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2 references
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- Vol 2 RE: App D
- Vol 4 RE: App C
- Vol 5 RE: Chapters 2, 3, 4, 10, 15
- Vol 5 TE: App C
formative assessmentlearning intentionssuccess criteriafeedback for learningclassroom discussionpeer assessmentstudent self-regulationinstructional decision makingBook Evidence summaryAt a glance
Wiliam treats formative assessment as a process for improving decisions during learning, not as a particular test or an extra event after teaching. Evidence becomes formative when teachers, learners, or peers elicit and interpret it and use it to choose better next steps than they would otherwise have taken.
Key ideas
The book organises practice around five strategies: clarify learning intentions and success criteria; engineer discussions and tasks that reveal understanding; provide feedback that moves learning forward; activate students as instructional resources for one another; and develop students as owners of their learning. Practical techniques—including diagnostic questions, all-student response systems, peer assessment, and comments focused on improvement—serve these strategies rather than functioning as universal recipes. Their value depends on what evidence they produce and how instruction changes in response. The book synthesises research and classroom practice; it is not one controlled trial of all its techniques.
Why it matters
For teachers, the central design question is what students are thinking now. Useful routines make that thinking visible, involve every learner, create actionable information, and preserve responsibility for the intellectual work with students.
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- Vol 2 RE: Chapter 3
- Vol 7 RE: Chapter 5
retrieval practicetesting effectclassroom learningcorrective feedbackdelayed learningtransfer-appropriate processingretrieval opportunitiesformative assessmentJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Yang and colleagues synthesise classroom evidence for retrieval practice rather than relying only on laboratory studies. The meta-analysis includes 222 independent studies and data from 48,478 learners.
Key ideas
Across comparisons, testing or quizzing produced a medium average improvement in academic achievement over restudy and other control activities (Hedges’ g = 0.499). Effects varied with the comparison strategy, match between practice and final-test formats and materials, corrective feedback, number of retrieval opportunities, timing and location, intervention duration, and research design. The authors find results compatible with additional exposure, transfer-appropriate processing, and motivational accounts; the analysis does not establish that one mechanism explains every effect. The pooled estimate also should not be read as a guaranteed effect for any quiz implementation, because included studies and conditions were heterogeneous.
Why it matters
For educators, retrieval should be low stakes and aligned with important knowledge, repeated over time, followed by corrective information, and used to guide learning rather than merely assign grades. Comparing retrieval with a credible alternative and monitoring delayed learning provide more meaningful evidence than immediate quiz performance alone.
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Edition abbreviations
- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
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