Formative assessment and its practices in key stage two : a case study of its process and impact on students achievement in a school in male' / Shakeeba Ali

Abstract:
In the past two years, much focus have been given on practicing Formative Assessment due to the introduction of new curriculum. However, teachers' find it difficult to practice Formative Assessment as a proper training was not given to the teachers before implementing Formative Assessment. As a result, teacher have been undertaken in many countries to explore how Formative Assessment practices implement in the classroom during the instructional time, no research or study has been available in the Maldivian context. Thus, the purpose of this essay was to discover the status of Formative Assessment and its practices in key stage two. An exploratory case study was designed with the semi-structured interviews, document analysis from student's exercise books and teachers' lesson notes which were utilized to explore the case. A government school in Male' was selected to investigate the case. The sample of the study includes three teachers, two members from senior management, two parents and two students from key stage two. Document analysis were done using 144 exercises from 8 different subjects. A total of 8 lesson notes from four different subjects were studied for the purpose of exploring the quality of feedback given. The findings of the study reveal that a transformation changes is needed in the way Formative Assessment is being practiced currently. Lack of time, large class size, teaching multiple grades, lack of resources and professional support were identified as challenges. Much focus has to be given to the way teachers' give feedback in a relation to students' development. Motivating teachers by conducting professional training is necessary for effective implementation of Formative Assessment in the selected school.