What happens when assessments are not aligned with objectives?

• A. Instruction may better target outcomes.
• B. Learning becomes more engaging.
• C. Instruction may not target the stated objectives, reducing fairness and usefulness.
• D. Students automatically perform well.

Answer: (C)

When assessments aren’t aligned with objectives, they don’t measure whether students actually achieved the intended outcomes. This compromises the validity of the assessment—you can’t trust the results to reflect what was supposed to be learned. Because the test isn’t checking the right skills or knowledge, instruction may drift toward material that isn’t the stated objective, and the data used for grading and improving instruction becomes unfair and less useful for guiding decisions. In short, misalignment clouds whether learning happened as planned and undermines fairness and instructional usefulness. The other ideas don’t fit because misalignment doesn’t inherently make learning more engaging, guarantee automatic high performance, or improve targeting of outcomes.