DPMS teachers give assessments frequently to collect vital data to see if your students are ‘getting’ the material. These formative assessments are based on research and show us where your student’s mastery is based on new content learned that week.
Students get immediate feedback when formative (along- the- way assessments) are given and are learning to recognize their own mastery of concepts before a Unit Test. Teachers use this data to direct their teaching for the following week, looking at what they need to review, if students are ready to move on, if another teacher on our grade-level content team used a technique or specific lesson they should implement to help students better understand the material.
Sources: NWEA – Formative Assessment Works (Northwest Evaluation Association) ; Transformative Assessments (W. James Popham); Formative Assessments (Edutopia); Why Use Common Assessments (Learning by Doing)