This is true as far as it goes and an excellent explanation for students in third grade, but as more questions are raised about electrical circuits and more investigations are conducted, students will adopt increasingly complex explanations for circuits. These explanations might involve current flow, movement of charges, electromotive force, and perhaps eventually a model to explain the complex interactions of matter at the subatomic level. The FOSS assessment materials are designed to monitor students' progress through levels of complexity in a number of key concepts. Teachers track not only what concepts students are learning, but also the level of understanding of the concepts. This is a significant advance in the assessment of student learning.
Formative assessment is a teaching tool.
Results of formative assessment should be limited to classroom use by students and teachers. Formative assessment provides a continuous stream of feedback on the effectiveness or instruction, allowing you, the teacher, to modify the direction and pace of instruction in response to immediate information on student knowledge. Summative assessments are used at the conclusion of the module. These tools provide a snapshot of overall student achievement in the subject area, with information on student performance in each of the three assessment variable domains.