Keys to Successful Learning: formative assessment

Keys to Successful Learning

The Keys to Successful Learning project supported primary schools in the Czech Republic in introducing and using formative assessment. Formative assessment looks not only at results but, with equal emphasis, at the whole learning process. It builds children’s self-confidence, teaches them to assess themselves and their classmates, and helps parents follow their progress independently of test scores.

Montessori Schools Andílek ran the project together with the Czech Montessori Association (Asociace Montessori ČR). Six schools known for their quality and good practice became regional peer support centres. Several times a year, the centres opened their doors to teachers, head teachers, parents, and preschool and leisure-time educators. They worked with expert advisors, learned from practice abroad and used the innovative observation tools DERS and MEFS in their own classrooms.

Formative assessment is a natural part of Montessori education. Montessori schools could therefore offer clear examples of everyday work with children and help other schools and the public understand how this kind of assessment works in practice.

The outputs include a databank of ideas for introducing formative assessment, a proposed training programme for teachers, methodological videos and recordings from the online conference BEZ ZNÁMEK?! (Without Grades?!). All outputs are available below and on the klicekuceni.cz platform. Most materials are in Czech.

The project ran from July 2018 to June 2021 and was co-funded by the European Union under the Operational Programme Research, Development and Education.