What are the explicit purposes for classroom assessment in your context?

Looking at my own classroom practice my assessment has two explicit purposes, the first being formative to be used as a guide for learning and the second being summative. I primarily use a project-based learning approach with my students working from highly structured inquiries through controlled inquires and ending the year with guided inquires. I tell my students that we have “check points” where I’ll meet with groups and individuals to give detailed feedback and plan my next round of whole class or small group mini lessons. At the end of each project or unit we have “celebrations of learning” or “show what you know” days where the students present their work in a variety of ways or take a traditional paper pencil test. When asking my students about what is and isn’t working for their learning many indicate that they like our conferences and conversations related to their work as they receive specific feedback, I also find this is an effective part of our learning cycle as students can immediately implement the changes, and I can give one focus area at a time making the assessment less daunting for students. I do use larger scale and higher stakes assessments as needed including reading assessment kits and math tests but these are not the backbone of my assessment plan.

 What are the explicit purposes for classroom assessment in other educational jurisdictions, either internationally or in other educational sectors? 

Thinking of my time in post-secondary education completing my undergraduate degree, teaching degree and now this program assessment purposes varied based on the department, when the assessment was completed and the professor. My experience however was primarily summative assessment and the need to generate a measurable grade at the end of a course. While my all-time favorite professor gave highly detailed individual feedback and was happy to conference with students individually to improve our performance his formal assessments were summative. The summative assessments primarily took the form of exams both final and mid-term as well as one or two papers each term.Reply to Thread