Literature Review:
Formative Assessment
Last update: 28 March 2006
Research
Notes to users:



: With link to the PDF file
: With link to the html text
Short cut to the article:
1) Point to the title of the article in the reference list.
2) Press [ctrl] and [left click of the mouse] at the same time
 (Printed): With hard copy in the 6051 Filing cabinet.
Research: The Australian Experience
Izard, J., & Jeffery, P. (2003). Testing for teaching: A longitudinal formative
assessment project. Paper presented at the joint NZARE-AARE Conference
in Auckland, November-December.
(Printed)
This paper is a progress report on an on-going longitudinal, public-private
project. The project involves establishing a climate for change to a model of
formative assessment practices in the school, assisting teachers to select
appropriate instruments, publishing those instruments, collecting and publishing
item response model [IRM] data for the instruments, applying them annually
and facilitating follow-up teaching using the results.
The followings summarize the major findings of the paper:



In spite of the additional workload implied by addressing each child’s need,
staffing and timetabling, teachers generally give positive feedback to the
project.
The paper shows the benefit of public private project, under which schools
benefit from the expertise and capital of private ventures; and the private
ventures, on the other hand gain new business opportunities.
Parents generally welcome the project as the feedbacks from the teachers
enable them to understand the learning progress of their children better.
1
Rolfe, I., & McPherson, J. (1995). Formative assessments: How am I doing?
Lancet, 345 (8953),837-839.
(Printed)
This paper describes the purpose, benefits, and practicalities of formative
assessment; whilst the discussion is derived from the authors’ experience at the
Newcastle University Medical School, Australia, the principles are by no means
confined to problem-based curricula.
Research findings:

The authors state that the research was at the very beginning stage and yet
no significant impact is observed, however, the majority students (98%)
participated in the tests declared that the marked formative assessment
paper is extremely worthwhile and said that these assessments identified
their areas of weakness and helped to direct their study.
Research: The Hong Kong Experience
Carless, D. (2005). Prospects for the implementation of assessment for learning.
Assessment in Education, 12(1), 39-54.
(Printed)
This paper studies from the Hong Kong curriculum reform to analyze the
prospects for assessment for learning in (AfL) the Hong Kong context. The
paper draws the problematic attempt to introduce formative assessment through
the Target-Oriented Curriculum (TOC) initiative. Experiences of two pilot
scheme of assessment for learning practice are used to illustrate the potential
and challenges of implementation of AfL in the Hong Kong primary school
context. The paper concludes from the cases the negative factors hindering the
implementation of assessment for learning practice such as: teachers’ negative
experience under TOC, the dominance of competitive examination system, lack
of deep understanding of assessment issues by schools, lack of time, will and
capacity to implement the new measures related to AfL.
2
Research: The UK Experience
Askham, P. (1997). An instrumental response to the instrumental student:
assessment for learning. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 23(4), 299-317.
(Printed)
The author discusses the relationships between assessment, learning feedbacks
and the learning approaches of students. The author also reviews a new portfolio
assessment strategy constructed upon the theory previously discussed in the
article. The author makes the following conclusions:



The new (formative) approach helps to identify difficulties encountered by
students in the process of learning;
Also it has positive influences on willingness and depth of learning of
students.
However, students’ abuse of the new system, the additional administration
resulted from the new system etc. are the problems that need to be
concerned.
Black, P., and Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment
in Education, 5 (1), 68-74
(Printed)
This article conducts a literature review on classroom formative assessment.
Several studies show firm evidence that innovations designed to strengthen the
frequent feedback that students receive about their learning yield substantial
learning gains.
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B. & Wiliam, D. (2003a). The nature
and value of formative assessment for learning. Paper presented at the
Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association,
Chicago 23 April 2003
(Printed)
The this paper has two foci. The first is to present an account of how authors
developed formative assessment practices (King’s-Medway-Oxfordshire
Formative Assessment Project (KMOFAP)) with a group of 36 teachers. The
second focus is on the ways in which these teachers struggled with the interface
3
between formative assessment and summative testing. The paper has the
following findings:


There are evidences showing that formative assessment can enhance the
learning motivation and self-esteem (especially for low attainers) among
students, and develop teachers’ professionalism in way that they value.
However, the full potential of formative assessment system is blocked by
the present regimes of external testing.
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B. & Wiliam, D. (2003b). Formative
and summative assessment: Can they serve learning together ? Paper
presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research
Association, Chicago 23 April 2003
(Printed)
(The content and finding of this paper is highly similar to Black, P., Harrison,
C., Lee, C., Marshall, B. & Wiliam, D. (2003a))The first part of this paper
presents an account of how the authors developed formative assessment
practices (King’s-Medway-Oxfordshire Formative Assessment Project
(KMOFAP))with a group of 36 teachers. The second part then explores the
formative–summative interface starting with an account of how the project’s
teachers struggled to reconcile their improved formative assessment with the
pressures of high-stakes summative testing. The paper has the following
findings:


There are evidences showing that formative assessment can enhance the
learning motivation and self-esteem (especially for low attainers) among
students, and develop teachers’ professionalism in way that they value.
However, the full potential of formative assessment system is blocked by
the present regimes of external testing.
Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B. & Wiliam, D. (2003). A successful
intervention – Why did it work ? Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of
the American Educational Research Association, Chicago 23 April 2003
(Printed)
This papers gives account of the King’s-Medway-Oxfordshire Formative
Assessment Project (KMOFAP), which starting from an extensive review of
research on classroom formative assessment, carried through, in collaboration
4
with 36 teachers, a development of the practical application of the lessons from
research to their normal classroom work. The project was proofed successful in
terms of enhancing students’ learning gains and developing teachers’
professionalism.
Bone, A. (2005). The impact of formative assessment on student learning: a
law-based study. Paper presented at 7th Annual Conference of the Learning
in Law Initiative. University of Warwick, 7 January.
(Printed)
This is a ‘work in progress paper on the project: ‘The Impact of formative
assessment on student learning’. The paper presents the objectives of the
formative assessment project and explores possibilities for providing feedback
which will enable the enhancement of learning whilst not being too time
consuming.
Clarke, S., McCallum, B & Lopez-Charles, G. (2001). Gillingham partnership
formative assessment project: interim report.
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3
(Printed: intro and conclusion only)
This is a report on an evaluation project on formative assessment strategies in
the Gillingham education action zone, based on findings from Inside the black
box. The report describes interventions and research into sharing learning
intentions, developing success criteria and self-evaluation. The findings are
analyzed to suggest ways forward.
The followings outline the findings in the three phases of the project:
Part 1

Teachers believe that the sharing of learning intention and developing of
successful criteria with children have caused the children to be more
focused, more confident and more self-evaluative.

Teachers also see the positive impact of the project on their communication
with the class and their planning strategy.
Part 2

Children under the project have demonstrated their natural desire to focus
on improvement rather than correction and revealed.
5




Focus learning intention strategy helps children to identify and understand
their success and improvements in story-writing more efficiently than
marking strategy.
Children are more motivated by feedbacks that recognize their success and
provide improvement suggestions.
The interviews with teachers show that teachers have embedded the first
term’s practice of sharing learning intentions and success criteria.
Teachers generally see the real impact of the project on the children in the
following year.
Part 3


Students of the involved schools show overall improvements in three areas,
namely: reading, numeracy and writing.
However, schools showing big improvements in one of the above areas did
not necessarily show big improvements in the other two.
Ecclestone, K., & Pryor, J. (2003). 'Learning careers' or 'assessment careers'?
The impact of assessment systems on learning. British Educational Research
Journal, 29 (4), 471-488.
(Printed)
This article highlights some key factors in 'learning careers', particularly in
relation to the impact of formative assessment practices. It aims to relate
findings from research on formative assessment in primary and further
education. The article evaluates whether the concept of 'assessment careers'
illuminates a specific strand and offers more precise insights about how
practices produced by different assessment systems. The article draws, from a
previous study of formative study on Advanced General National Vocational
Qualifications (GNVQs, now transmogrified as Advanced Vocational
Certificates in Education – Vocational A Levels).
Summary of the research findings:

Even at the very earliest stages of children’s schooling, their, and the ways
in which they construct, their identity as learners through interaction with
teachers and each other, influence their ability to use formative assessment
opportunities productively;
6

There is a need to conduct a more detail study on the construction of
assessment regime by structural, cultural and political factors
Hodgen, J., & Marshall, B. (2005). Assessment for learning in English and
mathematics: a comparison. The Curriculum Journal, 16 (2), 155-176.
(Printed)
This article undertakes a comparison of the lessons in order to better understand
how these significant differences affect the realization of formative assessment
in the classroom. By doing so, the authors try to find the common ground which
might be the starting point for future dialogue between the disciplines. In the
conclusion part, the authors make the following comments:

Formative assessment within the mathematic lesson has demonstrated a
better effect on students’ learning than the current practice, however, its
implementation is limited in the particularities e.g. the abstract and formal
concept being taught, the applied nature of mathematics etc. of school
mathematics in England.

In addition, the limited range of dialogic patterns in Mathematics learning
also constrains the practice of formative assessment in mathematic lesson.

English lesson, in the broad range of dialogue it encourages, is more
typical of current practice than the mathematics lesson.

Considering the research findings, there is an urgent need to adapt the
generic principles of formative assessment to the more specific demands of
each school subject.
Rea-Dickins, P., & Gardner, S. (2000) Snares and silver bullets: disentangling
the construct of formative assessment. Language Testing,17(2), 215-243.
(Printed)
This article explores the nature of formative assessment in a primary
(elementary) language learning context. The followings outline some of the
findings:

In appropriate judgments e.g. false positive/ false negative judgments
would have very serious implications for the individuals and/or groups of
pupils;
7

The ‘quality’ in teacher assessments of the kind used in the case study is
difficult to be judged. A richer experiential base is required by the
researchers before appropriate judgment can be made.
In the end, authors conclude that the formative uses of assessment, the
implementation of formative assessment and the kinds of procedures used to
capture appropriate data for this purpose imply a complexity of issues. The
distinction between formative and summative assessment are not as
straightforward as typically portrayed and that the interplay between reliability
and validity for purposes of class-based assessment is highly complex.
Torrance, H. & Pryor, J. (2001). Developing Formative Assessment in the
Classroom: using action research to explore and modify theory. British
Educational Research Journal, 27 (5), 615-631.
(Printed)
This article reports the outcomes of a research project designed to investigate
and develop formative classroom assessment in primary schools. It reports on
the changes in classroom practice, particularly involving the clarification and
communication of assessment criteria to pupils, and on the processes by which
this came about.
Major findings:





The research confirms that formative classroom assessment is a key
theoretical and practical interface for teachers to engage in research and
development on teaching and learning.
Convergent and divergent assessment are proved to be illuminating and
provocative abstractions which helped the teachers and researchers to
conceptualizes their approaches to formative classroom assessment.
Divergent assessment is recognized as potentially more powerful in
fostering the social and intellectual conditions in the classroom which
would lead to enhanced learning.
Successful implementation of formative assessment in classroom requires
teacher to: clearly clarify the goal of the learning task, criteria of judgment
and the relationship between the task and overall classroom management;
promote continuous dialogue in classroom; and provide quality
interventions and feedbacks in class.
The introduction of action research approach would facilitate the interface
between teaching, learning and assessment.
Wiliam, D., Lee, C., Harrison, C., & Black, P. (2004). Teachers developing
8
assessment for learning: impact on student achievement. Assessment in
Education.11(1), 49-65.
This paper reports on the achievement of secondary school students who worked in
classrooms where teachers made time to develop formative assessment strategies.
9