No Educator Left Behind is a series providing answers from the U.S. Department of Education to questions about the federal No Child Left Behind Act and how it will affect educators. If you have a question about No Child Left Behind, send an e-mail to Ellen Delisio, and we will submit your question to the Department of Education.

Question:

What is gained by frequent student testing?

U.S. Department of Education:

The purpose of assessment is to measure student learning. A key principle of quality assessment is to measure what is valued. In the business world, measuring production rates and costs of materials enables an organization to identify where and how operations might be improved. If schools and school systems are to improve, they must measure student achievement. Teaching and learning are at the core of all activities in schools and school systems; the question that must be asked and answered frequently, therefore, is: Are students learning?

Read previous questions and answers in our No Educator Left Behind archive.