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For every early childhood educator, effectively monitoring student performance is key to supporting holistic child development. This guide dives into the critical distinctions between formative assessment and summative assessment in early childhood education, exploring how both methodologies can be strategically applied in the classroom.
Understanding their unique purposes is vital, as when used together, these assessment strategies provide a comprehensive picture of a child's learning journey and inform effective teaching practices.
What is formative assessment?
Formative assessment gauges a child’s understanding during the learning process. It helps teachers answer essential questions like: Is the learning on track? What teaching strategies should be removed or improved? For example, imagine teaching preschoolers numbers 1-10, but most didn’t grasp the concept. Formative assessment provides teachers with real-time feedback to recognize where the children are unable to grasp concepts and gives them data to address any issues immediately.
Formative assessment is primarily informal, which works great for preschoolers as they learn best through play, exploration, and interaction. Through daily interaction with and observation of the children, you can collect information on their accomplishments, needs, interests, social skills, and behavior. You can assess their learning in various scenarios like group instruction and activities, center rotations, recess, lunch, and individually working with them.
Formative assessment helps preschool teachers adjust instruction to meet each child’s needs as they grow and change. For example, a child finding it difficult to grasp concepts from a workbook might benefit from using physical objects or playing a game. Common examples of formative assessment include observation, one-to-one conversations, and samples of children’s work.
What is summative assessment?
Summative assessment happens at the end of a learning period and evaluates cumulative learning. It helps teachers gauge a child’s understanding and proficiency after a unit, lesson, or semester. After the learning period, teachers grade a child’s performance against a standard or benchmark. For example, while using a preschool assessment form, the teacher may write the letter “M” to indicate a child has mastered the alphabet or “D” to show a child is still developing a specific skill, like counting up to 10.
Summative assessments affect a child’s ability to progress to the next level or unit. For example, you may need to repeat lessons for a child who hasn’t grasped some concepts. On the other hand, a child who has mastered the concepts will move on to the next learning level. Summative assessment also helps highlight gaps in the curriculum and instruction so teachers can recognize where they need to change teaching strategies.
Brightwheel makes it easy to track student progress. With streamlined milestone tracking, customizable portfolio templates, and easy sharing with families, teachers can assess children's progress in real-time and enhance learning in the classroom.
Preschool Daily Sheet
Use this template to document a child's activities, meals, naps, and learning throughout the day.
Difference between formative and summative assessment
Preschool assessments play a crucial role in early childhood education, serving as foundational tools for understanding each child's developmental progress and learning needs.
In the sections below, we discuss the main differences between formative and summative assessments.
Low stakes vs high stakes
Formative assessment is generally low stakes, and is mainly done by observation and interaction. On the other hand, summative assessment is usually high stakes because it’s graded and tends to have consequences if a child hasn’t mastered key concepts.
Informal vs formal
Formative assessments are primarily informal, allowing children to participate without knowing they are being assessed. On the other hand, summative assessments can be graded in alignment with instruction goals and expected outcomes, and in some cases, the child might be aware that you’re assessing them.
Timing
The time frame is one of the most significant differences between these two types of assessment. Formative assessments happen during the learning period and are ongoing as the teacher deems appropriate. However, summative assessments are often one-off at the end of the learning period.
Focus and scope
Formative assessment focuses on improving how a child learns. It helps monitor the child’s learning progress so that teachers can catch problems early and adjust their instruction method if necessary. Summative assessment focuses more on evaluating the overall understanding of what children have learned.
Formative assessment covers small areas of learning, while summative assessment covers a large portion of learning. For example, a teacher will monitor the performance of a child’s recognition of the number “1” when performing a formative assessment and test the child’s recognition of numbers 1-10 when conducting a summative assessment.
Examples of formative assessment in early childhood education
Preschool formative assessments help teachers monitor children’s physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development. Examples include:
Observation
Teachers need to observe children to assess their engagement in lessons and understanding of key concepts. This monitoring extends beyond the classroom and can continue on the playground during recess.
Two childhood observation methods you can use include anecdotal records and running records. Anecdotal records are brief notes taken by a teacher detailing a child’s actions and comments during an activity. These notes are typically written in past tense and answer the questions “what, where, and when” of a specific activity. Running record observations on the other hand are written in the present tense, offering a detailed account of a child’s actions and interests as they happen.
Teachers will have a general idea of a child’s development by observing their behavior, interests, social skills, academic accomplishments, and more. Monitoring will help teachers understand the child's needs and what areas to spend more time on. An excellent way for educators to keep their observations organized is to print index cards with space for details like the date, the child’s name, a skill you’re assessing, and observations.
Samples of children’s work
Samples of children’s work, like drawings, crafts, and paintings, help their families understand what the children are learning. It’s helpful to include a few notes to explain the sample so the family has context on what the child was doing or what skill they were learning. Save each child’s samples in an individual folder or box.
One-to-one conversations
One-to-one conversations are effective because you get the opportunity to interact with the child directly and really understand what a child knows and how they came to that knowledge. To dig deeper into a child’s understanding, ask questions like “How did you figure that out?”, “Tell me how you know”, “Why do you think that?” Remember to follow these up with clarifying questions.
Family communication
Regular communication between teachers and families is crucial for assessing growth and development. For example, teachers can send short questionnaires with a couple of action points to parents or guardians to monitor skills the child might be struggling with, such as self-regulation. When assessment happens on both fronts, it’s more effective.Summative assessment examples for early childhood
While formative assessments are typically preferred in early education settings, summative assessments can still be used to gauge a child’s overall development and understanding.
Progress report cards
Progress report cards give families a quick and clear look at what areas the child is excelling in and where they need to improve. Ensure that you cover the child's progress in the main developmental areas—language, social-emotional development, physical skills, and cognitive skills. Your specific program will determine how often you issue a progress report card, however, quarterly or semi-annually is a great place to start.
Hands-on performance tasks
Performance tasks are practical, simple, and straightforward tasks that allow children to put their knowledge to work. They can help teachers evaluate specific skills such as color knowledge, pattern skills, or counting skills. For example, if you want to assess color knowledge and pattern skills, place manipulatives of three different colors in front of the child. Then ask them, “Can you put all the yellow bears together, all the blue bears together, and all the green ones together?” You can also do the same for different shapes.
Portfolios
A portfolio is a structured way to document a child’s learning progress and growth over a period of time. It can include any material that highlights a child’s development such as drawings or art samples, photographs documenting a specific activity, or descriptions of conversations with the child. The portfolio can be a digital collection of records, a physical portfolio, or a combination of both.
Combining formative and summative assessment
Effectively monitoring and supporting child progress in early childhood education relies on a thoughtful integration of both formative and summative assessment approaches. When used in tandem, these assessment strategies create a comprehensive and holistic understanding of each child's learning journey.
The synergistic relationship between formative and summative data
Formative assessment offers ongoing insights that let educators adjust instruction in real time, while summative assessment captures overall learning at specific moments. When used together, daily formative feedback prepares children for summative evaluations, and summative results help refine formative strategies. This combined approach ensures every child’s progress is supported and confirms teaching effectiveness over time.
Creating a balanced assessment portfolio
For each child, building an assessment portfolio becomes an invaluable tool. This isn't just a folder of papers; it's a dynamic collection that demonstrates growth over time. It typically includes anecdotal notes from formative observations, photos or videos of skills in action, examples of children's work (drawings, dictated stories, constructions), and standardized checklists or progress reports from summative assessments.
A well-organized portfolio offers a rich, multi-faceted narrative of a child's development, providing concrete evidence of their learning journey to share with families and future educators.
Using assessment insights to inform teaching practices
The ultimate goal of combining these assessment types is to genuinely inform teaching practices. The data gathered from both formative and summative assessments should directly influence your curriculum planning, activity design, and individual interactions.
If formative assessments reveal a common misconception among several children, you might adjust your daily circle time or small group activities. If summative data shows consistent strength in one area, you might extend learning opportunities. Conversely, if a summative assessment highlights an area of unexpected difficulty, it prompts a deeper look through formative observations to pinpoint specific challenges, allowing for targeted interventions and a truly responsive learning environment.
The bottom line
Mastering both formative and summative assessment strategies is essential for early childhood educators. While formative assessments provide ongoing insights to guide immediate instruction and foster continuous learning, summative assessments offer a comprehensive overview of learning outcomes and program effectiveness.
By purposefully integrating these assessment tools, providers can gain a holistic understanding of each child's development, ensuring they are well-equipped to support every learner's journey and meet the diverse needs within their early learning environment.
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