Explain how formative and summative assessments are important to a reading program

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers should show an understanding of the following:
• Nothing will poison a reading intervention program more successfully than inadequate assessment and haphazard placement of students in the program. Assessment itself should be of two kinds: formative to observe ongoing, short-term individual literacy growth and summative to measure more long-term progress and program effectiveness.
• Formative assessments, which are usually informal and frequent, provide information about students' growth, strength, and needs. This data, which can be kept for individual students in a computer, should contribute to informed instruction that moves students toward mastery.
• Summative assessments, often more formal in nature, could provide data covering a students' entire academic career, at the least literacy performance during the middle and high school years. Summative data provide a basis for program evaluation within a school and for out-of-school interest groups, such as parents or school boards, to gauge students' progress and program effectiveness.
• Both formative and summative assessments can contribute to placement of students into a proper literacy intervention program at appropriate levels. Their placement should be frequently reviewed to assure best "fit."