Summative assessment aims to sum up a pupil's achievement and progress. An example might be writing a report for parents or providing certificates at the end of schooling. Summative assessment will usually occur at the end of a piece of writing or at the end of a unit of work, offering a verdict on overall progress and summarising achievement.
Formative assessment aims to gather evidence to decide what a pupil needs to do next, for example, to guide learning or to inform future teaching. Formative assessment offers feedback which can be used both by teachers and pupils to modify the quality of teaching or content of learning.
Diagnostic assessment aims to identify and explain what a pupil is able and not able to do (e.g. to reveal learning difficulties or to build on strengths).
Here is my order of importance, 1 is most important, 11 is least:
- To acknowledge pupils' efforts –2 (Summative)
- To motivate pupils -1 (Formative)
- To monitor progress – 3 (Formative)
- To identify pupils with special educational needs – 10 (Diagnostic)
- To establish evidence of achievement – 5 (Summative)
- To detect pupil under-achievement – 9 (Diagnostic)
- To report to parents – 6 (Formative)
- To support the grouping of pupils – 7 (Formative)
- To measure achievement at the end of a course – 8 (Summative)
- To compare pupils – 11 (Diagnostic)
- To inform planning – 4 (Formative)
I use summative assessment by:
- Writing an end of semester report
- End of unit tests
- Exams
I use formative assessment by:
- continuous marking of classwork and homework
- Observation of students
- mini quizzes
I use Diagnostic assessment by:
- Leader boards of pupils grades
- Exams
- Observation
The ways in which I might want to change the balance between these three assessment approaches is to integrate them together. I would like to use more formative assessment as it is useful for the teacher and students and can increase motivation.
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