Shute, Val. 2009. Simply Assessment. International Journal of Learning and Media 1(2): 1–11.

Assessment results can and should have important implications for instruction, positively influencing both the teaching and learning sides of the equation. In today's classrooms, however, assessments are too often used for purposes of grading, promotion, and placement, but not for learning. The stance I take on assessment is that it should: (a) support, not undermine, the learning process for learners and teachers/mentors; (b) provide more formative, compared to summative, information (i.e., give useful feedback during the learning process rather than a single judgment at the end); and (c) be responsive to what is known about how people learn, generally and developmentally. Probably the most important and powerful feature of assessment involves using results to make improvements and decisions. This is true whether the assessment is used to support personal learning or for accountability purposes.