Summative Assessment

You are here: STEM Education Apps Assessment Collection Summative Assessment

"It has often been remarked that an educated man has probably forgotten most of the facts he acquired in school and university. Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten." - B.F. Skinner

Proof Points

Sooner or later, a final accounting of a student’s performance must be made. Such an assessment summarizes learning after a given time or upon completion of a major course assignment. Its purpose is to generate a grade that accurately reflects student understanding. The practice of assessing student performance and assigning grades occupies the center of current accountability systems that schools use to evaluate levels of student achievement.

In contrast to formative assessments that are embedded throughout instruction, and used to monitor student work and make appropriate data-based adjustments to instruction, summative assessments examine cumulative aspects of the learning experience. Throughout history, the most common form of summative assessment has been the familiar “test.” With their heavy reliance on multiple-choice items, tests target the acquisition of factual knowledge.

When curriculum standards first appeared in the mid 1990’s the need for classroom assessment systems that more accurately measure what students know or are able to do quickly became apparent. This led to the rise in popularity of performance assessments that require students to demonstrate what specific skills and understandings, i.e., standards they have mastered by performing some action or producing some product. Making the task challenging and engaging can lend a measure of authenticity to a performance assessment. For students, completing an authentic task that requires them to apply what they know, instead of merely regurgitating facts or recognizing correct answers can be worth doing. When this happens, assessment becomes an integral part of the learning process.

STRATEGIES TO DETERMINE STUDENT UNDERSTANDING

Performance Assessment Builder
Clicking on the role, targeted behavior, audience, and product columns of the Performance Assessment Builder activates individual popup windows that display numerous prompts. The elements selected for the performance assessment can then be combined to create an engaging and authentic context for an assessment. Of course, these prompts serve merely as stimuli. The teacher must still assemble these pieces into an exciting, authentic, and standards-based performance task.

After the task has been defined, the criteria that will be used to evaluate the specified product or action must be established. These criteria, in addition to the various performance levels and specific performance indicators, are used in the final section of the Performance Assessment Builder to create an accompanying scoring rubric.

Tuning Protocol
A general recommendation when students present the products or actions of a major performance assessment is to provide the opportunity for them to make their efforts public. The Tuning Protocol is a way for teachers to facilitate the review of student presentations in front of a group of peers or interested parties. The Protocol procedure is characterized by being collaborative, systematic, and structured.

Vee Diagram
With a Vee Diagram students can illustrate the connections between class discussions and lab activities, plan their open-ended inquiry projects, review research articles, and create lab report presentations. Gowin's Vee depicts in a visual and meaningful way, the essential features involved in the construction of new knowledge. All of the elements of the Vee interact to help students display their understanding of the outcome of classroom experiences such as the ones listed above.