
Sadly, all the diagnosing and final testing in the world still won’t help the students if the curriculum has no content. Unless the curriculum is based on core knowledge instead of F-rated standards Washington’s student learning will not significantly improve. (See the 2006 Fordham report evaluating states’ education standards. Washington’s standards received F’s in English, Math, and History, but we did receive a D in History and a C in Science. )
Tags: assessments, formative, summative