Examining Elementary School Teachers Perceptions of and Use of Formative Assessment in Mathematics

Formative assessment and related processes continue to prove to be a high-leverage instructional practice that has potential to support all learners, especially those who demonstrate misconceptions with significant mathematics concepts. Teachers use formative assessment practices in varied ways and share different perspectives of the value of these assessments for student learning. This article will share survey results of 65 teachers across grade levels. Findings indicate teachers find formative assessment beneficial for identifying gaps in learning, offers opportunity to increase student learning, and supports their teaching practices. These results support prior research; however, there were notable findings that offer insight into improving the use of formative assessment. The survey showed that formative assessment was used primarily to identify gaps, but not used to identify strengths of the learner. Formative assessment prompts focus on the learner but does not include reflection of the efficacy of the tool that was used or instruction. Commercially created materials, a large expense for schools, was not identified as useful. Teachers identified barriers to using formative assessment. Implications for improving formative assessment practices are shared and continued research.