Why Formative Assessment Matters - The Power of Prior Knowledge

With the Teaching and Learning Focus being Assessment for Learning this half term, I found this blog post quite timely.

In essence:
"Formative assessment matters because it focuses our attention on students’ prior knowledge and provides us with the techniques to bring this knowledge to light.
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"Ignorance of students’ prior knowledge leaves us fumbling in the dark.  Without it, we cannot choose where to pitch a lesson, identify who will need help or evaluate who has learned anything new: our plans and responses will be insensitive to the differing needs of students familiar with the Reformation, those needing a brief reminder and those fresh to the topic entirely.
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Full post:
http://improvingteaching.co.uk/2017/02/12/why-formative-assessment-matters-the-power-of-prior-knowledge/