By Chris Worsnop

Assessment
 
What kinds of assessment are there?

1. Student assessment
2. Program assessment
3. System assessment

Student Assessment
 
Why is it important to assess?

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  • To find out what the students know (knowledge)
  • To find out what the students can do, and how well they can do it (skill; performance)
  • To find out how students go about the task of doing their work (process)
  • To find out how students feel about their work (motivation, effort)

What are the functions of assessment?

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  • Diagnostic: tells us what the student needs to learn
  • Formative: tells us how well the student is doing as work progresses
  • Summative: tells us how well the student did at the end of a unit/task

What should we assess?

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  • Student work at all stages of development, but particularly at the end
  • Student process
  • Acquisition of knowledge and skills
  • Development of sophistication and complexity in student work

How should we assess?

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  • Day-to-day observation
  • Tests and quizzes
  • Rubrics
  • Rating scales
  • Project work
  • Portfolios

Who should be involved in assessment?

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  • The teacher
  • The student
  • The student's peers
  • Parents

What should we do with the information from our assessment?

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  • Use it to improve the focus of our teaching (diagnosis)
  • Use it to focus student attention on strengths and weaknesses (motivation)
  • Use it to improve program planning (program assessment)
  • Use it for reporting to parents

Program Assessment

Why is it important?

•  
  • Program assessment leads to program improvement.
  • Teachers need to have continuous affirmation that their programs deliver what they set out to deliver. Assessment data can confirm programs, or point out where they are not meeting their objectives.
  • Programs should not be planned without building in an assessment process.

What are its functions?

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  • To keep the program focused on success
  • To indicate areas where extra instructional emphasis is needed
  • To help teachers pinpoint successful and unsuccessful approaches and pedagogies

What should we assess?

•  
  • How the program focuses on its stated aims and outcomes
  • The degree to which students succeed in meeting the expectations of the program (agglomerations of student assessment)

How should we assess?

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  • Third-party observation (teacher buddy, building administrator, resource person, outside consultant)
  • Self-administered questionnaire
  • Analysis of student results
  • Interviews with students, teachers, and/or parents
  • Survey of community levels of satisfaction

What should we do with the information from the assessment?

•  
  • Turn it into program improvements

System Assessment

System assessment is like program assessment except that it is applied on a larger scale. A program assessment might take in only a single classroom, but a system assessment can take in an entire school district or an even larger area of organization. System assessment nearly always involves the use of third-party consultants.

One kind of system assessment teachers might be involved in would be the assessment of the implementation of a curriculum across several classrooms or schools. This could be initiated by the teachers themselves to see how they are doing as a team, or it could be initiated from outside as a supervisory measure. In either case, the purpose is to assure accountability.

Grass-roots accountability initiatives are much preferable to external initiatives, for obvious reasons.

The Differences between Assessment and Evaluation
 
Assessment is the gathering of information about something, such as student performance
Evaluation is the act of setting a value on the assessment information

Assessment is information
Evaluation is a judgement

Assessment is qualitative
Evaluation is quantitative

Assessment pinpoints specific strengths and weaknesses
Evaluation ranks and sorts individuals within groups

Assessment is diagnostic and formative, as well as summative
Evaluation is only summative

Assessment is most useful to teachers and students
Evaluation is most useful to administrators, politicians and parents

Assessment focuses on the individual student
Evaluation focuses on the group

Assessment is an educational measure
Evaluation is a political/administrative measure

Assessment is referenced by criterion
Evaluation is referenced by norm