As a coach and educator for over 15 years, I have noticed that there are many parallels between coaching and teaching. I have always heard (and preached myself) that formative assessments are like the practices - players put in work and coach provides feedback preparing them for the big game. The same within the classroom - the students put in work (formatives) and the teacher provides feedback preparing them for the big test (the summative).
There has been much research and attention around formatives recently - and rightly so - the feedback it provides to both the teacher and student is so powerful in the learning process.
However, I wonder how much we have thought differently about the summative; or "the big game".
As I watched March Madness games, I noticed a ton of coaching going on. The coach provided instructions and feedback to players constantly during the game. And in many sports, the coach is actually able to call a timeout to stop the game to provide feedback, an opportunity for players to self-assess, and review expectations, instructions, and the game plan. The coach does not just sit there in the chair and let the players perform and then give them a grade at the end of the performance. If we preach that the summative assessment is like the game - then why does our teaching and coaching stop during the summative?
What if we thought differently about summative assessments? What would this look like?
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