Assessments Provide Feedback

• Simple letter grades do not provide sufficient feedback to students.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Students want to know how they did on assignments. Teachers use assessment tools to open channels of communication with students, parents and other educators. By referring to the assessments, teachers will communicate specific information. Whether mastery has been achieved or progress still needs to be made, the assessment provides valuable information to the student. The more specific the feedback, the more effective the learning.
  
  

Identifying Problem Areas

• Assessing students allows for the identification of problem areas. Ignoring students' weaknesses and only teaching to their strengths will not allow them to overcome their difficulties. Once problem areas are identified, both teacher and student work together to develop ways to improve. For example, it may be determined that the student needs more time, or that additional tutoring would be beneficial.
  
  

Tracking Progress

• Serial assessments provide critical information regarding individualized student growth. Pre-instruction and post-instruction assessments pinpoint the exact learning that has occurred by individual students within a specified time frame. This type of data is much more meaningful than comparing one student's progress against that of another student.
  
  

Promoting Achievement

• Using assessments to evaluate progress, and then structuring learning experiences around the results, promotes achievement through incremental progress. Assessments allow students to recognize their strengths and weaknesses and focus their priorities accordingly. According to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, classrooms using short- and medium-cycle formative assessments doubled the rate of learning. However, commercially purchased benchmark assessments, which are long-cycle, proved less effective.