Formative vs Summative Assessments

     When it comes to assessments, we automatically think of tests. But in reality, there are two types of assessments, both with their own purposes. The first one is formative assessment, which includes discussion, worksheet, etc. The purpose of this type of assessment is to provide enough information to the teacher to adjust their teaching or reteach part of the curriculum/ content area. These assessments are taken constantly to measure what the students have learn. 

     As for summative assessments, they are given periodically, normally after a chapter have been taught or annually. The purpose of this type of assessment is "to gauge student learning relative to content standards." This mean that they are measuring what the students have learn through the course of the year and their level of skills mastery.

In a way, these assessments judge the curriculum, to see what works and what does not. 

      On the other hand, we have to keep in mind that the world is changing. This means that in order for our future generation to do well, our standards will need to change. Technology are improving, so our kids are no longer competing amongst themselves, they are competing against others from across the country, continent, hemisphere, and the world! Thus, it is important that we do not teach to the test, and that we are teaching to the actually curriculum. 

     

      I know that each state have their own standards, so the one for PA is called SAS (Standards Aligned System) found on www.pdesas.org. Under the section 'Clear Standards,' there is a sub-section called "common core." The common core is the standard used across the country, so we can easily compare some of the differences between PA standards and the one used for the whole country.

     There are also different types of assessments that we can use to analyze what our students understand. One of them is the predictive test, which mirrors the PSSA. This test can give the teacher a chance to figure out where are the students strengths and weaknesses. Aside from that, there are some tests that are created by the SAS (found under standard -> Eligible Content) that shows us which students are struggling, which are above average, and which ones score very high. There is also something called "Item Analysis" which allows the teacher to check/break down item-by-item (test questions). This mean that educators can analyze the questions to find patterns: if the question was confusing, or whether the students need more help, etc.  Not only that, this can help foster BEST PRACTICES (team work) by allowing all the educators to come together to figure out what practice is working for the students; especially since it is working for a certain group of students pertaining to a certain teacher or whatnot.