On Formative Assessment

Tests can be used for various reasons. However if the teacher wants to know the pace of learning of the students, formative assessment is the best test to conduct for formative assessment is open to instructional changes.

Seldom do teachers give daily quizzes or every after lesson. The best thing about formative assessment is that assessment is not only confined to quizzes, rather it can stretch out to portfolios, assignments, recitations and performance test. How? Portfolios can assess how students are learning during the course of the instruction through the collection of their works. The annotated entries of both the student and the teacher himself will eventually reflect the growth of student learning; thus, it becomes easier to for the teacher to spot the areas they are strong and weak in. Consequently, the teacher will make the necessary adjustments to the lesson to cater to the needs of the student. Assignments and home works, although unnoticeable, also serve a formative purpose if the teacher "analyzes where students are in their learning, and provide specific, focused feedback regarding performance and ways to improve it." Assignments can either come as enrichment or as advance task. Through assignments and its results, the teacher would know how much learning the student had gained right after instruction. Recitations also yield the same result in the sense that if the teacher asks thoughtful, reflective questions instead of recall, factual ones, he will instantaneously know if the student really understood what is being discussed because the student himself is able to cascade and internalize the concepts, which indicates whether or not the teacher still needs to make improvements in the instruction. Lastly, performance tests do not only measure mastery but it is coupled with the ability to apply the concepts to life-like situations.

Time, nevertheless, is an important element to consider in administering formative tests. Formative tests are designed for during-the-instruction administration. So to produce reliable results, it is advised that short assessments be done more frequently than long ones. Short assessments provide feedback to both the student and the teacher more quickly than long ones. As a result, both parties can immediately do the necessary measures to improve performance (student) and instruction (teacher).

Formative assessments should not be administered for the sole purpose of feedback. Quality feedback on the instruction results from quality assessment. It is requisite that the teacher should be mindful of the quality of test items, questions and tasks - whether they measure low-level understanding or more in-depth learning. Benjamin Bloom suggests that tasks should always be progressive, from low-level to higher-level that is. To attain this in an easy manner, the teacher could work with his colleagues and other sources so that he is able to collect and select good tasks from a variety of options. The adage "two heads are better than one" can always come in handy.

Testing, assessment and evaluation are very serious matters. Whatever it yields affects everything - from planning to instruction to student learning. The future of the students is in the hands of the teacher, and the teacher should know very well how to care for that responsibility.

REFERENCE:

Carol Boston, The Concept of Formative Assessment, University of Maryland