as an integral part of teaching and

learning assessment should be planned

concurrently with instruction and

integrated seamlessly into the learning

cycle to inform instruction guide next

steps and help teachers and students

monitor students progress towards

achieving learning goals the vast body

of literature on assessment uses a

variety of terms to describe the

purposes of assessment the nature of

assessment for different purposes and

the uses of information gathered through

assessment the term assessment is used

to mean a set of actions undertaken by

the teacher and student to gather

information about student learning terms

such as diagnostic formative and

summative which are used to identify the

nature of assessment have recently been

supplemented with the phrases assessment

for learning assessment as learning and

assessment of learning using the terms

formative assessment and summative

assessment can give the impression that

these are different kinds of assessment

or are linked to different methods of

gathering evidence this is not the case

what matters is how the information is

used it is for this reason that the

terms assessment for learning and

assessment of learning are preferred the

essential distinction is that assessment

for learning is used in making decisions

that affect teaching and learning in a

short-term future whereas assessment of

learning is used to record and report

what has been learned in the past

in short the nature of the assessment is

determined by what the information is to

be used for

assessment for the purpose of improving

student learning is seen as both

assessment for learning and assessment

as learning as part of assessment for

learning teachers provide students with

descriptive feedback and coaching for

improvement as essential steps in

assessment for learning teachers need to

plan assessment concurrently and

integrate it seamlessly with instruction

share learning goals and success

criteria with students to ensure that

students and teachers have a common and

shared understanding of these goals and

criteria as learning progresses gather

information about student learning

before during and act or near the end of

a period of instruction using a variety

of assessment strategies and tools use

assessment to inform instruction guide

next steps and help students monitor

their progress towards achieving their

learning goals

teachers engage in assessment as

learning by helping all students develop

their capacity to be independent

autonomous learners who are able to set

individual goals monitor their own

progress determine next steps and

reflect on their thinking and learning

assessment of learning is used to record

and report what has been learned in the

past it occurs at or near the end of a

period of learning and may be used to

inform further instruction the

information gathered for the purpose of

assessment of learning or evaluation is

used by the teacher to summarize

learning at a given point in time this

summary is used to make judgments about

the quality of student learning on the

basis of established criteria to assign

a value to represent that quality and to

support the communication of information

about achievement to students themselves

parents teachers and others