What is summative assessment?
Summative assessment is assessment aimed at determining the learning outcomes of an academic program at the end of the program or at the end of a particular phase of the program. It is used to inform periodic “high stakes” judgments such as whether a student should move on or receive a credential, or whether a given academic program should be discontinued or awarded a mark of quality. This should be viewed in contrast with formative assessment, which is assessment to feed back into an ongoing program in order to improve it. Summative assessment can be undertaken by outside authorities, while formative assessment is usually undertaken by a program’s own faculty.
