Continuous Formative Assessment of Students is being Piloted Successfully
Within the framework of the I2Q project, along with the strengthening of the whole school, the consulting company IBF International is actively continuing its work on improving and developing the system of continuous formative assessment of students. The experts have developed recommendations for revising, refining, and updating the formative assessment system, practice, and methodology. The piloting of the proposed approaches and mechanisms in 12 pre-selected schools began in the 2023-2024 academic year.
Meetings were held on 22-23 March 2024, chaired by Norman Emerson, IBF International’s assessment expert, that aimed to receive feedback from teachers involved in piloting the updated assessment tools. The teachers followed the recommendations offered by international experts, using their approaches and mechanisms, acting according to the pre-written plan, and presenting feedback based on practice at the meeting.
Teachers noted that using continuous formative assessment of the student in daily practice is very important to maintain the quality of teaching and learning and make it a part of the daily teaching process. According to the teachers’ feedback, the formative assessment mechanisms and tools provided by international experts are very efficient. According to the presented approaches, formative assessment should shift as simple a process as possible and become a part of the teacher’s daily practice.
The model of continuous formative assessment of students presented by the IBF International experts provides a tool for a complex task and additionally offers schools specific assessment mechanisms that have been well-tested in many countries. However, should be noted that this is not an attempt to automatically transfer the model of formative assessment of other countries to Georgia. That is why the piloting process is underway, which aims to identify the positive and negative aspects of evaluation mechanisms – what works well in Georgia and what needs to be modified.
International experts point out that digitization of the development process is meaningful, which implies using the technologies to simplify the process. The international experts recommended the use of the Moodle e-learning platform for collaboration among teachers. The platform is perfect for sharing practices and teachers’ continuous professional development. The platform will gather all the necessary information about formative assessment. Also, there will be an opportunity to create an individual profile and portfolio for all teachers.
The pilot report will be available at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year, and starting the next academic year, these teachers will share the experience with 38 other pilot school teachers.