The term summative assessment refers to the assessment that is completed in the classroom to monitor how much a child has learnt from teaching. It helps to monitor the child's progress, highlight any difficulties, and provide detailed information on the future teaching for that child.
Summative assessment comes in a variety of formats, depending upon the age and ability of the child. The assessments may be through activities, in set conditions or freely observed, or in written or spoken tests. The result are recorded and matched against national criteria to ascertain whether the child is attaining the correct academic levels and to highlight where difficulties may lie. The end of year exams are often used to arrange the groupings for the following year in secondary education.
Summative assessment also helps to inform teaching methods. If most children taught are attaining correct academic levels then the teaching is set to the correct level. However, if many children are not, the teacher can look into the approaches used and repeat the topic from a different angle.
Summative assessment comes in a variety of formats, depending upon the age and ability of the child. The assessments may be through activities, in set conditions or freely observed, or in written or spoken tests. The result are recorded and matched against national criteria to ascertain whether the child is attaining the correct academic levels and to highlight where difficulties may lie. The end of year exams are often used to arrange the groupings for the following year in secondary education.
Summative assessment also helps to inform teaching methods. If most children taught are attaining correct academic levels then the teaching is set to the correct level. However, if many children are not, the teacher can look into the approaches used and repeat the topic from a different angle.