Executive summary -- Pt. 1. Thematic discussion: 1. The case for formative assessment -- 2. Policy frameworks -- 3. The elements of formative assessment: case study findings and supporting research -- 4. Formative assessment in practice -- 5. Benefits and barriers -- 6. Policy implications -- Pt. 2. The case studies: Canada: encouraging the use of summative data for formative purposes / Anne Sliwka, Marian Fushell, Martine Gauthier and Rick Johnson -- Denmark: building on a tradition of democracy and dialogue in schools / John Townshend, Leif Moos and Poul Skov -- England: implementing formative assessment in a high stakes environment / Janet Looney and Dylan Wiliam -- Finland: empasising development instead of competition and comparison / Joke Voogt and Helena Kasurinen -- Italy: a system in transition / Janet Looney, Cosimo Laneve and Maria Teresa Moscato -- New Zealand: embedding formative assesment in multiple policy initiatives / Janet Looney and Jenny Poskitt -- Queensland, Australia: an outcomes-based curriculum / Judy Sebba and Graham Maxwell -- Scotland: developing a coherent system of assessment / Anne Sliwka and Ernest Spencer -- Pt. 3. The literature reviews: Changing teaching through formative assessment: research and practice. The King's-Medway-Oxfordshire forative assessment project / Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam -- Formative assessment of learning: a review of publications in French / Linda Allal and Lucie Mottier Lopez -- Formative assessment in classrooms: a review of the empirical german literature / Olaf Kl̲ler.

This study features a collection of eight case studies of exemplary cases from secondary schools as well as international literature reviews and policy analysis related to formative assessment - the frequent assessments of student progress to identify learning needs and shape teaching. It examines such issues as benefits and barriers for using formative assessment, policy frameworks and implications, and formative assessment in practice. Achievement gains attributed to formative assessment are reported as being quite high, but it is not yet practiced systematically. This book makes the case for use of formative assessment and shows how it can be put into practice.