Tests and other assessments given at the end of a unit, course, or year are known as “summative” because they provide information to sum up the learning that happened. Assessments used before and during learning are called “formative” because they help teachers and students form plans to adjust teaching and learning.

According to experts Heidi Andrade and Margaret Heritage, formative assessment answers three questions: 1) Where am I going? 2) Where am I now? 3) Where do I go next?

Most people are more familiar with summative assessments than with formative ones, yet formative assessments are a critical part of a student’s learning journey because of how useful formative assessments can be for planning, monitoring, and adjusting instruction on a regular—even daily—basis.

Some schools go a step further by exploring new ways to use formative self-assessment and peer-assessment to empower students as owners of their own learning. The goal is for students to view assessment not as something done to them but rather as something done for them, with them, and by them. Here are some strategies for encouraging students to play a more active role in a school’s culture of assessment:

• Share scientific findings about the role of assessment in learning, including evidence that self-quizzing is a more effective study strategy than re-reading.
• Invite students to co-create assessment criteria, such as checklists or rubrics to evaluate their work.
• Create low-stakes self-assessment and peer-assessment activities, both of which have been shown to increase learning and self-regulation.
• Help students understand how to use feedback to revise their work—and give them plenty of opportunities to do so before the work is finalized.

Learning to assess one’s own work, receive and use feedback to improve, and give constructive comments to others are all important dimensions of adolescent development. They’re also crucial preparation for young people’s future as successful learners, workers, and contributors to family, community, and democratic life.