Summative assessments are primarily utilized for what purpose?

Summative assessments are designed to evaluate student learning at specific points in time, often at the end of an instructional unit or course. They serve as a measure of how much students have learned and retained after a set period of instruction. This type of assessment focuses on the overall achievement of students against defined learning objectives, providing valuable data for educators to understand the effectiveness of their teaching methods and the level of student mastery of the material.

While ongoing assessments and feedback for improvement are crucial in the learning process, those functions pertain more to formative assessments. Similarly, fostering collaborative learning experiences is not the primary purpose of summative assessments. The focus on measuring learning outcomes at specific intervals makes option B the clear choice for the primary purpose of summative assessments.