6 Resources to Help Teachers Better Undertsand Formative Assessment

Here are some resources on formative assessment by Dylan Wiliam. Feel free to share this page with other teachers looking to get a better understanding of how F.A. drives teaching and learning.

Dylan Wiliam, "Black Box"

Inside the Black Box
Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment. Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam. King's College London, 1998
Working Inside the Black Box
Working Inside the Black Box: Assessment for Learning in the Classroom. Paul Black, Christine Harrison, Clare Lee, Bethan Marshall, and Dylan Wiliam, King's College London, 2002

Assessment for Learning: 10 Principles, Assessment Reform Group, 2002
Testing, Motivation and Learning
Testing, Motivation and Learning: Assessment Reform Group, 2002
The Black Box Assessment for Learning Series, edited by Paul Black, Christine Harrison, Bethan Marshall, and Dylan Wiliam, King’s College London has been written to apply to specific curriculum areas.. These resources are not available online. Details of the titles available are listed on the Assessment Online Publications page.

Dylan Wiliam videos on formative assessment
These short videos feature one of the gurus of formative assessment talking about a range of formative assessment aspects. Watch as he reviews the nature of formative assessment and how teachers can use it to gain better insights into student learning and achievement. They are available on the Education Scotland website. Type "Dylan Wiliam" into the search.

Dylan William’s five key strategies animated on YouTube
Michael Rystad summarises the Five Key Strategies for Embedded Formative Assessment as proposed by Dylan William.  The YouTube presentation is in an animated drawing/writing style, with a simple expansion of the ideas contained in each of the strategies.
William, D., Keeping Learning on Track Formative assessment and the regulation of learning (PDF 130 KB)
In this paper, Dylan Wiliam outlines some of the research that suggests that focusing on the use of day-to-day formative assessment is one of the most powerful ways of improving learning in the mathematics classroom.