Why is formative assessment useful?
Formative assessment can be used to inform and develop learners’ understanding of the nature of a subject. Assessment can be used as a diagnostic tool for future planning and to highlight underachievement. Formative assessment can support target-setting and/or monitoring. Focusing on assessment for learning helps teachers to clarify objectives and anticipate hurdles. The resulting outcomes support improved achievement for all learners. Well-organised and demanding coursework at GCSE, supported by rigorous assessment (where principles are made explicit), presents an appropriate challenge to gifted and talented learners in a given subject or subjects. Rigorous and well-planned assessment provides a strong support to teachers’ own knowledge and understanding of a subject area. Modelling with learners through the assessment process can raise expectations by demystifying the process. If this is coupled with opportunities for learners to use criteria to assess both their own and their peers’
