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For article assessment policy on Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Article assessment.
For the current article assessment process on Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Assessment.

Assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. This article covers educational assessment including the work of institutional researchers, but the term applies to other fields as well including health and finance. Institutional research is a broad category of work done at colleges and universities to inform campus decision-making and planning in areas such as admissions financial aid curriculum

Contents

Types

Assessments can be classified in many different ways. The most important distinctions are: (1) formative and summative; (2) objective and subjective; (3) referencing (criterion-referenced, norm-referenced, and ipsative); and (4) informal and formal. Ipsative (ˈɪpsətɪv literally means "of the self" ( Latin derivation and is used in Psychology as in the phrase "ipsative measure" to indicate

Formative and summative

There are two main types of assessment:

Summative and formative assessment are referred to in a learning context as "assessment of learning" and "assessment for learning" respectively.

A common form of formative assessment is diagnostic assessment. Diagnostic assessment measures a student's current knowledge and skills for the purpose of identifying a suitable program of learning. Self-assessment is a form of diagnostic assessment which involves students assessing themselves. Forward-looking assessment asks those being assessed to consider themselves in hypothetical future situations. Assessments can also be done on pieces of legislation.

Performance-based assessment is similar to formative assessment, as it focuses on achievement. It is often aligned with the standards-based education reform and outcomes-based education movement. Education reform in the United States since the late 1980s has been largely driven by the setting of academic standards for what students should know and be able to do Outcome-based education (OBE is a recurring Education reform model Though ideally they are significantly different from a traditional multiple choice test, they are most commonly associated with standards-based assessment which use free-form responses to standard questions scored by human scorers on a standards-based scale, meeting, falling below, or exceeding a performance standard rather than being ranked on a curve. A standards based test is one based on the Outcome-based education or performance-based education philosophy

A well-defined task is identified and students are asked to create, produce, or do something, often in settings that involve real-world application of knowledge and skills. Proficiency is demonstrated by providing an extended response. Performance formats are further differentiated into products and performances. The performance may result in a product, such as a painting, portfolio, paper, or exhibition, or it may consist of a performance, such as a speech, athletic skill, musical recital, or reading.

Objective and subjective

Assessment (either summative or formative) can be subjective. Objective assessment is a form of questioning which has a single correct answer. Subjective assessment is a form of questioning which may have more than one correct answer (or more than one way of expressing the correct answer). There are various types of objective and subjective questions. Objective question types include true/false answers, multiple choice, multiple-response and matching questions. For the 1974 John Wayne Crime drama movie see McQ. Multiple choice is a form of Assessment in which respondents Subjective questions include extended-response questions and essays. Objective assessment is becoming more popular due to the increased use of online assessment (e-assessment) since this form of questioning is well-suited to computerisation. In its broadest sense e-assessment is the use of Information technology for any Assessment -related activity

Bases of comparison

Test results can be compared against an established criterion, or against the performance of other students, or against previous performance:

Criterion-referenced assessment, typically using a criterion-referenced test, as the name implies, occurs when candidates are measured against defined (and objective) criteria. A criterion-referenced test is one that provides for translating test scores into a statement about the Behavior to be expected of a person with that score or their Criterion-referenced assessment is often, but not always, used to establish a person’s competence (whether s/he can do something). The best known example of criterion-referenced assessment is the driving test, when learner drivers are measured against a range of explicit criteria (such as “Not endangering other road users”).

Norm-referenced assessment (colloquially known as "grading on the curve"), typically using a norm-referenced test, is not measured against defined criteria. In Education, grading on a bell curve (or simply known as curving) is a method of assigning grades designed to yield a desired distribution of grades among A norm-referenced test / NRT is a type of test, Assessment, or Evaluation which yields an estimate of the position of the tested individual in a predefined This type of assessment is relative to the student body undertaking the assessment. It is effectively a way of comparing students. The IQ test is the best known example of norm-referenced assessment. Many entrance tests (to prestigious schools or universities) are norm-referenced, permitting a fixed proportion of students to pass (“passing” in this context means being accepted into the school or university rather than an explicit level of ability). This means that standards may vary from year to year, depending on the quality of the cohort; criterion-referenced assessment does not vary from year to year (unless the criteria change).

Ipsative assessment is self comparison either in the same domain over time, or comparative to other domains within the same student. Ipsative assessment is a style of assessment (or test in which the tested individual is compared to him- or her-self either in the same domain through time or in comparison

Informal and formal

Assessment can be either formal or informal. Formal assessment usually implicates a written document, such as a test, quiz, or paper. A formal assessment is given a numerical score or grade based on student performance, whereas an informal assessment does not contribute to a student's final grade. An informal assessment usually occurs in a more casual manner and may include observation, inventories, checklists, rating scales, rubrics, performance and portfolio assessments, participation, peer and self evaluation, and discussion. A rubric is a scoring tool for subjective assessments It is a set of Criteria and standards linked to learning

Internal and external

Internal assessment is set and marked by the school (ie teachers)and the students get the mark and feedback regarding the assessment whereas as external assessment is set by the governing body and is marked by non biased personnel. With external assessment students only receive a mark therefore they have no idea how they actually performed (ie what bits the answered correctly)

Standards of quality

The considerations of validity and reliability typically are viewed as essential elements for determining the quality of any assessment. In Psychology, validity has two distinct fields of application In Statistics, reliability is the consistency of a set of measurements or measuring instrument often used to describe a test. In the vernacular quality can mean a high degree of excellence (“a quality product” a degree of excellence or the lack of it (“work of average quality” or a property of However, professional and practitioner associations frequently have placed these concerns within broader contexts when developing standards and making overall judgments about the quality of any assessment as a whole within a given context. A standards organization, standards body, standards development organization or SDO is any entity whose primary activities are developing coordinating

Testing standards

In the field of psychometrics, the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing [1] place standards about validity and reliability, along with errors of measurement and related considerations under the general topic of test construction, evaluation and documentation. Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of Educational and Psychological Measurement, which includes the measurement The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing is a set of testing standards developed jointly by the American Educational Research Association Measurement is the process of estimating the magnitude of some attribute of an object such as its length or weight relative to some standard ( unit of measurement) such as The second major topic covers standards related to fairness in testing, including fairness in testing and test use, the rights and responsibilities of test takers, testing individuals of diverse linguistic backgrounds, and testing individuals with disabilities. JUSTICE is a Human rights and law reform organisation based in the United Kingdom. A right is a legal or moral Entitlement or Permission. Rights are of vital importance in theories of Justice and deontological ethics Social responsibility is an ethical or ideological theory that an Entity whether it is a Government, Corporation, Organization A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them The third and final major topic covers standards related to testing applications, including the responsibilities of test users, psychological testing and assessment, educational testing and assessment, testing in employment and credentialing, plus testing in program evaluation and public policy. Psychological testing is a field characterized by the use of samples of behavior in order to infer generalizations about a given individual A test or an examination (or "exam" is an Assessment, often administered on paper or on the computer, intended to measure the test-takers' or Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. Overview Certifications are earned from a Professional society and in general must be renewed periodically or may be valid for a specific period of time (e Program evaluation is a formalized approach to studying the goals processes and impacts of projects policies and programs. Standardized testing is used as a Public policy strategy to establish stronger accountability measures for public Education.

Evaluation standards

In the field of evaluation, and in particular educational evaluation, the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation [2] has published three sets of standards for evaluations. Evaluation is systematic determination of merit worth and significance of something or someone using criteria against a set of standards Educational evaluation is the Evaluation process of characterizing and appraising some aspect/s of an Educational process The Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation is an American / Canadian based Standards Developer Organization (SDO The Personnel Evaluation Standards [3] was published in 1988, The Program Evaluation Standards (2nd edition) [4] was published in 1994, and The Student Evaluation Standards [5] was published in 2003.

Each publication presents and elaborates a set of standards for use in a variety of educational settings. The standards provide guidelines for designing, implementing, assessing and improving the identified form of evaluation. Each of the standards has been placed in one of four fundamental categories to promote educational evaluations that are proper, useful, feasible, and accurate. In these sets of standards, validity and reliability considerations are covered under the accuracy topic. For example, the student accuracy standards help ensure that student evaluations will provide sound, accurate, and credible information about student learning and performance.

Validity and reliability

A valid assessment is one which measures what it is intended to measure. In Psychology, validity has two distinct fields of application For example, it would not be valid to assess driving skills through a written test alone. A more valid way of assessing driving skills would be through a combination of tests that help determine what a driver knows, such as through a written test of driving knowledge, and what a driver is able to do, such as through a performance assessment of actual driving. Teachers frequently complain that some examinations do not properly assess the syllabus upon which the examination is based; they are, effectively, questioning the validity of the exam. A syllabus is an Outline and Summary of topics to be covered in a course.

Reliability relates to the consistency of an assessment. In Statistics, reliability is the consistency of a set of measurements or measuring instrument often used to describe a test. A reliable assessment is one which consistently achieves the same results with the same (or similar) cohort of students. Various factors affect reliability – including ambiguous questions, too many options within a question paper, vague marking instructions and poorly trained markers.

A good assessment has both validity and reliability, plus the other quality attributes noted above for a specific context and purpose. In practice, an assessment is rarely totally valid or totally reliable. A ruler which is marked wrong will always give the same (wrong) measurements. It is very reliable, but not very valid. Asking random individuals to tell the time without looking at a clock or watch is sometimes used as an example of an assessment which is valid, but not reliable. The answers will vary between individuals, but the average answer is probably close to the actual time. In many fields, such as medical research, educational testing, and psychology, there will often be a trade-off between reliability and validity. A history test written for high validity will have many essay and fill-in-the-blank questions. It will be a good measure of mastery of the subject, but difficult to score completely accurately. A history test written for high reliability will be entirely multiple choice. It isn't as good at measuring knowledge of history, but can easily be scored with great precision. We may generalise from this. The more reliable is our estimate of what we purport to measure, the less certain we are that we are actually measuring that aspect of attainment. It is also important to note that there are at least thirteen sources of invalidity, which can be estimated for individual students in test situations. They never are. Perhaps this is because their social purpose demands the absence of any error, and validity errors are usually so high that they would destabilise the whole assessment industry.

Controversy

The assessments which have caused the most controversy are the use of High school graduation examinations, which first appeared to support the defunct Certificate of Initial Mastery, which can be used to deny diplomas to students who do not meet high standards. According to a 2006 study by the Center on Education Policy two-thirds of the 15 million public high school students in the United States of America were required to pass a high school graduation The Certificate of Mastery (CIM was created by report "America's Choice High Skills or Low Wages" They argue that one measure should not be the sole determinant of success or failure. Technical notes for standards based assessments such as Washington's WASL warn that such tests lack the reliability needed to use scores for individual decisions, yet the state legislature passed a law requiring that the WASL be used for just such a purpose. A standards based test is one based on the Outcome-based education or performance-based education philosophy Others such as Washington State University's Don Orlich question the use of test items far beyond standard cognitive levels for testing ages, and the use of expensive, holistically graded tests to measure the quality of both the system and individuals for very large numbers of students. Don Orlich is professor emeritus of the Science Mathematics EngineeringEducation Center at Washington State University.

High stakes tests, even when they do not invoke punishment, have been cited for causing sickness and anxiety in students and teachers, and narrowing the curriculum towards test preparation. In an exercise designed to make children comfortable about testing, a Spokane, Washington newspaper published a picture of a monster that feeds on fear when asked to draw a picture of what she thought of the state assessment. This, however is thought to be acceptable if it increases student learning outcomes.

Standardized multiple choice tests do not conform to the latest education standards. Nevertheless, they are much less expensive, less prone to disagreement between scorers, and can be scored quickly enough to be returned before the end of the school year. Legislation such as No Child Left Behind also define failure if a school does not show improvement from year to year, even if the school is already successful. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110 often abbreviated in print as NCLB and sometimes shortened in pronunciation to "nickelbee" is a controversial The use of IQ tests has been banned in some states for educational decisions, and norm referenced tests have been criticized for bias against minorities. An Intelligence Quotient or IQ is a score derived from one of several different Standardized tests attempting to measure Intelligence. Yet the use of standards based assessments to make high stakes decisions, with greatest impact falling on low-scoring ethnic groups, is widely supported by education officials because they show the achievement gap which is promised to be closed merely by implementing standards based education reform. A standards based test is one based on the Outcome-based education or performance-based education philosophy An achievement gap refers to the observed disparity on a number of Educational measures between the performance of groups of students especially groups defined by Gender Education reform in the United States since the late 1980s has been largely driven by the setting of academic standards for what students should know and be able to do Many states are currently using testing practices which have been condemned by dissenting education experts such as Fairtest and Alfie Kohn. The National Center for Fair & Open Testing, also known as FairTest, is an American Educational organization that "advances quality education and equal Alfie Kohn (October 15 1957 is an American Lecturer and author in the fields of Education, Psychology and Parenting.

Notes and references

  1. ^ The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
  2. ^ Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation
  3. ^ Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. (1988). The Personnel Evaluation Standards: How to Assess Systems for Evaluating Educators. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
  4. ^ Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. (1994). The Program Evaluation Standards, 2nd Edition. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
  5. ^ Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. (2003). The Student Evaluation Standards: How to Improve Evaluations of Students. Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press.

See also

External links

Dictionary

assessment

-noun

  1. The act of assessing or an amount (of tax, levy or duty etc) assessed.
  2. An appraisal or evaluation.
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