“When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative; when the guests taste the soup, that’s summative.”
—Robert Stake
“How do you know what students know?” is an ever-present question—one best answered by a combination of formative assessment and summative assessment. When allowed to work together, they greatly improve student learning. In addition, they help stakeholders to make more informed decisions about the course of students’ education.
Let’s take a closer look at what formative and summative assessments are and how they complement each other in education today.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessment serves as a learning progress check, as well as a tool for continuous learning. It provides feedback to teachers and students, and allows teachers and others to identify the areas in need of improvement for individual students and the class as a whole.
Formative assessments are typically administered by a teacher during the instructional process and often do not have grades assigned to them, since the focus is on receiving feedback.
Examples of formative assessments include:
- Quizzes
- Surveys
- Discussion questions
- Classwork
- Homework
- End-of-chapter reviews
Summative Assessment
Summative assessment is an evaluation of student proficiency once a specific learning process has concluded. Summative assessments are based on a set of standards or recognized expectations.
The classic summative assessment is often thought of as a multiple-choice exam using a pencil and response sheet, but today’s assessments often use a variety of item formats as well as computerized testing. Depending on the particular assessment, it might be administered by a teacher, state or testing organization.
Examples of summative assessments include:
- End-of-year assessments
- State exams
- Midterms
- Final exams
- SAT
- ACT
Teamwork
Formative assessment centers on process and shapes the learning journey. It helps to answer the question: “Are we going in the right direction?” and sets the stage for course correction.
Summative assessment centers on the final product, on the result of learning up until a certain point. It helps to answer the question: “Did we get to where we wanted to go?”
When used together, formative and summative assessments are in a strong position to answer that all-important question: “How do you know what students know?”
This includes your English-language learner (ELL) students. Are they faring as well as their native English-speaking peers?
Experts in Adapting Assessments for Diverse Student Populations
Responsive Translation specializes in the translation, adaptation, validation and review of assessments. If you’d like to find out more about our range of assessment services and how we can help your organization, please get in touch at 646-847-3309 or [email protected].
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