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7 Smart, Fast Ways to Do Formative Assessment

Within these methods you’ll find close to 40 tools and tricks for finding out what your students know while they’re still learning.

Formative assessment—discovering what students know while they’re still in the process of learning it—can be tricky. Designing just the right assessment can feel high stakes—for teachers, not students—because we’re using it to figure out what comes next. Are we ready to move on? Do our students need a different path into the concepts? Or, more likely, which students are ready to move on and which need a different path?

When it comes to figuring out what our students really know, we have to look at more than one kind of information. A single data point—no matter how well designed the quiz, presentation, or problem behind it—isn’t enough information to help us plan the next step in our instruction.

Add to that the fact that different learning tasks are best measured in different ways, and we can see why we need a variety of formative assessment tools we can deploy quickly, seamlessly, and in a low-stakes way—all while not creating an unmanageable workload. That’s why it’s important to keep it simple: Formative assessments generally just need to be checked, not graded, as the point is to get a basic read on the progress of individuals, or the class as a whole.

7 Approaches to Formative Assessment

1. Entry and exit slips: Those marginal minutes at the beginning and end of class can provide some great opportunities to find out what kids remember. Start the class off with a quick question about the previous day’s work while students are getting settled—you can ask differentiated questions written out on chart paper or projected on the board, for example.

Exit slips can take lots of forms beyond the old-school pencil and scrap paper. Whether you’re assessing at the bottom of Bloom’s taxonomy or the top, you can use tools like Padlet or Poll Everywhere , or measure progress toward attainment or retention of essential content or standards with tools like Google Classroom’s Question tool , Google Forms with Flubaroo , and Edulastic , all of which make seeing what students know a snap.

A quick way to see the big picture if you use paper exit tickets is to sort the papers into three piles : Students got the point; they sort of got it; and they didn’t get it. The size of the stacks is your clue about what to do next.

No matter the tool, the key to keeping students engaged in the process of just-walked-in or almost-out-the-door formative assessment is the questions. Ask students to write for one minute on the most meaningful thing they learned. You can try prompts like:

• What are three things you learned, two things you’re still curious about, and one thing you don’t understand?
• How would you have done things differently today, if you had the choice?
• What I found interesting about this work was...
• Right now I’m feeling...
• Today was hard because...

Or skip the words completely and have students draw or circle emojis to represent their assessment of their understanding.

2. Low-stakes quizzes and polls: If you want to find out whether your students really know as much as you think they know, polls and quizzes created with Socrative or Quizlet or in-class games and tools like Quizalize , Kahoot , FlipQuiz, Gimkit , Plickers , and Flippity can help you get a better sense of how much they really understand. (Grading quizzes but assigning low point values is a great way to make sure students really try: The quizzes matter, but an individual low score can’t kill a student’s grade.) Kids in many classes are always logged in to these tools, so formative assessments can be done very quickly. Teachers can see each kid’s response, and determine both individually and in aggregate how students are doing.

Because you can design the questions yourself, you determine the level of complexity. Ask questions at the bottom of Bloom’s taxonomy and you’ll get insight into what facts, vocabulary terms, or processes kids remember. Ask more complicated questions (“What advice do you think Katniss Everdeen would offer Scout Finch if the two of them were talking at the end of chapter 3?”), and you’ll get more sophisticated insights.

3. Dipsticks: So-called alternative formative assessments are meant to be as easy and quick as checking the oil in your car, so they’re sometimes referred to as dipsticks . These can be things like asking students to:

• write a letter explaining a key idea to a friend,
• draw a sketch to visually represent new knowledge, or
• do a think, pair, share exercise with a partner.

Your own observations of students at work in class can provide valuable data as well, but they can be tricky to keep track of. Taking quick notes on a tablet or smartphone, or using a copy of your roster, is one approach. A focused observation form is more formal and can help you narrow your note-taking focus as you watch students work.

4. Interview assessments: If you want to dig a little deeper into students’ understanding of content, try discussion-based assessment methods. Casual chats with students in the classroom can help them feel at ease even as you get a sense of what they know, and you may find that five-minute interview assessments work really well. Five minutes per student would take quite a bit of time, but you don’t have to talk to every student about every project or lesson.

You can also shift some of this work to students using a peer-feedback process called TAG feedback (Tell your peer something they did well, Ask a thoughtful question, Give a positive suggestion). When you have students share the feedback they have for a peer, you gain insight into both students’ learning.

For more introverted students—or for more private assessments—use Flipgrid , Explain Everything , or Seesaw to have students record their answers to prompts and demonstrate what they can do.

5. Methods that incorporate art: Consider using visual art or photography or videography as an assessment tool. Whether students draw, create a collage, or sculpt, you may find that the assessment helps them synthesize their learning . Or think beyond the visual and have kids act out their understanding of the content. They can create a dance to model cell mitosis or act out stories like Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” to explore the subtext.

6. Misconceptions and errors: Sometimes it’s helpful to see if students understand why something is incorrect or why a concept is hard. Ask students to explain the “ muddiest point ” in the lesson—the place where things got confusing or particularly difficult or where they still lack clarity. Or do a misconception check : Present students with a common misunderstanding and ask them to apply previous knowledge to correct the mistake, or ask them to decide if a statement contains any mistakes at all, and then discuss their answers.

7. Self-assessment: Don’t forget to consult the experts—the kids. Often you can give your rubric to your students and have them spot their strengths and weaknesses.

You can use sticky notes to get a quick insight into what areas your kids think they need to work on. Ask them to pick their own trouble spot from three or four areas where you think the class as a whole needs work, and write those areas in separate columns on a whiteboard. Have you students answer on a sticky note and then put the note in the correct column—you can see the results at a glance.

Several self-assessments let the teacher see what every kid thinks very quickly. For example, you can use colored stacking cups that allow kids to flag that they’re all set (green cup), working through some confusion (yellow), or really confused and in need of help (red).

Similar strategies involve using participation cards for discussions (each student has three cards—“I agree,” “I disagree,” and “I don’t know how to respond”) and thumbs-up responses (instead of raising a hand, students hold a fist at their belly and put their thumb up when they’re ready to contribute). Students can instead use six hand gestures to silently signal that they agree, disagree, have something to add, and more. All of these strategies give teachers an unobtrusive way to see what students are thinking.

No matter which tools you select, make time to do your own reflection to ensure that you’re only assessing the content and not getting lost in the assessment fog . If a tool is too complicated, is not reliable or accessible, or takes up a disproportionate amount of time, it’s OK to put it aside and try something different.

A Summary of Evidence Based Formative Assessment Strategies

Dylan Wiliam and Paul Black originally defined formative assessment as: “encompassing all those activities undertaken by teachers, and/or their students, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are engaged” (Black and Wiliam 1998). Formative assessment strategies are central to effective and responsive teaching and learning. They are also linked to the different stages of the learning process in addition to curriculum planning, design and delivery.

Formative assessment involves a range of evidence-informed strategies used in the classroom across the curriculum with learners of different ages, and can be applied across all subjects. Formative assessment can help the teacher and student understand what needs to be learned and how this can be achieved. A teacher can use a range of strategies to support their students to make progress, and the learner can embrace formative assessment strategies to monitor and reflect on their own progress and act on feedback provided by the teacher and/or their peers.

Dylan Wiliam and Siobhan Leahy have written extensively about five key formative assessment strategies (Embedded Formative Assessment, 2011). The five strategies promoted by Wiliam and Leahy are:

• Clarifying, sharing and understanding learning intentions and success criteria
• Engineering effective discussions, tasks, and activities that elicit evidence of learning
• Providing feedback that moves learners forward
• Activating students as learning resources for one another
• Activating students as owners of their own learning.

For each of these strategies a range of techniques can be deployed in the classroom. Formative assessment strategies take place during the learning process in contrast to summative assessment that focuses on a final and high stakes exam or test. The aim of these strategies is to continually help students make progress and develop.

As with all approaches in education, these strategies can either be implemented effectively, badly or by becoming ‘ lethal mutations’ . In such situations, evidence-based strategies are rushed, misunderstood or misapplied to the point of no longer resembling the original research or desired outcome.

In order to avoid misconceptions and mutations, teachers and school leaders need to carefully consider the evidence base and select formative assessment strategies and techniques suitable for their context. This must be followed by considered and meaningful review and reflection.

To find out more about formative assessment strategies in the classroom, for effective teaching and learning, you can sign up to our upcoming webinar here or, if you are based in the United Arab Emirates, you can sign up for the in person workshop in Dubai here . The webinar and workshop will be led by Kate Jones, Senior Associate for Teaching and Learning and author or Wiliam and Leahy’s Five Formative Assessment Strategies: In Action (2021).

References:

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education, 5, 7-74. doi:10.1080/0969595980050102

Embedding Formative Assessment. Practical Techniques for the Classroom. Dylan Wiliam and Siobhan Leahy. (2011).

Do formative assessments cover the support listed in section F of a CYP EHCP? Or should there be a separate graduated response for those interventions? Experiencing an uncommunicative school.

A theoretical statements are available but translating into a curriculum is required. Formative is for student self learning hence there needs to be a mechanism to have a graded approach and chance that retake an assessment it required.

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Getting smart collective, impact update, the research base for formative assessment.

By Mary Ryerse and Susan Brookhart

Formative assessment is at the forefront of many education conversations and, at present, many accept intuitively that it’s an important part of the learning process.

Yet, how do we know formative assessment actually works? In this blog, we unpack some of the research base underlying the practice of formative assessment.

For those less familiar with the practice, it is important to note that formative assessment is a process in which students and teachers work together to improve learning. Both students and teachers are active participants in the process as they generate, interpret, and use evidence of learning to 1) aim for learning goals, 2) apply criteria to the work they produce, and 3) decide on next steps.

To summarize the process, there is a formative learning cycle which encourages students to repeatedly ask these three questions:

• Where am I going?
• Where am I now?
• Where to next?

Further, formative assessment is not a particular kind of test, or marks or grades, but rather an ongoing practice.

Below, we have synthesized key information about research behind formative assessment’s effectiveness.

Foundational Research Base for Formative Assessment

The original research base on formative assessment is most typically traced back to the 1998 publication Assessm ent and Classroom Learning  (Black & Wiliam, 1998), the first widely cited review of literature on formative assessment in the English language.  The researchers found “firm evidence” that formative assessment can work, but also noted that there was not much formative assessment happening in conventional teaching practices (more on that later).

Much of the research measures whether a particular practice is working by the “effect size.”

Definition: “ Effect size  is the difference between treatment group and comparison group expressed in standard deviation units.”  Generally speaking, the higher the effect size the stronger the evidence of impact.

In the Black and Wiliam review, the authors cited prior studies reporting effect sizes that ranged from 0.40 and 0.70 for formative assessment practice, a relatively strong indicator. Evidence for those numbers came mostly from a 1986 review of formative assessment in special education titled Effects of Systematic Formative Evaluation: A Meta-Analysis  (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1986).

In an effort to increase classroom practice, Black and Wiliam also created a “practitioner’s summary,” Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment , to go along with the original pub.

More Recent Reports and Critiques.

A number of studies followed the foundational research of Black and Wiliam. These more recent reports justified a need for more research, a critique of current research and a need for content-area-specific research.

A call for research.  More recently, Formative Assessment: A Meta-Analysis and a Call for Research , (Kingston & Nash, 2011) estimated the effect size in the 0.20 to 0.30 range. Regardless, the findings point to a significant level of impact.

A critical review.  There is some criticism of research that lumps all formative assessment together because formative assessment is so complex. It encompasses many different practices and usually takes place in a context of other changes, as well (for example, a change to more student-centered learning in general). Bennett’s Formative Assessment: A Critical Review  (2011) is the most widely cited and best articulated of the critiques.

A look across content areas. It may be that in the future, the best evidence of the effects of formative assessment on learning will be accumulated through studies within content areas, which removes some of the complexity among a group of studies. In Formative Assessment and Writing  (Graham, Hiebert, & Harris, 2015), a review of formative assessment specifically assessing the effects on students learning to write, was conducted and found average effect sizes of 0.87, 0.62, 0.58, and 0.38 for feedback from adults, self, peers, and computers, respectively.  These effect sizes point to the importance of emphasizing specific content area feedback and assessment.

Closely Connected: Effects of Feedback

Additionally, evidence for the effects of formative assessment also comes from the much larger literature on the effects of feedback. Feedback is one of the foundational aspects of formative assessment.  Recent reviews of the feedback literature include the following:

• The Power of Feedback  (Hattie & Timperley,  2007). Summarizing previous meta-analyses of the effects of feedback, this review found an overall effect size of 0.79, which placed it among the top 5 or 10 influences of any kind on achievement.
• Effects of Feedback in a Computer-Based Learning Environment on Students’ Learning Outcomes  (Van der Kleij, Feskens, & Eggen, 2015). This review reported effect sizes of 0.49 for elaborated feedback (feedback that includes explanations, additional material, and/or suggestions for next steps) in the context of computer-based instruction.
• Focus on Formative Feedback  (Shute, 2008). This report provided a more descriptive review of the literature on task-level, formative feedback, and four summary tables of recommendations for practice based on the research reviewed.

Policy Brief

It has been demonstrated that students become active agents in their educational process as they learn how to use feedback, set goals, monitor their own progress and select strategies that move their own learning forward. According to Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary Classrooms , formative assessment practice has been shown to be highly effective in raising the level of student attainment, increasing equity of student outcomes and improving students’ ability to learn.

The above-mentioned policy brief is an executive-summary-style brief of a larger study (OECD, 2005) that was part of OECD’s “What Works in Innovation in Education” initiative. The report reviews international research as well as OECD’s case study findings, presents case studies from several schools in eight participating countries, and includes English, French, and German literature reviews on formative assessment in their respective contexts and research traditions.

Additional findings include that schools which use formative assessment show not only general gains in academic achievement but also particularly high gains for previously underachieving students.

It is worth noting that teachers help students accomplish the above and move learning forward. According to the same OECD report, teachers who engage in formative assessment report a changed classroom culture, clarity regarding goals, varied instructional practices and more positive interactions with students.

As we see that the more general research has revealed positive effects and benefits of formative assessment, it seems clear that more specific research will only refine and improve the practice.

For more, see:

• Scaling Formative Assessment: The How I Know Project
• Keys to Success for Formative Assessment: A Professional Learning Guide
• Reflections on How I Know

Susan Brookhart is a  formative assessment expert who speaks, writes and consults through Brookhart Enterprises LLC (susanbrookhart.com).

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27 easy formative assessment strategies for gathering evidence of student learning

• New Clothes
• Dos and Don’ts
• Three Common Misunderstandings
• Yes/No Chart
• Three Questions
• Explain What Matters
• Big Picture
• Venn Diagram
• Self-Directed Response

Combining these 10 with 10 others we’ve blogged about in the past gives teachers 20 great formative assessment strategies for checking on student learning. Be sure to click through to learn more about these formative assessment strategies.

• The Popsicle Stick
• The Exit Ticket
• The Whiteboard
• Think-Pair-Share
• Two Stars and a Wish
• Carousel Brainstorming
• Basketball Discussions

Want more? Here are seven more strategies you can use to elicit evidence of student learning.

• Entrance Tickets. We’ve blogged about and explained the Exit Ticket, so why not have an Entrance Ticket? Here, the teacher asks a question at the start of a lesson, and students write their responses on index cards or strips of paper. Answers are used to assess initial understanding of something to be discussed in that day’s lesson or as a short summary of understanding of the previous day’s lesson. The teacher designs the lesson around the fact that information on student learning will be coming in at the start of the lesson and can be used to improve the teaching and learning in that lesson. Be sure to write the question so it is easily interpreted and analyzed, allows time for you and/or the students to analyze the responses, and leaves space for you to adjust the lesson, if needed.
• Keep the Question Going. With this formative assessment strategy, you’ll ask one student a question and then ask another student if that answer seems reasonable or correct. Then, ask a third student for an explanation of why there is an agreement or not. This helps keep all the students engaged because they must be prepared to either agree or disagree with the answers given and provide explanations.
• 30-Second Share. With this strategy, students take a turn to report something learned in a lesson for up to 30 seconds each. Connections to the learning targets or success criteria are what you’ll be looking for in the language used by the student. Make this a routine at the end of a lesson so all students have the opportunity to participate, share insights, and clarify what was learned.
• Parking Lot. This is an underused strategy for students and one that can surface questions before learning, as well as during and after. This tool also offers an anonymous place for questions that may be directly related to the content or tangential to the current topic and provide insight into student thinking. Simply save a spot on your whiteboard to write down ideas or questions that aren’t completely relevant in the moment but should be revisited later.
• One-Minute Paper. This might be considered a type of exit ticket as it is typically done near the end of the day. Ask your students, either individually or with a partner, to respond in writing to a single prompt. Typical prompts include:
• Most important learning from the day and why
• Most surprising concept and why
• Most confusing topic and why
• Something I think might appear on a test or quiz and why
• 3-2-1. At the end of the learning, this strategy provides students a way to summarize or even question what they just learned. Three prompts are provided for students to respond to:
• 3 things you didn’t know before
• 2 things that surprised you about the topic
• 1 thing you want to start doing with what you’ve learned
• Assessment Reflection. This strategy is a post-assessment reflection completed individually first and then shared in a small group. After an assessment, the teacher provides a list of questions so learners can reflect on their assessment experience. During group discussion, ideas are collected as new information to support students to better prepare for and engage in future assessments. Consider the following or similar questions. You might also use strategies such as Plus, Minus, Interesting, or Plus/Delta.
• How engaged were you with this assessment? Why?
• What did you feel most confident about? Why?
• What did you do that led to your success or confidence?
• What was the most difficult part of this assessment? Why?
• What would you do differently next time?
• What was the most confusing? Why?
• What do you know about the topic that the assessment didn’t allow you to show?

All 27 of these formative assessment strategies are simple to administer and free or inexpensive to use. They’ll provide you with the evidence of student learning you need to make lesson plan adjustments and keep learning on target and moving forward. They’ll also give your students valuable information so they can adjust their learning tactics and know where to focus their energies.

If you’re not quite sure where to get started, the following discussion questions can help.

Questions for teachers

• How do you use formative assessment data to inform instructional decisions?
• How can formative assessment strategies foster a learning environment of collaboration and engagement?
• How do formative assessment strategies elicit evidence of student learning?
• What is one strategy you could try tomorrow and why?

Questions for leaders

• How do you use formative assessment data to drive school-wide instructional academic decisions?
• How can you model formative assessment strategies in staff meetings, PLCs, and meetings with teachers?
• What are three formative assessment strategies you could bring to your teachers and staff? Why do you feel these would be most effective at your school?

Get more formative assessment tips and tricks in our e-book “Making it work: How formative assessment can supercharge your practice.”

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Making it work: How formative assessment can supercharge your practice

Formative assessment isn’t new. But as our education system changes, our approaches to any instructional strategy must evolve. Learn how to put formative assessment to work in your classroom.

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Differentiated Assessment Strategies One Tool Doesn't Fit All

• Carolyn Chapman - International Educational Consultant
• Rita King - Educational Consultant, Texas
• Description

Boost student achievement with easy-to-use formative assessment tools

In this second edition of the bestseller, the authors provide research-based and practical formative assessment tools, strategies, and activities that simplify the process of identifying students' strengths and needs. Updated features include a new chapter on exciting ways to engage learners in self-assessment; more tools for assessing before, during, and after learning; and approaches to help students take ownership of their own learning. Differentiated Assessment Strategies gives teachers:

• Formative assessment strategies for all grade levels and content areas
• Tools for interpreting ongoing assessment data for immediate intervention and planning
• Assessment strategies that provide immediate feedback to teachers and learners
• Methods for determining learner preferences, cognitive styles, and multiple intelligences
• Tips for establishing a positive environment for assessment

Included are surveys, checklists, questionnaires, assignments, graphic organizers, portfolio work samples, rubrics, and more. These user-friendly tools are valuable for assessing all students, informing instruction, and accommodating learners' individual needs. The final chapter pulls it all together and shows how to integrate formative assessment to improve student achievement.

See what’s new to this edition by selecting the Features tab on this page. Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email [email protected] . Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html .

For assistance with your order: Please email us at [email protected] or connect with your SAGE representative.

SAGE 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 www.sagepub.com

"This is a book that should be in the hands of every educator. It is practical, easy to use and such a great collection of assessments that can be easily implemented in any subject area."

"This book includes practical, helpful strategies and processes for differentiating instruction and assessment. The models, strategies, and tools in this book will assist educators in helping students ultimately self-assess and find their own pathways to success."

• By best-selling author Carolyn Chapman
• By charismatic trainers Carolyn Chapman & Rita King
• Easy-to-use assessment strategies for before, during, and after instruction
• Appropriate for all K-12 learners, from special needs through gifted and talented
• Includes surveys, checklists, questionnaires, assignments, graphic organizers, portfolio work samples, rubrics, and more.

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For instructors, select a purchasing option.

Research Supporting the Ten Principles: Assessment Practices

When educators talk about “proficiency-based learning,” they are referring to a variety of diverse instructional practices—many of which have been used by the world’s best schools and teachers for decades—and to organizational structures that support or facilitate the application of those practices in schools. Proficiency-based learning may take different forms from school to school—there is no universal model or approach—and educators may use some or all of the beliefs and practices of proficiency-based learning identified by the Great Schools Partnership.

On this page, we have provided a selection of statements and references that support and describe one foundational feature of proficiency-based learning systems, Assessment Practices . In a few cases, we have also included additional explanation to help readers better understand the statements or the studies from which they were excerpted. The list is not intended to be either comprehensive or authoritative—our goal is merely to give school leaders and educators a brief, accessible introduction to available research.

“Providing feedback is an ongoing process in which teachers communicate information to students that helps them better understand what they are to learn, what high-quality performance looks like, and what changes are necessary to improve their learning (Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Shute, 2008). Feedback provides information that helps learners confirm, refine, or restructure various kinds of knowledge, strategies, and beliefs that are related to the learning objectives (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). When feedback provides explicit guidance that helps students adjust their learning (e.g., ‘Can you think of another way to approach this task?’), there is a greater impact on achievement, students are more likely to take risks with their learning, and they are more likely to keep trying until they succeed (Brookhart, 2008; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Shute, 2008).” —Dean, C. B., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

“The studies related to feedback underscore the importance of providing feedback that is instructive, timely, referenced to the actual task, and focused on what is correct and what to do next (Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Shute, 2008). They also address the use of attributional and metacognitive feedback. For example, a study by Kramarski and Zeichner (2001) investigated the use of metacognitive feedback versus results feedback in a 6 th grade mathematics class as a way to help students know what to do to improve their performance. Metacognitive feedback was provided by asking questions that served as cues about the content and structure of the problem and ways to solve it. Results feedback provided cues related to the final outcome of the problem. Students who received metacognitive feedback significantly outperformed students who received results feedback, in terms of mathematical achievement and the ability to provide mathematical explanations. They were more likely to provide explanations of their mathematical reasoning, and those explanations were robust—they included both algebraic rules and verbal arguments.” —Dean, C. B., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

“As in many other areas of life, timing is everything (or at least important) when giving feedback. Recent research indicates that the timing of feedback depends to some extent on the nature of the task and on whether students are high performing or low performing (Shute, 2008). When students are engrossed in figuring out a difficult task, feedback should be delayed; however, when students can use feedback to complete a task, immediacy helps. Providing immediate feedback can encourage students to practice, and it helps them make connections between what they do and the results they achieve. Delaying feedback may encourage development of cognitive and metacognitive processing for high-performing students, yet it may cause frustration for struggling and less-motivated students (Clariana & Koul, 2006; Shute, 2008). Further, some studies indicate that students may benefit from delayed feedback when they are learning concepts and from immediate feedback when they are acquiring procedural skills (Franzke, Kintsch, Caccamise, Johnson, & Dooley, 2005; Mathan & Koedinger, 2002; Shute, 2008).” —Dean, C. B., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., & Stone, B. (2012). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

“Student-centered assessment also focuses on learning and growth. That means it does more than measure and report student learning or the lack thereof—although it does those things as well. Student-centered assessment promotes learning and growth by providing useful feedback to the students themselves, their teachers, and others about what the students need in order to progress toward the learning target. This quality of student- centered assessment echoes modern conceptions of formative assessment in that assessment is a moment of learning, not just grading, ranking, or sorting (Andrade & Cizek 2010; Shute 2008).” —Andrade, H., Huff, K., & Brooke, G. (2012). Assessing learning . Boston, MA: Jobs for the Future.

“Formative tests differ in a very important way from practice tests, which usually involve students taking a test, passively listening as the teacher goes over the correct answers, then taking another test. It is not really hearing the correct answers to the test that makes formative use of testing work. Rather, it is the hard thinking that happens in between the tests that matters (Bloom 1984). This approach to testing is based on Benjamin Bloom’s approach to mastery learning, which emphasizes the value of formative assessment and corrective procedures that re-teach content to struggling learners in a new way (Guskey 2010). Research shows that mastery learning is related to learning gains, especially for struggling students, and that it has positive effects on students’ attitudes toward course content (Kulik, Kulik, & Bangert-Drowns 1990). In fact, after reviewing meta-analyses from over 40 areas of educational research, Chen-Lin Kulik, James Kulik, and Robert Bangert-Drowns concluded that ‘few educational treatments of any sort were consistently associated with achievement effects as large as those produced by mastery learning.’” —Andrade, H., Huff, K., & Brooke, G. (2012). Assessing learning . Boston, MA: Jobs for the Future.

“Schools and districts across the nation are reporting impressive gains in student achievement through the use of teacher-created, criterion-referenced assessments (Bambrick-Santoyo 2008). Such assessments are developed by teams of teachers from within and across schools in particular grades and subject areas; they work together to develop items that directly measure the curricula enacted in their classrooms. The teachers use the same assessments on an interim basis throughout the school year (about every six weeks), get together to discuss the results at length, and share pedagogical approaches to helping one another’s students succeed. For example, if Ms. Garcia’s third graders all aced the question on 100s place value, but Mr. Lawson’s third graders bombed it, the teachers meet so that Ms. Garcia can share with Mr. Lawson how she worked with her students on 100s place value. The key to the success of these efforts is that teachers work together to develop the items, discuss the results, and then adjust their pedagogy accordingly when they return to their classrooms (Bambrick 2008).” —Andrade, H., Huff, K., & Brooke, G. (2012). Assessing learning . Boston, MA: Jobs for the Future.

“Perhaps the most surprising aspect of…student-centered assessment is that it is motivating. Many people associate being evaluated with mild to moderate anxiety, not motivation, and research has shown that grades can be associated with decreased motivation and lower achievement (Butler & Nisan 1986; Lipnevich & Smith 2008). However, recent studies have shown that formative assessment—particularly detailed, task-specific comments on student work—can activate interest in a task (Cimpian et al. 2007) and result in better performance (Lipnevich & Smith 2008).” —Andrade, H., Huff, K., & Brooke, G. (2012). Assessing learning . Boston, MA: Jobs for the Future.

“Assessment experts from the Forum for Education and Democracy (Wood, Darling-Hammond, Neill, & Roschewski, 2007) note ongoing formative assessments, including performance assessments, can be ‘responsive to emerging student needs and enable fast and specific teacher response, something that standardized examinations with long lapses between administration and results cannot do.’ Performance assessments can provide meaningful, real time information for students, teachers, parents, and administrators, and can be a spring- board for improving teacher practice. They also note, ‘As teachers use and evaluate [performance assessment] tasks, they become more knowledgeable about the standards and how to teach to them, and about what their students’ learning needs are (Wood, et al. 2007).’” —Brown, C., & Mevs, P. (2012). Quality performance assessment: Harnessing the power of teacher and student learning . Boston, MA: Center for Collaborative Education.

“Student learning is also enhanced during performance assessment as students adjust their strategies and make timely corrections in response to targeted feedback from their instructors. This ‘assessment for learning,’ differs from traditional assessments that function as a separate measurement of learning. Thus, local assessment systems that include performance assessment have the potential to improve both student learning and teacher performance. Further benefits of assessment systems with embedded performance assessment include greater teacher buy-in, increased teacher collaboration, and increased capacity to make mid-course corrections based on formative data (Wood, et al. 2007). When teachers are engaged as designers of performance assessments and skilled assessors of their students’ performance, the impact on curriculum and instruction can be profound.” —Brown, C., & Mevs, P. (2012). Quality performance assessment: Harnessing the power of teacher and student learning . Boston, MA: Center for Collaborative Education.

“The formative assessment concept…emphasizes the dynamic process of using assessment evidence to continually improve student learning; this is in contrast to the concept of summative assessment, which focuses on development and implementation of an instrument to measure what a student has learned up to a particular point in time (Shepard, 2005; Heritage, 2010; National Research Council, 2001). Deeper learning is enhanced when formative assessment is used to: (1) make learning goals clear to students; (2) continuously monitor, provide feedback, and respond to students’ learning progress; and (3) involve students in self- and peer-assessment. These uses of formative assessment are grounded in research showing that practice is essential for deeper learning and skill development but that practice without feedback yields little learning.” —Hilton, M. L., & Pellegrino, J. W. (Eds.). (2012). Education for life and work: Developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21 st century . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

“In contrast to assessments of learning that look backwards over what has been learned, assessments for learning—formative assessments—chart the road forward by diagnosing where students are relative to learning goals and by making it possible to take immediate action to close any gaps (see Sadler, 1989). As defined by Black and Wiliam (1998), formative assessment involves both understanding and immediately responding to students learning status. In other words, it involves both diagnosis and actions to accelerate student progress toward identified goals. Formative assessment is sometimes referred to as ‘dynamic assessment,’ to reflect this active process.… Actions could include: teachers asking questions to probe, diagnose, and respond to student understanding; teachers asking students to explain and elaborate their thinking; teachers providing feedback to help students transform their misconceptions and transition to more sophisticated understanding; and teachers analyzing student work and using results to plan and deliver appropriate next steps, for example, an alternate learning activity for students who evidence particular difficulties or misconceptions.” —Hilton, M. L., & Pellegrino, J. W. (Eds.). (2012). Education for life and work: Developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21 st century . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

“Individuals acquire a skill much more rapidly if they receive feedback about the correctness of what they have done. If incorrect, they need to know the nature of their mistake. It was demonstrated long ago that practice without feedback produces little learning (Thorndike, 1927). One of the persistent dilemmas in education is that students often spend time practicing incorrect skills with little or no feedback. Furthermore, the feedback they ultimately receive is often neither timely nor informative. Unguided practice (e.g., homework in math) can be for the less able student, practice in doing tasks incorrectly.” —Hilton, M. L., & Pellegrino, J. W. (Eds.). (2012). Education for life and work: Developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21 st century . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

“A hallmark of formative assessment is its emphasis on student efficacy, as students are encouraged to be responsible for their learning and the classroom is turned into a learning community (Gardner, 2006; Harlen, 2006). To assume that responsibility, students must clearly understand what learning is expected of them, including its nature and quality. Students receive feedback that helps them to understand and master performance gaps, and they are involved in assessing and responding to their own work and that of their peers (see also Heritage, 2010).” —Hilton, M. L., & Pellegrino, J. W. (Eds.). (2012). Education for life and work: Developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21 st century . Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

“In a follow-up to ‘Inside the Black Box,’ Wiliam, Lee, Harrison, and Black (2004) examined the achievement of secondary students in math and science who were exposed and not exposed to formative assessment. Teachers involved in the study were trained and supported in their use of classroom-based formative assessment. The research team measured the effects of formative assessment on learning outcomes and found a mean effect size of 0.32 when exposed to the intervention. Also in 2004, Ruiz-Primo and Furtak measured the effect of three formative assessment strategies—eliciting, recognizing, and using information—in the science classroom. They found that the quality of teachers’ formative assessment practices was positively linked to the students’ level of learning.” —Greenstein, L. (2010). What teachers really need to know about formative assessment . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

“We do know from research that Robert Marzano conducted for McREL that the school-level variable with the strongest apparent link to student success is ‘opportunity to learn’; that is, the extent to which a school (1) clearly articulates its curriculum, (2) monitors the extent to which teachers cover the curriculum, and (3) aligns its curriculum with assessments used to measure student achievement. Of these three variables, aligning curriculum to assessments appears to have the strongest link with student achievement.” —Goodwin, B. (2010). Changing the odds for student success: What matters most . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL).

“According to research, formative assessment practice has powerful effects on student learning and motivation (see Black & Wiliam, 1998b). Scholars in the area of educational assessment generally agree that when students are evaluated frequently for the purposes of monitoring learning and guiding instruction, they are more likely to be successful learners (Stiggins, 1998). The student who is aware of how he or she learns is better able to set goals, develop a variety of learning strategies, and control and evaluate his or her own learning process. Alternatively, summative assessments, which evaluate student performance at the conclusion of the instructional period, have little to no influence on student learning.” —lark, T., Englert, K., Frazee, D., Shebby, S., & Randel, B. (2009). Assessment: A McREL report prepared for Stupski Foundation’s Learning System . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning. (*Note: This report is based on an analysis of 116 peer-reviewed and reputable articles, 92 of which are summarized in the report.)

“Promising practice in formative assessment for improving student achievement involves the application of diverse evaluation practices to everyday classroom instruction to engage students in their own learning. Effective formative assessment involves real-time questioning and frequent classroom discussion to gain an understanding of what students know (and don’t know) in order to make responsive changes in both teaching and learning (Black & Wiliam, 1998a).” —lark, T., Englert, K., Frazee, D., Shebby, S., & Randel, B. (2009). Assessment: A McREL report prepared for Stupski Foundation’s Learning System . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

“Feedback is an essential component of the formative assessment process and is widely recognized in the literature as a critical support mechanism for student learning (Callingham, 2008; Cauley, Pannozzo, Abrams, McMillan, & Camou-Linkroum, 2006; Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement, 2006; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Shepard, 2000; Stiggins, 2004). According to past research, effective feedback is specific, immediate, and focused on students’ thought processes, and goes beyond merely directing the student to the “correct” answer.” —lark, T., Englert, K., Frazee, D., Shebby, S., & Randel, B. (2009). Assessment: A McREL report prepared for Stupski Foundation’s Learning System . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

“Formative assessments are more effective when they are aligned with learning objectives that (1) provide a trajectory of student learning at key points in the curriculum and (2) guide feedback to students about their performance (Ayala et al., 2008; Stiggins & Chappius, 2008; Valencia, 2008; Wiley, 2008). Furthermore, these learning objectives should be aligned with the unique learning styles, strengths, and developmental needs of individual students (Stiggins, 1998).” —lark, T., Englert, K., Frazee, D., Shebby, S., & Randel, B. (2009). Assessment: A McREL report prepared for Stupski Foundation’s Learning System . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

“According to existing literature, high-quality formative assessment involves tasks that go beyond recall or recognition to include reasoning and justification of responses that teachers may or may not have anticipated prior to the assessment. More specifically, learning is enhanced when students are asked to formulate problems, organize their knowledge and experiences in new ways, test their ideas with other students, and express themselves orally and in writing (Newmann et al., 2001).” —lark, T., Englert, K., Frazee, D., Shebby, S., & Randel, B. (2009). Assessment: A McREL report prepared for Stupski Foundation’s Learning System . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

“Sound formative assessment in the classroom is one of the most potent factors for influencing student achievement (see Black & Wiliam, 1998ab). It guides students’ judgments of what is important to learn, affects their motivation and self-perceptions of competence, structures their approaches to self-study, consolidates their learning, and facilitates the development of enduring learning strategies and skills (Crooks, 1988). Assessment experts generally agree that a balanced assessment system that addresses both state accountability and assessment for learning is necessary to maximize student achievement (Stiggins, 2002; Valencia, 2008). While less frequent evaluations for summative purposes should focus on describing what students can and cannot do, ongoing evaluation activity in the classroom should be directed toward providing students with feedback to facilitate their learning (Crooks, 1988).” —lark, T., Englert, K., Frazee, D., Shebby, S., & Randel, B. (2009). Assessment: A McREL report prepared for Stupski Foundation’s Learning System . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

“In 1998, Black and Wiliam published a seminal work on formative assessment titled Assessment and Classroom Learning . The manuscript was based on an extensive research review of 250 journal articles and reports to determine if classroom-based formative assessment increases academic achievement (Black & Wiliam, 1998a). The results showed that well-designed formative assessment is associated with major gains in student achievement on a wide variety of conventional achievement measures (standardized, accountability tests), across all ages and all subject disciplines. Effect sizes ranged from moderate to high, with formative assessment having the greatest impact on low- achieving students (Black & Wiliam, 1998b).” —lark, T., Englert, K., Frazee, D., Shebby, S., & Randel, B. (2009). Assessment: A McREL report prepared for Stupski Foundation’s Learning System . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

“Several others have discussed the relationship between formative assessment and student learning (e.g., Boston, 2002; Chappuis & Stiggins, 2002; Crooks, 1988; Stiggins, 1998). In general, there is wide agreement among assessment experts that when teachers use formative assessment as part of their everyday classroom instruction, students are more likely to attain higher levels of achievement. When students are assessed frequently during the learning process, it allows teachers to adjust their instruction to address learning deficiencies and misconceptions before it is too late. Successful formative assessment informs students about their own learning and guides their decision-making so they can become more successful learners in the future (Stiggins, 1998). Students who are aware of how they learn are better able to set goals, develop a variety of learning strategies, and both control and evaluate their individual learning processes.” —lark, T., Englert, K., Frazee, D., Shebby, S., & Randel, B. (2009). Assessment: A McREL report prepared for Stupski Foundation’s Learning System . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

“Cauley et al. (2006) performed a large-scale literature review to identify specific classroom strategies for capitalizing on the relationship between formative assessment and student motivation. In general, research indicates that in order to foster feelings of self-efficacy and improve student motivation, assessments must grant students regular opportunities to improve on their work, with errors and mistakes considered a natural part of learning. Furthermore, teacher feedback on student performance should focus on the student’s effort and ability and should value the process or strategy toward producing an answer as opposed to the correctness of the answer itself. Lastly, students should be encouraged to use self-assessment strategies that will put them at the center of their own learning experience. In sum, both research and theory support a strong relationship between classroom-based formative assessment and student achievement. When students are involved in the assessment of their own learning, they become more motivated to learn, and when students want to learn, they learn better. The sound practice of formative assessment helps students understand their own strengths and weaknesses, provides them with a sense of control over their learning, and motivates them to obtain greater levels of achievement in the future.” —lark, T., Englert, K., Frazee, D., Shebby, S., & Randel, B. (2009). Assessment: A McREL report prepared for Stupski Foundation’s Learning System . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

“There is an extensive body of literature on the nature and extent of feedback as related to its impact on student learning (e.g., Brookhart, 2008; Crooks, 1988; Kulhavy, 1977; Mory, 2004; Shute, 2008). Research suggests that positive learning outcomes are more likely when feedback focuses on features of the task, such as how the student can improve his or her performance in relation to standards and learning goals (Kluger & DeNisi, 1998; Hattie & Timperley, 2007). This task-oriented emphasis is advantageous over nonspecific evaluation (e.g., praise or criticism) or normative comparisons (Tunstall & Gipps,1996; for meta-analysis, see Bangert-Drowns et al., 1991). Specifically, it helps students become aware of misconceptions or gaps between desired goals and current knowledge, understanding, and skills, and then helps guide students through the process of obtaining those goals (Brookhart, 2008; Sadler, 1989). Research also suggests that effective feedback includes specific comments about errors and areas of improvement (Brookhart, 2008); however, too specific feedback compromises student exploration of his or her own learning (Goodman, Wood, & Hendrickx, 2004). Furthermore, immediate feedback is more effective than delayed feedback, and presearch availability (i.e., knowledge of correct responses prior to performing the learning activity) is counterproductive (Epstein et al., 2002; Kulhavey, 1977; Kulick & Kulick, 1988). —lark, T., Englert, K., Frazee, D., Shebby, S., & Randel, B. (2009). Assessment: A McREL report prepared for Stupski Foundation’s Learning System . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

“A critical aspect of high-quality formative assessment is that it is well aligned with classroom-based learning objectives as well as the individual needs, performance levels, strengths, and weaknesses of the students in the class. Research indicates that formative assessments should be aligned with learning objectives that provide a trajectory of student learning, and ideally, teachers and students should work together to develop learning objectives (Ayala et al., 2008; Stiggins & Chappius, 2008; Valencia, 2008; Wiley, 2008).” —lark, T., Englert, K., Frazee, D., Shebby, S., & Randel, B. (2009). Assessment: A McREL report prepared for Stupski Foundation’s Learning System . Denver, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

“Recently, researchers have tried to tease out what makes some feedback effective, some ineffective, and some downright harmful (Butler & Winne, 1995; Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Kluger & DeNisi, 1996). Other researchers have described the characteristics of effective feedback (Johnston, 2004; Tunstall & Gipps, 1996). From parsing this research and reflecting on my own experience as an educational consultant working with elementary and secondary teachers on assessment issues, particularly the difference between formative assessment and grading, I have identified what makes for powerful feedback—in terms of how teachers deliver it and the content it contains. Good feedback contains information a student can use. That means, first, that the student has to be able to hear and understand it. A student can’t hear something that’s beyond his comprehension, nor can a student hear something if she’s not listening or if she feels like it’s useless to listen. The most useful feedback focuses on the qualities of student work or the processes or strategies used to do the work. Feedback that draws students’ attention to their self-regulation strategies or their abilities as learners is potent if students hear it in a way that makes them realize they will get results by expending effort and attention.” —Brookhart, S. (2008, January). Feedback that fits. Educational Leadership , 65(4), p. 54–59

“[A]s a result of reviewing almost 8,000 studies, researcher John Hattie (1992) made the following comment: “The most powerful single modification that enhances achievement is feedback. The simplest prescription for improving education must be ‘dollops of feedback.’” —Marzano, R. J. (2007). Classroom assessment and grading that work . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

“Scholars have conducted many reviews of the research on classroom assessment. Some of the more comprehensive reviews are those by Natriello (1987); Fuchs and Fuchs (1986); Crooks (1988); Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, and Kulik (1991); Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, Kulik, and Morgan (1991); Kluger and DeNisi (1996); and Black and Wiliam (1998). The reviews lead to many conclusions that provide insights into effective classroom assessment; however, four generalizations are particularly germane… (1) Feedback from classroom assessments should give students a clear picture of their progress on learning goals and how they might improve; (2) feedback on classroom assessments should encourage students to improve; (3) classroom assessment should be formative in nature; and (4) formative classroom assessments should be frequent.” —Marzano, R. J. (2007). Classroom assessment and grading that work . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

“Formative assessment is another line of research related to the research on feedback. Teachers administer formative assessments while students are learning new information or new skills. In contrast, teachers administer summative assessments at the end of learning experiences, for example, at the end of the semester or the school year. Major reviews of research on the effects of formative assessment indicate that it might be one of the more powerful weapons in a teacher’s arsenal. To illustrate, as a result of a synthesis of more than 250 studies, Black and Wiliam (1998) describe the impact of effective formative assessment in the following way: The research reported here shows conclusively that formative assessment does improve learning. The gains in achievement appear to be quite considerable, and as noted earlier, amongst the largest ever reported for educational interventions. As an illustration of just how big these gains are, an effect size of 0.7, if it could be achieved on a nationwide scale, would be equivalent to raising the mathematics attainment score of an ‘average’ country like England, New Zealand, or the United States into the “top five” after the Pacific rim countries of Singapore, Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong .” —Marzano, R. J., & Brown, J. L. (2007). The art and science of teaching: A comprehensive framework for effective instruction . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

“One strong finding from the research on formative assessment is that the frequency of assessments is related to student academic achievement. This is demonstrated in the meta-analysis by Bangert-Drowns, Kulik, and Kulik (1991)…. To interpret [data from the study], assume that we are examining the learning of a particular student who is involved in a 15-week course…. If five assessments are employed, a gain in student achievement of 20 percentile points is expected. If 25 assessments are administered, a gain in student achievement of 28.5 percentile points is expected, and so on. This same phenomenon is reported by Fuchs and Fuchs (1986) in their meta-analysis of 21 controlled studies. They report that providing two assessments per week results in an effect size of 0.85 or a percentile gain of 30 points.” —Marzano, R. J., & Brown, J. L. (2007). The art and science of teaching: A comprehensive framework for effective instruction . Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

“At least 12 previous meta-analyses have included specific information on feedback in classrooms. These meta-analyses included 196 studies and 6,972 effect sizes. The average effect size was 0.79 (twice the average effect). To place this average of 0.79 into perspective, it fell in the top 5 to 10 highest influences on achievement in Hattie’s (1999) synthesis.” —Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007, March). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research , 77 (1), 88–112.

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Formative Assessment Strategies: A teacher's guide

October 29, 2021

How can you move learning forward using formative assessment strategies in your classroom?

Main, P (2021, October 29). Formative Assessment Strategies: A teacher's guide. Retrieved from https://www.structural-learning.com/post/formative-assessment-strategies-a-teachers-guide

What are Formative Assessment Strategies?

Formative assessment is an ongoing process used by teachers and students for teaching and learning ; to improve student understanding of planned disciplinary learning outcomes and help students to become self-directed learners . The main purpose of formative assessment is to monitor the process of learning and to provide ongoing feedback that can help learners to improve their learning and help instructors to improve their instructions . More precisely, formative assessments:

• help learners recognise their weaknesses and strengths and work on areas that need improvement;
• help instructors identify where learners are struggling and dealing with the problems.

Hattie (2009) conducted a meta-analysis of over 800 studies investigating factors that influence student attainment and found feedback to be the most influential factor. This finding has often been wrongly used to justify teachers needing to spend more time marking.  However, this is just one of three forms of feedback that Hattie was referring to.  He also considered the impact of feedback from students to teachers and from one student to another. 

Feedback is evidently an important part of learning.  This article provides an overview of Dylan Wiliam’s secrets to effective feedback (Wiliam, 2016).

Feedback is only successful if students use it to improve their performance and we cannot take it for granted that feedback of any type will achieve this.  Research has shown that it is possible for feedback to be detrimental to learning when compared to students receiving no feedback at all.  To avoid this situation, Wiliam (2016) shares the following advice.

In most cases, unlike summative assessments , formative assessments in schools are low stakes , having low or no point value; however, these ungraded assessments are considered to be highly valuable to help students enhance their performance and to help teachers identify what students understood, and what they didn't. Often, the purpose of feedback is to enable a student to achieve something in the future that they are currently not able to achieve. In this case, feedback should focus on improving the student rather than the piece of work.

Sometimes, the purpose of the feedback may be to inform the teacher about what their class knows and to influence their lesson planning . In this case, notes in the teacher’s planner may be more appropriate than notes on every individual piece of work. The time spent marking work and giving feedback can be much more productive if you consider the purpose of the feedback before you decide the best approach to take.

Examples of Formative Assessment Strategies

Use students’ work to understand where they are starting from and give them feedback that they can use from this starting point. The effectiveness of feedback will be limited by the task that has been set; if it is cleverly designed to illuminate students’ understanding , the feedback that can be given will be more effective and more accessible for the student . Formative assessment strategies help teachers determine if more instruction is needed. Using formative assessments in the classroom prevents both teachers and students from getting any surprises in the form of poor final grades. Some of the most significant formative assessment strategies are:

1. Analysis of Students Work

Students' homework, quizzes and standardised tests can be used as evidence of student learning. When teachers carry out the analysis of student performance they get knowledge about:

A student's current level of skills , attitude and knowledge about the subject matter;

A student's strengths and weaknesses ;

A student's need for special assistance ; and

How to modify their teaching methods and make their teaching more effective in the future.

2. Strategic Questioning Strategies

Strategic questioning methods can be used with the students as daily classroom practice. The main aim of questioning is the academic progress of students. Effective formative assessment practices involve asking learners to answer higher-order questions such as “how” and “why.”

3. Think-Pair-Share

It is one of the simplest formative assessment strategies . As a classroom practice, the teacher asks a question, and students write down their responses. Then students sit in pairs to engage in effective classroom discussions about their answers . The teacher moves around the classroom and gains insight into the student learning process by listening to students' responses. Then, the students share their answers with the whole class.

4. Admit/ Exit Tickets

An Admit / Exit Ticket provides a simple but useful formative assessment type. An Exit Ticket is a small index card or piece of paper, on which they provide an accurate interpretation of the current topic taught in the class, and then they discuss more of the topic. The learners deposit their exit slips when leaving the classroom. Admit Tickets are used as the students enter in the class. They are used to check student learning by answering questions about the homework or what was taught the day before.

5. One-Minute Papers

One-minute papers are mostly carried out before the day ends. They provide an opportunity for students to answer a brief question . Then, these papers are collected and assessed by the teacher to gain insight into the student learning process . One-minute papers provide the formative assessment practices that are found to be more beneficial when done on a regular basis.

Dylan Wiliam's Formative Assessment Strategies

According to a well-known British educationalist and Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment at the University College London, Dylan Wiliam , 'formative assessment' defines all the processes by which learners and teachers use information about the achievement of students to make changes in the students learning that enhance their achievement . Some of the great formative assessment strategies proposed by Dylan Wiliam are:

1. Clarifying, understanding, and sharing learning intentions

Research suggests that the teachers need to:

• Describe learning intentions at the beginning of the lesson.
• Provide success criteria and learning intentions in the simple language.
• Use keywords on posters to explain, describe, discuss and evaluate learning.
• Use writing frames and lesson plans judiciously.
• Use annotated examples of various standards to “flesh out” rubrics for the chapter tests.
• Give opportunities to the students to construct their interim tests .

2. Engineering effective classroom discussions , tasks and activities that elicit evidence of learning

It means that the questioning in the classroom must encourage the process of thinking and provide evidence to inform teaching. Teachers can improve the process of questioning through:

• Attending specialised training for educators and generating questions with their colleagues;
• Thinking low-order vs. high-order , not open vs. closed;
• Giving sufficient wait time to the students.

Teachers need to discourage the I-R-E ( initiation-response-evaluation ) by:

• Regularly using student response techniques through mini whiteboards, ABCD cards, and exit passes.
• applying the 'no hands up' rule (except to ask a question).

Providing feedback that moves learners forward

Dylan Wiliam gave practical advice to educators that their feedbacks are said to be successful only if they improve students’ learning proces s. Then, it depends upon students' capacity to understand and accept the feedbacks and show a willingness to act on them. Successful feedback has a motivational and interpersonal element. Effective feedback suggests actions learners can apply rather than providing a negative retrospective critique.

A common goal of feedback must be to improve the students’ capacity to create high quality work ,  not just to improve their task. This characteristic of formative assessments connects it to self-regulation and metacognition and Rosenshine’s concepts about switching from guided practice to independent practice. Successful learners possess the ability to link their task with the success criteria and create their regular self-improvement feedback narrative.

Provide feedback in the form of a task to ensure that students actively engage with the feedback they have been given. For example, give students just enough information about an error they have made so that they can identify it for themselves (e.g. ‘one of the causes you identified is incorrect’, or ‘there are three incorrect answers’). Students should spend at least as much time responding to feedback as the teacher has spent providing it; making feedback into detective work can ensure students take time to reflect on their original piece of work.

Activating students as learning resources for one another

T his is an important formative assessment strategy p roposed by Wiliam. According to Wiliam's advice for teachers, the frequency , quality and ratio, of student interactions with the knowledge in hand can significantly increase if teachers create strong routines in which students help other students to learn in a serious structured way. It is not easy for the teachers to engage in conversations on the performance of students in each class but students can be engaged in meaningful conversations with one another to support the process of learning .

At this stage of formative assessment activities ‘think pair share‘ becomes very strong. A high volume of peer feedback and peer-to-peer interactivity is found to be very useful if teachers apply a strong process to evaluate students’ responses for quality and accuracy. There are so many ways of ac tivating students as learning resources for one another. Some of these ways are:

• learners checking answers of their partner,
• learners using the structured dialogues for rehearsing explanations and arguments and practising the use of language .
• Students' pairs verify the work of their partner using a factsheet, mark schemas and exemplars as reference.

Activating students as owners of their learning

Owning one's is an important part of metacognition and strong self-regulation . Like any other developmental process, these traits of effective learning can be nurtured in students by creating expectations and good routines . Teachers can play a crucial role in making students understand where they are on the curriculum planning and where they want to be. Teachers can do this by:

• providing students with access to the plan of instruction, syllabus and long-term topic plans before teaching them the details;
• setting milestones to check pupil progress. By doing so, teachers enable students to plan their next steps and make them increasingly independent.
• demonstrating performance exemplars at different levels of success up to a high level so learners can compare their levels and move forward to achieve their learning targets.
• setting clear relational models for building conceptual schema .

If a student understands for himself what he must do to improve himself and knows that he can achieve success by applying effort to his self-determined objectives, then he can gain confidence that brings him even more success . Dedicating time to equip students with the skills of self-assessment is likely to be more productive in the longer term, save teachers’ time, and improve students’ ability to reflect and learn independently .

The skill of self-assessment can be scaffolded: starting with feedback on anonymous work, then peers’ work, and then the student’s own work. The type of feedback required will depend on the subject, the task, and the purpose of the feedback.

Adapting Formative Assessment Strategies for different abilities

Adapting formative assessment strategies for different abilities is essential in creating an inclusive classroom learning environment that caters to the diverse needs of all students.

By considering the varying levels of skills and attainment levels among students, teachers can design assessments that not only evaluate student progress but also encourage effective classroom discussions and foster higher-order thinking skills.

One approach to adapting formative assessment strategies is to incorporate thinking blocks or tiered activities that challenge students at their individual skill levels while still addressing the same learning objectives.

These activities can be designed to gradually increase in complexity, allowing students with varying abilities to actively participate in the learning process.

Establishing a dialogue between teachers and students is another crucial aspect of adapting formative assessment strategies. By engaging in open communication with students, teachers can better understand their individual needs, address any misconceptions, and provide targeted feedback. This can also help alleviate teacher workload by focusing on the areas where students require the most support.

In conclusion, adapting formative assessment strategies for different abilities is vital in creating an inclusive and engaging learning environment.

By carefully designing assessments that cater to varying skill levels, fostering open communication, and providing targeted feedback, teachers can ensure that all students have the opportunity to succeed and develop essential higher-order thinking skills .

Embedding formative assessment tools

Many of the schools that we work with have been utilising the mental modelling technique to find out what pupils know. The block structures allow children to dig deeper into the curriculum and figure out how all the parts fit together. As they build, they articulate their understanding to one another.

This opens up opportunities for responsive teaching . The block structures reflect what the students think which means that we now have access to their mental models. Teaching staff can use these block structures for higher-order questions.

Using big picture questions , educators can use the models as a launchpad for deeper thinking. Unlike standardised tests, the mental models are malleable and change as the students understanding progresses. Embedding these opportunities into curriculum design means that educators always get the inside picture of what a pupil really knows.

Instructors can use these insights to provide detailed, actionable feedback when the learner needs it most. The added benefit of this pedagogy is that it promotes rich classroom dialogue which over time, builds a positive classroom environment.

Further Reading on Formative Assessment

Here are five key research papers focusing on the efficacy of formative assessment in classroom practice. These papers provide insights into the efficacy of formative assessment in enhancing student understanding, feedback mechanisms, and learning outcomes in diverse educational contexts .

1. Review of Formative Assessment Practices: Primary Evidence on Relationship with Self-efficacy and Self-esteem by Li-na Yan, Charanjit Kaur Swaran Singh (2022)

Summary: This paper shows that increasing variation in formative assessment can reduce variation in students' achievement, promoting self-esteem and self-efficacy, highlighting the impact on student understanding and feedback from students.

2. Using reflective practice to incorporate formative assessment in a middle school science classroom: a participatory action research study by Amy E. Trauth-Nare, Gayle A. Buck (2011)

Summary: Incorporating formative assessment through reflective practice in middle school science teaching led to curricular enhancements supporting students' learning needs, emphasizing open-ended questions and detailed feedback.

3. The Impact of Systematic Implementation of Formative Assessment (Fa) on Efl Learners' Affect by Amir Asadifard, A. Afghari (2016)

Summary: This study demonstrates that formative assessment , or assessment for learning, improves students' mastery of subject matter and enhances performance on tests, focusing on formative feedback and verbal feedback.

4. Using Learning and Motivation Theories to Coherently Link Formative Assessment, Grading Practices, and Large‐Scale Assessment by L. Shepard, W. Penuel, J. Pellegrino (2018)

Summary: This paper discusses how formative assessment based on discipline-specific tasks can provide qualitative insights about student experience and thinking, supporting equitable teaching practices and feedback loops.

5. Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary Classrooms by Mehmet Aydeniz (2009)

Summary: The research indicates that formative assessment in classrooms enables teachers to adjust teaching to meet individual student needs, helping all students reach high standards and enhancing the learning journey.

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Enhancing Learning Through Formative Assessment: Evidence-Based Strategies for Implementing Learner Reflection in Higher Education

• First Online: 30 June 2023

Cite this chapter

• Li-Shih Huang 11 ,
• Raj Khatri 12 &
• Amjad Alhemaid 12  

Part of the book series: Knowledge Studies in Higher Education ((KSHE,volume 11))

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Reflection is irrefutably one of the key concepts of education theory, and its importance and benefits have been widely explored and recognized across disciplines. The ability of learners to reflect critically through control over their own learning and construct knowledge and of instructors to modify practices that promote transformative learning (Mezirow, Transformative dimensions of adult learning. Jossey-Bass, 1991) and support self-regulated, autonomous learners have been recognized as essential in higher education. However, a review of the literature from the past few decades shows that the learner-, situation-, and context-dependent nature of reflection remains obscure to most educators in both implementing reflective learning and assessing reflective thinking. The key challenge in using learner reflection for assessment for learning lies in measuring transformative learning, owing to a lack of “explicit and direct attention to the process of evaluating [it]” (Cranton & Hoggan, Handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice. Jossey-Bass, 2012, p. 531). Within the context of two institutions that prioritize integrating experiential learning (Kolb, Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. Prentice-Hall, 1984), where critical analysis and synthesis of observations and reflections derived from concrete learning experiences are central and fundamental, this chapter aims to connect insights from theory, research, and direct experience to practices instructors can use to inform their own teaching by addressing thorny issues pertaining to implementing and assessing reflection. These insights transcend any single task, course, or program in higher education.

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Huang, LS., Khatri, R., Alhemaid, A. (2023). Enhancing Learning Through Formative Assessment: Evidence-Based Strategies for Implementing Learner Reflection in Higher Education. In: Stephen, J.S., Kormpas, G., Coombe, C. (eds) Global Perspectives on Higher Education. Knowledge Studies in Higher Education, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31646-3_5

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What Is a Formative Assessment? Types, Examples & Strategies

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Ever noticed how the most memorable lessons stick with us not because of a final grade, but because of the journey there? 

That’s the magic of formative assessments—they’re not just checkpoints; they’re the secret ingredients that make learning stick. 

This blog post dives into the heart of formative assessments, revealing how they can transform classrooms by turning every lesson into an opportunity for growth and every mistake into a learning moment. 

In this definitive guide, we’ll explore the what, why, and how of formative assessments—from their defining characteristics and purpose to a variety of types and strategies for effective use in the classroom. 

Let’s begin.

What Is a Formative Assessment?

Formative assessment is a strategic approach used by educators to monitor students’ learning progress and adjust teaching methods accordingly. It’s characterized by its real-time application, providing immediate feedback that educators can use to adapt their instruction to meet learners’ current needs. 

Unlike summative assessments that evaluate overall learning at the end of an instructional period, formative assessments are conducted throughout the learning process. 

They can take various forms, including quizzes, interactive discussions, and peer reviews, all aimed at gauging understanding and facilitating continuous improvement.

Watch: How to Create an Online Quiz in Under 5 Mins

What Is the Purpose of Formative Assessment?

The purpose of formative assessment is to enhance the learning process by identifying students’ strengths and areas for growth. This ongoing assessment method allows educators to:

• Modify teaching strategies in real-time to address the immediate needs of their students.
• Support personalized learning, ensuring that instruction is tailored to individual student progress.
• Foster an environment of continuous feedback and growth, encouraging students to engage more deeply with their learning and identify their areas for improvement.

By integrating formative assessment into their teaching, educators can create a dynamic and responsive learning environment that supports student success and promotes a deeper understanding of the material.

Types & Examples of Formative Assessment

Formative assessments come in various formats, each designed to gather feedback on student learning in a way that informs instruction and supports student growth. Here are some common formative assessment tools:

• Quizzes & Mini-Tests: These brief assessments are powerful tools for gauging student knowledge in a focused manner. 

When used regularly, they can highlight trends in student understanding over time, allowing educators to pinpoint specific topics that may require additional instruction or review.

Watch: How to Use Online Quiz Maker for Teachers

• Observations & Check-Ins: This approach involves informal yet purposeful monitoring of students during class activities. 

It offers nuanced insights into how students interact with the material and each other, providing a real-time snapshot of engagement and comprehension levels.

• Interactive Discussions: Encouraging open dialogue about the material not only reinforces students’ understanding but also cultivates critical thinking skills. 

Discussions can unveil diverse interpretations and misconceptions, guiding educators in tailoring subsequent lessons to address these gaps.

• Peer Reviews: Students engage in a reciprocal learning process by evaluating each other’s work. This method not only diversifies feedback but also encourages students to critically engage with the curriculum, deepening their understanding through the lens of their peers’ perspectives.
• Exit Tickets: Simple prompts or questions at the end of a lesson offer immediate feedback on the day’s learning outcomes. Analyzing responses helps educators assess the effectiveness of their teaching and plan necessary adjustments for future classes.
• Learning Journals: Journals that prompt reflection on what was learned and questions that arose during the lesson help students articulate their thoughts and feelings about their learning journey. 

Reviewing these journals gives educators a window into students’ self-perceived progress and areas of difficulty.

Incorporating a mix of these formative assessment types enriches the learning environment and empowers students to take an active role in their education. 

Educators can harness these tools to create a dynamic classroom atmosphere that values growth, encourages engagement, and fosters a deeper connection to the material. 

What Is the Process of a Formative Assessment?

The formative assessment process is a cyclical, interactive approach designed to gauge student understanding, provide feedback, and continuously adapt instruction throughout the learning journey. It’s a dynamic framework that supports teaching and enhances learning. 

Here’s a breakdown of the key steps involved:

Step 1: Identify Learning Objectives 

The first step involves clearly defining what students should learn. These objectives guide the creation of assessment tasks and ensure that the assessment is aligned with instructional goals.

Step 2: Select Appropriate Assessment Methods 

Choose from various assessment methods (e.g., quizzes, discussions, projects) that best suit the learning objectives and the learner’s needs. This diversity allows for a more comprehensive understanding of student learning.

Step 3: Implement the Assessment 

Carry out the chosen formative assessment during the instructional process. This could be through live quizzes, interactive discussions, peer reviews, or individual reflections. The key is to integrate these assessments seamlessly into the learning activities.

Step 4: Analyze Learner Responses 

Review the information gathered from the assessment to identify patterns, strengths, and areas for improvement. This analysis provides insights into each student’s understanding and progress.

Step 5: Provide Feedback 

Offer timely and constructive feedback to students based on their performance. Effective feedback is specific, actionable, and focused on growth, helping students understand what they did well and where they can improve.

Step 6: Adjust Instruction 

Based on the feedback and analysis, adapt your teaching strategies to address the identified learning gaps or challenges. This might involve revisiting specific topics, introducing new resources, or modifying learning activities to suit students’ needs better.

Step 7: Reflect on the Process 

Finally, reflect on the effectiveness of the formative assessment process itself. Consider what worked well and what could be improved in future iterations. This reflection helps refine the assessment process, making it more effective over time.

Throughout this process, the emphasis is on fostering an environment of continuous learning and improvement. By actively engaging in each step, educators can create a responsive classroom atmosphere that supports every student’s growth and achievement.

Strategies for Effective Formative Assessments

To maximize the benefits of formative assessments, educators need to apply strategies that make the feedback loop as effective and seamless as possible. Here’s how to ensure formative assessments contribute positively to both teaching and learning:

• Embed Assessments in Everyday Learning 

Make formative assessments a natural extension of classroom activities. After a science experiment, for instance, ask students to predict the outcome based on the theory they’ve learned. This not only assesses their understanding but also encourages critical thinking.

• Embrace Technology for Interactive Learning 

Modern tools have revolutionized the way we assess and engage with students. ProProfs Quiz Maker, for example, offers an intuitive platform for creating quizzes that are both fun and educational. 

You can create educational quizzes that provide instant feedback, helping students identify areas of strength and those needing improvement, all within an interactive format that captures their interest.

• Foster a Culture of Peer Feedback

Implement structured peer review sessions where students can offer constructive feedback on each other’s presentations or essays. This strategy not only diversifies the sources of feedback but also helps students develop a critical eye for their work and that of their peers.

• Encourage Reflective Practices 

Guide students in reflecting on their learning experiences and outcomes. A reflective journal entry after completing a group project can provide insights into what they learned, the challenges they faced, and how they overcame them, fostering a deeper understanding of the learning process.

• Connect Learning to Real-world Applications 

Design assessments that require students to apply classroom knowledge to solve real-world problems. For instance, in a geography class, students could analyze the impact of climate change on their local community, encouraging them to connect theory with practical, observable phenomena.

• Leverage Exit Tickets for Immediate Insights 

At the end of a lesson, a simple question related to the day’s topic can serve as an exit ticket. This strategy offers quick insights into students’ understanding and retention, informing future instructional decisions.

Implementing these strategies can make formative assessments a powerful tool for enhancing student learning, providing educators with the flexibility to meet each student’s needs while fostering a supportive and inclusive classroom environment.

What Are the Benefits of a Formative Assessment?

Formative assessments offer a wealth of benefits that significantly contribute to both teaching efficacy and student learning outcomes. 

By integrating formative assessments into the educational process, educators and students can experience a more engaged, reflective, and practical learning journey. Here are some of the key benefits:

• Enhanced Learning and Understanding 

Formative assessments help students consolidate their learning by actively engaging with the material. This continuous engagement promotes deeper understanding and retention of the content.

Watch: How Luc Viatour Transformed Education for 1500+ Daily Learners

• Immediate Feedback for Quick Adjustments

The real-time feedback provided through formative assessments allows students to identify their strengths and areas for improvement promptly. This immediacy enables quick corrective actions, fostering a more dynamic and responsive learning environment.

• Personalized Learning Experiences 

Formative assessments identify individual learning needs, enabling educators to tailor their teaching strategies and resources. This personalization ensures that all students receive the support and challenge they need to progress.

• Increased Student Motivation and Engagement 

Active involvement in the learning process increases students’ motivation and engagement. Formative assessments encourage students to take ownership of their learning, leading to higher levels of participation and interest.

• Development of Critical Thinking and Skills 

Through activities like peer reviews and self-assessments, students develop essential skills, including critical thinking, self-reflection, and the ability to receive and apply feedback constructively.

• Support for a Growth Mindset 

Formative assessments emphasize growth and improvement over grades, helping to cultivate a growth mindset among students. This perspective encourages learners to view challenges as opportunities to learn and grow rather than as failures.

• Improved Teacher-Student Relationships 

The continuous interaction and feedback loop foster closer relationships between teachers and students. This rapport builds a supportive classroom atmosphere where students feel valued and understood.

• Data-Driven Instructional Decisions 

Insights from formative assessments give educators a clear view of student understanding, enabling precise, data-driven adjustments to teaching. This targeted approach ensures lessons meet students’ exact needs, optimizing learning outcomes.

• Reduction of Test Anxiety 

Integrating formative assessments throughout the learning journey shifts the focus from high-stakes evaluation to ongoing improvement, significantly easing test-related stress. This frequent, low-pressure feedback mechanism familiarizes students with the assessment process, building their confidence and diminishing anxiety over time.

• Preparation for Summative Assessments 

Regular formative assessments prepare students for summative assessments by ensuring they understand the material and can apply their knowledge effectively. This preparation can lead to better performance on final exams and standardized tests.

Watch: How DMS Boosted Student Scores

How to Create a Formative Assessment Quiz

If you’re using an intuitive quiz tool, such as ProProfs Quiz Maker, the process for creating a quiz is quite straightforward. Here’s how to create a formative assessment quiz in five quick and easy steps:

Step 1: Click “Create a Quiz” on your dashboard. 

Step 2: Pick a ready-to-use quiz, create a quiz with AI , or build it from scratch.

Step 3: Add/edit the quiz title, description & cover image.

Step 4: Add/edit questions. 

Employ a variety of question formats to explore diverse knowledge and skill areas, guaranteeing a thorough examination of the topic at hand. 

ProProfs provides an array of question styles, including multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, drag & drop, hotspot, and audio/video responses, facilitating a detailed assessment of learners’ comprehension.

Watch: 15+ Question Types for Online Learning & Assessment

You can add new questions by:

• importing them from 1,000,000+ ready-to-use questions  
• using ProProfs AI to generate questions instantly 
• creating them by yourself

You can add images, videos, audio clips, and docs to your quiz. 

You can also automate the grading of your quizzes to save time and effort, which you can invest in providing individualized support to your learners.   

Watch: How to Automate Quiz Scoring & Grading

You also have the option to offer explanations for answers immediately after a question is answered in the quiz. This instant feedback not only supports the learning process but also enables students to recognize areas requiring improvement.

Step 5: Configure settings.

You can implement several security and anti-cheating measures , including:

• Setting your quiz to be private and secured with a password
• Randomizing the sequence of questions and/or answer choices
• Developing a question pool and drawing a random selection of questions for each participant
• Overseeing the quiz through screen sharing, webcam, and microphone monitoring
• Preventing tab switching, printing, copying, downloading, and repeated attempts

Watch: How to Customize & Configure Your Quiz Settings

You can also change the quiz’s appearance by adjusting the background, colors, fonts, and button text. Plus, you can set the quiz to appear in the participant’s native language.

That’s it. Your formative assessment quiz is ready.

Analyzing the Results

After administering a formative assessment, ProProfs Quiz Maker delivers in-depth analytics that paints a complete picture of every student’s learning progress and overall class performance. This data is essential for modifying instructional strategies to better align with students’ learning needs. 

Apply this insightful feedback to adjust your teaching plans, focusing on clarifying common misconceptions and bolstering areas where students show weaknesses.

Enhance Classroom Dynamics With Formative Assessments

In conclusion, formative assessments are the core of an adaptive and responsive teaching strategy. They offer a clear window into student progress and areas for growth. This approach aligns instruction closely with student needs, significantly enhancing learning outcomes. 

By incorporating tools like ProProfs Quiz Maker, educators can design engaging and insightful assessments that contribute to a tailored learning experience. 

Start elevating your teaching approach by trying out ProProfs Quiz Maker through a free trial or requesting a demonstration today.

Frequently Asked Questions  

What are formative and summative assessments?

Formative assessments are tools teachers use during the learning process to see how students are doing and to adjust their teaching methods. Summative assessments happen at the end of a learning period, like a final exam, to measure what students have learned overall.

Are quizzes summative or formative?

Quizzes can act as both formative and summative assessments. As formative assessments, quizzes are used throughout the learning process to guide both teaching and learning. As summative assessments, quizzes evaluate students’ final understanding at the end of a unit or semester.

Is a worksheet a formative assessment?

Worksheets can serve as formative assessments when used to monitor students’ understanding and inform future teaching strategies. They become practical tools for ongoing learning and adaptation in the classroom, emphasizing feedback over final grades.

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About the author

Michael laithangbam.

Michael Laithangbam is the senior writer & editor at ProProfs with 12 years of experience in enterprise software and eLearning. Michael's expertise encompasses online training, web-based learning, quizzes & assessments, LMS, and more. Michael’s work has been published in G2, Software Advice, Capterra, and eLearning Industry.

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