Assessments usually occur in mid-progress when corrections can be made. Grades are usually recorded at the end of a project or class in order to summarize academic quality. Assessment is non-judgmental in the sense that it focuses on learning , which is the outcome of many influences, including teaching style, student motivation, time on task, study intensity, and background knowledge. Therefore, no one element can be reasonably singled out for praise or blame for a particular learning outcome. In contrast, grades carry evaluative weight as to the worthiness of student achievement and are applied, for good or ill, directly to them.
Assessments tend to be used in private and become public only under the assessor's control.
Grades, while not truly public, are part of the administrative record available throughout an educational institution. Assessments are almost always collected in anonymous fashion and the results are released in the aggregate. Grades are identified with specific students. To use a metaphor from the calculus, assessment more resembles a partial derivative whereas grades are more recognizable as an integrative process. Assessment tends to look at specific parts of the learning environment.