Formative assessment means assessment to inform planning. To plan effectively, formative assessment needs to be based on observations of the children in action, both in self-chosen play and planned activities. This is at the heart of good quality early years provision. Sometimes this is called assessment for learning. Summative assessment provides a summary of the child's learning and development at a point in time. This is assessment of, rather than for, learning. It should also be based on observation, as it is only through observation that practitioners can establish a genuine picture of the child's capabilities.
Formative assessment means assessment to inform planning. To plan effectively, formative assessment needs to be based on observations of the children in action, both in self-chosen play and planned activities. This is at the heart of good quality early years provision. Sometimes this is called assessment for learning.
Summative assessment provides a summary of the child's learning and development at a point in time. This is assessment of, rather than for, learning. It should also be based on observation, as it is only through observation that practitioners can establish a genuine picture of the child's capabilities.
Summative assessment serves a different purpose to formative assessment. In nursery, for example, it will be used for transfer records, or records of achievement and reports to parents. The Foundation Stage Profile is a summative assessment for the end of the Foundation Stage, for use in the school statistics, to pass on to Year 1 and also to inform parents.
However, there is not a simple split between the two types of assessment.
Summative assessment should also be used to inform planning - though, as the statements will be more general than those in formative assessment, it can only inform planning in the broadest sense.
