Impediments to sound use of formative assessment (and actions we should take to improve assessment for learning)
This paper presents practical and technical requirements for using assessment for teaching and learning and discusses impediments to the sound use of formative assessment. These impediments relate to both assessment and teaching as well as educational management. Assessment and teaching impediments include the procedures used to develop valid assessments of progress, inappropriate scoring procedures and methods of interpreting the resulting data, and the procedures used to facilitate learning. The management impediments include the focus on normative assessment, and failure to provide assessment instruments sampling the range of student achievement, to communicate relevant useful information to teachers, to evaluate added value in appropriate ways, and to ignore generally the actions teachers need to take. The paper provides suggested action to improve assessment for learning.