Formative Vs Summative Assessment

The term “assessment” in the field of education is an elaborate method of collecting, interpreting, recording and using the data of students’ responses to the curriculum taught (Fisher, 1995). Assessment in school can be broadly categorised into two parts; formative assessment and summative assessment. In my observations, I have seen teachers using both the types of assessments. Formative assessment is when, teachers provide immediate feedback to students after their lesson. It aims at understanding and motivating students to improve the standard of their work. On the other hand, summative assessment happens on a periodic basis, which gives the students levels of their academic achievements, which is relative to others or to the objectives

Assessment for learning (AfL) helps to inform learners where they are in terms of the activity they just completed, what their next steps are and in what area they need to focus.During one of my observations of an English lesson in Year 6, I noticed that the teacher spent an entire lesson asking the students to self –assess themselves on an APP grid (Assessing Pupils’ Progress).Once the students highlighted the targets they had already met, they were then given their next Assessment Focus targets by the teacher. This target setting sheet was so strategically placed in their book that the students could refer to them while doing their next piece of work. “A good practice is to set objectives, target or learning outcomes that are specific, distinct and achievable within five to ten minutes” (Wright, 2005 pg:121).

I have also noticed that the teachers’ write qualitative comments in the students books, this gives the students a clear idea what went well and what they need to work on, in the future. I feel formative assessment works wonders, because the students are given feedback immediately, they then can improve on their work or understand better and then move on further. It becomes more relevant to the students and since targets are small and achievable. It improves their learning rather than just grading their work

Assessment for Learning (AfL) i.e.– sharing learning goals, formative feedback, peer and self-assessment, have been found to be tremendously constructive in relations of their perspective to promote improve the teachers’ classroom practice. Assessment for learning helps the learners understand where they are, where do they need to go and how to get there (Fisher, 1995). In contrast to that, summative assessment informs the students about the overall performance in that subject area.Sometimes that might not be too meaningful for the learners as the feedback is given after a long period of time. They might just lose interest in understanding where they are at and how to improve themselves. The problem for the teacher in summative assessment may be that children who do not achieve well may lose