1

GROUP 6

THEORIES OF
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

GROUP
THEORIES
2

In order to provide a better theoretical grounding for formative assessment, William and Thompson (2007)
drew on Ramaprasad’s (1983) three key processes in learning and teaching:

•Establishing where the learners are in their learning

•Establishing where they are going
•Establishing what needs to be done to get them there

(Heidi L. Andrade and Gregory J. Cizek, 2010, p.30)

→ Traditionally, the teacher has been regarded as responsible for each of these three. However, since the
responsibility for learning rests with both the teacher and the learner, it is incumbent on each to do all they
can to mitigate the impact of any failures of the other.
THEORIES
3
Crossing the three processes with the different agents (teacher, peer, learner) suggests the framework
shown in Figure 2.1 (from Wiliam & Thompson, 2007), indicating that formative assessment can be
conceptualized as consisting of five key strategies:

1.Clarifying and sharing learning intentions and criteria for success;

2.Engineering effective classroom discussions and other learning tasks that elicit evidence
of student understanding;
3.Providing feedback that moves learners forward;
4.Activating students as instructional resources for one another;
5.Activating students as the owners of their own learning.

(Heidi L. Andrade and Gregory J. Cizek, 2010, p.31)

 4

(Heidi L. Andrade and Gregory J. Cizek, 2010, p.31)

 5

GROUP 6

VALUES OF
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

GROUP
 6

VALUES Values of Formative Assessment

follow three significant concepts:

Formative Assessment is student focused.

Formative Assessmnet is instructionally informative.
Formative Assessment is outccomes based.

(Laura Greenstein, 2010, p. 15)

 7

VALUES Formative Assessment Is Student Focused

“Formative assessment helps teachers:

•Consider each student’s learning needs and styles and adapt instruction
accordingly
•Track individual student achievement
•Provide appropriately challenging and motivational instructional activities
•Design intentional and objective student self-assessments
•Offer all students opportunities for improvement ”

(Laura Greenstein, 2010, p. 16)

 8

VALUES Formative Assessment Is Instructionally Informative

Provides a way to align standards, content, and assessment

Allows for the purposeful selection of strategies
Embeds assessment in instruction
Guides instructional decisions

(Laura Greenstein, 2010, p. 17)

 9

VALUES
Formative Assessment Is Outcomes Based

Emphasizes learning outcomes

Makes goals and standards transparent to students
Provides clear assessment criteria
Closes the gap between what students know and desired outcomes
Provides feedback that is comprehensible, actionable, and relevant
Provides valuable diagnostic information by generating informative data

(Laura Greenstein, 2010, p. 17)

 10

ORMATIVE
SSESSMEN THE END
Thank you for listening!