Last reviewed: 25 October 2026
Formative assessment is assessment for learning. Instead of waiting for an end-of-term exam, the teacher checks understanding during learning and adjusts teaching straight away. It is central to the Competency-Based Curriculum, where learners are assessed against performance levels rather than only ranked by marks. Here are strategies that work in real Kenyan classrooms, including large classes with few resources.
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Why formative assessment matters in CBC
CBC report cards describe what a learner can do using performance levels: Exceeding Expectation, Meeting Expectation, Approaching Expectation and Below Expectation. In junior school these are broken down further into eight levels. To report fairly, teachers need evidence gathered across the term, not one test. Formative assessment provides that evidence and, more importantly, helps learners improve before it is too late. See school-based assessment explained for how this feeds into national assessment.
1. Better questioning
Ask open questions that require thinking: “Why do you think…?”, “How would you…?”, “What would happen if…?” Give learners a few seconds of thinking time before taking answers, and pick learners at random rather than only those with hands up. Writing names on sticks or pieces of paper and drawing one is a cheap way to keep everyone alert.
2. Exit tickets
In the last three minutes, ask every learner to answer one question on a small piece of paper: a sum, a sentence, a quick drawing. Sort them into “got it”, “nearly” and “not yet”. It takes five minutes to read 40 tickets and tells you exactly where to start the next lesson.
3. Observation checklists
Many CBC outcomes are practical: measuring, planting, performing, presenting. Prepare a class list with the skill broken into two or three steps and tick as you move around during group work. Over a week you build a clear record for each learner.
4. Rubrics
A rubric describes what each performance level looks like for a task. Share it with learners before they start so they know what good work looks like. Keep rubrics short, with three or four criteria, and use the language of the four performance levels.
5. Peer and self-assessment
Learners can check each other’s work against a simple checklist, or rate their own work using “two stars and a wish”: two things done well and one thing to improve. This builds the core competencies of learning to learn and communication, and it saves teacher time.
6. Mini whiteboards or slates
If every learner holds up an answer at the same time, the teacher sees the whole class’s understanding at once. Old slates, laminated card or even the back of exercise books work.
7. Portfolios
Keep a folder for each learner with samples of work across the term, especially projects. Portfolios show progress to parents far better than a single grade. Our junior school projects guide has ideas on what to include.
Recording without drowning in paperwork
The main complaint teachers have about CBC assessment is the volume of records. A few habits help: record only what you will use, use codes (1 to 4) rather than long comments during lessons, and enter marks weekly rather than at the end of term. Schools that move records online cut report card preparation from days to hours; see our overview of CBC report card and SBA tools, which covers options such as Anademy Report Cards.
Use the evidence
Assessment only helps if it changes teaching. When many learners miss the same point, reteach it differently. When a few struggle, group them for support while others move to an extension task. That cycle of check, adjust and check again is what formative assessment really means.
For planning that builds assessment in from the start, read how to write CBC lesson plans and schemes of work.