Which research approach to classroom assessment for learning is the most apt? Suggestions from analysis of systematic reviews

Abstract

The conceptualization of the device of formative assessment of classroom learning has evolved, since the 1960s, within different theoretical frameworks with impacts on empirical research approaches as well. This paper defines formative assessment as a regulatory assessment to support student learning. The purpose of this device is to foster the development of a democratic society. At the same time, the device adopted is considered the outcome of the culturally conditioned interweaving of factors related to the different actors involved within the classroom (the teacher, teaching team, and students) and beyond it (families and the educational institution and, at a more peripheral level, the Invalsi assessment device and the ministerial assessment policy influenced by European policies and international surveys). The paper analyzes the outcomes of systematic reviews to see to what extent the research designs have considered the theoretical framework proposed here.