Explanation:

Summative assessment, summative evaluation, or assessment of learning[1] is the assessment of participants where the focus is on the outcome of a program. This contrasts with formative assessment, which summarizes the participants' development at a particular time. Summative assessment is widely taught in educational programs in the United States.[citation needed] Michael Scriven claims that while all assessment techniques can be summative, only some are formative.

The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against a standard or benchmark. Note, 'the end' does not necessarily mean the end of an entire course or module of study. Summative assessments may be distributed throughout a course, after a particular unit (or collection of topics) has been taught, and there are advantages to doing so.