What do we mean when we talk about teacher professional development in formative assessment? A systematic review

Although educational systems worldwide recognize Formative Assessment (FA) practices as a cornerstone of high-quality instruction, it remains unclear what characteristics professional development programs need to impact teachers’ FA practices and students’ learning outcomes. This systematic review aimed to fill this gap by systematically identifying, describing and analyzing the available evidence. To be included, studies had to a) focus on primary or secondary teachers, b) report on a professional development program targeted at improving FA practices, c) measure teachers’ FA practices and d) represent an interventional study. We identified 23 eligible reports including quantitative and qualitative studies and extracted data on teacher and professional development program characteristics, outcomes and impact evidence. Our findings revealed that 69.56 % of professional development programs emphasized providing feedback to students, while less than 8.70 % included implementing rubrics, progress monitoring and integrating formative with summative assessments as learning outcomes. Evidence on the impact of professional development programs on teachers’ FA practices was very heterogeneous, consisting of only four studies with an intervention-control group design and 15 single group comparisons with diverse measurements including declarative, procedural and self-knowledge outcomes. Overarching topics in the qualitative evidence pointed to sources of support, difficulties, and knowledge transfer experienced by teachers in professional development programs on FA. Only six of the studies measured the impact of professional development programs on students’ learning in addition to teachers’ FA practices and almost exclusively focused on academic rather than socio-emotional outcomes. Overall, the evidence base is highly heterogeneous, showcasing the variety of approaches scholars have chosen to design, implement and measure the impact of professional development programs on FA. This heterogeneity underscores the complexity of the topic and offers insights into different components that need to be considered in future research, while representing a valuable guide for stakeholders aiming for evidence-based approaches for professional development programs on FA.