ABSTRACT
Formative assessment provides teachers and learners with data on learning so that future learning experiences can be matched to learners’ needs. In this way, teachers are able to feedback information from assessments into the teaching process and take decisions about the next step needed to support personalised learning (Gipps, 1994). In 1998, Black and Wiliam published a review of classroom assessment in which they skillfully explained the nature and purpose of formative assessment. The formative emphasis is on using assessment to support learning and improvement rather than simply seeing assessment as a means of measurement and comparison. The Black and Wiliam review demonstrated strong evidence that formative assessment can achieve significant learning gains, while, at the same time, highlighting three main difficulties in implementing formative practice in schools. First, it is not well understood by teachers and is weak in practice. Next, the context of national or local requirements for certification and accountability exerts a powerful influence on classroom practices and finally, its implementation calls for deep changes both in teachers’ perceptions of their own role in relation to their students and in their classroom practices (Black & Wiliam, 1998, p. 20).
