Hello Janet,

You wrote:

The OECD's interest in formative assessment is based on research  
supporting
the effectiveness of the approach (in their seminal 1998 review* ,  
Paul Black
and Dylan Wiliam describe the achievement gains associated with  
formative
assessment as "among the largest ever reported for educational  
interventions.")
It has also emerged as an important strategy for education reform in  
several countries.

* See Black P. and D. Wiliam (1998), "Assessment and Classroom  
Learning",
Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, CARFAX,
Oxfordshire, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 7-74.

Based on the Black and William study, if the same findings were to  
hold true for adults as for secondary school students , that the use  
of (systematic) formative assessment is associated with very large  
learning gains, perhaps the Black and William study should be  
replicated in adult learning settings. Are the OECD case studies a  
step toward that? Are they a way to investigate whether such a study  
would be warranted?

Are you aware of any other studies of the use of formative assessment  
with adults other than those OECD is conducting now?

And here are three questions for discussion participants:

1. Are you involved in a program which actively engages in formative  
assessment?  If so, tell us about your practice.  What do teachers  
and learners look at? How are data from formative assessment used to  
improve the learning process?
2. What do you think is the right mix of formative and summative  
assessment?
3. How did you learn how to do formative assessment?

David J. Rosen
Special Topics Discussion Moderator
djrosen at comcast.net