Kingston, N., & Nash, B. (2011). Formative assessment: A meta-analysis and a call for research. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 30(4), 28-37.
Kingston and Nash conducted a meta-analysis on studies examining the efficacy of formative assessment practices in K-12 classrooms. Inclusion criteria included a description of the formative assessment intervention, a K-12 setting, a control group, presence of the statistics needed to calculate effect size, and a publication date of 1988 or later. The authors reviewed more than 300 studies though only 13 sufficiently met inclusion criteria. Kingston and Nash found a weighted mean effect size of .20, which is lower than previously documented in formative assessment meta-analyses. Results indicate that formative assessment might be more effective in English/language arts instruction than math or science. Additionally, implementation based on professional development as well as use of computer-based formative systems seemed to more effectively raise student scores. The authors conclude with recommendations for future studies including clear descriptions of formative assessment practices and inclusion of effect sizes.
Data Integrity, Expectations for Data Use, Formative Assessment
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