Assessment in education is the process of measuring a student's mastery of knowledge and skills. Assessment encompasses everything from chapter or unit tests through statewide standardized testing that is used to rank schools and school districts. Assessment takes place any time a student is asked to demonstrate his understanding of a subject area's content and skills.
Formative assessment measures a student's progress throughout the learning process and is part of classroom instruction. Where a summative assessment will take place at the end of a unit of instruction or another set time period during the school year, a formative assessment can take place at the start of each new class period or at any point during the class period. Formative assessment is ongoing and helps teachers know what students have grasped from the lesson.
Teachers and students both benefit from formative assessment because instruction can be adjusted based on student progress. If the teacher notices the class has not grasped a particular concept or skill, she can adjust instruction to cover that content again, and perhaps in a different way. Using formative assessment means teachers know throughout the instructional process where students are in the learning process and if they are struggling and need more time or practice. In the case that the assessment results show a student has mastered a skill ahead of schedule, the teacher can provide extension assignments that will allow the student to go deeper into the content.
Formative assessment not only allows a teacher to measure a student's progress, but it also allows students to measure their own progress. With formative assessment, students are encouraged to evaluate their own progress and to take part in the formative assessment of their peers. The successful use of formative assessment throughout the learning process creates a more engaged and active learning environment.
Typically formative assessments are not graded assignments. Teachers use them to note progress and performance, but do not assign a grade to the student's performance. Instead teachers provide feedback that lets students know how they have performed and which aspects of the lesson need more practice. The formative assessment process encourages a dialogue between the teacher and student, and empowers students to become active participants in their education.
A classroom using formative assessment looks and sounds different than a classroom of students taking a summative assessment. Formative assessments can include students filling out graphic organizers or representing what they have learned in other visual ways such as posters or charts and graphs. A student journal entry on what she has learned that day in math class is a formative assessment, as is a personal reflection on a reading assignment. Students can also work in groups on formative assessment assignments. For example a group of students can work together to act out a chapter from a book they have read. All of these are methods for students to demonstrate what they have learned.