Data to inform practice: Formative and summative assessment

Types of data used to inform teacher practice:  

Diagnostic data, formative data, summative data

What is diagnostic assessment?

Diagnostic assessment allows teachers to identify students’ current knowledge of a subject, their skill sets and capabilities, and to clarify misconceptions before teaching takes place. Knowing students’ strengths and weaknesses can help teachers plan what to teach and how to teach it.

Examples of diagnostic assessment:

Pre-tests (on content and abilities)

• Self-assessments (identifying skills and competencies)

• Discussion board responses (on content-specific prompts)

• Off-level assessments

What is formative assessment?

Formative assessment provides the answers to the questions: 

• Is learning on track?

• What needs to change?

• Where does learning go next?

It can be immediate (a specific question, thumbs up-thumbs down) or planned (a quiz, a student moderation). 

It is timely (built into every lesson of every unit), and iterative (closes the circle of planning).

This data has an immediate impact on learning.

Examples of formative assessment:

Observations during in-class activities including observations of students non-verbal feedback during lecture

• Homework exercises as review for exams and class discussions

• Reflection journals that are reviewed periodically during the semester

• Question and answer sessions, both formal (planned) and informal (spontaneous)

• Conferences between the instructor and student at various points in the semester

• In-class activities where students informally present their results

• Student feedback collected by periodically answering specific questions about the instruction; and their self-evaluation of performance and progress

What is summative data?

Summative assessments evaluates a student's ability and places them on a continuum based on their achievements.

Summative assessment is assessment that is used to signify competence or that contributes to a student’s grade in a course, module, level or degree.

Summative assessments are useful tools for reporting student progress to parents, school authorities and outside authorities such as tertiary institutions.

Grades are usually an outcome of summative assessment.

Grades indicate whether the student has a satisfactory level of knowledge or skill gain:

• Is the student able to effectively progress to the next part of the class?

• To the next course in the curriculum?

• To the next level of academic standing?

Examples of Summative Assessment:

Examinations (major, high-stakes exams)

• Final examination (a truly summative assessment)

• Term papers (drafts submitted throughout the semester would be formative assessment)

• Projects (project phases submitted at various completion points could be formatively assessed)

• Portfolios (could also be assessed during its development as a formative assessment)

• Performances

• Student evaluation of the course (teaching effectiveness)