Making formative assessment a reality: seven necessary shifts

Over the last 25 years, we have accumulated considerable evidence that assessment can improve, as well as measure the results of, education. However, we have also learned that using assessment to improve learning is much more than adding a few “quick fixes” to what teachers do. Rather, harnessing the power of assessment to improve learning involves a number of major shifts in how we think about education and policy, and, without these shifts, the potential of assessment to improve learning is likely to remain unrealized. The shifts that seem to be most relevant to the current policy environment in Europe are summarized below.

Empower students with digital formative assessment - Newsletter Issue 6

Although formative assessment can empower both teachers and students, it is still not
widely adopted by schools and when it is adopted, more support can be provided for its
effective use. Furthermore, the potential of digital tools to support formative assessment
has not been fully realised.

How can teachers effectively implement digital formative assessment (DFA) in their classroom?
How can we support teachers in this process? These are some of the questions which the Assess@Learning policy experimentation considered since its launch in 2019.

Formative assessment in 2050: Possibilities and challenges

When I advocate for increased use of formative assessment in classrooms, there are three
questions I am regularly asked. The first is how do I know that formative assessment is not just another passing fad in education; one that in a year or two will be replaced by something else that catches people’s attention?

Empower students with digital formative assessment - Newsletter Issue 5

How do teachers know what their students actually learn and who is in need of additional support? How can students become more empowered in their own learning? How can digital tools support student learning? And does Corona change the way we think about these questions?

This newsletter aims to engage organisations working on assessment, as well as teachers, school heads, policy makers and anyone else who is interested in an exchange around these questions

Supporting the development of classroom formative assessment: The role of leaders

Over the last fifty years, policymakers around the world have realized that improving educational achievement is important not just for economic success, but also for the maintenance of healthy democracies, and, most importantly, to allow individuals to take greater control over their lives.

Empower students with digital formative assessment - Newsletter Issue 4

How do teachers know what their students actually learn and who is in need of additional support? How can students become more empowered in their own learning? How can digital tools support student learning? And does Corona change the way we think about these questions?

This newsletter aims to engage organisations working on assessment, as well as teachers, school heads, policy makers and anyone else who is interested in an exchange around these questions

Empower students with digital formative assessment - Newsletter Issue 3

How do teachers know what their students actually learn and who is in need of additional support? How can students become more empowered in their own learning? How can digital tools support student learning? And does Corona change the way we think about these questions?

This newsletter aims to engage organisations working on assessment, as well as teachers, school heads, policy makers and anyone else who is interested in an exchange around these questions

Activating learners: as owners of their own learning, and as learning resources for one another.

In two previous articles I outlined how assessment can be used to improve learning as well as measure it, and looked at why assessment is at the heart of effective teaching, whether this is done in face-to-face, hybrid, or remote sessions. However, to really harness the power of assessment to improve learning, we must also bring the learners into the process.

Empower students with digital formative assessment - Newsletter Issue 2

How do teachers know what their students actually learn and who is in need of additional support? How can students become more empowered in their own learning? How can digital tools support student learning? And does Corona change the way we think about these questions?

This newsletter aims to engage organisations working on assessment, as well as teachers, school heads, policy makers and anyone else who is interested in an exchange around these questions

Why there is no such thing as a formative assessment

What, exactly, is formative assessment? For some, it is a low-stakes assessment, given to students as a  ay to prepare for a more important assignment. For example, students might be encouraged to submit an essay before the final deadline so that they have a chance to get some feedback that they can use to improve the essay before it is finalized. This use of the term formative really describes where, in the teaching and learning process the assessment occurs. In this view, a formative assessment is any assessment before “the big one.”

How (digital) formative assessment can serve teachers, students and parents in the context of Covid 19.

Over the last fifty years, research in education and psychology has made great progress in helping us understand the best ways to teach our students when they are in front of us—what is sometimes called “face-to-face” teaching. We have also learned quite a lot about the best approaches to distance learning, supporting printed materials with audio and video presentations.

Empower students with digital formative assessment - Newsletter Issue 1

How do teachers know what their students are actually learning? How can students become more empowered in their own learning? How can digital tools support learning? And does Covid-19 change the way we think about these questions? This newsletter aims to engage policy makers, teachers, school heads, organisations working on assessment and anyone else interested in an exchange around these questions.