Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment
Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Phi
Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139-148.
Probably the most cited document on formative assessment, this article identifies efforts to raise student achievement levels
that failed because they focused on standards and accountability while ignoring what teachers and students do in the
classroom. The authors then proceed to summarize the research evidence that improving formative assessment practices
significantly improves student performance and to describe how to go about developing better formative assessment skills
of teachers.
The concept of formative assessment
Boston, C. (2002). Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 8(9).
This item, in a peer-review electronic journal, very briefly describes formative assessment and some significant research
related to it. It is cited here because it identifies several resources for teachers.