Formative Assessment in Upper Secondary Schools: Ideas, Concepts, and Strategies

Recently, the European Commission issued a report on how to implement various assessment strategies in secondary schools. In particular, the Working Group on Schools emphasized the need to implement and balance assessment strategies that address both formative and summative aspects of learning. This study involves 716 Italian upper secondary teachers to highlight the ideas and concepts of formative assessment in Italian schools, to explore how teachers apply formative assessment strategies daily in their classrooms, and to understand whether formative assessment strategies support students’ learning processes. Through an analysis of quantitative and qualitative survey data collected during the school year of 2023–2024, the study explores the strategies used and strengths and weaknesses experienced by the teachers while applying formative assessment in classrooms. While the findings show that upper secondary teachers have heterogeneous and dissimilar ideas regarding formative assessments, they also indicate that using strategies based on feedback, self-assessment, Socratic methods, and metacognitive activities can foster students’ critical thinking and learning processes. Additionally, this study offers insights on how to create a meaningful link between summative and formative assessment procedures.