How to Assess Student Progress: Effective Methods

In Finnish schools, assessment isn't limited to simply assigning grades. Instead, the emphasis is on formative assessment, which allows teachers and students to monitor progress and identify areas for improvement. This approach fosters a supportive and motivating learning environment where mistakes are seen as part of the learning process.

An important aspect of the assessment policy is the absence of standardized tests until high school. This allows students to focus on acquiring knowledge and skills without unnecessary stress and competition. In senior grades, when students are preparing for final exams, assessment becomes more structured; however, the philosophy of support and development, rather than competition, remains.

Thus, the assessment policy of Finnish schools is focused on creating conditions for the full development of the individual and preparing students for life in society, and not just for successfully passing exams.

Assignments are checked not only by teachers, but also by the students themselves.
The annual results take into account the full variety of student work.
Students are given feedback so that they understand their achievements and gaps.

In her analysis of the UK experience, Lenskaya identified several formative assessment tools that are actively used by primary school teachers. These methods can be adapted for other levels of education. Such practices include various approaches to assessment that help not only determine the level of students' knowledge but also contribute to their further development. The use of formative assessment allows teachers to more effectively monitor student progress and make timely adjustments to the educational process. Adapting these tools can significantly improve the quality of learning at all levels of education.

A photo of the best student of the week is posted on the board—but not academic achievements, but other successes are noted—for example, helping a classmate, listening more attentively than anyone else in class, and so on.
The achievements of the entire class are collected in a collection in the form of balls: for each success, a new ball is added to a glass jar—and when it is full, the whole class receives a reward.
In notebooks, the teacher underlines not the worst, but the best parts of the completed assignment.
The teacher does not make negative judgments—he gives advice on what to work on.
Children are encouraged to help each other.
If someone has committed an offense, the children sit in a circle and say something good about the offender, then everyone suggests solutions. For example: "Let me call you in the morning so you don't miss the first lesson." This practice is called "circle of friends."
Parents are sent a detailed report at the end of each quarter.

Examples of the use of formative assessment in various countries demonstrate its effectiveness. The question is whether it is possible to adapt this experience to our education system. Certain difficulties may arise along the way, such as resistance to change on the part of teachers, the need for teacher training and the creation of an appropriate infrastructure. It is also important to consider cultural and social characteristics that can influence the perception of formative assessment.

How to organize formative assessment

Galina Golub, an education management specialist at the Samara branch of RANEPA, emphasized the importance of formative assessment in the educational process. She noted that students should be given the opportunity to independently determine their goals and the level of achievement they strive for. The teacher should support and guide students, but not impose excessive demands and workloads on them. This approach promotes a more effective learning process and the development of personal responsibility in students.

She identified several key principles of formative assessment. To effectively apply these principles, a teacher must:

Plan educational outcomes for each topic.
Define control points for each topic.
Present students with the planned educational outcomes.
Consider a mechanism for feedback with students. This may seem like just extra work, but in fact, it simplifies the assessment procedure. Galina Golub recommended using assessment sheets with specific criteria that are clear to both teacher and student.
Final assessment of educational outcomes within the topic. This is where grading can be done.

Marina Pinskaya, Leading Research Fellow at the HSE Institute for Education Development, emphasized the diversity of formative assessment and the variety of tools needed for its implementation. The main advantage of this approach is that it fosters the development of students with varying levels of ability, allowing each student to reach their full potential. Formative assessment becomes an essential tool in the educational process, providing an individualized approach to learning and tailoring teaching methods to the needs of each student.

Pinskaya emphasizes the importance of student-teacher feedback. Instead of simply asking about students' understanding of the material, it's worth using more effective methods to ensure that students have truly mastered the topic. Using a variety of feedback forms, such as surveys, tests, or interactive assignments, allows for a deeper understanding of the student's understanding and identifies potential knowledge gaps. This, in turn, contributes to better learning and improved student performance.

Use creative tools, such as a matrix of verbal and visual associations. The teacher introduces a term and asks the student how they understand it: they can suggest coming up with an association, drawing a comic, or demonstrating it figuratively.
Draw concept maps—a schematic description of the terms learned and the connections between them.
Have students create tests for each other.

At first glance, these tools may seem unrelated to assessment, but in fact, they play a key role in tracking student progress. We are simply not used to viewing them as an assessment tool. Using such tools allows for a deeper understanding of the level of material assimilation and identifies areas requiring additional attention. This opens up new horizons in the educational process and promotes more effective learning.

According to Pinskaya, no one expects teachers to immediately switch to a new teaching format. Therefore, if a grade is required, it is important to do so based on clear criteria that are understandable to both the teacher and the student. This approach will help ensure the objectivity of assessment and improve understanding of the learning process. Formative assessment has several key advantages that contribute to improving the educational process. First, it allows teachers to receive regular feedback on students' understanding of the material, which helps them make timely adjustments to the learning process. Second, formative assessment allows students to take a more conscious approach to their learning, as they can track their own progress and identify areas requiring additional attention. Third, this approach helps create a more motivating and supportive learning environment, where the emphasis is on skill development rather than final results. Finally, formative assessment helps develop critical thinking and self-esteem in students, which is an important aspect of their personal and professional growth.

Do teachers and students really need all this?

During the discussion, experts repeatedly emphasized that teachers are criticized for the lack of grades in their grade books. This phenomenon is associated with an established stereotype: the more grades, the more successful the teacher is in their work. Our teachers are not accustomed to a different approach. Even students and their parents experience anxiety in the absence of familiar grades, which complicates the transition to a more modern assessment system. It is important to realize that quality education cannot always be expressed in numerical indicators, and it is worth considering alternative assessment methods that will help better reflect the level of material assimilation.

Ekaterina Batrakova, a secondary school teacher from the Novgorod region, shared her experience implementing formative assessment. She noted that at the beginning of the process, she encountered negative feedback from students who found it easier to focus on specific grades. Ekaterina also emphasized that the transition to formative assessment requires time and effort on the part of the teacher, and the results are not immediate. At the beginning of the course, students see no point in studying teacher notes if their work lacks a specific grade. This experience underscores the importance of the correct approach to introducing new assessment methods into the educational process, as well as the need to explain to students the benefits of formative assessment for their academic growth.

In her practice, Ekaterina actively used various information cards, stamps, and stickers. In her opinion, these methods truly motivate students more effectively than traditional teaching approaches. However, some shortcomings soon became apparent:

At a certain point, it becomes necessary to obtain five marks in the journal to assign a grade to a child for the term. However, I did not accumulate these marks, since I assessed most of the work using stamps, stickers, and providing "feedback." The work to implement formative assessment should begin not only with teachers, but also with reforming the education system itself.

Teacher Olga Kuleshova, Ekaterina's colleague, noted the connection between resistance to formative assessment and the influence of our traditional culture, where numerical grades determine success. She emphasized that this is especially noticeable in parents' reactions to changes in their children's grades. Olga suggested considering the following situation: a child who made fifteen errors in a dictation eventually reduced this number to seven. Although progress is evident, for parents and the student themselves, the final grade is still a failing grade. This highlights the need to rethink the approach to assessment and understand students' actual progress. Formative assessment faces difficulties in integrating into the traditional educational system. Parents and students want to see grades to ensure that the learning process is being carried out correctly and that progress is being made. Therefore, it is important for students to discuss key questions with teachers to understand their current level of knowledge and skills. What is our goal? How am I progressing towards this goal? What is my next step? Kuleshova emphasizes that the new learning model still requires time to be implemented. The main challenge is that the transition to this format may require a significant restructuring of the curriculum. In this regard, teachers need support to successfully adapt to changes.

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How to Assess Student Progress: Effective Methods

Contents:

How to organize formative assessment

Do teachers and students really need all this?