4/9/2018 Re-evaluating the place for summative assessment in the classroom - Maths — No Problem! : Maths — No Problem!

Re-evaluating the (https://mathsnoproblem.com)

place for summative
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by: John Dabell (https://mathsnoproblem.com/author/john-dabell/) |  May 14, 2018 @ 5:48 pm

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Re-evaluating the place for summative assessment in the

classroom.

As teachers, we will all often nd that the data collected from summative tests is used as a “high-stakes”
performance measurement and can contributes to really important decisions being made incorrectly that will
affect our children’s futures and our school’s reputation.

This, unfortunately, has resulted in the valuable summative data being demonised as results have been used to
“name, shame and blame” (John Hattie – Visible Learning for Teacher, 2012).

However, these tests do have their place in the our classrooms and they do ful l a useful purpose if they are valid,
reliable and fair. They can provide transparent results and prove valuable to plan future learning goals.

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4/9/2018 Re-evaluating the place for summative assessment in the classroom - Maths — No Problem! : Maths — No Problem!

What is Summative Assessment?

Assessment of Learning through summative testing, is a formal and narrow snapshot in time that lets teachers,
children and others know how well each child has completed a test or exam. It is intended to provide evidence of
achievement about how well children are learning and is the more formal summing-up of a pupil’s progress.
Research suggests that for some students, these summative tests can be motivating.

This mean that summative assessment can be used for making comparisons, identifying trends, reporting on
performance, tracking progress and target setting and strategic planning. A grade or percentage can indicate a
child’s rank in the class, year group or performance compared to others. It can provide our children, parents and
teachers valuable information about each child’s overall performance at a speci c point in their learning and
provides information about their progress in:

subject knowledge
understanding
skills and capabilities

Why should we be wary of Summative Assessment?

Strictly speaking, summative assessment isn’t really assessment – more precisely it is ‘evaluation’ where we can
gather information in order to generate a judgment, a score or a level: this is ‘being graded’ and is summative in
nature, judgmental and competitive.

We nd that evaluative tests are almost always formally graded and often heavily weighted (although they don’t
have to be) and give us information that signpost progress and achievement usually in numerical terms. Although
the information that is gleaned from testing is important, it can only help in evaluating certain aspects of the
learning process.

This often means that summative assessments can happen too far down the learning path to provide information
at the classroom level and to make teaching adjustments and interventions during the learning process.

When should we use Summative Assessment?

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4/9/2018 Re-evaluating the place for summative assessment in the classroom - Maths — No Problem! : Maths — No Problem!

So, how do we use assessment to make adjustments during the learning process? For this we use formative
assessment and although summative assessment and formative assessment therefore appear to be at opposite
ends of the spectrum many teachers work hard to achieve a more positive relationship between the two – they
aren’t evil cousins! Both are necessary, both are useful and both can actually work together.

Good tests can also be good teaching and learning devices and so reliable summative tests can have a powerful
formative use. The key to improving learning is for teachers to share with children their scores and what these
grades or numbers mean in terms of what they have demonstrated they can do and what the next steps to
improve their learning will be. ‘Summative’ suggests a ‘summary’ of the nal results, but there is no rulebook that
says it must happen on the last day.

This means that summative assessments can inform us about what children have learnt, what they may be
nding dif cult and how we need to adjust our teaching to maximise their learning. Therefore, to be genuinely
worthwhile, it is helpful to children if summative assessments are also interpreted formatively before moving on.
Summative is not synonymous with ‘done’.

Where teachers use summative tests creatively and formatively it can make a valuable contribution to assessment
and learning. A test in itself makes no difference unless the information it generates is acted upon. Ultimately,
assessment is only valuable if it changes the way teachers teach and children learn. The most important end user
of assessment is the child and to really have any real value and impact, teachers realise that summative tests
cannot be divorced from formative feedback. All ‘high-stakes’ tests have formative potential.

How to use Summative Assessment correctly

Hodgen and Wiliam in Mathematics Inside The Black Box (2006) highlight some key ways of using summative
tests formatively:

Give children the mark scheme and ask them to create model ‘full mark’ answers.
Ask children to identify easy and hard questions then test their ‘hunches’ to others why they think so.
Ask children to work with a partner or group on questions to produce the best composite answers they can.
Give pairs of children a test and ask them to produce a more dif cult test.

You’ll nd that infusing summative tests with formative avour can pay dividends. We can work more effectively
when we link summative assessments together so that children can grow between summative assessments.
When we engage in lopsided assessment practice and allow summative assessment to dominate then we
naturally get a lopsided view of what children can do!

So, by using a comprehensive assessment approach that balances formative and summative assessment we are
provided with a more accurate learning/achievement information which brings into focus a much clearer picture of
children’s strengths and weaknesses.

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4/9/2018 Re-evaluating the place for summative assessment in the classroom - Maths — No Problem! : Maths — No Problem!

Summative assessments have their place in the classroom and they do ful l a useful purpose if we use them
wisely. In the right hands they are full of potential – they are the diamonds in the rough.

Wondering how assessment can support your teaching practice? Join us this 23 May for the
MNP Annual Conference. It’s your chance to hear the latest research and assessment methods
from word-renowned educators including Dr Yeap Ban Har and Tim Oates.

Save Your Spot (https://mathsnoproblem.com/en/events/singapore-maths-

leadership-conferencelondon-uk-may-23-2018/)

References:
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (2003) Assessment for Learning: Putting it into practice.
Berkshire, England: Open University Press.
Hattie, J. (2012) Visible Learning for Teacher: Maximising impact on learning. Abingdon: Routledge.

John Dabell (https://mathsnoproblem.com/author/john-dabell/) is an Education Consultant and Author who

specialises in primary maths, and a Maths — No Problem! (https://mathsnoproblem.com) blogger on Pedagogy.

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Published on May 14, 2018

Tags: Assessment (https://mathsnoproblem.com/tag/assessment/), Assessment of Learning

(https://mathsnoproblem.com/tag/assessment-of-learning/), Formative Assessment
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(https://mathsnoproblem.com/tag/maths-mastery-teaching/), Primary Mathematics
(https://mathsnoproblem.com/tag/primary-mathematics/), Self-assessment
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