Formative Assessments are part of the teaching process. They should be incorporated into class time so that students can be evaluated while they are learning new material. These types of assessments are important because they allow teachers to adjust their teaching style and the material being taught in order for students to learn more effectively.
-Formative assessments should be thought of as "practice", not as a test. Students are not expected to know all of the information they just learned, but it is important for teachers to be able to measure how much information their students have retained in a short amount of time.
-Formative assessments also measure student involvement in new material. If students are fully engaged and interested during the learning process, they will perform much better on a formative assessment. Teachers need to create a positive and interesting environment for students to learn in if they want their students to pay attention and take an interest in the material being taught.
On the other hand, Summative Assessments are the actual tests and formal quizzes given to students. These assessments serve to measure students' overall progress in a course and can give the teacher an accurate depiction of what his or her students know and do not know.
-Summative assessments are given at particular periods of time in order to gauge students' knowledge.
-Summative assessments are not always effective because they are so far spread out. Students can be likely to forget material they've learned earlier in a course if teachers do not review the material enough.
-These type of assessments do not always accurately measure how much students have learned because they have not had the type of practice that they would get with formative assessments.
