Strategy 4: Formative assessment and feedback

Formative assessment and feedback is a combined strategy in which classroom teachers probe for knowledge within lessons, give frequent feedback to learners, and adjust their teaching strategies, where necessary, to improve learners’ performances. While it is possible to have formative assessment by itself, feedback should always be preceded by formative assessment. Assessment is increasingly being seen as serving educational purposes by promoting learning and by guiding teaching. It should provide the best possible account of what a learner knows, can do, or has experienced. The whole point of formative assessment is to provide feedback to learners and to classroom teachers, the educator. Thus, it is important that they frequently monitor and give regular explicit feedback to their students on their levels of understanding or they ensure that such feedback is given by their peers in group work. Feedback is information about the task that fills a gap between what is understood and what is aimed to be understood.