Stephen Chappuis’s research while affiliated with Educational Testing Service and other places

Ready-made benchmark tests cannot substitute for day-to-day formative assessment conducted by assessment-literate teachers. Recently a school leader asked us to provide an example of a good test item on a formative assessment and then show how that item would be different when used on a summative test. He wanted to explain to his staff the difference between formative and summative assessment. His end goal was for teachers to develop assessments to measure how well students were mastering the content standards that would appear on the state accountability test before the test was given in the spring. His question reflects the confusion many educators have about formative and summative assessment. This confusion isn't surprising: Definitions of formative assessment abound, 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. One result of No Child Left Behind has been a surge in student testing—much of it voluntary, going well beyond what federal law or state assessment systems require. Many schools and districts administer tests with names like benchmark, short-cycle, and interim assessments to predict student performance on high-stakes tests and to identify students needing additional help. This increasingly popular level of testing has contributed to the widening scope of what is called formative assessment. Testing companies in the K–12 education market, seeking to support the trend toward more testing, sometimes advertise products as "formative assessments." This adds to the confusion by encouraging the idea that it's the test itself that's formative (Chappuis, 2005).

The main ideas of the book are: • We can increase student achievement by changing our assessment practices • To do this, we need to assess accurately and involve students Why I chose this book: Traditionally, we have thought of assessment as a way to measure student learning. I like that the authors propose a powerful new way to use assessment to improve learning and motivate students. They suggest we use a formative type of assessment called assessment for learning which occurs during learning and has a great deal of student involvement. The book contains concrete instructional strategies to excite educators and breathe new life into their assessment practices. The book, and the CD/DVDs that accompany it, serve as professional development tools to help educators learn these new strategies. I also chose the book because the authors of the book are leading experts on formative assessment. They are better known on the west coast and all instructional leaders should know their work. How the summary is organized The book outlines five practices that are necessary to make sure classroom assessment is accurate and effective. The summary is divided into five sections, each of which discusses one of these five key components of sound assessment practice: The Scoop (In this summary you will learn…) √ How to use assessment to benefit students (I. Clear Purpose, pp. 1-2) How many teachers have given a low grade to a student and been surprised that this doesn't motivate the student to perform better? Instead, learn how formative assessment is a better way to increase student motivation and learning. √ How to create clear learning targets (II. Clear Goals, p. 3) Imagine a student returning home and instead of saying, "We did reading today," being able to say, "I learned to make good inferences. This means I can make a guess that is based on clues from the story." Learn how to clarify learning goals. Imagine a conference led by a student who has found, from looking at her corrected math test, that she has trouble multiplying three-digit numbers. She sets a concrete goal with a plan and a time for a retest. Learn to make communication tools, such as conferences, more effective. √ How to involve students (V. Student Involvement, pp. 9-10) Instead of handing students a "B," imagine students looking at samples of writing and designing their own rubrics to assess writing quality. In this summary, there are 24 activities that can be used to involve students in taking ownership of their learning.

Most teachers routinely develop and communicate to students and parents the various plans and policies that govern the middle school classroom. Usually, this includes a classroom management plan, a grading policy, an instructional plan linked to state and district curriculum standards, a homework policy, and perhaps an intervention plan detailing what will happen for students if they fall behind. Today, more teachers are thinking about assessment in their classrooms as a balanced system of components. One component, summative assessment, fulfills the traditional role of measuring student progress. Results from tests feed into an evaluation, like a mark in a grade book or a report card grade. Also known as assessments of learning, they reflect the level of student learning at a particular point in time. Another component, formative assessment, is an ongoing process used to inform instructional decisions made by the teacher and student. This process can be extended to encourage and promote further learning. Formative assessments, linked to the targets of daily instruction, provide continuous information—what Margaret Heritage, assistant director for professional development at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) at UCLA, calls a "video stream"— as opposed to a summative snapshot. Formative assessment happens while teaching is still underway, helping shape decisions about what needs to happen next to better prepare students for the summative assessment. In a balanced classroom assessment system, neither of these two components is over-or under-used; they work together to generate the combined effects that are greater than the sum of the individual parts. When summative and formative classroom assessments are high quality and purposefully planned, they are synergistic parts of the same system and can help form a more complete and accurate picture of student learning. We should point out that it isn't really the assessment itself that's formative or summative. We see plenty of products in the K–12 market advertised as "formative assessments," giving the false sense that what is formative is the instrument itself. It's really how the results of any assessment are used that determines the label to apply.