Does assessment support student learning? Absolutely! If we remember the purpose. The purpose of assessment is to gather evidence on student learning and use it to guide how to proceed in the learning process. It should not just be a measurement of where students are. People learn from mistakes, we need to let kids learn from mistakes. Assessments can be used as a tool for students to know where they are and how to improve. When they are not used this way students think that some people are better at guessing the right answer. Others begin to believe that some people are smart while others just aren't. Neither of these views is useful for learning or for life. Some teachers are worried that teaching to the test will inhibit student growth and learning. If we are testing what we teach, and we teach what is important it would be difficult not to 'teach to the test'. Building quality assessment practices that test the important skills and problem-solving techniques nee