This is a difficult question for me to answer because I live in the state of Florida. Here the students are assessed quite often due to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test that is given to primary and secondary public schools. Students take their first FCAT exam in the third grade. In my opinion, the test has lost its tenacity in the eyes of our children. The test has no merit or importance to them anymore so education is starting to take the back door. She the students be assessed, well yes, to determine their grade level. The assessment should be a standardized exam to interpret the students ability and not to intimidate them.
In Jamaica the students are "the primary education in Jamaica addresses the basic educational needs of students and prepares them for Secondary Education. Under the Caribbean Examinatio Council student assessment has changed significantly from what was generally an automatic promotion to secondary school through the former Common Entrance Examination at the end of Grade 6. Since 1999, the National Assessment Program and Grade Six Achievements tests (GSAT) have been utilizing a variety of teaching strategies to ensure that learning experiences are more broad based and student centered. Common Entrance Examinations are taken by some children in the UK as part of the admissions process for academically selective secondary schools at age 13 or (for girls) 11. The CE has been criticised by headteachers who complain that it uses 3 to 4 years of the children's time at prep school preparing for an exam. The exam does not encourage dynamic learning with tick-box system that is currently used." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Jamaica)
