Formative and summative assessments are an important part of every educator’s toolkit, but they can be time-consuming to implement and scale effectively. By strategically administering these types of assessments online, teachers can engage students while saving time and resources for classroom instruction.
In this article, we look at some essential characteristics of formative and summative assessments. Then, we lay out best practices to help educators and administrators maximize the impact of their assessment strategies.
Key Takeaways
- Formative assessments provide ongoing feedback during the learning process, helping students and teachers make real-time adjustments.
- Summative assessments evaluate student learning at the end of a learning period, determining if learning objectives have been met.
- Formative and summative assessments complement each other to give educators and students insight into performance and areas for improvement.
What Are Formative Assessments?
Formative assessments help educators monitor student learning and provide ongoing feedback. Implemented throughout a specific learning period, these assessments give real-time insight into student needs and problem areas. They’re designed to inform both teachers and students about progress toward learning goals, allowing for adjustments in teaching and learning strategies.
Key characteristics
Formative assessments have several key characteristics that distinguish them from other types of assessments:
- Ongoing process: Formative assessments are continuous and occur regularly throughout the instructional period. They aren’t confined to a specific timeframe and can be integrated into daily classroom activities.
- Informal and flexible: These assessments are often informal and can take various forms, such as quizzes, classroom discussions, observations, or self-assessments. Their flexibility allows teachers to tailor them to the specific needs of their students.
- Feedback-oriented: The primary function of formative assessments is to provide constructive feedback. This feedback is immediate and actionable, helping students make improvements and teachers adjust their instructional strategies.
- Student-centered: Formative assessments emphasize student involvement. Students are encouraged to take an active role in their progress, reflecting on what they’ve learned and setting goals.
Examples of formative assessments
Formative assessments can take many forms, depending on the subject matter and instructional goals. Some common examples include:
- Quizzes: Short, low-stakes quizzes are a traditional formative assessment tool. They help teachers gauge students’ understanding of specific concepts and identify areas that need further clarification.
- Exit tickets: At the end of a lesson, students may be asked to write down something they learned or a question they have. This helps teachers assess student comprehension and plan future lessons.
- Classroom discussions: Engaging students in discussions allows teachers to assess their understanding and thought processes. It also provides opportunities for peer learning as students discuss and debate issues with one another.
Potential challenges of formative assessments
Like all educational strategies, formative assessments can pose challenges to educators and administrators. These include:
- Time constraints: Educators must devote time and energy to grade regularly administered quizzes.
- Inconsistent implementation: Teachers might struggle to implement formative assessments consistently across different classrooms or school districts.
- Fairness issues: In addition to inviting teacher-student bias, formative assessments can sometimes pose accessibility challenges for students with special needs.
- Budgetary limitations: School districts often face budget constraints that limit their ability to empower educators with the tools and guidance they need to conduct formative assessments.
Benefits of formative assessments for students and institutions
Formative assessments offer numerous benefits for students and educational institutions. These include:
- Improved learning outcomes: By providing ongoing feedback, formative assessments help students identify their strengths and areas for improvement, leading to better learning outcomes.
- Personalized instruction: Teachers can use the data from formative assessments to tailor their instruction to meet each student’s needs, ensuring all learners have the opportunity to succeed.
- Increased student engagement: When students receive regular feedback and see their progress, they’re more likely to be motivated and engaged in learning.
- Early identification of learning gaps: Formative assessments allow teachers to identify and address learning gaps early in the instructional process.
- Support for continuous improvement: Educational institutions can use formative assessment data to monitor the effectiveness of their instructional programs and make necessary adjustments to improve overall teaching and learning quality.
What Are Summative Assessments?
Summative assessments are evaluations that occur at the end of an instructional period to determine the extent of student learning. These assessments are typically more formal and structured than formative assessments and are used to make final judgments about student achievement and instructional effectiveness. They also provide crucial insight into institutional efficacy and curriculum choices.
Key characteristics
The following features characterize summative assessments:
- Cumulative evaluation: Summative assessments cover a broad range of content and skills taught over a specific period. They aim to assess the overall mastery of learning objectives.
- High stakes: These assessments often carry significant weight in determining student grades, progression, or certification. As a result, they’re considered high-stakes evaluations.
- Standardized and formal: Summative assessments are typically formal and standardized, ensuring consistency in the evaluation process. Examples include final exams, standardized tests like the SAT, and end-of-term projects.
- Limited feedback: Unlike formative assessments, summative assessments provide limited feedback. The focus is on evaluating the final outcome rather than guiding future learning.
Benefits of summative assessments for students and institutions
Summative assessments provide many benefits to students and institutions, including:
- Clear measurement of learning: Summative assessments provide a clear and objective measure of student learning, helping to determine whether educational goals have been met.
- Accountability: These assessments hold students, teachers, and institutions accountable for educational outcomes, ensuring standards are maintained.
- Guidance for future instruction: While summative assessments primarily evaluate past learning, the results can inform curriculum and lesson planning decisions for the coming school year.
- Recognition of achievement: Summative assessments validate students’ efforts and achievements—often serving as a basis for awards, certifications, or advancement to the next level of education.
- Benchmarking and comparison: Educational institutions use summative assessment data to compare student performance across different schools, districts, or states, helping to identify areas for improvement.
Comparing Formative and Summative Assessments
Formative and summative assessments serve distinct yet complementary roles in the educational process. Understanding the differences and how they work together is essential for effective teaching and learning.
Timing and frequency
The primary differences between formative and summative assessments are their timing and frequency.
Formative assessments are conducted regularly throughout the instructional period, allowing for continuous monitoring and adjustment of the learning process.
In contrast, summative assessments occur at the end of an instructional period and provide a final evaluation of student learning.
Feedback and its role
Feedback plays a central role in formative assessments. The ongoing nature of these assessments allows for immediate feedback, which students can use to improve their performance.
On the other hand, summative assessments provide limited feedback, as their primary purpose is to evaluate final outcomes rather than guide ongoing learning.
Impact on learning and teaching
Formative assessments directly impact learning and teaching by shaping instructional strategies and promoting student self-regulation. They help create a dynamic learning environment where real-time adjustments can be made.
While not as flexible, summative assessments provide information about the effectiveness of instruction and the extent of student learning, influencing future educational practices.
How they complement each other
Formative and summative assessments complement each other by serving different purposes in the educational process. Formative assessments guide day-to-day instruction and support student growth, while summative assessments provide a final measure of achievement and accountability. Together, they create a comprehensive assessment system that supports immediate learning needs and long-term educational goals.
Assessment Best Practices
Educators can maximize the impact of their formative and summative assessments by following these best practices:
Keep learning objectives in mind
To ensure the data they collect is insightful, educators should align assessments with concrete learning objectives. That way, they will get an objective picture of student progress — and should administrators decide to scale the assessment across a school or district, the assessments will be ready to go.
Use analytics
When empowered by an easy-to-use analytics suite, educators can use the data from formative assessments to tailor their instruction to meet the specific needs of each student — ensuring all learners have the opportunity to succeed.
Keep tests secure
Educators should use EdTech tools that incorporate advanced security features to protect test integrity. These features include secure browser mode, randomized question order, and controlled test conditions.
Make assessments accessible
Some learners may struggle to complete traditional assessments because of accessibility issues. Educators should take advantage of speech-to-text software and other accommodations to ensure all students can complete assessments.
Reduce administrative and IT work
School systems that use various assessment and learning software solutions may struggle to integrate their systems. To reduce headaches, administrators should look for software that is interoperable, meaning that it can be easily used alongside other programs.
Conclusion
Formative and summative assessments help educators and administrators measure student success, but they can be resource-intensive to administer and grade. For example, formative assessments, which are issued during a learning period, can take up valuable class time. Similarly, summative assessments, which occur at the end of a learning period, can be challenging to scale.
However, when implemented correctly, these assessments provide detailed insight into student achievement and institutional performance. This information can help support student growth, inform future instruction, and more.
To learn more about making assessments accessible, time-efficient, and engaging, check out these helpful guides:
- 3 Innovative Assessment Strategies That Improve Student Outcomes
- How Can AI Tools Improve Student Assessment Outcomes?
- Adaptive Learning Explained: Tailoring Education to Student Needs
FAQs
How do formative vs. summative assessments differ in purpose?
Formative assessments monitor and improve learning during instruction, while summative assessments measure student achievement at the end of a unit or semester.
Can formative assessments inform summative assessments?
Yes, formative assessments can guide instructional adjustments, leading to more accurate summative evaluations.
What’s the role of feedback in formative and summative assessments?
Formative assessments provide immediate feedback for improvement; summative assessments focus on evaluating final results.
