Assessment is integral to all aspects of the teaching-learning process, facilitating student learning and improving instruction. Black and William, 1998 explore assessment for learning as a critical formative and development assessment purpose. I recall my Year 12 English teacher asking an open question to all students and requesting each student to write an individual response. Following this, we were placed in small groups to discuss our responses; the teacher would move around the classroom and listen to all our discussions. The teacher could extend the scope of learning and provide opportunities for each student to develop self-regulated learning, initiative and reflective practice. Black and William 1998, state that 'for assessment of functioning formatively, the results must be used to adjust teaching and learning'. Therefore, assessment for learning acquired informally can assist a teacher in recognising how much learning is taking place in common tasks, and how much insight into student learning teachers can mine from this material (McNamee and Chen 2005).
When shifting the emphasis from formative to summative assessment, the Assessment of Learning takes place. The primary purpose of summative assessment is often attached to certification or reporting on, the learning achievement to that point and is associated with mastery and accountability for learning tasks and activities (Churchill et al. 2013). In my personal experience, summative assessments were often derived from assessment tasks such as assignments or exams, but also linked to outcome tasks such as a final performance in Drama. In all subject areas, summative assessments were often represented in periodic reports or compiled into a single score as part of a formal report.
Assessment as learning is set to develop and support student's metacognitive skills. This type of assessment is central to help engage students in lifelong learning. For example, receiving descriptive feedback throughout my undergraduate degree has helped me challenge my ideas, introduces additional information, offer alternative interpretations, and creates conditions for self-reflection. Teachers may provide exemplars and models of good practice and quality work that reflect curriculum outcomes. In turn, students engage in peer and self-assessment; they learn to make sense of information, relate it to prior knowledge and use it for new learning.
Understanding how to locate and use each student's ZPD can help teachers reach targeted assessment for the whole class, small groups, and individuals. Ultimately, aligning classroom assessment to students' ZPDs can help teachers more effectively guide all students in their learning. The common thread between teaching formative, summative and metacognitive and the practice of identifying and teaching within the ZPD is the idea that for teaching and learning to be effective, planning for assessment should focus on skills and knowledge that are attainable for students (not too easy, not too tricky). With constant descriptive feedback or scaffolding, students' learning and understanding can continue to develop at an appropriate pace.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D, (1998) Assessment and classroom learning in Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 5(1), 7-74.
Churchill, R et al. 2013, Teaching: Making a Difference, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd, Milton.
McNamee, G.D. and Chen, J.Q., 2005. Dissolving the Line between Assessment and Teaching. Educational Leadership, 63(3), pp.72-76.