• They assess skills and content that have been derived from the backward planning process. They seek to assess the key learning milestones in the unit or learning sequence.
• They are actionable. They are designed so that student responses either clearly demonstrate mastery of the skills and content, or they show exactly where mastery is lacking or misunderstanding is occurring.
• When possible, they are student-centered. Using an assessment where students measure themselves or their peers, or where they're prompted to reflect on their results, puts students in charge of their own learning. It allows students to consider their own progress and determine positive next steps. Unfortunately, student-centered formative assessments don't always yield the easiest and most actionable information for teachers, so their benefits have to be weighed against other factors."

• If 80% or more demonstrate mastery, you'll likely want to proceed according to plan with subsequent lessons. For individual students not demonstrating mastery, you'll want to find ways to interject extra support. This might mean a differentiated assignment, a guided lesson during independent work time, or support outside of class.
• If between 50% and 80% demonstrate mastery, you'll need to use class time to have structured differentiation. You'll need to build this into the next lesson(s) if it isn't already planned. This means different activities or guided instruction for different groups of students. Students who've demonstrated mastery could engage in an extension activity or additional practice, or serve as support for other students. Students still attempting mastery could receive additional guided practice or additional instructional materials like multimedia resources or smaller "chunks" of content.
• If fewer than 50% demonstrate mastery, you'll need to do some whole-class reteaching. There are many approaches and concrete strategies for reteaching."

• Content knowledge ("define," "identify," "differentiate") is generally the easiest to assess. For less rigorous objectives like these, a simple fist-to-five survey or exit ticket can work well. An edtech tool can also work well here, as many of them can score and aggregate multiple-choice responses automatically.
• Higher-order thinking skills ("analyze," "synthesize," "elaborate") are generally more difficult and time-consuming to assess. For this, you'll likely use a different question type than multiple choice and need to allow more time for students to work. A good option here is to have students do a peer assessment using a rubric, which has the double benefit of allowing them to reflect on their own learning and cutting down the time you need to spend assessing the work. This can be done through an LMS or another project-based learning app, or through old-school paper and pencil; it just depends on your preference. Because students -- and adults, too -- often don't know what they don't know, self-assessments may be less accurate and less actionable for these types of skills.
• Process-oriented skills ("script," "outline," "list the steps") also tend to be more difficult to assess. Graphic organizers can work well here, allowing teachers (or peer reviewers) to see how students arrived at their results. STEM apps for higher-order thinking and coding apps can also make this assessment information more accessible."

• Summative assessments help teachers and administrators alike, in improving curriculum and curriculum planning. Standards-driven instruction plays a large role in schools today. When summative assessments show consistent gaps between student knowledge and learning targets, schools may turn to improved curriculum planning or new curriculum to fill those learning gaps.

• Summative assessments can serve as a guide to improving teaching methods. We all use different teaching methodology within the classroom.Summative assessments can help us collaborate and improve teaching methods from year to year.

9 Summative Assessment Examples to Try This School Year.