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Formative assessment and feedback glossary

34 terms from C13, Formative assessment and feedback — each defined in the primer's own words. Every term the primer teaches links to the slide that teaches it.

The whole context glossary

C13 · Curriculum and assessment

Formative assessment and feedback

“Formative assessment means frequent quizzes.”

Every term below is defined in the words of formative assessment and feedback, primer C13 of understanding the context of education, and opens the primer at the slide where it is taught. 2 terms are also defined by another primer in the series; where the two differ, both wordings are given. The whole context glossary holds all of them together.

TermDefinitionReferred to inRead further
A
Assessment as learning

Assessment used by the learner to monitor and steer their own learning, rather than by the teacher to steer teaching. It is the self-regulation end of assessment for learning (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006).

  • Nicol, D. J., & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199–218. doi
  • Panadero, E., Jonsson, A., & Botella, J. (2017). Effects of self-assessment on self-regulated learning and self-efficacy: Four meta-analyses. Educational Research Review, 22, 74–98. doi
Assessment for learning

The practice of using assessment evidence to decide what to do next in teaching and learning. Often used interchangeably with formative assessment, though Bennett (2011) notes the two terms are not always used for the same thing.

  • Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 5(1), 7–74. doi
  • Wiliam, D. (2011). What is assessment for learning? Studies in Educational Evaluation, 37(1), 3–14. doi
  • Bennett, R. E. (2011). Formative assessment: A critical review. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 18(1), 5–25. doi
C
Comment-only marking

Returning work with written comments and no mark or grade, so that attention goes to what to do next. Butler (1988) found comments alone outperformed grades, and grades with comments, on interest and performance.

  • Butler, R. (1988). Enhancing and undermining intrinsic motivation: The effects of task-involving and ego-involving evaluation on interest and performance. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 58(1), 1–14. doi
  • Elliott, V., Baird, J.-A., Hopfenbeck, T. N., Ingram, J., Thompson, I., Usher, N., Zantout, M., Richardson, J., & Coleman, R. (2016). A marked improvement? A review of the evidence on written marking. Education Endowment Foundation. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
Criterion-referenced and norm-referenced judgement

Criterion-referenced judgement asks whether the work meets a standard; norm-referenced judgement asks how it compares with others. Schools run mostly on these two, and learners mostly experience the second.

  • Hughes, G. (2011). Towards a personal best: A case for introducing ipsative assessment in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 36(3), 353–367. doi
D
Dangling data

Information that is simply recorded, passed to someone without the knowledge or power to change the outcome, or coded too tightly for action to follow, so the loop cannot close (Sadler, 1989).

  • Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18(2), 119–144. doi
  • Wiliam, D. (2011). What is assessment for learning? Studies in Educational Evaluation, 37(1), 3–14. doi
Diagnostic questions

Questions written so that each wrong answer points to a particular misconception, which makes the response itself informative rather than merely incorrect.

  • Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., & Wiliam, D. (2005). Classroom assessment: Minute by minute, day by day. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 19–24. pdo.ascd.org
  • Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded formative assessment. Solution Tree Press.
Dialogic feedback

Feedback treated as an exchange rather than a delivery: the student responds, asks or revises, and the teacher replies. Elliott et al. (2016) found the idea promising but the evidence thin, and the workload high.

  • Elliott, V., Baird, J.-A., Hopfenbeck, T. N., Ingram, J., Thompson, I., Usher, N., Zantout, M., Richardson, J., & Coleman, R. (2016). A marked improvement? A review of the evidence on written marking. Education Endowment Foundation. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
  • Nicol, D. J., & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199–218. doi
E
Exemplars

Samples of work at different levels of quality, discussed with students so that they can see what a standard means. Carless and Boud (2018) treat analysing exemplars as one of the two main ways to build feedback literacy.

  • Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18(2), 119–144. doi
  • Carless, D., & Boud, D. (2018). The development of student feedback literacy: Enabling uptake of feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(8), 1315–1325. doi
  • Nicol, D. J., & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199–218. doi
Exit tickets

A short written response collected as students leave, used to check understanding or to decide where the next lesson starts. Leahy et al. (2005) call them exit passes.

  • Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., & Wiliam, D. (2005). Classroom assessment: Minute by minute, day by day. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 19–24. pdo.ascd.org
F
Feed up, feed back and feed forward

Hattie and Timperley’s (2007) names for the three questions feedback answers: where am I going, how am I going, and where to next.

  • Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. doi
  • Wisniewski, B., Zierer, K., & Hattie, J. (2020). The power of feedback revisited: A meta-analysis of educational feedback research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 3087. doi
Feedback

“Information provided by an agent (e.g., teacher, peer, book, parent, self, experience) regarding aspects of one’s performance or understanding” (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). In the control sense used by Ramaprasad (1983) and Sadler (1989), information only counts as feedback if it is used to alter the gap.

  • Ramaprasad, A. (1983). On the definition of feedback. Behavioral Science, 28(1), 4–13. doi
  • Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18(2), 119–144. doi
  • Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. doi
Feedback intervention theory

The explanation that feedback moves attention along a hierarchy, and that its effectiveness falls as attention moves away from the task and towards the self (Kluger & DeNisi, 1996).

  • Kluger, A. N., & DeNisi, A. (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), 254–284. doi
  • Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. doi
Feedback literacy

The understandings, capacities and dispositions a student needs to make sense of feedback and use it: appreciating feedback, making judgements, managing affect and taking action (Carless & Boud, 2018).

  • Carless, D., & Boud, D. (2018). The development of student feedback literacy: Enabling uptake of feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(8), 1315–1325. doi
  • Nicol, D. J., & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199–218. doi
Five key strategies of formative assessment

Three processes—establishing where learners are going, where they are now and how to get there—exercised by the teacher, the learner and their peers, whose nine cells collapse into five key strategies (Wiliam & Thompson, 2008).

  • Wiliam, D., & Thompson, M. (2008). Integrating assessment with learning: What will it take to make it work? In C. A. Dwyer (Ed.), The future of assessment: Shaping teaching and learning (pp. 53–82). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. doi
  • Wiliam, D. (2011). What is assessment for learning? Studies in Educational Evaluation, 37(1), 3–14. doi
  • Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., & Wiliam, D. (2005). Classroom assessment: Minute by minute, day by day. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 19–24. pdo.ascd.org
Formative and summative as uses

Not types of test but uses of evidence. The same task can report attainment and inform the next step; what makes the use formative is the decision it changes (Black & Wiliam, 2009).

  • Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2009). Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 5–31. doi
  • Wiliam, D. (2011). What is assessment for learning? Studies in Educational Evaluation, 37(1), 3–14. doi
  • Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 5(1), 7–74. doi
H
High-information feedback

Feedback that explains how to improve rather than only correcting or rewarding; across 435 studies it outperformed corrective feedback, which outperformed reinforcement and punishment (Wisniewski et al., 2020).

  • Wisniewski, B., Zierer, K., & Hattie, J. (2020). The power of feedback revisited: A meta-analysis of educational feedback research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 3087. doi
  • Van der Kleij, F. M., Feskens, R. C. W., & Eggen, T. J. H. M. (2015). Effects of feedback in a computer-based learning environment on students’ learning outcomes: A meta-analysis. Review of Educational Research, 85(4), 475–511. doi
  • Shute, V. J. (2008). Focus on formative feedback. Review of Educational Research, 78(1), 153–189. doi
Hinge questions

A question placed at a point where the lesson could go two ways, asked so that every student responds, and used to choose the way (Leahy et al., 2005).

  • Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., & Wiliam, D. (2005). Classroom assessment: Minute by minute, day by day. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 19–24. pdo.ascd.org
  • Wiliam, D. (2014, April). Formative assessment and contingency in the regulation of learning processes [Paper presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, PA, United States. fame-michigan.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com
Holistic and analytic marking

Holistic marking gives one judgement of the whole piece; analytic marking scores separate criteria. Analytic marking generates more information for feedback and takes longer; holistic marking is quicker and harder to act on.

  • Panadero, E., & Jonsson, A. (2013). The use of scoring rubrics for formative assessment purposes revisited: A review. Educational Research Review, 9, 129–144. doi
I
Ipsative assessment

Judging work against the same learner’s previous performance rather than against criteria or other learners: a personal best. Hughes (2011) distinguishes ipsative feedback, which fits inside current practice, from ipsative grading, which does not.

  • Hughes, G. (2011). Towards a personal best: A case for introducing ipsative assessment in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 36(3), 353–367. doi
  • Hughes, G. (2014). Ipsative assessment: Motivation through marking progress. Palgrave Macmillan. doi
L
Learning intentions

A statement of what students are meant to learn from a task, written for the students rather than for an observer, and separate from the activity they will do.

  • Wiliam, D., & Thompson, M. (2008). Integrating assessment with learning: What will it take to make it work? In C. A. Dwyer (Ed.), The future of assessment: Shaping teaching and learning (pp. 53–82). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. doi
  • Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., & Wiliam, D. (2005). Classroom assessment: Minute by minute, day by day. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 19–24. pdo.ascd.org
Learning progressions

Research-based descriptions of the order in which understanding of a topic typically develops, used to place a learner and choose the next step. Primer C10 covers them.

C10 "Descriptions of the successively more sophisticated ways of thinking about a topic that can follow one another as children learn about and investigate a topic over a broad span of time (e.g., 6 to 8 years)" (National Research Council, 2007). Corcoran et al. (2009) treat them as testable hypotheses.

  • National Research Council. (2007). Taking science to school: Learning and teaching science in grades K–8. National Academies Press. doi
  • Corcoran, T., Mosher, F. A., & Rogat, A. (2009). Learning progressions in science: An evidence-based approach to reform (CPRE Research Report No. RR-63). Consortium for Policy Research in Education. files.eric.ed.gov
Levels of feedback

Hattie and Timperley’s (2007) four levels: the task, the process used, the learner’s self-regulation, and the self. The first three carry information; the fourth usually does not.

  • Hattie, J., & Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81–112. doi
  • Kluger, A. N., & DeNisi, A. (1996). The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin, 119(2), 254–284. doi
  • Wisniewski, B., Zierer, K., & Hattie, J. (2020). The power of feedback revisited: A meta-analysis of educational feedback research. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, Article 3087. doi
Low-stakes quizzing

Frequent questioning that carries little or no weight in a grade. It can serve learning through retrieval, or serve teaching through evidence, or neither if nothing follows from the results.

  • Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2009). Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 5–31. doi
  • Roediger, H. L., III, & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. doi
M
Marking workload

The time written marking takes, and what it displaces. In the United Kingdom’s 2014 Workload Challenge survey, reforming marking policy was the highest workload-related priority for 53% of respondents (Elliott et al., 2016).

  • Elliott, V., Baird, J.-A., Hopfenbeck, T. N., Ingram, J., Thompson, I., Usher, N., Zantout, M., Richardson, J., & Coleman, R. (2016). A marked improvement? A review of the evidence on written marking. Education Endowment Foundation. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
  • Education Endowment Foundation. (2021). Teacher feedback to improve pupil learning [Guidance report]. educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk
Mini whiteboards

Small boards on which every student writes an answer and shows it at once, so that the teacher sees the whole class rather than the volunteers. One of several all-student response methods.

  • Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., & Wiliam, D. (2005). Classroom assessment: Minute by minute, day by day. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 19–24. pdo.ascd.org
  • Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded formative assessment. Solution Tree Press.
Moments of contingency

Points in teaching where the next move depends on the evidence; formative assessment creates and capitalises on them, with regulation planned before the lesson, made during it or applied afterwards (Wiliam, 2014).

  • Wiliam, D. (2014, April). Formative assessment and contingency in the regulation of learning processes [Paper presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, PA, United States. fame-michigan.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com
  • Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2009). Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 5–31. doi
P
Peer assessment

Students judging each other’s work against criteria, usually to improve it rather than to grade it. A meta-analysis of 54 studies found an overall effect on performance of g = 0.31 (Double et al., 2020).

  • Double, K. S., McGrane, J. A., & Hopfenbeck, T. N. (2020). The impact of peer assessment on academic performance: A meta-analysis of control group studies. Educational Psychology Review, 32(2), 481–509. doi
  • Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., & Wiliam, D. (2005). Classroom assessment: Minute by minute, day by day. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 19–24. pdo.ascd.org
R
Responsive teaching

Teaching that changes course on evidence gathered while it happens, rather than on a plan made in advance or a report produced afterwards.

  • Wiliam, D. (2014, April). Formative assessment and contingency in the regulation of learning processes [Paper presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Philadelphia, PA, United States. fame-michigan.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com
  • Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2009). Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 5–31. doi
  • Leahy, S., Lyon, C., Thompson, M., & Wiliam, D. (2005). Classroom assessment: Minute by minute, day by day. Educational Leadership, 63(3), 19–24. pdo.ascd.org
Retrieval practice

Recalling material from memory to strengthen later recall. It looks like quizzing and is not the same as formative assessment: the purpose is the learning produced by the act of recall. The guide Designing for Learning covers it.

  • Roediger, H. L., III, & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. doi
  • Roediger, H. L., III, & Butler, A. C. (2011). The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(1), 20–27. doi
Rubrics

Descriptions of performance at different levels against stated criteria. Used formatively they can help, through transparency, self-assessment and reduced anxiety, but not automatically (Panadero & Jonsson, 2013).

  • Panadero, E., & Jonsson, A. (2013). The use of scoring rubrics for formative assessment purposes revisited: A review. Educational Research Review, 9, 129–144. doi
  • Jonsson, A., & Svingby, G. (2007). The use of scoring rubrics: Reliability, validity and educational consequences. Educational Research Review, 2(2), 130–144. doi
S
Sadler’s three conditions

For feedback to improve work, the learner has to hold a concept of the standard being aimed for, compare their current work with that standard, and act to close the gap (Sadler, 1989).

  • Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18(2), 119–144. doi
  • Lipnevich, A. A., & Panadero, E. (2021). A review of feedback models and theories: Descriptions, definitions, and conclusions. Frontiers in Education, 6, Article 720195. doi
Self-assessment

A learner judging their own work against criteria. Associated with gains in self-regulated learning and self-efficacy (Panadero et al., 2017), and dependent on the learner holding a workable idea of the standard.

  • Panadero, E., Jonsson, A., & Botella, J. (2017). Effects of self-assessment on self-regulated learning and self-efficacy: Four meta-analyses. Educational Research Review, 22, 74–98. doi
  • Nicol, D. J., & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199–218. doi
  • Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18(2), 119–144. doi
Single-point rubrics

A rubric that describes only the standard, with space either side for what exceeds it and what falls short. It keeps the criteria without implying that quality comes in fixed bands.

  • Panadero, E., & Jonsson, A. (2013). The use of scoring rubrics for formative assessment purposes revisited: A review. Educational Research Review, 9, 129–144. doi
Success criteria

What a good piece of this work would contain or show, stated so that a student can check their own draft against it. Distinct from instructions, which say what to do.

C10 What counts as having done it well, shared with students so they can judge their own work. Primer C13 covers success criteria and feedback in depth.

  • Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (2nd ed.). ASCD.
  • Wiliam, D., & Thompson, M. (2008). Integrating assessment with learning: What will it take to make it work? In C. A. Dwyer (Ed.), The future of assessment: Shaping teaching and learning (pp. 53–82). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. doi
  • Sadler, D. R. (1989). Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18(2), 119–144. doi

Nearby

The primer itself, and the ones either side

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