Students fall through the cracks, are left behind and do not receive an appropriate education; These are statements we hear every day about our education system. Attempts have been made to reform and revise the education crisis. However, few have succeeded. Students are highly expected to perform well on standardized tests so that “no child is left behind” and schools are not labeled “failures.” This strict discipline from teaching to exams only harms the quality of education students receive. Informal assessment should become the main focus of assessment rather than formal assessment. Formal assessment tends to restrict a teacher's teaching, often causing them to focus primarily on what is going to be on the test. Teaching to the test minimizes the level of understanding expected of students, focusing more on memorization and hindering the development of higher-order thinking, creativity, and critical thinking skills. While the United States has emphasized standardized testing with the No Child Left Behind program, Finland has taken a very different approach. “Finland has not adapted, including the standardization of programs imposed by frequent external testing; narrowing the curriculum to basic reading and math skills; reduced use of innovative teaching strategies” (Darling-Hammond, 2010, p.168). This allowed teachers to expand their range of teaching so that they were not forced to meet the requirements of very strict state or national standards. Assessment should be “school-based, designed by teachers to assess higher-order thinking and performance skills” (Darling-Hammond, p. 167). This is exactly what informal assessment can do by significantly reducing space...... middle of paper...... fairness is not always equal. Fairness provides students with adequate opportunities to demonstrate their understanding. All students enter school with different levels of understanding and backgrounds, which should not interfere with their ability to succeed academically. Works Cited: Brown, GL, Irving, S., Peterson, ER and Hirschfeld, GF (2009). Using interactive-informal assessment practices: New Zealand secondary school students' conceptions of assessment. Learning and Instruction, 19(2), 97-111.Darling-Hammond, L. (2010). The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future. New York: Teachers College Press. Spinelli, C.G. (2008). Addressing cultural and linguistic diversity and assessment: Informal assessment measures for English language learners. Quarterly reading and writing, 24(1), 101-118.