Formative & Next Generation Assessments

In a recent release by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), Margaret Heritage of CRESST writes that, "We risk losing the promise that formative assessment holds for teaching and learning...due to the false assumption that formative assessment is a specific type of measurement rather than a process that is fundamental and indigenous to the practice of teaching and learning."
The report urges both the Smarter Balance and the PARCC consortiums to recognize the importance of classroom-based assessment rather than relying solely on administering interim assessments that are mini versions of the standardized test. The interpretation of the international research on formative assessment by the United States misses the essential principle that formative assessment is a process not a test. Also lost is the importance of a teacher's response to the classroom assessment.
read the full report at http:www.cse.ucla.edu/products/misc/Formative_Assessment_Next_Generation_Heritage.pdf