The State Board of Education requires that schools and school districts implement assessments at grades K, 1, and 2 that include documented, on-going individualized assessments throughout the year and a summative evaluation at the end of the year. These assessments monitor achievement of benchmarks in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. They may take the form of the state-developed materials, adaptations of them, or unique assessments adopted by the local school board. Grades K, 1, and 2 assessments should be implemented by all schools by the 2000-2001 school year. The intended purposes of these assessments are (1) to provide information about the progress of each student for instructional adaptations and early interventions, (2) to provide next-year teachers with information about the status of each of their incoming students, (3) to inform parents about the status of their children relative to grade-level standards at the end of the year, and (4) to provide the school and school district information about the achievement status and progress of groups of students (e.g., by school and grade level) in grades K, 1, and 2.