Which assessment method is used to evaluate student progress over time?

Formative assessment is used to evaluate student progress over time by providing ongoing feedback throughout the learning process. This method focuses on the continual assessment of students' understanding and skills during instruction, allowing educators to gauge student learning in real-time and make necessary adjustments to teaching strategies.

Formative assessments can take various forms, such as quizzes, observations, discussions, and reflections, enabling teachers to monitor progress and identify areas where students may need additional support or challenge. The primary goal is to enhance learning by informing instruction, rather than just assigning grades at the end of a unit or course.

Other assessment methods, while useful in their contexts, serve different purposes. Diagnostic assessment typically occurs before instruction begins to identify students' existing knowledge, skills, and areas of need. Summative assessment measures student learning at the end of an instructional period, often for the purpose of evaluating overall effectiveness, while standardized testing usually refers to assessments designed to be administered and scored in a consistent manner, primarily for comparison across different populations. Each of these methods has its value, but formative assessment is specifically tailored to foster ongoing learning and improvement over time.