What is Assessment for Learning?
(also known as “Formative Assessment”)
Ruth Sutton defined formative assessment as “an ongoing process, conducted both formally and informally, by which information and evidence about a child’s learning is absorbed and used to plan the next step, or guide through a given task”.
(Assessment – A framework for teachers, 1991)
Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam explain formative assessment in these terms: “the term ‘assessment’ refers to all those activities undertaken by teachers, and by their students in assessing themselves, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged. Such assessment becomes ‘formative assessment’ when the evidence is actually used to adapt the teaching work to meet the needs.”
(Inside the Black Box, 1998)
Shirley Clarke discusses in her books how formative assessment might look in classroom practice. The key characteristics are:
- clear learning intentions, shared and discussed with pupils
- pupils understand the “success criteria” – how they will know they have achieved the learning objective, or the steps towards achieving it
- marking and feedback are related to the learning intention and success criteria, indicating the child’s successes and helping them to know how to improve
- improvement is made as a direct result of the feedback
- children are actively involved in self- and peer-assessment
- questioning techniques are used effectively to extend learning
- there is a belief that all children can succeed
- there is a culture where learning is celebrated, rather than performance
The key message of the Hertfordshire Assessment Team is therefore:
AfL involves active feedback which enables pupils to
improve their work as it develops.
Unless some learning action follows the assessment, the assessment has served only summative purposes. |
For more information on formative assessment, see these useful websites and books.
Download the 10 Principles of Assessment for Learning poster from the Publications section of the Assessment Reform Group website:
Assessment for Learning Presentation in Special Schools new
 Presentation
Assessment for Learning in Special Schools
Essential or Irrelevant?
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