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>> January 2014WestEd >>

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Definition and Principles of Formative Assessment

After many years of confusion and conflicting viewpoints about what constitutes formative assessment, there is emerging consensus about its definition. This is evident from the similarities in definitions provided by different experts on this topic (Learning Point Associates, 2009). The defi- nition offered by Noyce and Hickey (2011, p. 1) is representative of the consensus, describing for- mative assessment as

“the process of monitoring student knowledge and understanding during instruction in order to give useful feedback and make timely changes in instruction to ensure maximal stu- dent growth.”

Although this definition adequately reflects cur- rent conceptions about formative assessment, it is important to dig deeper into the key characteris- tics of this emerging practice. Building from this definition and from current research findings, we propose six guiding principles for effective forma- tive assessment:

1. Promotes student learning. Formative assess- ment is best characterized by its purpose: to sup- port student learning. Other types of assessment have different purposes. For example, summative assessment is typically intended for accountabil- ity purposes, and interim assessment is intended to monitor student progress toward proficiency in standards. Moreover, whereas summative and interim assessments gauge students’ learning after a given period of instruction (e.g., an aca- demic year, a unit), formative assessment is a continuous process that is integral to teaching and learning.

2. Elicits evidence of learning through a variety of tasks. Formative assessment tasks can take many forms: planned and opportunistic; individual and group; brief and extended; as well as informal and formal. Shavelson and his colleagues (Shavelson et al., 2008; Shavelson, 2006) define three anchor

points on a continuum of informal to formal forma- tive assessment tasks:

» On-the-fly formative assessment occurs in response to an unexpected “teachable moment.” For example, to address a misconcep- tion evidenced by a student comment, a teacher might pose an impromptu question to identify the source of the misunderstanding.

» Planned-for interaction is purposeful; a teacher designs ways to identify the gap between what students actually know and what they should know. For example, a teacher might pose pre- pared-in-advance tasks to students which are tied to the learning goals.

» Curriculum-embedded formative assessments are inserted at specific points in a unit. For example, a teacher might engage students in the solution of a novel problem that weaves stu- dent understanding of concepts introduced in that unit before deciding whether to proceed to the next unit.

The teacher designs or selects a formative assess- ment task based on its specific instructional pur- pose. Its characteristics (e.g., structure, supports) are determined by answers to the following ques- tions: What do I wish to measure? What evidence of learning is needed? What are the character- istics of tasks that will elicit this evidence? Do I need information from this task to help me adjust my instructional activities, or to help students gain insights about how to adjust their learning strategies? Or both?

3. Changes the roles of teachers and students. Formative assessment places students at the center of teaching and learning, thereby engag- ing teachers and students in distinctive ways. The teacher sets the stage for each lesson, focus- ing on clear learning goals and indicators, com- municating these to the students, and deciding what evidence of learning to collect, and how. Teachers must create a collaborative and sup- portive classroom environment for students, in which questioning, constructive feedback, and

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self-assessment are perceived as non-threatening (Heritage, 2011). Students also play an active role in formative assessment. Students not only perform tasks that provide evidence of their current learn- ing, but they are involved in self-assessment (and sometimes peer assessment), thus developing and enhancing autonomy as they use feedback to inform their future work (Marshall & Drummond, 2006). This means that the feedback must inspire reflection, be actionable by the student, and be specifically linked to what the student is trying to learn and accomplish.

4. Uses learning progressions to anchor learning goals and monitor learning. Formative assess- ment begins with learning goals that clearly articulate what teachers expect students will learn through the course of an instructional activ- ity. These goals must be communicated to stu- dents—or even co-created with them. Learning progressions constitute a tool for helping teach- ers set appropriate goals and organize standards- based instruction in a sequence that reflects a learner’s likely developmental path. The goals provide a model or map along which students are expected to progress in a given domain from nov- ice to more expert performance (McManus, 2008; Heritage, 2008). As such, learning progressions help teachers think about student learning devel- opment in a content domain and plan related for- mative assessment strategies.

5. Results in meaningful feedback and adjust- ments to improve instruction for students. Perhaps what most distinguishes formative assessment from other instructional or assessment methods is that it culminates in immediate action to improve instruction (Black & Wiliam, 1998). Further, forma- tive assessment calls for contingent action that is responsive to specific student needs. Learning opportunities for students are created based on an assessment of what the students have learned, what they may have misinterpreted, and what may be on the cusp of development (Heritage et al., 2013) to advance further development.

Teacher feedback to students is an essential ele- ment of formative assessment and a major avenue by which formative assessment promotes student learning (Sadler, 1989). Demonstrated to have a positive effect on learning, feedback is forma- tive when it provides information about the gap between a student’s current level of learning and the expected level of learning, as well as guidance to the student about to how close this gap (Sadler, 1989; Trumbull & Lash, 2013). Effective feedback is focused and directive, providing corrective infor- mation and offering suggestions for addressing a student’s misconceptions and errors. In regard to timing, feedback has the greatest impact on the students at the point when they are consider- ing strategies for how to do their work (Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Learning Point Associates, 2009).

6. Enables students to become self-regulated and autonomous learners. The ultimate goal of forma- tive assessment is for students to attain self-effi- cacy as learners by developing their agency and exercising power over their own learning. Just as formative assessment calls teachers to action in assessing student learning in relation to learning goals and adjusting their instruction accordingly, it also sets the stage for students to direct and modulate their own actions toward learning goals (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). With such autonomy as the objective, teachers must guide students to develop the metacognitive skills that make it pos- sible for them to assess their own levels of under- standing and improvement.

Formative assessment functions as a mirror, reflecting to the student important information about his or her learning even as, at the same time, it reflects to the teacher important informa- tion about his or her instruction. Equally impor- tant, teacher feedback scaffolds students’ ability to generate their own internal feedback about the state of their learning.

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