Marie,

I hope any teachers or programs using EFF might share what they are 
doing.  The EFF teaching/learning cycle embeds assessment (both formative 
and summative) within the teaching process.
Aaron

At 08:38 AM 5/11/2006 -0400, you wrote:


>Hi everyone,

>

>

>

>Thanks for your post David subscribers:  I m surprised that no one has 

>responded to David s post!  Isn t one of our biggest conundrums/topics of 

>discussion the formative assessment versus summative assessment situation 

>(although we may not call it this)?  In the on-line assessment course that 

>I facilitate, participants talked about this fairly in-depth, and pointed 

>out that formative assessment is what happens all the time in teachers 

>classrooms where the real substance of teaching and learning are 

>gauged.  This has been touched on here before as well if you go to the 

>Assessment Archives at:

>

><http://www.nifl.gov/cgi-bin/texis/webinator/search_discussions?cq=2>http://www.nifl.gov/cgi-bin/texis/webinator/search_discussions?cq=2 

>

>

>and type formative assessment in the search box you get 21 entries.

>

>

>

>But David is looking for studies and further info there are nearly 500 

>subscribers here so I m pretty sure someone has some resources to 

>share.  And if not, you have your experiences to share.  David said:

>

>I am interested in the details of how this is done, in examples of where 

>it is done especially well, and where it is systematically used.

>

>

>

>Perhaps this is a good place to start.  Please let s hear from you,

>

>Thanks!

>

>marie cora

>

>Assessment Discussion List Moderator

>

>

>

>

>

>-----Original Message-----

>From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov] On 

>Behalf Of djrosen at comcast.net

>Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 4:43 AM

>To: assessment at nifl.gov

>Subject: [Assessment 328] Formative Assessment

>

>

>

>Assessment colleagues,

>

>

>

>The term ¨formative assessment" may not be familiar to many of us working 

>in adult literacy education in the United States. It is more widely used 

>in Europe, and possibly in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and more 

>common in elementary and secondary education. I am quite interested in 

>this topic and would be interested to learn about examples in adult 

>literacy education in the U.S., especially of systematic formative assessment.

>

>

>

>So, what is formative assessment?

>

>

>

>It's the opposite of summative assessment. Its focus is assessment _for_ 

>learning; whereas summative assessment's focus is assessment _of_ 

>learning. Formative assessments give teachers and learners information 

>about learners' goals and objectives, about how they are progressing 

>toward them, about what methods do -- and do not -- work for them. 

>Formative assessments are carried out by a learner on her/his own 

>(self-assessment) , by a group of learners (peer assessment) by a teacher 

>and learner together, and possibly by a learner and a counselor or intake 

>worker.  Formative assessments are not usually standardized tests. They do 

>not usually result in a grade, official score or certificate. They provide 

>information for decision-making by learners and teachers, often together, 

>about the learning itself. Some people in the U.S. use the term " 

>alternative assessment," or are familiar with one formative assessment 

>process referred to as "portfolio assessment."  S ome te achers, when they 

>understand what "formative assessment" means say "Yes, of course, I do 

>this all the time. It's part of the learning process. I just don't have a 

>name for it."

>

>

>

>I am interested in the details of how this is done, in examples of where 

>it is done especially well, and where it is systematically used.  I am 

>especially interested because I am doing a case study right now on how 

>formative assessment is being used in Belgium, part of a larger OECD study 

>being carried out in several countries where formative assessment is used 

>in adult literacy education. I am also interested because there is 

>evidence from elementary and secondary education research that formative 

>assessment works, that is, that its use results in higher student achievement.

>

>

>

>If you use a formative assessment process in your classroom, or if you 

>have studied formative assessment and/or if you know of good studies of 

>formative assessment, please let us all know -- here -- or email me a 

><mailto:djrosen at comcast.net>djrosen at comcast.net.

>

>

>

>David J. Rosen

>

>newsomeassociates.com

>

><mailto:djrosen at comcast.net>djrosen at comcast.net

>

>

>

>

>-------------------------------

>National Institute for Literacy

>Assessment mailing list

>Assessment at nifl.gov

>To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to 

>http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/assessment


Aaron Kohring
Coordinator, LINCS Literacy & Learning Disabilities Special Collection 
(http://ldlink.coe.utk.edu/)
Moderator, National Institute for Literacy's Content Standards Discussion 
List (http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/Contentstandards)
Coordinator, Equipped for the Future Websites (http://eff.cls.utk.edu/)

Center for Literacy Studies, University of Tennessee
EFF Center for Training and Technical Assistance
Phone:(865) 974-4109 main
           (865) 974-4258 direct
Fax:   (865) 974-3857
e-mail: akohring at utk.edu