ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the variety of definitions and instantiations of what is called formative assessment, and identifies the deficiencies in those conceptualizations. Formative assessment provides information that teachers can use to focus or redirect instruction; it also provides information that students can use to assess their own and each other’s learning. An important distinction between summative and formative assessment lies in their potential uses: Summative assessment data can be used formatively, but formative assessment information should, in general, be used only formatively. Although the distinctions between summative and formative assessment just presented may be clear in concept, there is at present a serious—and, consequential—lack of clarity about the definition of formative assessment. The research on formative assessment can be conceptualized as falling into two broad categories: research on individual elements of commonly cited components of formative assessment, and research on combinations of elements that interact to yield more comprehensive and potentially more effective treatments.
