Difference between Formative and Summative Evaluation

Indicator	Formative	Summative
Goal	The goal of formative assessment is to improve	The goal of summative assessment is to prove
Purpose	To enhance learning	To make judgements about students’ performance
Relation to instruction	Occurs during instruction	Occurs after instruction
Frequency	Occurs on a continuous basis (daily)	Occurs at a particular point of time to determine what students know
Role	To improve learning allows teachers to make decisions and monitor their instructions based on students’ performance	To predict & judge students’ performance, give grades and determine if the content being taught was retained
Role of students	Active involvement	Passive Involvement
Examples
Design	Designed to adjust teaching and learning while they are still occurring	Designed to provide information about the amount of learning that has occurred at a particular time
Means of testing	Quiz, interviews, conversations, visual and oral testing, projects, practicals and assignments, etc.	Assessment in the form of pen-paper test mostly
Evaluation	Done to improve or change a program while it is in progress	Focuses on the results or outcomes of a program