SUMMATIVE+ASSESSMENTS

**Summative Assessment** Summative assessments are a set cumulative evaluations used to assess student outcome over are program of instruction. Summative assessments are not like formative assessments, which are designed to provide the immediate, explicit feedback useful for helping teacher and student during the learning process. A summative assessment asks the schools, teachers and students if the goals that were set were reached. It is a means to determine a student’s mastery and comprehension of information, skills and/or concepts. High quality summative information can shape how teachers organize their curricula or what courses schools offer their students.

 These types of assessments, in a classroom, frequently occur at the end of a unit of study or other formal instructional time period. Examples of summative assessment in the classroom may include and may not be limited to the following: tests, demonstrations, portfolios, benchmarks assessments, and internships. In school districts, summative assessments are synonymous with state mandated tests that students take (Trochim, 2006).

 There are organizations that specialize in such summative evaluations. Achievement College Test (ACT), Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) test and the National Assessment of Educational Progress test (NAEP) are a few such organizations. Performance Matters is a company that specializes in state and district wide summative assessments and data management.

 Performance Matters (Performance Matters, 2011) is a computer based benchmark assessment program that is able to analyze test results at many different levels. It can analyze and compare students, schools, states, districts, topics and subgroups for proficiency and in need of improvement. It can also track students longitudinally to track learning progress. The program can compare the different subject standards and their threads independently, allowing teachers to adjust instructions for all level of student and content. This program can analyze bilingual students’ verbal, reading and writing skills and be used to identify students who are not at grade or language level and identify discrepancies between the different language skills. Data given allows for the proper placement of students. All these results are accessible to teachers to gain benchmark awareness and administrators to determine Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) as mandated by NCLB act.

 The cost of a program varies from district to district depending on negotiations between the vendor and the involved parties. Perth Amboy is a Title I district in New Jersey. The agreed upon cost was and still is, $7.18 per student per year (Perth Amboy Board of Education, 2009). This district has approximately ten thousand students, pre-K through 12. The approximate total comes to an astounding $71,800 per year.


 * Objective| || Formative Assessments| || References | || Background Information ||