International Educator Toolbox

Many teachers learn about formative and summative assessments while they are engaging in education coursework; however, translating these types of assessments to the practical classroom can be a significant challenge. Using formative and summative assessments in tandem enables teachers to monitor progress and achievement while also implementing engaging and relevant authentic assessments for standards and criteria. The figure below outlines some differences between the two (Dixson and Worrell, 2016). Even if teachers understand the difference between formative and summative assessments, they can often struggle to identify how to use these in their classrooms. Below are some examples of formative and summative assessments used commonly by teachers (Yale, 2021).  Formative: Exit tickets, class discussions, weekly quizzes, Kahoots, homework assignments.  Summative: Projects, essays, standardized testing, unit tests, presentations.  Striking a balance between formative...

Assessment can be quite difficult for parents and students to understand. Visualizing data in figures is an essential tool for interpreting data and applying it to instruction design. The use of data has also been proven to increase collaboration among teachers, which in turn increases student achievement (Cavalluzzo et al., 2013). Data can also be used to visualize growth and areas of challenge according to specific standards or criteria.  At our school, we use data in a variety of ways in the assessment process. One of the most prominent is the schoolwide use of Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) data. This data is gathered twice a year in reading and math, and is used to differentiate instruction as well as group students for interventions if necessary. The data is always available for parents to view, and the school has conducted workshops on reading and understanding these figures.  Attached here is a sample from my daughter’s Grade 2 MAP test this past school year. Th...

  Student growth portfolios are collections of evidence showing growth in standards or criteria (Sowers and Meyers, 2021). These can be maintained by either the teacher or by the student, and are usually utilized in parent conferences and communication. Increasingly, portfolios are kept in electronic form and connected to learning platforms such as Managebac or SeeSaw.  So why would teachers have students collate samples of work? The benefits far outweigh the shortcomings. Student-maintained portfolios encourage students to take ownership of their work, reflect on their learning journey, and increase metacognitive skills (Sowers and Meyers, 2021).  Some disadvantages to maintaining these portfolios include the time spent collecting and reflecting on work, which takes time away from content instruction, and the difficulty some students and parents have with the technological aspect of the electronic portfolio. Additionally, not all students will receive feedback at the sam...

  Students should be continually self-assessing throughout instruction. This can be accomplished through sharing rubrics, SWBATs, and examples of work from different units. As a language arts teacher, I was constantly teaching self-assessment through the writing, revising, and editing process. Students were given checklists to use to self-assess their writing and look for improvements. These checklists are essential tools for accomplishing self-assessment, as students must be guided through the process (Tavsanli and Kara, 2021).  Students can certainly have a role in developing assessments. One of the most effective ways of implementing student feedback into assessment is through a rubric unpacking activity. By closely examining the rubric used for an assessment, students can put the criteria into their own words and use examples for better understanding. When I taught the International Baccalaureate curriculum, we used task-specific criteria to help students comprehend the ex...

  Effort grades, which can be loosely defined as how hard someone is perceived as working on a task, are another controversial topic in assessment. Whether effort is represented in an overall grade or in extra credit/bonus point form, it stands as a division between teachers in many schools (Dunn et al., 2020). The 2020 study from Dunn et al. showed that students judged the amount of effort they were willing to put in based on the amount of points they would receive. This parallels my experience with effort grades.  I traditionally do not reward effort with extra points or grades. Students are expected to put forth the amount of effort necessary to complete assignments to the best of their ability. Having a differentiated curriculum ensures equity in effort, where a more advanced student’s efforts result in completing a challenging task, while a student who needs accommodations receives them and is putting forth a comparable amount of effort to achieve the modified assignment....

When choosing what type of assessment you will use in a classroom, you must first ask yourself several questions:  Is this a formative or summative assessment? How much time do I (the teacher) have to compose and grade the assessment? How many standards or criteria should the assessment evaluate?  These questions will determine what type of assessment best fits your situation. Depending upon the answers, you may choose one of three types, and each one has different advantages and disadvantages.  Selected-Response Assessments : Students choose one of several potential answers. Pros: Objective scoring, quick to grade, produce easy to analyze data.  Cons: No higher-level thinking assessed, limited feedback, not authentic assessment (Seifert and Sutton, 2022). Open-Ended Assessments : Students create an original response to a question. Pros: Can be adapted to higher-level thinking, authentic assessment.  Cons: Takes more time to grade and create assessments (Wasil e...

One of the most debated topics in education has to be assessment. Whether asking questions about what type is appropriate, how to properly assess, or the difference between formative and summative assessments, teachers need clear information about what assessment means. In my experience, assessment has to do with the process of collecting information and evidence to support a student’s progress (Sewagegn, 2020). Without this evidence, students have no idea about where they stand in terms of the lesson objectives, which themselves need to be clear enough to motivate and inform students about the content and skills required to excel in the classroom (Kelly, 2020).  When determining lesson objectives, it is important to make sure that two things are adequately outlined: the desired outcome for students at the end of the lesson, and exactly how that outcome will be assessed (Kelly, 2020). These objectives should also be clearly explained to the students prior to the instruction so that...