7 Characteristics of Quality Summative Assessments

Recently, much of the talk in educational circles has been on formative assessment-and with good reason-but in the process we’ve lost focus on creating effective summative assessments.
Today the term “summative assessments” conjures up images of standardized tests, benchmarks, data collection, and exams. In many ways, these have been over-emphasized to the point that we’ve missed the true value of summative assessments. I need look no further than many of my own tests, which over-emphasized multiple choice questions in an attempt to mimic our state tests, as an example of what summative assessments should not be.