Formative assessment is any check during learning whose result changes what the teacher or learner does next (Black and Wiliam). The test is not the technique but the decision it leads to.
Five strategies (Wiliam)
- Clarify learning intentions and success criteria (can-do statements, models of good work).
- Engineer effective discussions and tasks that show what learners understand.
- Give feedback that moves learning forward.
- Activate learners as resources for one another (peer assessment).
- Activate learners as owners of their learning (self-assessment).
Techniques bank
| Technique | Time | Shows | Language-class example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exit ticket | 3-5 min | Individual mastery of today's aim | Three gapped sentences + "Write one question about the weekend" |
| Mini whiteboards | 1-2 min per item | Whole-class answers at once | Show the past form of catch; write a question with ever |
| ABCD cards / fingers | 1 min | MCQ answers at a glance | Which sentence is correct? hold up the letter |
| Hinge question | 2 min | Whether to move on mid-lesson | One MCQ whose distractors reveal specific misconceptions |
| Traffic lights | Seconds | Confidence | Green/amber/red cards on desks during practice |
| Thumbs / fist to five | Seconds | Confidence | "How sure are you about the difference between for and since?" |
| Think-pair-share | 3-5 min | Reasoning, language for explanations | Why is I have seen him yesterday wrong? |
| No hands up, random names | Ongoing | Everyone's understanding, not volunteers' | Lolly sticks or name picker |
| Monitoring checklist | During tasks | Use of target language in speaking | Tick when each learner uses the TL correctly; note errors |
| 3-2-1 | 5 min | Reflection | 3 new words, 2 things I can say now, 1 question |
| Self-assessment vs can-dos | 3 min | Learner ownership | "I can talk about past holidays: easily / with help / not yet" |
| Peer assessment with checklist | 10 min | Criteria awareness | Partner checks an email: greeting, three points, sign-off |
| Error log review | 5 min | Persistent errors | Learners pick two errors from their log to fix in this text |
| Quick write | 5 min | Production | 3 sentences about your plans for the summer |
Writing hinge questions
A hinge question is one item, answered by everyone in under a minute, where each wrong option points to a specific misunderstanding.
Which sentence describes an experience?
A) I went to Japan in 2019. <- confuses experience with finished time
B) I've been to Japan. <- correct
C) I've gone to Japan. <- confuses been / gone
D) I was going to Japan. <- confuses with plansDecision rule: 90%+ correct, move on; otherwise address the misconception the wrong letter shows.
Exit ticket design
- 2-4 items aligned to today's aim (one per objective); one production item.
- Answerable in 3-5 minutes; name on it.
- Mark quickly with 1/0 or 0-2; record in a CSV and run
exit_ticket_tally.py. - Use the result tomorrow: warmer for the whole class, group work for some, extension for others.
Feedback that moves learning forward
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| "Good job!" | "You used three past simple verbs correctly. Now add a time expression to each sentence." |
| Corrects everything | Focuses on 1-2 patterns; asks the learner to find and fix the rest |
| Grade only | Comment first, grade later (or no grade) |
| Given and forgotten | Learner acts on it in the next task |
Planning formative checks into a lesson
| Lesson stage | Check |
|---|---|
| After clarification | CCQs to individuals; mini whiteboards for form |
| Mid-lesson | Hinge question before freer practice |
| During freer practice | Monitoring checklist |
| End | Exit ticket or self-assessment against the can-do |
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Write and review can-do statements for language courses, units, lessons and learner self-assessment, CEFR or NCSSFL-ACTFL style: action (observable verb) + text or situation + level-specific conditions, learner ('I can') and descriptor ('Can') versions, progressions of one activity from A1 to C1, and coverage of reception, production, interaction and mediation. Includes a verb bank by mode and level and condition and text-type banks. Lints statements for teacher-centred phrasing, knowledge instead of use (learn, know, understand the passive), missing context, two skills in one statement, vague quality words, grammar items as outcomes, overlong statements and missing modes in a set.
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Build language course syllabuses aligned to the CEFR (A1-C2, plus levels, Companion Volume 2020): entry and exit levels, guided learning hours and course length (with an L1-distance adjustment), syllabus type (topic, functional-notional, task-based, skills-based, multi-strand), unit-by-unit can-do outcomes, grammar from a core inventory by level, vocabulary, functions, pronunciation, balance of reception, production, interaction and mediation, recycling and assessment points. Checks a syllabus for units without can-do statements, core grammar for the level not covered, items above the course level, skills missing from most units and units with no vocabulary or functions.