I know that it is too late to change the word "assessment" with formative (and I don't know what I would put in its place), but assessment is so tied to grading in everyone's mind. Formative assessment is not a grade or a "final" of anything. FA strategies help us accumulate data to find where student learning is and how teaching should address the next step toward the learning goal. SP

Giving students time to reflect and engage in the metacognition act is so important. Too many times, instructors rush from one assessment to the next instead of letting students build a piece and reconstruct it over and over, based on feedback and reflection -- deep learning can occur if we let it.

I don't believe that other forms of assessment tools are "nebulous". Teachers can use checklists, detailed expectations, or whatever as long as we can help eliminate the "hit or miss" part of assessment!

While I can understand the concerns about formulaic writing, the rubrics themselves don't have to be prescriptive. And shouldn't instructors always use multiple measures to insure that students get the guidance they need?

Assessment literate - that is the key to all of "assessment" problems with education. Very few people are trained in teacher training to become literate in the use of data, interpreting data correctly, and using data to assess learning needs and teaching goals. SP

But how are we to attain quality and balance in our state testing in Iowa. The tests are predetermined for us and they keep changing -- ITEDs, Iowa Assessment, and soon Smarter Balance, if the rumors are true. I would love to see schools using their own assessments based on the standards, but our students are judged by the BIG tests, not district tests. Balance is also questionable. Who determines how much and when, in addition to what?