Assessment to Inform Teaching and Learning

Focusing on assessment of what students know and can do in relation to school learning goals with the intent of (a) informing teacher instructional planning and instructional moves and (b) informing students’ thinking and understanding during classroom lessons, this chapter reviews the purpose and uses, design, measurement considerations, implementation in practice, and impact on learning of eight types of assessment. The review supports the thesis that in recent years, expectations have risen that all assessments—not just those designed to be used formatively—should inform teaching and learning. The nature of assessment information is increasingly broad. Its utility depends on both the quality of information and the quality of the process with which the assessment is implemented. A corollary of this trend is increasing demand on the level of teacher and student assessment literacy. From this foundation, future trends in assessment to inform teaching and learning are identified.