Teacher Candidates' Exposure to Formative Assessment in Educational Psychology Textbooks: A Content Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to define formative assessment, outline what is known about the prevalence of formative assessment implementation in the classroom, establish the importance of formative assessment with regards to student motivation and achievement, and present the results of a content analysis of current educational psychology textbooks. Several key definitions of formative assessment are examined, and various means of conducting formative assessment are outlined. Numerous studies that have examined the effects of formative assessment on motivation and achievement are summarized. The theoretical link between formative assessment and several important motivational constructs is established, and suggestions for future research are delineated.