ABSTRACT
Formative assessments provide real-time feedback to students and teachers about what has been learned, how to measure that learning against set learning targets or intentions, and then how to adjust to better meet the learning goal. Good formative assessment practices will result in high student self-efficacy and student achievement. Formative assessments allow teachers to understand student learning strengths and area for improvement, use internal and external motivating factors to help encourage student learning and engagement, and provide feedback both to the teachers as well as—and even more importantly in many instances—to students. Effective formative assessments strategies are grounded in the use of providing "forward feedback" to students. The formative data–based decision making cycle can be used at the classroom level, as well as at the school level. At the classroom level, the Refine step involves the teacher recognizing where students are in terms of their own learning and the identified learning intentions.
