Authors: Faculty of Education., The Open Resource Bank for Interactive Teaching, and University of Cambridge
Assessment for learning (AfL)
Assessment for learning has been defined as the process of interpreting evidence to decide where learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there. When assessment for learning is well established in a classroom, students are actively involved in their learning; able to judge the success of their work and to take responsibility for their own progress
The notion of ‘assessment’ is often bound up with ideas regarding examinations, accreditation, perhaps even accountability. However, for some time there has been a growing discussion regarding ‘Assessment for Learning’ (AfL), or formative assessment. This form of assessment stands in contrast to summative assessment, which is understood to be the form of assessment most often conducted at the end of the unit, which is supposed to represent the understanding of that unit’s content at that point in time. Assessment for Learning, in contrast, is targeted at assessing understanding throughout teaching, helping students to understand what stage they are at, and how they might improve. AfL thus involves assessment to provide feedback for improving learning.
Rick Wormeli, author of Fair Isn’t Always Equal and Differentiation, explains the difference between the two and how formative assessment helps you offer better feedback to your students.
Click here to watch video (4:48 minutes) Rick Wormeli: Formative and Summative Assessement
Rick Wormeli, author of Fair Isn’t Always Equal and Differentiation, explains the difference between the two and how formative assessment helps you offer better feedback to your students.
Stenhouse Publishers. (2010, Nov. 30). Rick Wormelli:Formative and Summative Assessment. [Video File].
Assessment for learning has been defined as:
The process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by learners and their teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there.
Quoted from Assessment for Learning: 10 Principles by the Assessment Reform Group, 2002, available from aaia.org.uk.
Click here to watch a video from Engage NY (2:36 minutes) The Teacher provides feedback during and after instruction
- The teacher’s feedback to students is timely and based on high quality questions. The feedback helps guide students to a deeper understanding of the material and allows them to use that understanding to develop alternate solutions.
[EngageNY]. (2016, Jan. 11). Teacher provides feedback during and after instruction – Example 5. [Video File]
