Effect of Formative Assessment Practices and Feedback Quality on Learning Outcomes at Secondary Level

Abstract

Formative assessment practices and feedback quality play a critical role in enhancing learning outcomes by continuously monitoring students’ understanding and providing timely, constructive guidance for improvement. When effectively implemented, these practices support deeper engagement, clarify learning goals, and enable students to actively use feedback to improve their academic performance. The objectives of the study were a) to find the level of Formative Assessment Practices, Feedback Quality and Learning Outcomes at secondary level, b) to analyze the effect of Formative Assessment Practices and Feedback Quality on Learning Outcomes at secondary level, c) to examine the correlation among Formative Assessment Practices, Feedback Quality, Learning Outcomes at secondary level. A quantitative approach was used. Primary sources provided the data for the current study. Every secondary school in the Kasur district (public and private) was used to sample the population. The study's instrument was a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics (mean and S.D.) and Inferential statistics (linear regression and Pearson r) were used to achieve the objectives. The regression analysis revealed that formative assessment practices and feedback quality jointly have a significant and meaningful effect on learning outcomes at the secondary level, explaining 30.1% of the variance in students’ academic performance, with feedback quality emerging as the stronger predictor. The correlation results showed significant positive relationships among formative assessment practices, feedback quality, and learning outcomes, indicating that effective formative assessment is associated with higher-quality feedback, which in turn is linked to improved student learning outcomes. It is recommended that secondary school teachers receive targeted professional development focused on enhancing feedback quality within formative assessment practices, particularly emphasizing timely, specific, and actionable feedback that clearly guides students on how to improve their learning outcomes.

Keywords: Formative Assessment Practices, Feedback Quality, Learning Outcomes, secondary level