SUPERINTENDENT COMMENTARY: A superintendent’s perspective on assessment

There are many potential uses for student assessment data within our education system. For example, data is collected for report cards and shared with parents, used for state assessment systems, etc. However, in its purest form assessment of student learning is designed to provide on-time information to teachers so that they can modify their instruction in order to meet the individual needs of their learners.

There are two main types of assessment used in education. One, which I would argue is the most important, is formative assessment.

Formative assessment provides teachers with immediate an...