Types of Assessment

Designing a Work-Integrated or 'Authentic' Assessment. The concept of a work-integrated assessment is one where the tasks and conditions are more closely aligned to what you would experience within employment.

Criterion-Referenced Test. Criterion-referenced tests and assessments are designed to measure student performance against a fixed set of predetermined criteria or learning standards—i.e., concise, written descriptions of what students are expected to know and be able to do at a specific stage of their education.

Diagnostic assessment is a form of pre-assessment that allows a teacher to determine students' individual strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, and skills prior to instruction. It is primarily used to diagnose student difficulties and to guide lesson and curriculum planning.

Dynamic assessment can also be used as part of the process in diagnosing learning disabilities. Unlike normal standardized assessments, which only test what the student already knows, dynamic assessment tests for what the student is potentially capable of learning.

Being that they come at the end of a lesson, unit, or segment of study, exit slips give teachers a snapshot of the overall student learning. Robert Marzano, classroom researcher and education author, recently wrote in depth about this formative assessment.

Formative assessment The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning.

What is the difference between formative and summative assessment? Formative assessment The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning.

To learn more on ipsative assessment in education and learning, one resource is this study by Dr Gwyneth Huges of the Institute of Education. (As a heads-up, the term ipsative measure is also used in a different, technical way in psychological testing as a within-person measure.)

K-W-L charts are graphic organizers that help students organize information before, during, and after a unit or a lesson. They can be used to engage students in a new topic, activate prior knowledge, share unit objectives, and monitor students’ learning. Pass out the accompanying handout to ...

Constructive Quizzes . Periodic quizzes can be used during the formative assessment process to monitor student learning and adjust instruction during a lesson or unit.

Summative assessment The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark. Summative assessments are often high stakes, which means that they have a high point value.

To study a topic synoptically is to ‘afford a comprehensive mental view’, i.e. to consider all perspectives and factors contributing to the complexity of reality. Synoptic assessment, therefore, is ‘a form of assessment which tests candidates’ understanding of connections between different elements of a subject’.