Formative Assessment, a Critical Sunday School Task

We don't talk very much about assessment for Sunday School. Perhaps that is because most people, when they hear the term "assessment," think about summative assessment.

Summative assessment measures achievement and assigns a judgment, a grade. It is the grade you get at the end of the course in school. It is also all the grades for the quizzes and tests you took that are compiled to make up that final grade. The key here is that the assessment is fixed and immutable at that point in time at which it is rendered. We are judged, and often found wanting.

Formative assessment is different. It is assessment that intends to set the course for continued effort or instruction. It is the pre-test that helps the teacher to understand what the student already knows and does not yet know about a subject. It is the ongoing data from your GPS, telling you how you are doing as you approach your destination. It is the regular checkup with the doctor that suggests changes in diet or treatment for an illness.

One could argue that summative assessment has relatively little value in Christian education. The objective of such training, faith in Christ and life as one of God's children, is not subject to objective measurement or human judgment.

Formative assessment though would seem to be a different matter. When a teacher takes time to determine what a student, or a class as a whole, remembers about or knows about a particular Bible account, the teaching that follows can be more carefully tailored to the needs of those students. When a teacher takes time to investigate how each of the students in a group most enjoy learning or how they learn most easily, activities can be chosen that will capture more attention and accomplish more teaching and learning. When a teacher takes time in the middle of a lesson to check for comprehension, the remainder of the lesson can be salvaged or maximized.

So, forget the final grade! But take time to ask, "What do they know?" and "How am I doing?" Because the important thing at the end of the hour is not how much did I teach but how much did they learn?

God's blessings as His children learn His Word!