Which statement best describes formative assessment vs summative assessment in early childhood education?

• A. Formative assessment evaluates learning at the end of a period; summative informs ongoing instruction.
• B. Formative assessment informs ongoing instruction; summative assessment evaluates learning at a specific point or at the end of a period.
• C. Formative assessments are not used with young children.
• D. Formative and summative assessment are the same.

Answer: (B)

Formative assessment is an ongoing process used to monitor a child’s learning and guide instruction as it happens. In early childhood, teachers observe play and conversation, collect quick work samples, and use check-ins to see what a child understands at that moment, then adjust activities, prompts, or supports right away to keep learning moving forward. Summative assessment, by contrast, is used to evaluate what a child has learned at a particular point in time or at the end of a period, often for reporting progress to families or meeting program standards.

This distinction is why the statement is the best fit: it says formative assessment informs ongoing instruction and summative assessment evaluates learning at a specific point or at the end of a period. The other ideas don’t fit as well: formative assessments aren’t limited to the end of a period, they are widely used with young children, and they are not the same thing as summative assessments.