In my understanding, the three forms of assessment all have different objectives and purposes; however, each one has its own importance and plays a huge role in a student’s academic achievement, as well as the way teachers plan their lessons.
The purpose of assessment for learning is to identify where the students are at academically in order to find ways to support them. These supports may include creating learning goals and identifying what and how to teach. An example of assessment for learning that I am familiar with and have tried out is diagnostic assessment, which is done as a check-in to see what students know. This can be done as a simple thumbs up, thumbs down activity at the beginning of a lesson. With that, assessment for learning is done by teachers to determine teaching strategies and provide helpful and meaningful feedback for students to improve and become successful learners.
Assessment as learning is when assessment is used as a form of teaching. In this form of assessment, the students are engaged and are in charge of monitoring their own learning. The main goals of assessment as learning is to help foster student independence, as well as to help the students engage in reflective learning. An example of assessment as learning are reflections that can be done at the end of a lesson, such as an exit slip or a journal entry. From these, students are able to think back and reflect on what they had just learned.
Finally, assessment of learning is a more formal form of assessment and I believe is one of the most common and traditional types of assessment. Similar to assessment for learning, this type of assessment is conducted by the teacher. The purpose of this form of assessment is to evaluate what the students have learned at the end of a lesson or unit. Some examples of this form of assessment include rubrics, exams, or final projects.