Assess Your Knowledge

Educational assessment is the systematic process of documenting and using empirical data on the knowledge, skill, attitudes, aptitude, and beliefs to refine programs and improve student learning.

Assessment is often used interchangeably with test, but not limited to tests. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community, a course, an academic program, the institution, or the educational system as a whole.

Assessment establishes measurable and clear student learning outcomes for learning.

Assessment can be initial, formative, and summative categories for the purpose of considering different objectives for assessment practices.

Diagnostic assessment measures a student's current knowledge and skills for the purpose of identifying a suitable program of learning.

Objective assessment is a form of questioning that has a single correct answer. Subjective assessment is a form of questioning that may have more than one correct answer.

In general, high-quality assessments are considered those with a high level of reliability and validity. Other general principles are practicality, authenticity, and washback.

Reliability relates to the consistency of an assessment. Validity of an assessment is one that measures what it is intended to measure.

The assessment instrument is authentic when it is contextualized, contains natural language, and replicates real-world experiences.

Concerns over how best to apply assessment practices across public school systems have largely focused on questions about the use of high-stakes testing and standardized tests.Standardized Testing and Assessment: A Comprehensive Overview

• The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandates standardized testing nationwide and requires states to develop assessments in basic skills for all students at select grade levels to receive federal funding.
• Proponents of NCLB argue that standardized testing offers a tangible method of gauging educational success, holding teachers and schools accountable, and closing the achievement gap across class and ethnicity.
• Opponents of standardized testing argue that holding educators accountable for test results leads to the practice of "teaching to the test" and encourages teachers to equip students with a narrow set of skills that enhance test performance without fostering a deeper understanding of subject matter or key principles.
• High-stakes testing has been blamed for causing sickness and test anxiety in students and teachers and for teachers choosing to narrow the curriculum towards what will be tested.
• Large-scale learning assessments (LSLAs) are system-level assessments that provide a snapshot of learning achievement for a group of learners in a given year and in a limited number of domains.
• The Sudbury model of democratic education schools do not perform and do not offer assessments, evaluations, transcripts, or recommendations.
• The no-grading and no-rating policy helps to create an atmosphere free of competition among students or battles for adult approval, and encourages a positive cooperative environment amongst the student body.
• A major concern with the use of educational assessments is the overall validity, accuracy, and fairness when it comes to assessing English language learners (ELL).
• It is often necessary to utilize the services of a translator in order to administer the assessment in an ELL student's native language.
• Assessment can be associated with disparity when students from traditionally underrepresented groups are excluded from testing needed for access to certain programs or opportunities, as is the case for gifted programs.
• Universal screening, which involves testing all students (such as for giftedness), results in large increases in traditionally underserved groups identified for gifted programs without the standards for identification being modified in any way.
• With the emergence of social media and Web 2.0 technologies and mindsets, learning is increasingly collaborative and knowledge increasingly distributed across many members of a learning community, requiring new methods of applying assessments to learners.

Test your knowledge on educational assessment with our quiz! From the different types of assessment to the debates surrounding standardized testing, this quiz covers it all. Challenge yourself to see how much you know about this crucial aspect of education and learn more about the principles and practices of assessment along the way. Keywords: educational assessment, test, student learning outcomes, diagnostic assessment, objective assessment, subjective assessment, reliability, validity, standardized testing, no child left behind act, high-stakes testing, learning assessments, Sudbury