What is the difference between formative and summative assessment?

Formative assessment

The general goal of formative assessment is to collect detailed information that can be used to improve instruction and student learning while it’s happening. What makes an assessment “formative” is not the design of a test, technique, or self-evaluation, per se, but the way it is used—i.e., to inform in-process teaching and learning modifications. This benefits both instructors and students in the following ways:

help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work
help instructors recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately
provide helpful information to instructors on which techniques or content areas may not be resulting in effective learning

Formative assessments are generally low stakes, which means that they have low or no point value. The main purpose is to provide feedback, which may contain resources to allow the student to improve.

Summative assessment

The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate or measure student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.

Summative assessments are often high stakes, which means that they have a high point value. Examples of summative assessments include:

a midterm exam
a final project
a paper
a final exam

Information from summative assessments can be used formatively when students or faculty use it to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses.

Resources:

Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation, Carnegie Mellon, Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, Retrieved from http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative-summative.html

The Glossary of Education Reform, (2014) Great Schools Partnership, 482 Congress Street, Suite 500, Portland, ME 04101, Retrieved from http://edglossary.org/formative-assessment/