Assessment is a pervasive exercise that is conducted within schools, it requires

teachers to make judgements within all learning areas in any given timeframe (Brady

& Kennedy, 2012). Assessments can be conducted on global, national or classroom

levels, but on larger scales it is difficult to do anything with data but make

comparisons in performance. While those larger assessments still have their place

and purpose in education, it is what teachers and students do in classrooms that have

the biggest impact on learning. It has been suggested that formative assessment

practices are linked to increased achievement in students, as such teachers should

adopt and understand these practices to maximise the potential for student success.

To fully maximise student success through these practices, teachers should be setting

clear goals and criteria as well as elaborating on it, empowering students to achieve,

and integrating ongoing assessment into planning and teaching.

Andrade and Heritage (2017) cited numerous sources in agreement that feedback in

formative assessment is connected to learning and achievement, but it must also

relate to goals and focus on the learning process to be truly effective. Students need

to know what to do to achieve, particularly on new tasks that may be different to

previously completed or routine work. If criteria and goals are articulated to students

in their learning well enough, students could be able to set goals for and understand

their current learning as well as what would follow on in the sequence of content

(Cauley & McMillan, 2010). By exploring examples of work or collaborating with

students on criteria, a foundation is laid for students to manage and assess their work

with some independence (Stiggins, 2005). Hypothetically, if a student is told to write

a persuasive argument without being shown something that meets the standard and

could be persuasive, then they may not even know the type of language they need to
use or the structure involved in persuasive writing. If an example is modelled to

them step by step with these considerations in mind, the student would be in a far

better position to produce work that meets expectations because they can scaffold it

from something they have seen to be effective.

Student motivation is perhaps the biggest influence on their own work, it is feedback

from teachers that can change this motivation for better or worse (Stiggins, 2005).

Black & William (1998) stated that self-efficacy was a key part of formative

assessment to increase student success, self-efficacy being the extent of how sure

you are of your own abilities and capability to meet the demands of specific tasks or

situations (Fletcher & Garton, 2007). If a student does not believe that they can

successfully complete a task despite possessing the required skills and tools, future

achievements and success will be greatly hindered (Fletcher & Garton, 2007).

Feedback centred on performance is not effective as it does not set any expectations

or identify aspects to improve upon (Cauley & McMillan, 2010). Adversely,

feedback centred on mastery, relating to understanding or improvement, enables

students to develop higher self-efficacy and succeed from their focussed efforts

(Cauley & McMillan, 2010).

One of the main arguments supporting formative assessment practices is that it

informs learning instead of measuring it (Andrade & Heritage, 2017). A focus on

accountability and standards in assessment practices will ignore methods of learning

and teaching, providing no direction or guidance for teachers to increase student

achievement beyond that task (Black & Williams, 1998). Assessment on an ongoing
basis enables teachers to adjust instructions and refine focal points (Cauley &

McMillan, 2010), telling teachers about progress and difficulties so that they may

adapt teaching and planning to better cater for student’s needs (Black & Williams,

1998). The assessment can only become formative when the evidence is used and

teaching is then adapted to meet student needs (Black & Williams, 1998).

Hypothetically, if a teacher made their class do a mathematics test on multiplication

and the results were undesirable, it would not then be effective to move onto the next

topic of division without addressing the errors of the previous test or even spending

more time on multiplication and perhaps testing again. The teacher can then plan

more effectively for when they begin division and in turn cater to projected

difficulties from multiplication.

The primary focus in research relating to formative assessment is hardly ever centred

on the tasks that students complete. While goals and criteria, motivation, and the

integration of assessment into teaching and learning are prominent contributors to

higher achievement, the aspect that is universal to them all is that they are all centred

on the student and their involvement in the process of learning and assessment.

These factors in the research also match the School Curriculum and Standards

Authority’s (2014) (SCSA) principles of assessment. SCSA believe that teachers

should be gathering evidence of learning, making judgements and using evidence to

inform future planning and teaching (2014). Simultaneously, assessment tasks

should enable long term learning through feedback, consultation of students, as well

as the scaffolding of criteria explicitly for students (SCSA, 2014). Andrade &

Heritage (2017) iterate that when assessment is involved in planning and teaching

and includes the students in its processes, enriched learning is inevitable. Black &
Williams (1998) stated that formative assessment is essential within a classroom and

could raise levels of achievement if utilised properly. The state government of

Western Australia would not hold teachers accountable to principles that echo this

research if they are not effective or considered best practice. Some teachers may plan

and teach strictly to what is going to be in the test to ensure better results for students

when it comes to reporting, the students may be able to show that they know what

they are supposed to know, but this does not enable them to develop as learners or

make any significant progress outside of that one test. When a student is given a

percentage or fraction as a mark along with ticks and crosses all over their work,

they are not seeing how or why they achieved that. This is where formative

assessment transcends summative assessment, it provides students with reasons for

how and why they achieved what they did while also giving them a starting point for

the next task with that content or skill to increase their projected potential.

Teachers must do whatever they can to enable students to succeed, during and

beyond their time in school. Formative assessment practices have a significant

influence on student achievement, for both high and low achievers. The expressing

and elaborating of goals and criteria clarifies the direction of learning for students in

content and their abilities, knowing what is expected and how to achieve it (Andrade

& Heritage, 2017). The appropriate articulation of feedback can greatly increase

student motivation and self – efficacy, feedback that is centred on mastery of skills

and learning will set expectations that lead to further success flowing from

surpassing those expectations (Cauley & McMillan, 2010). Integrating assessment

into teaching and planning is what guides and supervises the learning process for

students, conducting on-going assessments enables teachers to respond to student

learning and enhance it with further revision or a new approach altogether (Cauley &
McMillan, 2010). The four articles cited in this paper all propose ideas and practices

that are evident within the SCSA principles of assessment (2014), principles that

were created to ensure that teachers are engaging in practices that increase student

achievement. Formative assessment is not just linked to increased student

achievement, it does increase student achievement. With a central focus on the

student and their learning, formative assessment transcends traditional practices of

measurement to maximise student potential.

References
Andrade, H., & Heritage, M. (2017). Using Formative Assessment to Enhance
Learning, Achievement, and Academic Self-Regulation. Milton: Taylor and
Francis.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through
Classroom Assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139-148.
Brady, L., & Kennedy, K. (2012). Assessment and reporting (4th ed.). Frenchs
Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Australia.
Cauley, K., & McMillan, J. (2010). Formative Assessment Techniques to Support
Student Motivation and Achievement. The Clearing House: A Journal Of
Educational Strategies, Issues And Ideas, 83(1), 1-6.
Fletcher, J., & Garton, A. (2007). Psychology: Self, Others and Society. Melbourne:
Pearson/Education Australia.
School Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2014). Scsa.wa.edu.au. Retrieved 15
March 2018, from https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/
Stiggins, R. (2005). From Formative Assessment to Assessment for Learning: A
Path to Success in Standards-Based Schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 87(4), 324-
328.