Quick writes, also known as entry or exit slips, are a formative assessment tool that allows students to respond to a centralized question in a relatively open format. Typically, the teacher provides a direct question either on a slip of paper or on the board in front of the class. The teacher then gives students a specific amount of time to respond to the question. When the teacher calls time, all students must stop writing. Quick writes generally provide feedback about the amount of material a student can remember quickly, without any guiding clues and under a time constraint. After the quick write, the teacher should reveal all elements in the ideal response. Students can then evaluate what they do and don't know about the material based on the level of completeness in their response.
The benefit to multiple-choice quizzes is that students have one answer among four or five that is guaranteed to be the correct answer. Many students struggle when given too many answer choices, so the key to multiple-choice quizzes as summative assessment tools is to make them short, concise and fairly obvious. For example, a summative assessment quiz on cell development should test students on material that was covered in class, discussed in formative assessments and independently studied. Questions should focus on the main principles of cell development or vocabulary, rather than obscure scenarios or examples.
The Cloze procedure is an effective formative or summative assessment tool. During the Cloze procedure, students receive a written passage with several key words missing. They must then use problem-solving and vocabulary skills to place the correct words in the correct blanks. Students also use context clues while reading to help them place the words in their correct spots. The Cloze procedure is an appropriate formative assessment tool because teachers and students can evaluate the number of words they already know as well as those necessary to complete ideas in the passage and those that are not. This procedure is also an appropriate summative assessment tool because teachers can instruct students in vocabulary and reading comprehension during the unit, then test knowledge and skill level after the unit.
Drills are a formative assessment tool that allow students and teachers to instantly gauge the level of comprehension in a classroom. One way to conduct a drill is to give each student a personal-size whiteboard and marker. The teacher then asks a question from any content area with one concrete answer. Students then mark their answers on the whiteboards and hold them up at the same time. The teacher then reveals the answer after she checks all boards to see how many students have the correct answer. After revealing the answer to students and discussing why it is the correct answer, the class repeats the drills with other questions.