ABSTRACT
It is critical for students to understand that the purpose of assessment is more for learning (formative) than it is to document learning (summative). Assessment is not only used to help students learn but also helps teachers know what and how to teach. Keep repeating to students that assessment is a way to check progress in learning to know how to learn more. There are a number of practical steps that can be implemented to reduce anxiety that is so high that it interferes with performance. The goal of these practices is to build confidence through good preparation that will fight high anxiety and to give students coping skills to deal with undue anxiety if it occurs. A sure way to create a negative classroom-assessment and being-wrong (sometimes) climate is to use poor assessment techniques and practices. Authenticity means that the assessment tasks and questions reflect something about what actually occurs in the lived experiences of students.
