Articles and Papers

The following papers are available to download for personal use.

Formative and Summative Assessment in the Classroom, by Catherine Garrison and Michael Ehringhaus, (2006), National Middle School Association

Assessment provides a viable source of information about student learning. In a balanced assessment system both summative and formative assessment are integral parts of information gathering. This article defines summative and formative assessment and gives examples of classroom practices for each.

Commentary on Assessment and Professional Development, by Stuart Kahl, Education Week, 2005–2006, 2006–2007

What a difference a word makes: Assessment FOR learning rather than assessment OF learning helps students succeed, by Richard J. Stiggins and Jan Chappius (2006), JSD, National Staff Development Council, Winter issue.

Learning teams can help teachers shift their understanding of assessment to realize how to assess for learning.

Classroom Assessment: Minute by Minute, Day by Day, by Siobhan Leahy, Christine Lyon, Marnie Thompson and Dylan Wiliam (2005), Educational Leadership, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, November, Vol. 63, No. 3, pp. 19-24. 

In classrooms that use assessment to support learning, teachers continually adapt instruction to meet student needs. 

Linking Formative Assessment to Scaffolding, by Lorrie A. Shepard (2005), Educational Leadership, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, November, Vol. 63, No. 3, pp. 66-70. 

Learning theory supports four effective strategies common to both formative assessment and scaffolding.

Is Formative Assessment Losing Its Meaning?, by Stephen Chappius (2005), Education Week, August 10, 2005.

In this commentary, ATI author and presenter Steve Chappuis raises the concern that the purpose of formative assessment—to inform teachers and students of what has been learned, what needs to be retaught, and when students are ready to move to the next lesson—is being reinterpreted to simply mean testing that is done often.

Rethinking the Motivational Dynamics of Productive Assessment, by Richard J. Stiggins (2005), The M.A.S.S. Journal, Manitoba Association of School Superintendents, Spring issue: Approaches to Assessment. For more information on the publication, please call 866-999-1299.

In this article, the author examines the important issue that assessment, evaluating, and grading practices of our youth—that is, those specifically designed to permit only a few to succeed—now must be revised to permit all students to succeed, at least at some level.

New Assessment Beliefs for a New School Mission, by Richard J. Stiggins (2004), Phi Delta Kappan, September, pp. 22-27

In this article, Rick describes the inherited assessment legacy that prevents us from using the full power of assessment for school improvement, and then discusses new assessment beliefs that offer the potential to generate remarkable gains in student achievement.

Assessment Crisis: The Absence Of Assessment FOR Learning, by Richard J. Stiggins (2002), Phi Delta Kappan, June, pp. 758-765.

If we wish to maximize student achievement in the U.S., we must pay far greater attention to the improvement of classroom assessment. Both assessment of learning and assessment for learning are essential. But one is currently in place, and the other is not.

Assessment for Learning: Beyond the Black Box, Assessment Reform Group (1999), University of Cambridge School of Education.

The Assessment Reform Group, with support from the Nuffield Foundation, published a further pamphlet to reinforce the messages implicit in the Black and Wiliam review (Inside the Black Box) specifically for policy-makers.

Learning Teams for Assessment Literacy: A Concept Paper, by Richard J. Stiggins (1999), JSD, National Staff Development Council, Summer, pp. 17-21.

This paper describes why learning teams are the best professional development method for improving assessment skills. It includes an outline of specific steps to setting up and conducting learning teams with the Institute's materials.

Inside the Black Box, by Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam (1998), Phi Delta Kappan, October, pp. 139-144.

In this key article, Black and Wiliam summarize international research that demonstrates the impact of classroom assessment on improving student learning and motivation.