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practice of checking for understanding. Heritage (2007) suggested teachers must be
supported with ongoing professional development as they endeavor to implement
formative assessment.
Teachers often feel overwhelmed by the number of programs and initiatives
that they are required to implement in their classrooms. It is possible that teachers
perceive formative assessment as one such program when, in reality, it is an approach
to instruction that allows the teacher to monitor student understanding in order
Dr. Sara Lisa Avrit is to guide his or her instructional decisions (Moss & Brookhart, 2019). Moreover,
a 33-year veteran teachers’ views on the value of formative assessment are directly correlated to
in the field of teachers’ confidence in conducting and implementing such assessments (Karaman &
education. She is a
full-time elementary Sahin, 2017; Yan & Cheng, 2015). Standards define curricular outcomes, yet many
instructional coach educators are not confident in their own knowledge of them. Because formative
working with assessments evaluate students’ mastery of a particular standard, teachers may not
beginning teachers utilize these assessments due to their own lack of understanding (Schneider & Meyer,
at Quinlan ISD and 2011). However, as teachers understand the benefits of collecting and analyzing
an adjunct professor data through formative assessment, they will continue to use the process in their
in the College
of Innovation & classrooms with more frequency (Brink & Bartz, 2017).
Design at Texas Additionally, teachers may view all assessments as equal and, in turn, view
A&M University- summative assessment to be as effective as formative assessment in determining
Commerce. sara.avrit@ students’ understanding and mastery of skills. Black and Wiliam (2018) suggested
tamuc.edu that schools consider both summative and formative assessment methods and
how each can lead to more effective decision-making by teachers. Both forms of
assessment have value for educators. However, when teachers depend on data from
one source over another, they do not receive a full picture of the students’ mastery.
When summative assessments are the primary source of data, teachers receive
feedback at the end of the unit of study instead having of a continuous cycle of data
collection throughout the unit (Connors, 2021).

Conclusion
Assessment is an integral part of a skilled educator’s classroom. One valuable tool
for teachers to use in their daily instruction is formative assessment, which provides
teachers with data that show how students are doing with the concepts they are being
taught throughout the progression of the unit. Educators can utilize methods such as
polling processes, game-based systems, and concept maps (Conderman et al., 2020).
Not only does formative assessment serve as a method for collecting data, but it also
provides a guide for teachers when making instructional decisions. These decisions
are based on the students’ level of mastery of the content being taught, and knowing
the students’ level of mastery helps the teacher determine whether remediation or
acceleration is needed.
Even though research has shown formative assessment is an effective tool, teachers
do not use it to its fullest potential. Several factors may influence their decision to
use formative assessment, such as training and confidence. Formative assessment is
a complicated strategy to implement, and teachers need professional development to
develop these assessment skills fully. Professional development has the potential to
provide teachers with the confidence they need to implement formative assessment
practices. Additionally, teachers may not be using summative assessment data in
conjunction with formative assessment data. With the implementation of formative
assessments, teachers will be able to utilize data throughout units to support students’
understanding to master standards.

34 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators