My experiences with assessment in elementary school were, I assume, like anyone's. Tests were given at the end of a unit to evaluate what we learned over the course of that unit and to give us the opportunity to reflect that learning. In some cases there were pre-tests. I remember doing spelling pre-tests at the beginning of the unit and then regular spelling tests at the end. Often, the pre-test results were considerably worse than the final test. To me, that is a clear example of learning. I demonstrated that I didn't know certain things at the beginning and then demonstrated I had learned those things by the end.
I think assessment is needed to evaluate learning but doesn't have to be carried out in the form of a test. Learning can be assessed by projects, reports and observation in addition to tests. Tests really take a snapshot of what you know at a particular time. If a person didn't get enough sleep the night before or has test taking anxiety which causes them to blank as soon as the test is put in front of them then the test is not really an accurate tool to measure their learning in that scenario. Projects, on the other hand, allow students to reflect their learning in a way that they have more control over. For example, if a student is doing a project on space that student can demonstrate their learning by doing a poster presentation, constructing a model, making a video and other ways. This feeds in to the differentiation principle we have learned about and offers the student some control and a way to reflect their learning that plays to their strength while deepening their understanding of the material they have learned.
I think that without assessment, students feel there is not as much incentive to learn in school. Not every student has the desire and hunger to learn. There are students out there that go to school because they have to and get through it because that's what they are supposed to do. When students are interested in a particular subject it's a different story but that isn't always the case. For those students who school isn't their reason for waking up in the morning, if they're not being assessed on the material they've been taught then why bother to learn it and/or learn it in depth? If they are being assessed on that material and that assessment means something then they have more incentive to learn it and learn it deeply.
In addition to formal assessment, I do believe in informal assessment. I think this is one aspect of teaching that makes it an art form. The same way that professional athletes make their sports look easy even though they aren't, especially at the highest levels in the professional leagues, teaching is an art form that involves many aspects and being able to informally assess without students necessarily realizing it is a skill to be developed. Informal assessment, I believe, takes place constantly. Teachers need to continuously monitor their students' learning and progress and respond in a way that further supports and encourages student learning. Teachers cannot just drone on and think they have done a good job because they have delivered their lesson. The lesson needs to be effective and the way to determine that is by determining that students have learned what you'er trying to teach them. The way to do this is with informal assessment in a way that resembles a feedback loop. The teacher teaches, assesses whether students are understanding the material and either builds on what has been understood or clarifies what is not understood.
Formal assessments can be used to measure individual performance against past performance and individual performance against the performance of the rest of the group. Both of these methods let an individual know where they stand in relation to where they were and also to where the rest of their peers or reference group are.
Without assessment it would be difficult to track progress or determine how well an individual has learned something, and this is the main purpose of assessment.
