Managing Instruction and Classroom Dynamics at the Primary and Secondary Levels: Unit 5.1 Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation in the Classroom

Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation

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What is Assessment?

Pelligrino, J. (2015). What is an assessment? University of Illinois, Chicago. Retrieved on February 5, 2017, from https://youtu.be/bdsGB94Ql_8

What is formative and summative assessments?

Aguliar, D. (2014). Compare formative and summative assessments. PowToon. Retrieved on February 5, 2017, from https://youtu.be/bTGnJnuVNt8

What is the difference between assessment and evaluation?

Hale, J. (2016). Assessment Versus Evaluation. Curriculum Decisions. Retrieved on February 5, 2017, from https://youtu.be/gGbQHnLNpVo

Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation

What is the difference between assessment, measurement and evaluation?

•Assessment (procedures used to obtain information)

•Measurement (quantitative terms-numbers)

•Evaluation (judgement, value, decision & criteria)

Two main types of assessment:

What is the difference between formative and summative assessment?

•Formative Assessment (before and during instruction)

•Summative Assessment (after instruction)

Measurement:

What is the difference between criterion-reference interpretation

and norm-reference interpretation?

•Criterion-reference (an individual's score based on objective
achieved)

•Norm-reference (an individual's score compared to the results of
other students)

Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation in Teaching (by a trainee 2013)

One of the most common misinterpretations of assessment, measurement and evaluation is that they carry the same or similar meaning. Even in my quest to determine the true meaning of the terms ‘assessment’, ‘measurement’ and ‘evaluation’ several dictionaries and thesauruses used assessment and evaluation as synonyms of each other – giving the impression that they do indeed have the same or similar meanings. Even in the teaching profession it is generally difficult to separate those three terms and pinpoint an individual meaning for each. However confusing it may be to determine, especially the difference between assessment and evaluation, there is a fundamental difference between the three terms as used in teaching.

Fenton (1996) refers to assessment as “the collection of relevant information that may be relied on for making decisions”. Dr Bob Kizlik in his article ‘Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Education’ (2012) suggests that it “is a process by which information is obtained relative to some known objective or goal”. In his writing he refers to assessment as a form of test and states that “all tests are assessments, but not all assessments are tests”. In other words, assessment requires objectives or goals, the provision and collection of information and the condition under which achieved objectives or goals are ascertained.

Assessment may be done at any time to ensure that objectives are being achieved. One may assess students before a new concept is taught to determine the level of prerequisites students are bringing with them. This may aid the teacher in determining the level of information to start the lesson with. Assessment may also be done in the middle of the lesson to ensure that students are following the lesson successfully. Also assessment may be done after a lesson, a unit plan and at the end of the term. In short, assessment is a continuous process. A teacher is continually assessing his/her students to ensure that the strategies being used, the material being imparted, the skills and attitudes that are expected to be learnt, the objectives or goals and the desirable learning outcomes are being achieved to satisfaction.

Because assessment is a continuous process, tests, though they are assessments, are not the only forms of assessments. Other forms of assessments are behaviour monitoring, interviews, observations, judgments, etc., and these are assessed through the use journals, portfolios, debates, role-playing, investigative projects, experiments, etc. These are all used to assess the teaching-learning process (both the teacher’s and the students’ performance) and help to identify strengths and weaknesses within the process so as to aid the teacher in strategizing for the next lesson or unit.

Assessment may also be either formative or summative. Formative assessment is used to identify strengths and weaknesses and provide feedback to students so as to aid them in improving their performance in the future; while, summative assessment is used to judge students’ overall performance at the end of a lesson, unit or grade level to determine promotion readiness. These also show the continuity of assessment. Hence without continuous assessment one cannot determine the level of achievement of objectives or goals and, thus, cannot successfully map out the path to achieving satisfactory teaching or learning in the classroom nor determine students’ readiness for promotion to a higher level.

If assessment can be formative, thus determining students’ readiness for higher academic achievement, one may ask then, ‘what is evaluation?’ Is formative assessment not in fact evaluation? This is where the confusion between assessment and evaluation begins, mainly because we fail to remember that the evaluation is not the test itself but rather the judgement made on the results of the test. Hence, formative assessment is indeed an evaluation process. In retrospect, evaluation is a judgement made on the results of the assessment given and shows the relationship between assessment and measurement. In evaluation you are required to make a judgement based on criteria to determine achievement level and you do this by judging the results of tests in terms of words and then assigning a number, thus adding a measurement. This is the fundamental difference between assessment, measurement and evaluation.

Also one must remember that assessment is continuous and is done at any time: before, during or after a lesson, a unit, a term, or at the end of a class to determine promotion readiness. Evaluation also is continuous as we are constantly evaluating our students by comparing the expected learning outcome to the actual learning attained. This is another cause of confusion when differentiating between assessment and evaluation. However, when differentiating between both we need to keep in mind that assessment gathers information on students’ knowledge and skills; evaluation judges their results based on set criteria; and measurement are the grades usually applied as part of the end of the overall process.

Some examples of traditional tools (tests) used in the assessment, measurement and evaluation of students are National Assessment Tests, Common Entrance Examination, Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), End of Term Examination, End of Year Examination, etc. These tools (tests) used are generally based on a set curriculum which students need to show mastery. By attaining a certain amount of grades, students are able to show mastery of a specific grade level and, thus, attainability of the academic standard required for promotion to the next level. In the case of the Common Entrance Examination, in Antigua-Barbuda, it usually determines whether a student has met the requirements to attain scholarship to secondary level education, while the End of Year Examination determines promotion to the next grade level.

Perceiving assessment as a process used for gathering information on students' learning which involves, but is by no means limited to, tests may also be implemented using alternative tools (non-tests) may effectively aid in gauging one's level of performance.

Activity

Define the following terms:

(i) Measurement

(ii) Assessment

                (iii) Evaluation

  (6 marks)

Differentiate between formative and summative assessment.

(4 marks)

Home Assignment

Research information on Testing and Non-Testing Devices.
Gather information on the different types of test items.

Reinforcement of Assessment

What is assessment?

A method used to gather information about students' performance to judge and measure their results against the goals and objectives set in the state's curriculum.

What are the types of assessment in education?

An assessment can be formative or summative.

What is formative assessment?

Formative assessment is a process used by students and teachers before and during instruction to provide students with feedback on where they are, where they need to be, and what they need to do; and teachers with feedback on how they may adjust ongoing instruction to improve students' performance of the intended instructional outcomes.

What is summative assessment?

Summative assessment is the culminating process of measuring students' overall performance against state standards.

Assessment Versus Evaluation
Both assessment and evaluation gather, summaries and interprets information on students' performance, however they differ as assessment use data to decide direction for action, whereas evaluation use data to determine the extent to which the action was successful.

CSDE.The Types and Purposes of Students Assessment in Education: An FAQ (Draft). Connecticut, Examination Committee, Retrieved on February 12, 2017, from http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/curriculum/mastery_examination_committee/the_types_and_purposes_of_student_assessment_in_education.pdf

Shah Alam, Dr. JJ. (2012). Measurement, Assessment and Evaluation in Education. Malaysia, Ministry of Education. Retrieved on February 12, 2017, from http://drjj.uitm.edu.my/DRJJ/OBE%20FSG%20Dec07/OBEJan2010/DrJJ-Measure-assess-evaluate-ADPRIMA-n-more-17052012.pdf