Curriculum-embedded formative assessment's impact on middle school science learning

Shavelson, R.; Young, D.; Ayala, C.; Brandon, P. Furtak, E.; Ruiz-Primo, M.; Tomita, M. & Yin, Y. (2008). "On the impact of curriculum-embedded formative assessment on learning: A collaboration between curriculum as assessment developers." Applied Measures in Education 2(14), pp. 295-314.

In this article, the researchers outline their hypothesis and implemented plan regarding the use of formative assessment in middle-school science programs. The authors point out that their work had both theoretical and practical impetus, having identified the marked increase in the emphasis on assessment in determining a curriculum's success without an attendant inspection of the assessment process itself. Formative assessment, which by definition demands the application of feedback from the assessment to the curriculum/instructional style in an effort to tailor learning to the student/classroom, is not as widely utilized as other methods of assessment, according to the authors of this research study.

The researchers break formative assessment down into several categories for their study, which was an essential step in making their research valid and applicable. Though at first they dealt with formative assessment rather generally, the real-world use of such assessment must be adaptable of the diversity of situations any teacher will undoubtedly encounter in the classroom. A large part of this study's strength is derived form its practical application during the research; rather than limiting itself to theory, this study follows its own advice and adjusted methodologies as observations provided necessary feedback to the researchers.