Roles+of+Formative+Assessments+in+Literacy

There is a difference between formative and summative assessment in literacy. Formative assessments tend to be ungraded and just used to plan individualized instruction based on the needs and strengths of students. The goal is to figure out what students already know, what they do not know, and what they should learn based on the lesson. Teachers can use formative assessment in order to diagnose what students have already mastered so they do not have to keep reinforcing it and can move on to learning other concepts. Summative assessments are tests that follow instruction. They assess achievement after a lesson was taught and can determine what areas still need more mastery. These can also allow teachers to figure out what strategies worked and what lessons were more receptive for their students. There are many assessments used in literacy to determine the knowledge of students in reading. Print concepts, phonological and phonemic awareness, and work learning are strategies which are crucial for children during emergent literacy. Assessments should not be used to critique children, but to collect date and figure out what strategies are working and which are not. The idea is to plan lessons and interventions in order to help enhance learning and growth. Here is a look at some of the assessments I used this semester at Constable.   