What is the difference between formative and summative assessment?
Formative assessment happens during learning to guide instruction (exit tickets, checks for understanding); summative assessment happens after, to measure mastery (tests, projects).
Formative assessment is assessment for learning; summative assessment is assessment of learning.
Formative checks happen during the learning, are usually low- or no-stakes, and exist to inform your next move — exit tickets, thumbs-up/down, a quick whiteboard problem, a do-now. The audience is the teacher: it tells you who needs reteaching before you move on.
Summative assessments happen at the end of a unit and measure mastery for a grade — unit tests, final projects, performance tasks. The audience is the record: it reports what was learned.
A simple test: if the result changes what you teach tomorrow, it's formative. If it goes in the gradebook as a verdict, it's summative. Strong teaching uses far more formative checks than summative ones.
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