summative

[ suhm-uh-tiv ]

adjective

1. of greater effect or value than the strict sum of the individual contributing parts; additive:

   Two drugs with similar actions were given, creating a summative response.

2. Education. occurring at the end of a unit or term and covering the entirety of the material from that term; cumulative: summative assignment; Compare formative ( def 4 ).

   summative assessment;

   summative assignment;

   summative feedback.

Word History and Origins

Origin of summative¹

First recorded in 1875–80; from Medieval Latin summāt(us) ( summation ) + -ive

Example Sentences

Education consultant Ken O’Connor told me, for instance, the Wakefield teachers are wrongly penalizing needy kids who do better on tests and other summative assessments than they do on homework.

From Washington Post

Faculty would grade only what are called summative assessments, which generally means tests.

From Washington Post

Critically important data about how best to ensure that students are included in our plans comes from summative state assessments — the Smarter Balanced assessment in Washington state.

From Seattle Times

"We know... that some schools and school districts may face circumstances in which they are not able to safely administer statewide summative assessments this spring using their standard practices."

From Salon

Goldberg contends that simple “summative” ratings are not fair to schools that serve students from low-income families because academic achievement is largely linked to their socioeconomic level.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• aggregate
• increasing

More About Summative

What does summative mean?

Summative is an adjective that means cumulative or characterized or produced by addition.

Summative is most frequently used in the context of education, especially in the terms summative assessment and summative evaluation, which are evaluations of student learning at the end of a course or lesson or during a particular educational stage. A close synonym for summative is cumulative, which is much more commonly used.

Example: At the end of the year, we have to take a summative assessment that covers everything we were supposed to learn.

Where does summative come from?

The first records of the word summative in English come from the 1800s. It is based on the Medieval Latin summāt(us). The root of the word is the Latin verb summāre, meaning “to sum” or “to add up,” which is the root of words like sum and summary.

In general, summative describes something that is produced through addition. A summative process often involves an incremental increase in something. In the context of education, summative is used in much the same way as cumulative and comprehensive. This means that a student will be tested or evaluated based on everything they have been taught over a certain span of time—covering all of the information that has added up or accumulated over the course of that period. The term is often used to contrast with formative assessments, which test students on recent lessons. Standardized tests are often considered summative assessments.

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What are some other forms of summative?

• summatively (adverb)

What are some synonyms for summative?

• additive
• cumulative

What are some words that share a root or word element with summative? 

• sum
• summary
• summation

What are some words that often get used in discussing summative?

• evaluation
• assessment
• test
• exam
• education
• formative
• aggregate

How is summative used in real life?

Summative is most often used in the context of education to describe a test that encompasses the sum of all things learned.

The only time I worry about the correct answer is in the summative assessment. The rest of the time I’m interested in the crockpot of thinking. — @gfletchy #wsmi pic.twitter.com/TSULqZDHnf

— Fawn Nguyen (@fawnpnguyen) February 28, 2020

Supporting our 3rd graders as they review for their Common Summative Assessment tomorrow! Can you guess what it’s about?! 😉 #PISDMathChat pic.twitter.com/CDgW2YMMFv

— Kirsta Paulus Jenne (@KirstaJenne) February 27, 2020

retweet this smiling sr jp to pass the summative test !! https://t.co/CgKLi48bXY

— flaming hot cheetos (@janamshyy) March 3, 2020

 

 

Try using summative!

If you take a test only on things you’ve learned in the past week, is it more likely to be described as formative or summative?