Summative Assessment

Summative assessment, also called summative evaluation or assessment of learning, is the assessment of participants in an educational program, designed to evaluate both the effectiveness of the program and the learning of the participants, typically by comparing performance at the end of an instructional unit against a standard or benchmark. It contrasts with formative assessment, which summarizes a participant's development at a particular point in time to inform instructors of a student's ongoing learning progress, and it usually involves a grade, whether a percentage, a pass or fail, or another scale, that is weighed more heavily than formative assessment. Summative assessments are often high stakes, meaning they carry a high point value, and can take the form of a midterm exam, a final project, a paper, a senior recital or a similar format.