What is the purpose of assessment?

• A. To assign grades
• B. To punish students
• C. To replace instruction
• D. Measure learning and inform instruction

Answer: (D)

Assessment aims to understand what students know and can do, and to use that information to shape teaching. By gathering evidence of learning, you can see who understood today, who may need more practice, and which ideas need re-teaching. That evidence guides decisions like adjusting pacing, choosing different activities, or offering targeted support, and it helps provide students with clear feedback on how to improve.

Formative checks during a lesson or unit are used to steer instruction in real time, while summative assessments capture overall mastery after instruction and help plan future learning. Grades can reflect what was learned, but the essential purpose is to measure learning and inform instruction, not to punish students or to replace teaching with assessment.