Summative assessments are often referred to as "assessments of learning," while formative assessments are called "assessments for learning."
The system includes pretests, progress tests,
summative tests and practice tests that simulate the state standards certification tests.
A good assessment not only provides aggregate data for
summative purposes, but also ensures students get exactly the instruction they need when they need it.
At odds with the
summative form of evaluation is the current pedagogical constructivist theory which "emphasizes problem solving, critical-thinking skills, engagement, and cooperation" and advocates the process of learning as more important than any of the products we create (Wolcott and Legg 9, italics in original).
Teachers, parents, and researchers express concerns that standardized assessments, whether formative or
summative, can encourage students to adopt performance orientations because they frequently stress normative evaluation and are connected with significant long-term consequences.
Examples of the 15 fixes include organizing performance evidence by standard, reporting absences or work submitted late separately from the grade, and using only
summative evidence to determine grades.
Formative and
summative data from program participants, program graduates, area school personnel, and program faculty and administration drive the model and program revision processes.
ERIC Descriptors: Descriptive Writing; Content Analysis;
Summative Evaluation; Mathematics; Language Arts; Elementary Secondary Education; Eligibility; Selection Criteria; Core Curriculum; State Standards; Alignment (Education); Evidence; High Schools
It's not difficult to understand, given how fundamentally unhelpful most
summative tests are when it comes to informing instruction and measuring growth.
Knut had also proposed a four-pronged approach of implementation of the new curriculum and which could have seen piloting continue in 2020 and 2021 while formative, internal
summative and external
summative evaluation reports be concluded by 2023 to allow for national implementation of the revised curriculum in 2024.
