Each type of assessment can be used to clarify understanding through questioning.
Assessments are given to students constantly throughout their school day, yet they may not be aware of them. Formative and diagnostic assessments are very similar but have some small differences in their uses. Both are used by teachers to gain knowledge about the current academic level of their students and to reformat any lesson planning to encourage a deeper understanding.
Diagnostic Assessment
Diagnostic assessment can be described as an interactive and informal assessment that allows the teacher to review the current level of achievement of each student. The tests are commonly given at the beginning of each school year and before starting new concept materials to gain a knowledge of any prior student knowledge, thus allowing the restructuring of time allotment on each specific subtopic. They may also be referred to as "pre-assessments" in that they are given before any graded exams to gain statistics on any need for added learning on the part of each student.
Formative Assessment
Formative assessments test children during the learning process throughout the lesson, thematic unit, chapter, quarter and school year. They are an ongoing and informal process that allows the teacher to gather information on each student's learning, which gives the students feedback on their progress and the teacher guidance on reformat teaching styles, if necessary. Observation of student work, peer reviews, goal-setting and student reflection are all useful tools when performing a formative assessment.
Differences
A formative assessment tests student knowledge during the lesson or activity to find out if children are comprehending concepts, while a diagnostic assessment may be used after the concept lessons have ended to find out if the children have retained the information necessary to be used in the next concept lesson unit. Formative assessments can be done on a daily basis while children may not know they are being tested; diagnostic tests can be a bit more formal.
Results
Formative assessments allow teachers to differentiate their instruction by finding the current level of each student and restructuring the lesson plans according to their specific needs on a daily basis while preparing students for more formal assessments. The results gathered from formative assessments direct the teacher to capitalize on teachable moments while students practice concepts in the classroom.
Diagnostic assessment results are similar to that of formative in that the information is used to check the level of understanding for each student. The results are used by teachers to format lessons and ensure that the knowledge retained by the class is in line with the national and state standards of achievement.
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