Research shows that regular and high-quality formative assessment can have a powerful, positive effect on student learning and achievement. The achievement gains associated with systematic attention to formative assessment are greater than most other educational interventions.

The Standards indicate that classroom teachers are in the position to best use assessment in powerful ways for both formative and summative purposes, including improving classroom practice, planning curricula, developing self-directed learners, reporting student progress, and investigating their own teaching practices.

There is no single recipe or blueprint that all teachers can successfully adopt and follow.

Student participation in assessment becomes essential if high standards are to be actualized for all students.

Assessment tools that calculate solely how well student achievement measures up to the standards, however reliable, will not suffice. Assessment must serve as a vehicle for improving the quality of learning for every student.

Teachers need support from the larger system to realize and to take advantage of the possibilities of good assessment.