Abstract
Assessment is the process of gathering information about students’ abilities that will help teachers, parents, and other caregivers know more about a learner’s strengths and weaknesses so they may provide appropriate instruction or assistance for the learner. As such, assessment certainly can include tests, since they provide one piece of data, but assessment is about more than just testing. Teachers are held accountable for meeting a wide array of standards. These standards are of two basic types: professional teaching standards and curriculum or content standards. Teachers have at their disposal an almost overwhelming array of instruments to use as part of the assessment process. Many of these instruments blend naturally into instruction; others provide a separate means to assess literacy progress using methods that vary in how direct or formal they are. Common classifications for the assessments used in grades 4–8 are: standardized testing, curriculum-based assessment, standards-based performance assessment, and process-oriented assessment.