Assessment is a systematic process ofgathering, interpreting, and acting upondata related to student learning andexperience for the purpose of developing adeep understanding of what studentsknow, understand, and can do with theirknowledge as a result of their educationalexperience; the process culminates whenassessment results are used to improvesubsequent learning.

Huba and Freed, 2000

What is assessment?

Formative

Summative

Diagnostics

Formative assessment refers

to a wide variety of methods

that teachers use to conduct in-

process evaluations of student

comprehension, learning needs,

and academic progress during

a lesson, unit, or course.

FORMATIVE

Summative assessment is

to evaluate student

learning at the end of an

instructional unit by

comparing it against some

standard or benchmark.

SUMMATIVE

Norm-ReferencedTests

Made to compare test takers to each other.

Most appropriate when one wishes to make comparisons across large numbers of students or important decisions regarding student placement and advancement.

Intended to measure how well a person has learned a specific body of knowledge and skills

Most appropriate for quickly assessing what concepts and skills students have learned from a segment of instruction.

Criterion-Referenced Test

A distinct form of measurement. Its purpose is to ascertain, prior to instruction, each student’s strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, and skills.

DIAGNOSTICS