Summative Assessment

Research recognizes the power of assessment to amplify learning and skill acquisition. This overview describes and compares two types of Assessments educators rely on: Formative Assessment and Summative Assessment. 

To produce better outcomes for students two things are necessary: (1) effective, scientifically supported interventions (2) those interventions implemented with high integrity.  Typically, much greater attention has been given to identifying effective practices.  This review focuses on features of high quality implementation.

The NAEP Data Explorer provides national and state results for all main subject areas assessed, including mathematics, reading, writing, and science. Results have been produced for the nation and participating states and other jurisdictions since 1990, and for selected urban districts (on a trial basis) since 2002.

Summative assessment is an appraisal of learning at the end of an instructional unit or at a specific point in time. It compares student knowledge or skills against standards or benchmarks. Summative assessment includes midterm exams, final project, papers, teacher-designed tests, standardized tests, and high-stakes tests. 

This book is compiled from the proceedings of the sixth summit entitled “Performance Feedback: Using Data to Improve Educator Performance.” The 2011 summit topic was selected to help answer the following question: What basic practice has the potential for the greatest impact on changing the behavior of students, teachers, and school administrative personnel?

This paper argues that ineffective practices in schools carry a high price for consumers and suggests that school systems consider the measurable yield in terms of gains in student achievement for their schooling effort.

Research recognizes the power of assessment to amplify learning and skill acquisition. This overview describes and compares two types of Assessments educators rely on: Formative Assessment and Summative Assessment. 

This paper is based on the simple idea that students’ educational achievement is affected by the effort put in by those participating in the education process: schools, parents, and, of course, the students themselves.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is survey which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students.

This book is compiled from the proceedings of the sixth summit entitled “Performance Feedback: Using Data to Improve Educator Performance.” The 2011 summit topic was selected to help answer the following question: What basic practice has the potential for the greatest impact on changing the behavior of students, teachers, and school administrative personnel?

The main focus of this study is to find different kinds of variables that might contribute to variations in the strength and direction of the relationship by examining quantitative studies that relate mathematics teachers’ subject matter knowledge to student achievement in mathematics.

The aim of this paper is to examine a variety of features of research that might account for mixed findings of the relationship between teachers' subject matter knowledge and student achievement based on meta-analytic technique.

Multilevel modeling techniques were used with a sample of 643 students enrolled in 37 secondary school classrooms to predict future student achievement (controlling for baseline achievement) from observed teacher interactions with students in the classroom, coded using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System—Secondary.

The authors effectively cover the construction of psychological tests and the interpretation of test scores and scales; critically examine classical true-score theory; and explain theoretical assumptions and modern measurement models, controversies, and developments.

This report breaks out key steps in the school identification and improvement process, focusing on (1) a diagnosis of school needs; (2) a plan to improve schools; and (3) evidenced-based interventions that work.

The authors investigated the hypothesis that treatment acceptability influences teachers' use of a formative evaluation system (curriculum-based measurement) and, relatedly, the amount of gain effected in math for their students.

The goal of the proposed study was to determine whether third-grade
students’ (n = 74) transcriptional skills and gender predicted their writing fluency growth in response to a performance feedback intervention.

The “Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing” were approved as APA policy by the APA Council of Representatives in August 2013. 

In current study, through a meta-analysis of 78 studies, it is aimed to determine the overall effect size for testing at different frequency levels and to find out other study characteristics, related to the effectiveness of frequent testing. 

Feedback is an essential construct for many theories of learning and instruction, and an understanding of the conditions for effective feedback should facilitate both theoretical development and instructional practice. 

Professional judgment is required whenever conditions are uncertain.  This article provides an analysis of professional judgment and describes sources of error in decision making.

Just as an athlete needs effective practice to be able to compete at high levels of performance, students benefit from formative practice and feedback to master skills and content in a course. At the most complex and challenging end of the spectrum of summative assessment techniques, the portfolio involves a collection of artifacts of student learning organized around a particular learning outcome.

This paper uses student-level data from a statewide community college system to examine the validity of placement tests and high school information in predicting course grades and college performance.

This study examines the detrimental impact of principal turnover, including lower teacher retention and lower student achievement. Particularly hard hit are high poverty schools, which often lose principals at a higher rate as they transition to lower poverty, higher student achievement schools.

Assessing literature that uses either experimental (lottery) or student-level growth-based methods, this analysis infers the causal impact of attending a charter school on student performance.

This paper is a review of the literature on classroom formative assessment.

This is a review of the literature 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.

Firm evidence shows that formative assessment is an essential component of classroom work and that its development can raise standards of achievement, Mr. Black and Mr. Wiliam point out. Indeed, they know of no other way of raising standards for which such a strong prima facie case can be made. 

This paper theorizes that variations in learning and the level of learning of students are determined by the students' learning histories and the quality of instruction they receive.

In this study, the note-taking skills of middle school students with LD were compared to peers with average and high achievement. The results indicate differences in the number and type of notes recorded between students with LD and their peers and differences in test performance of lecture content.

This fourth edition provides in-depth treatments of critical measurement topics, and the chapter authors are acknowledged experts in their respective fields. 

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) assesses teaching practice based on videos and essays submitted by teachers. They compared the performance of classrooms of elementary students in Los Angeles randomly assigned to NBPTS applicants and to comparison teachers.

This study developed a zero-to-five index of the strength of accountability in 50 states based on the use of high-stakes testing to sanction and reward schools, and analyzed whether that index is related to student gains on the NAEP mathematics test in 1996–2000.

This paper discusses the search for a “magic metric” in education: an index/number that would be generally accepted as the most efficient descriptor of school’s performance in a district.

This report provides a practical “management guide,” for an evidence-based key indicator data decision system for school districts and schools.

A rationale and model for changing assessment efforts in schools from simple description to the integration of information from multiple sources for the purpose of designing interventions are described.

This paper describes how teacher learning through involvement with student-performance assessments has been accomplished in the United States and around the world, particularly in countries that have been recognized for their high-performing educational systems

This report provides ten actions to get data into the right hands of educators.

To produce better outcomes for students two things are necessary: (1) effective, scientifically supported interventions (2) those interventions implemented with high integrity.  Typically, much greater attention has been given to identifying effective practices.  This review focuses on features of high quality implementation.

This meta-analysis reviews 63 studies on the relationship between conditions of massed practice and spaced practice with respect to task performance, which yields an overall mean weighted effect size of 0.46.

Examines the fundamental characteristics of and reviews empirical research on performance assessment of diverse groups of students, including those with mild disabilities. Discussion of the technical qualities of performance assessment and barriers to its advancement leads to the conclusion that performance assessment should play a supplementary role in the evaluation of students with significant learning problems

Curriculum-based measurement and performance assessments can provide valuable data for making special-education eligibility decisions. Reviews applied research on these assessment approaches and discusses the practical context of treatment validation and decisions about instructional services for students with diverse academic needs.

A disproportionate reliance on SAT scores in college admissions has generated a growing number and volume of complaints. Some applicants, especially members of underrepresented minority groups, believe that the test is culturally biased. Other critics argue that high school GPA and results on SAT subject tests are better than scores on the SAT reasoning test at predicting college success, as measured by grades in college and college graduation.

This is a comprehensive literature review of the topic of Implementation examining all stages beginning with adoption and ending with sustainability.

This digest summarizes principles of performance assessment, which connects classroom assessment to learning. Specific ways that assessment can enhance instruction are outlined, as are criteria that assessments should meet in order to inform instructional decisions. Performance assessment is compared to behavioral assessment, mastery learning, and curriculum-based management.

In this meta-analysis of studies that utilize formative assessment the authors report an effective size of .7.

This study examined the educational effects of repeated curriculumbased measurement and evaluation. Thirty-nine special educators, each having three to four pupils in the study, were assigned randomly to a repeated curriculum-based measurement/evaluation (experimental) treatment or a conventional special education evaluation (contrast) treatment

This article describes a research program conducted over the past 8 years to address how technology can be used to surmount these implementation difficulties. The research program focused on one variety of objective, ongoing assessments known as curriculum-based measurement, in the areas of reading, spelling, and math.

30 special education teachers were assigned randomly to 3 groups: curriculum-based measurement (CBM) with expert system advice (CBM-ES), CBM with no expert system advice (CBM-NES), and control (i.e., no CBM). 

The purpose of this study was to examine students' weekly rates of academic growth, or slopes of achievement, when Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) is conducted repeatedly over 1 year.

The purpose of this study was to examine effects of classroom-basedperformance-assessment (PA)-driven instruction.

The purposes of this study were to examine how well 3 measures, representing 3 points on a traditional-alternative mathematics assessment continuum, interrelated and discriminated students achieving above, at, and below grade level and to explore effects of cooperative testing for the most innovative measure (performance assessment).

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of (a) ongoing, systematic assessment of student growth (i.e., curriculum-based measurement) and (b) expert system instructional consultation on teacher planning and student achievement in the area of mathematics operations.

As a classroom teacher or administrator, how do you ensure that the information shared in a student-led conference provides a balanced picture of the student's strengths and weaknesses? The answer to this is to balance both summative and formative classroom assessment practices and information gathering about student learning.

High-school grades are often viewed as an unreliable criterion for college admissions, owing to differences in grading standards across high schools, while standardized tests are seen as methodologically rigorous, providing a more uniform and valid yardstick for assessing student ability and achievement. The present study challenges that conventional view. The study finds that high-school grade point average (HSGPA) is consistently the best predictor not only of freshman grades in college, the outcome indicator most often employed in predictive-validity studies, but of four-year college outcomes as well.

Principal evaluation shares many characteristics with the more general field of personnel evaluation. That is, evaluations may have the purpose of gathering data to help improve performance (formative), or may use the collected information to make decisions about promotion or firing (summative).

To evaluate the impact of comprehensive teacher induction relative to the usual induction support, the authors conducted a randomized experiment in a set of districts that were not already implementing comprehensive induction.

Alternate assessment and instruction is a key issue for individuals with disabilities. This report presents an analysis, by assessment system component, to identify where and when flexibility can be built into assessments.

This study examines whether the results of standardized tests are distorted when rewards and sanctions are attached to them.

This quantitative review examines 20 studies to establish an effect size of .71 for the impact of “metacognitive” instruction on reading comprehension.

The authors analysis of special education placement rates, a frequently identified area of concern, does not show any responsiveness to the introduction of accountability systems.

The central argument of this paper is that the formative and summative purposes of assessment have become confused in practice and that as a consequence assessment fails to have a truly formative role in learning.

this report aims to provide the public, along with teachers and leaders in the Great City Schools, with objective evidence about the extent of standardized testing in public schools and how these assessments are used.

Hattie’s book is designed as a meta-meta-study that collects, compares and analyses the findings of many previous studies in education. Hattie focuses on schools in the English-speaking world but most aspects of the underlying story should be transferable to other countries and school systems as well. Visible Learning is nothing less than a synthesis of more than 50.000 studies covering more than 80 million pupils. Hattie uses the statistical measure effect size to compare the impact of many influences on students’ achievement, e.g. class size, holidays, feedback, and learning strategies.

An ABAB design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of an interdependent group contingency with randomized components to improve the transition behavior of middle school students identified with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) served in an alternative educational setting. The intervention was implemented by one teacher with three classes of students, and the dependent variable was the percentage of students ready to begin class at the appropriate time.

The purpose of this article is to examine research on the effectiveness of guided notes. Results indicate that using guided notes has a positive effective on student outcomes, as this practice has been shown to improve accuracy of note taking and student test scores.

The purpose of this study is to compare different statistical and methodological approaches to standard setting and determining cut scores using R- CBM and performance on high-stakes tests

This study examines the effects on early reading skills of three different methods of
presenting material with computer-assisted instruction.

Some of the specific reasons for the success or failure of retention in the area of reading were examined via an in-depth study of a small number of both at-risk retained students and comparably low skilled promoted children

Responsiveness to intervention (RTI) is being proposed as an alternative model for making decisions about the presence or absence of specific learning disability. The author argue that there are many questions about RTI that remain unanswered, and radical changes in proposed regulations are not warranted at this time.

This report analyzes the public reporting of state assessment results for students with disabilities

The authors proposed a preliminary FI theory (FIT) and tested it with moderator analyses. The central assumption of FIT is that FIs change the locus of attention among 3 general and hierarchically organized levels of control: task learning, task motivation, and meta-tasks (including self-related) processes.

Like we consider our formative years when we draw conclusions about ourselves, a formative assessment is where we begin to draw conclusions about our students' learning. Formative assessment moves can take many forms and generally target skills or content knowledge that is relatively narrow in scope (as opposed to summative assessments, which seek to assess broader sets of knowledge or skills).

In this paper, a self-regulated flipped classroom approach is proposed to help students schedule their out-of-class time to effectively read and comprehend the learning content before class, such that they are capable of interacting with their peers and teachers in class for in-depth discussions.

In undertaking this study, two goals were established: (1) to obtain a better understanding of how much time students spend taking tests; and (2) to identify the degree to which the tests are mandated by districts or states. 

This article provides a summary of measuring the fiscal impact of practices in education
educational policy.

Performance assessments such as the Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) are used by state departments of education as one measure of competency to grant teaching certification. Although the edTPA is used as a summative assessment, research studies in other forms of performance assessments, such as the Performance Assessment for California Teachers and the National Board Certification for Professional Teaching Standards  have shown that they can be used as learning tools for both preservice and experienced teachers and as a form of feedback for teacher education programs.

It is argued that there is a need to rethink the criteria by which the quality of educational assessments are judged and a set of criteria that are sensitive to some of the expectations for performancebased assessments are proposed

This monograph attempts to synthesize and interpret the extant research from the last 4 decades on the impact of schooling on students' academic achievement.

This is a study of classroom management on student engagement and achievement.

This report offers recommendations for the implementation of standards-based reform and outlines possible consequences for policy changes. It summarizes both the vision and intentions of standards-based reform and the arguments of its critics.

his pioneering text provides a comprehensive and highly accessible introduction to the principles, concepts, and methods currently used in educational research. This text also helps students master skills in reading, conducting, and understanding research.

This study examined processes and techniques teachers used to ensure that their assessments were valid and reliable, noting the extent to which they engaged in these processes.

The primary purpose of this chapter is to review the literature on teachers’ summative assessment practices to note their influence on teachers and teaching and on students and learning.

This research report presents the findings of this formative and summative research effort.

To investigate the relationship between students’ achievement and various contextual factors, NAEP collects information from teachers about their background, education, and training.

How did U.S students perform on ht most recent assessment? 

This non-technical brochure provides introductory information on the development, administration, scoring, and reporting of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The brochure also provides information about the online resources available on the NAEP website.

Twelfth-graders’ performance in reading and mathematics improves since 2005. Nationally representative samples of twelfth-graders from 1,670 public and private schools across the nation participated in the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

The Data Explorer for the Long-Term Trend assessments provides national mathematics and reading results dating from the 1970s.

Nationally representative samples of 209,000 fourth-graders and 175,200 eighth-graders participated in the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics.

Percentages of students meeting state proficiency standards and performing at or above the NAEP Proficient level, by subject, grade, and state: 2009

In this new national writing assessment sample, 24,100 eighth-graders and 28,100 twelfthgraders engaged with writing tasks and composed their responses on computer. The assessment tasks reflected writing situations common to both academic and workplace settings and asked students to write for several purposes and communicate to different audiences.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a national assessment of what America's students know in mathematics, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history.

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 ESEA Reauthorization

This report describes the reading literacy of fourth-graders in 35 countries, including the United States. The report provides information on a variety of reading topics, but with an emphasis on U.S. results. The report also presents information on reading and instruction in the classroom and explores the reading habits of fourth-graders outside of school. This report defines reading literacy for fourth-graders, highlights the performance and distribution of fourth-graders relative to fourth-graders in other countries, and illustrates, through international benchmarking, the performance of assessed students.

This volume of PISA 2009 results looks at the progress countries have made in raising student performance and improving equity in the distribution of learning opportunities. 

Volume II of PISA's 2009 results looks at how successful education systems moderate the impact of social background and immigrant status on student and school performance. 

The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys, which take place every three years, have been designed to collect information about 15-year-old students in participating countries.

This first volume of PISA 2009 survey results provides comparable data on 15-year-olds' performance on reading, mathematics, and science across 65 countries. 

There is increased interest in extending the test-based evaluation framework in K-12 education to achievement in high school. High school achievement is typically measured by performance on end-of-course exams (EOCs), which test course-specific standards in subjects including algebra, biology, English, geometry, and history, among others. Recent research indicates that when students take particular courses can have important consequences for achievement and subsequent outcomes. The contribution of the present study is to develop an approach for modeling EOC test performance regarding the timing of course.

Positive teacher-student interactions are a primary ingredient of quality early educational experiences that launch future school success. With CLASS, educators finally have an observational tool to assess classroom quality in pre-kindergarten through grade 3 based on teacher-student interactions rather than the physical environment or a specific curriculum

This book contains necessary information to help teachers deal with the assessment concerns of classroom teachers. 

Instructional theory describes a variety of methods of instruction (different ways of facilitating human learning and development) and when to use--and not use--each of those methods. It is about how to help people learn better. 

This text employs a pragmatic approach to the study of educational tests and measurement so that teachers will understand essential psychometric concepts and be able to apply them in the classroom.

This research brief is one in a series for the Back on Track Study that presents the findings regarding the relative impact of online versus face-to-face Algebra I credit recovery on students’ academic outcomes, aspects of implementation of the credit recovery courses, and the effects over time of expanding credit recovery options for at-risk students.

Amrein and Berliner (2002b) compared National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) results in high-stakes states against the national average for NAEP scores. In this analysis, a comparison group was formed from states that did not attach consequences to their state-wide tests.

CHILDREN take one of two types of standardized test, one ''norm-referenced,'' the other ''criteria-referenced.'' Although those names have an arcane ring, most parents are familiar with how the exams differ.

This book looks at research and theoretical models used to define educational effectiveness with the intent on providing educators with evidence-based options for implementing school improvement initiatives that make a difference in student performance.

Part of the president Bush strategy for the transformation of "American Schools" lies in an accountability system that would track progress toward the nation's education goals as well as provide the impetus for reform. Here we focus primarily on issues of accountability and student achievement. 

Scores went up in all grades and subjects this year on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). But how much depends on how you look at them. 

The goal of this paper is to provide a general understanding for teachers and administrators of the concepts of validity and reliability; thereby, giving them the confidence to develop their own assessments with clarity of these terms.

A critical review of reading programs requires objective and in-depth analysis. For these reasons, the authors offer the following recommendations and procedures for analyzing critical elements of programs.

This paper examines efforts in the State of Wisconsin to improve test scores.

This Campbell systematic review examines the impact of class size on academic achievement. The review summarises findings from 148 reports from 41 countries. Ten studies were included in the meta‐analysis.

The averaged freshman graduation rate provides an estimate of the percentage of students who receive a regular diploma within 4 years of entering ninth grade.

Evidence-based practice is a decision-making framework.  This paper describes the relationships among the three cornerstones of this framework.

Summative assessment is an appraisal of learning at the end of an instructional unit or at a specific point in time. It compares student knowledge or skills against standards or benchmarks. Summative assessment includes midterm exams, final project, papers, teacher-designed tests, standardized tests, and high-stakes tests. 

This investigation contributed to previous research by separating the effects of simply making instructional changes, not based on student performance data, from the effects of making instructional changes in accordance with CBM data.

The second edition of this exceptionally lucid and practical assessment text provides a wealth of powerful concrete examples that help students to understand assessment concepts and to effectively use assessment to support learning.

Student engagement is critical to academic success. High-Active Student Response (ASR) teaching techniques are an effective way to improve student engagement and are an important component of evidence-based practice. . This report provides techniques and strategies to enhance engagement through ASR. Key terms are appended.

This paper argues that ineffective practices in schools carry a high price for consumers and suggests that school systems consider the measurable yield in terms of gains in student achievement for their schooling effort.

Keeping RTI on Track is a resource to assist educators overcome the biggest problems associated with false starts or implementation failure. Each chapter in this book calls attention to a common error, describing how to avoid the pitfalls that lead to false starts, how to determine when you're in one, and how to get back on the right track.

To examine a response to treatment model as a means for identifying students with reading/learning disabilities, 45 second-grade students at risk for reading problems were provided daily supplemental reading instruction and assessed after 10 weeks to determine if they met a prior criteria for exit.

This report describes the first of a series of researches that will attempt to characterize the performance of New Jersey's public school system.

This literature review examines the impact of various instructional methods

This is a meta-review and synthesis of the research on the variables related learning.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the effects of manipulating the data base used for instructional decision making on student achievement.

This study evaluated the effects of performance feedback on increasing the quality of implementation of interventions by teachers in a public school setting.

This study compares the effect size and return on investment for rapid assessment, between, increased spending, voucher programs, charter schools, and increased accountability.

This paper conducts an analytic literature review to examine the use and operationalization of the term in multiple academic fields

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) is an assessment of the reading comprehension of students in their fourth year of schooling. This report compares the performance of U.S. students with their peers around the world and also examines how the reading literacy of U.S. fourth-grade students has changed since the first administration of PIRLS in 2001. Results are presented by student background characteristics (sex and race/ethnicity) and by contextual factors that may be associated with reading proficiency (school characteristics, instructional practices and teacher preparation, and the home environment for reading).