Types of Assessment in Formal Education
Triangulation of evidence for making inferences on student achievement
To assess the quality of people's thoughts, don't listen to their words, but watch their actions - Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words
Summative Assessment
The purpose of implementing summative assessments in the classroom is to determine or measure past learning. The rationale is to look retrospectively at student behaviors to compare performance with some objective-driven criteria.
Standardized Tests
One example of summative assessment is how standardized tests are used in schools. Typically, standardized tests are high-stakes assessments that have certain ramifications on students, teachers, schools, school districts, states, and countries. Types of standardized tests are usually mass-produced, applied to large groups of students, and usually automatically graded. Test items usually included multiple-choice, ranking, sorting, and true-false.
Instruments Designed for Summative Assessment
Other forms of summative assessments use certain instruments that help compare learners with certain criteria. Holistic and analytic rubrics, checklists, mind maps, and exemplary performances are types of instruments that provide a more descriptive account of learning objectives. Although such instruments may be used throughout the learning process, in terms of summative assessment, they tend to apply to the end product or final performance as a way to provide qualitative feedback on learning outcomes. In formal educational contexts, descriptors used in rubrics, etc. require some grading logic to convert qualitative feedback to quantitative feedback (i.e., grades). Both qualitative and quantitative feedback are types of assessment intended to measure the past performances of the student.
Formative Assessment
Contrasting summative assessment, formative assessment is more prospective, seeking to inform future learning processes in terms of learning tactics (what students can control), teaching practice (what instructors can control), and curricular aims (what schools or academies can control). Examples of formative assessment include informal discussions, grading homework, observations of student behaviors, and Socratic seminars and how students respond to ongoing and deep-thinking questioning.
Some of the instruments mentioned earlier in summative assessments can also be applied to formative assessment: holistic and analytic rubrics, checklists, etc. The difference is when, how, and why these instruments are used. Rubrics, for instance, can be presented at the beginning of the learning sequence and referred to throughout the learning process as students progress and transform what they know (knowledge) and what they can do (skills, values, etc.). The purpose of using instruments in this way is to inform educational stakeholders as to what adjustments (if any) are needed going forward. Instruments serve as a guide – along with ongoing and transparent feedback – to help work towards learning outcomes.
Dynamic Assessment
The idea of “dynamic assessment” comes from Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory that combines summative and formative assessment. Typically used informal educational contexts, exams, tests, and quizzes are were once strictly summative, can also be used to inform where the students are in their learning and whether future learning tactics or teaching practices require adjustments. Scores from a standardized test, for example, might require more time spent on a past unit to help more students with other types of assessment and feedback to achieve intended learning outcomes.
Conclusion
Observing students’ actions, their behaviors, their attitudes, and emotions, etc. requires embracing a variety of forms of evidence needed to make more informed inferences on what students know, what they can do, and their overall emotional intelligence. Combining heavy amounts of formative assessment along with strategically scheduled summative assessments can go a long way in providing the support each student deserves in giving them the highest likelihood for academic and personal success.