In recent years, the issue of testing students has become increasingly complex and controversial. Long-standing debates about the purpose and role of testing have taken on new fervor as policy makers have raised the stakes associated with test results. This growing emphasis on assessment in the United States was born out of the effort to improve schools by setting high and consistent standards for student achievement. Integral to this standards-based approach is the need to measure whether students and schools are successfully meeting these higher expectations.
Assessments are also integral to the new accountability systems in many states.
These systems call for positive and negative consequences for students, educators, and schools based on test performance. One result of these reforms has been a rise in the use of large-scale assessments of students at the state and national levels. This, in turn, has prompted increased interest in the quality of the tests that are being used and their relationship to what schools should teach and what students need to learn. Policy makers can use them to communicate what is important for students to learn and motivate schools and teachers to focus on these things. Types of assessment Current ideas about student assessment reflect a broadening perspective on the ways that students' knowledge and ability can be systematically evaluated and the uses for that evaluation information.