My goal in writing this article is to underpin
potential changes in assessment and marking practices as they pertain to using
the language and semantics surrounding the terms formative and summative
assessment. In today's classrooms students will often ask this question
when an assignment is being assigned and explained, "Is this going to be a
formative or summative assessment?" Which for some students really
means, "Is this going to count for marks or is it just practice?" Should
we be transparent with our students in regards to our assessment intentions? What
impact does pre-determining our assessment intentions have on student attitude,
engagement and achievement?
As an avid runner, I was intrigued by the debate
over the semantics used my many when it comes to the terms "jogging"
and “running”. To some they mean the same thing. When one
looks up definitions of these two words most use speed as a way to
differentiate a jog from a run. According to Wikipedia, “Jogging is a
form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace.” Since
most of the definitions are subjective, I believe it is up to each individual
to decide if their pace warrants the title of a "run" or a
"jog". As long as your pace keeps you motivated, the term you
choose is just a minor detail. Should this hold true for assessing
student work?
Since the landmark study by Black and Wiliam (1998)
about the benefits of formative assessment, there has been a plethora of
schools that have adopted assessment policies and practices that differentiate between
formative and summative assessment in the classroom. Is this new
assessment language necessary at the onset of giving an assignment? Why
pre-determine what our assessment intentions?
Research has shown that many schools struggle with
establishing clear operational definitions, guidelines and procedures for
implementing formative and summative assessments anyways. According to
Dunn and Mulvenon (2009), “Definitions of formative and summative
assessment are plentiful, resulting in multiple and sometimes conflicting
understandings. And in part because of these varying definitions and
views, practices labeled as formative assessment in schools today vary widely.” Although
any assessment may be designed, packaged and labeled as a formative or
summative assessment, it is the actual methodology, data analysis, and use
of the results that determine whether an assessment is formative or
summative. It is what a teacher does with the data afterward that
helps delineate which type of assessment you are using. Summative
data is used to make a judgment about a student and is often finite and counts
toward a report card mark. However, formative data is only used to
help inform students, teachers and parents about their recent performance level.
It is my belief that good teachers will provide feedback and information
to students regardless of whether it is formative or summative.
In my school formative assessment is thought to
guide students and teachers by providing valuable and timely feedback regarding
where the student is at, on a given set of standards, and where they need to
go. Formative assessment is thought of as “practice” and summative
assessment is more like “the game” situation because the score has more impact
on the student's grade. My question is, do teachers need to
predetermine their intention to students regarding what type of assessment
(formative vs summative) will be used? On page 3 of my school’s assessment
policy handbook it is clear that we should divulge this information, "Students need
to be told how assessment tasks are to be evaluated."
This level of transparency may have motivational
and achievement implications for students. This open and transparent
approach to assessment intentions has benefits and drawbacks. Some believe that
when assignment are labeled formative or “practice” students are more relaxed
and less stressed about the pressure associated with doing well because it does
not count as much towards report card marks. Furthermore, this high level
of openness and transparency promotes an environment of trust and mutual
respect amongst students and teachers. Yet, an obvious drawback to
pre-determining which type of assessment you will use is that students may
put in less effort and therefore underachieve on formative tasks because they
do not count for marks.
When a runner heads out for exercise, I wonder if
they decide in their mind whether they will "jog" or "run"
that day? As educators is it really necessary to consider ahead of time
what our intentions may be for students? We could divulge ahead of time
whether we will formatively or summative assess student work or we could wait
until after the assignment has been handed in before determining the nature of
the feedback we will be providing. Maybe there is a third choice? According
to Perkins (2008), "when learners feel that they have a choice about just
where they focus their attention and just how they proceed, they are more
likely to show intrinsic motivation." Thus, what if we let students
decide ahead of time what type of assessment they would like to use for a
particular assignment: formative or summative? It would be an interesting
action research study to see if there is a difference in student attitude,
engagement and/or achievement on assignments when posed with these three
assessment scenarios: students are told ahead of time, students are not told
until they hand in an assignment, and students are given a choice as to the
type of assessment used.
What are your experiences when it comes to
pre-determining whether an assignment is formative or summative?
References
Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black
box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan,
80 (2): 139-148. (Available online:http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/kbla9810.htm.)
Dunn, Karee E and Mulvenon, Sean
W. (2009). A Critical Review of Research on Formative
Assessments: The
Limited Scientific Evidence of the Impact of Formative Assessments in
Education. Practical Assessment Research & Evaluation, 14(7). Available
online: http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=14&n=7
"Jogging." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, 03 May 2013. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
Perkins, David. (2008). Making
Learning Whole: How Seven Principles of Teaching Can Transform Education. San
Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass
