There is extensive research into forms of assessment in education and the ideas in this Guide are backed up by research across settings, ages and phases.
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Classroom-based formative assessment is a popular topic in educational discourse with a wide literature base. There is still work to be done, however, on subject-specific formative assessment practices and the contexts of which they occur to impact positively on the teaching and learning cycle. As such, we very much welcome examples of classroom-based formative assessment. These could be, for example: video or audio recordings; PowerPoint slides; student work; and so on.
During April 2015 to July 2018, 140 schools took part of the Embedding Formative Assessment professional development programme.
Key findings included:
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Embedding Formative Assessment schools made the equivalent of two additional months’ progress.
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The additional progress made by children in the lowest third for prior attainment was greater than that made by children in the highest third.
The KMOFAP was successful in developing the implementation of formative practice in classrooms. It led to numerous other professional development projects in the area of classroom-based assessment. A follow-up project was undertaken in Jersey, which led to the removal of national testing at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 in order to set up the culture for developing Assessment for Learning practice successfully.
More information about this project can be retrieved from:
Long-cycle formative assessment might typically take place at the end of an academic year when students complete an end of year examination or when nationally standardised tests take place.
Although research studies (cited in this MESH Guide, for example) have shown that short-cycle formative assessment, when used effectively, can have a significant impact on learner outcomes, medium-cycle formative assessment (where evidence of student learning can be gathered across lessons and units of work) can also be beneficial.
According to Brookhart et al. (2019), medium-cycle formative assessment can involve quizzes or pre- or end of unit tests, for example, which cover a number of learning intentions.
Research (for example, Butler and Winne, 1995; Black and Wiliam, 1998; Swaffield, 2011) suggests that when learners are given opportunities to be more active within the assessment process they are better able to develop, use, and apply their understanding to improve the quality of their own work with increasing autonomy. As a result, students become less dependent on their teacher and, therefore, owners of their own learning.
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