Research Wednesday | January 14, 2026
Changing the Trajectory – Importance of Using Formative Assessment
Contributing Author: Dr. Jennifer Bourgeois
One of the central questions we can answer as an educator is: “Did the students learn and understand the material being taught? “While the answer to this question is a simple “yes” or “no,” the bigger question is: “How do you know the students have learned and understood the material being taught?” Summative assessments provide insight into this answer; however, the most impactful solutions are found in formative assessments. The reason for this is because by the inherent purpose of a formative assessment – using the information to adjust instruction and guide reteaching, you can improve student outcomes that can generally be seen in the results from summative assessments. The key here is to use the results or information to impact instruction. When the results or information do not impact instruction, the assessments become summative in nature regardless of what the assessment is called.
To effectively use formative assessments, it is essential to clearly define how you know when a student demonstrates they have mastered the objective or learning target. Fisher and Frey refer to this as “Feed-Up.” Reeves and Dufour link this to the first question used in a highly effective Professional Learning Community. Formative assessments can take many forms and occur at various stages of the lessons linking directly back to the objective or learning target of the lesson. With this clarity, it is easier to choose the best formative assessment. Some examples of formative assessments are: exit tickets with rubrics, peer evaluation, assigned problems, “low risk” quizzes, KWL chart, assessing by walking around, and strategic questioning, all tightly linked to the objective or learning target. At this stage, the important piece is not only to use the formative assessment chosen, but to use the results or information to impact instruction and clear up misunderstandings.
Below is a strategy that highlights how to use formative assessments:
Assessing by walking around - While students are working independently on assigned problems after a lesson, walk through the classroom and look at student work. When you observe students demonstrating progress toward mastery, provide students with specific verbal feedback about how they are doing at that very moment. By the same token, when you observe that students are showing some misconceptions about the essential learning from the lesson, reteach in the moment. This could be done individually or by pulling a small group to reteach. During this time, use strategic questioning to help student reflect on their learning. This helps pinpoint where the misunderstanding lies and builds metacognition in the students. The key to this strategy is to use the information in the moment to help student course-correct their learning.
Every student deserves to have the learning environment to achieve at the highest levels by design and not by chance. Intentionally defining how you know if a student has met the objective, measuring progress with formative assessments, and then adjusting instruction along the way cultivates this optimum learning environment.
Resources
3. DuFour, R., & Reeves, D. (2016). The futility of PLC Lite. Phi Delta Kappan, 97 (6), 69–71.
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