Chapter 1: Introduction: Assessment in Social Studies Education

When considering assessment and its role in social studies education, one must begin by understanding the purpose behind assessment. Assessment is intended to provide a lens into student thinking and understanding. Beyond this, assessment has been used to evaluate programs, rate students' understandings, provide teachers with feedback to inform instruction, and to develop student understanding (Shepard, 2000). All of these uses of assessmentserve a purpose and have their place within the curricula. Yet, for many teachers, classroom assessment is the primary source of evaluation used within the classroom.

By far, the most common form of classroom assessment is formative. Formative evaluation refers to the set of procedures conducted by teachers during the learning process. These include pretests, oral question-and- answer sessions, monitoring students' independent work, and even reading body language. Feedback from such formative assessments is used to make a multitude of instructional decisions. Teachers use formative evaluation so often that they do so without realizing it. They use it because of its power: Black and Wiliam (1998) found that formative assessments had a more significant effect on student achievement than practically any other classroom innovation.