ASSESSMENT

RESEARCH FINDING:

Frequent  and  systematic monitoring of students' progress  helps 
students,  parents,  teachers,  administrators,  and policymakers 
identify strengths and weaknesses in learning and instruction.

COMMENT:

Teachers find out what students already know and what they  still 
need to learn by assessing student work.  They use various means, 
including essays,  quizzes and tests,  homework,  classroom ques-
tions,  standardized tests,  and parents' comments.  Teachers can 
use student errors on tests and in class as early warning signals 
to point out and correct learning problems before they worsen. 
Student  motivation and achievement improve when teachers provide 
prompt feedback on assignments.

Students generally take two kinds of tests:   classroom tests and 
standardized  tests.   Classroom tests help teachers find out  if 
what they are teaching is being learned;  thus, these tests serve 
to evaluate both student and teacher.   Standardized tests  apply 
similar  gauges to everyone in a specific grade level.  By giving 
standardized  tests,  school  districts can see  how  achievement 
progresses over time.   Such tests also help schools find out how 
much of the curriculum is actually being  learned.   Standardized 
tests  can  also reveal problems in the curriculum  itself.   For 
example, a recent international mathematics test showed that U.S. 
students  had encountered only 70 percent of what the  test  cov-
ered. 


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National  Curriculum in Elementary School Mathematics?"  The Ele-
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Good, T. L., and Grouws, D. A. (l979).  "The Missouri Mathematics 
Effectiveness  Project:   An Experimental Study in  Fourth  Grade 
Classrooms."  Journal of Educational Psychology,  Vol. 7l, No. 3, 
pp. 355-362.

Rosenshine,  B.  (l983).   "Teaching  Functions in  Instructional 
Programs."  The Elementary School Journal,  Vol.  83,  No. 4, pp. 
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Rutter,  M. (l983).  "School Effects on Pupil Progress:  Research 
Findings and Policy  Implications."   In L.  S.  Shulman and G.  Sykes  (Eds.)  
Handbook of Teaching and Policy (pp. 3-4l).  New York:  Longman.

Stallings,  J.  A.,  and Kaskowitz,  D.  (l974).   Follow Through 
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