Note six: formative assessment

​Used alongside a set of clearly defined and challenging learning intentions, formative assessment is continuous feedback that allows a teacher to evaluate impact and a student to move their learning forward.

Formative assessment provides the answers to the questions:

• Is learning on track?
  

• What needs to change?

• Where does learning go next?

It can be immediate (a specific question, thumbs up-thumbs down) or planned (a quiz, a student moderation). It is timely (built into every lesson of every unit), and iterative (closes the circle of planning).

This professional practice note provides guidance for teachers and school leaders on formative assessment: what it is and how to build it into regular classroom practice.