In elementary education, assessment should be used as a tool to understand where to go next with what is being taught. When teaching a group of students, it’s important to understand what is being absorbed and understood. If only a handful of students are contributing to a discussion, or no collaborative discussion occurs at all, and it is assumed that what is being taught is understood by all, students that don’t understand the material end up being left behind in the learning process. When the primary assessment method being used is summative and content is not returned to after, the result is major gaps in comprehension. Alternatively, if formative assessments are used throughout the process and encompass all students, the teacher can navigate the current and subsequent lessons based on the understanding of the group. This reduces or eliminates gaps in learning and contributes to mastery of what is being taught. Although it is important to use summative assessments in order to report the overall learning of students, the most important role of assessments in elementary classrooms is to provide feedback to the teacher on whether the students are ready to move forward with new content or if more time is needed to focus on the current concept or material.