Assessment for Learning: Effective Strategies and Techniques

Assessment for learning is assessment used during teaching to find out what learners can already do, give them usable feedback, and change the next teaching move. The point is improvement in this lesson or this week, not a final grade.

It is close to formative assessment, and it is not the same as formative versus summative as a pair of exam types. It is also not formal versus informal. Last reviewed: 31 August 2026.

What it involves

• Clear intended learning, said in language learners can use
• Evidence gathered while work is happening: questions, observation, drafts, exit tickets, short tasks
• Feedback that names what to do next, not only a mark
• Learners looking at their own work, and sometimes a peer’s, against the same criteria
• The teacher adjusting the next task when the evidence says the class is not there yet

Classroom techniques

Questioning that requires an explanation, not only a yes. Observing a practical or a discussion and noting who is stuck. Self- and peer-assessment with a short rubric. A mid-lesson check that actually changes the second half of the lesson.

Time is the real constraint. A few techniques used well beat a long menu. Feedback that arrives after the work no longer matters is not assessment for learning.

What it is not

• Not more testing. A quiz can serve AfL if it is used to decide what happens next.
• Not AI marking as a substitute. Tools can draft comments. The teacher still judges whether the comment is true of this learner.

Sources

1. Cambridge Assessment International Education. Getting started with assessment for learning. https://www.cambridge-community.org.uk/professional-development/gswafl/index.html
2. Black, P. and Wiliam, D. Work on formative assessment as feedback that moves learning on.