Seven+Strategies+of+Assessment+for+Learning

Chappuis starts by giving an overview of formative and summative assessment.
 * __Seven Strategies of Assessment for Learning__** by Jan Chappuis

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT- Formal and informal processes teachers and students use to gather evidence for the purpose of improving learning.

According to experts, the one constant in formative assessment is **feedback**
 * “…feedback to students and teachers is about understanding and skill development in order to figure out how to move forward”
 * “it refers to assessment that is specifically intended to provide feedback on performance to improve and accelerate learning”
 * “An assessment is formative to the extent that information from the assessment is fed back within the system and actually used to improve the performance of the system in some way.”
 * “… What makes formative assessment formative is that it is immediately used to make adjustments so as to form new learning”
 * The use of the information gathered to adjust teaching and learning is more important than the actual assessment.

Formative assessment works best and yields highest achievement gains when:
 * There is lots of class discussion to evaluate class understanding
 * There is lots of descriptive feedback during the learning
 * There is development of student and peer-assessment skills

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT- Assessments that provide evidence of student achievement for the purpose of making a judgment about a student competence or program effectiveness.
 * This data is recorded and used to determine if students are meeting standards in certain subjects for purposes of accountability.
 * They are not bad or wrong, they just have a different purpose - to report a level of achievement.

CHAPPUIS LISTS SEVEN STARTEGIES OF ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING SPREAD OUT OVER THREE CONDITIONS, PHRASED FROM A STUDENT’S POINT OF VIEW. **(Figure 1.4, page 12)**


 * 1) Where Am I Going?
 * 2) Where Am I Now?
 * 3) How Can I Close the Gap?


 * Where Am I Going?**

Strategy 1: Provide students with a clear and understandable vision of the learning target. Strategy 2: Use examples and models of strong and weak work.


 * Where Am I Now?**

Strategy 3: Offer regular descriptive feedback. Strategy 4: Teach students to self-assess and set goals.


 * How Can I Close the Gap?**

Strategy 5: Design lessons to focus on one learning target or aspect of quality at a time. Strategy 6: Teach students focused revision. Strategy 7: Engage students in self-refection, and let them keep track of and share their learning.


 * Overall comments: Pretty interesting and helpful book. Lots of helpful examples throughout, and very good appendix of sheets that are practical. I would recommend it to others.**