"It takes a long time to write comments . . ." Have you tried actually talking to the student ? I am now retired after forty years of teaching. My head wants to explode listening to this stuff. Has the kid actually nailed (reached mastery) of a useful competency (objective/standard) or not ? Formative assessment ? ? ? That's just circulating and connecting with the students to make sure they understand the task at hand. If you do not know from your constant interaction with the students whether or not they have attained mastery, you are in the wrong job. Testing is formative. If you think testing is summative, you are in the wrong occupation. Testing is just a tool on the way to mastery. I must be quiet. What I hear from my grandchildren is not encouraging. Measure and label. Measure and label. Measure an . . . And let's just not get into discussing whether the curricula has any form of usefulness. Oh my.
