Assessment: The Bridge between Teaching and Learning

Formative assessment is defined by crossing three key processes in learning (where students are going, where they are right now, and how to get there) with three kinds of agents in classrooms (teachers, peers, and learners). This yields a definition of formative assessment as comprising five key strategies: clarifying, sharing and understanding learning intentions; engineering effective discussions, activities, and tasks that elicit evidence of learning; providing feedback that moves learning forward; activating students as learning resources for one another; and activating students as owners of their own learning. Each of the five strategies is discussed in turn, and practical classroom techniques that middle school teachers of English language arts can implement in their classrooms are presented.