Educational assessment is the process of documenting A document is a bounded physical or digital representation of a body of information designed with the capacity (and usually intent) to communicate. A document may manifest symbolic, diagrammatic or sensory-representational information. To document (verb) is to produce a document artifact by collecting and representing information. In prototypical, usually in measurable terms, knowledge Knowledge is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject; (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information; or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation, skills A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time management, teamwork and leadership, self motivation and others, whereas, attitudes and beliefs Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution, or the educational system as a whole. According to the Academic Exchange Quarterly: "Studies of a theoretical or empirical nature (including case studies, portfolio studies, exploratory, or experimental work) addressing the assessment of learner aptitude and preparation, motivation and learning styles, learning outcomes in achievement and satisfaction in different educational contexts are all welcome, as are studies addressing issues of measurable standards and benchmarks".^[1]

It is important to notice that the final purposes and assessment practices in education depends on the theoretical framework of the practitioners and researchers, their assumptions and beliefs about the nature of human mind, the origin of knowledge and the process of learning.

The following table summarizes the main theoretical frameworks behind almost all the theoretical and research work, and the instructional practices in education (one of them being, of course, the practice of assessment). These different frameworks have given rise to interesting debates among scholars.

Alternate meanings

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary the word assessment comes from the root word assess which is defined as:

1. to determine the rate or amount of (as a tax)
2. to impose (as a tax) according to an established rate b: to subject to a tax, charge, or levy
3. to make an official valuation of (property) for the purposes of taxation
4. to determine the importance, size, or value of (assess a problem)
5. to charge (a player or team) with a foul or penalty

Assessment in education is best described as an action "to determine the importance, size, or value of."^[2]

Types

The term assessment is generally used to refer to all activities teachers use to help students learn and to gauge student progress.^[3] Though the notion of assessment is generally more complicated than the following categories suggest, assessment is often divided for the sake of convenience using the following distinctions:

1. formative and summative
2. objective and subjective
3. referencing (criterion-referenced, norm-referenced, and ipsative Ipsative literally means "of the self" (from the Latin ipse), and is used in psychology as in the phrase "ipsative measure" to indicate a specific type of measure in which respondents compare two or more desirable options and pick the one which is most preferred (sometimes called a "forced choice" scale). This is)
4. informal and formal.

Formative and summative

Assessment is often divided into formative and summative categories for the purpose of considering different objectives for assessment practices.

• Summative assessment - Summative assessment is generally carried out at the end of a course or project. In an educational setting, summative assessments are typically used to assign students a course grade. Summative assessments are evaluative.
• Formative assessment Formative assessment is a self-reflective process that intends to promote student attainment . Cowie and Bell define it as the bidirectional process between teacher and student to enhance, recognize and respond to the learning. Black and Wiliam consider an assessment ‘formative’ when the feedback from learning activities is actually used to - Formative assessment is generally carried out throughout a course or project. Formative assessment, also referred to as "educative assessment," is used to aid learning. In an educational setting, formative assessment might be a teacher (or peer A peer group is a social group consisting of people who are equal in such respects as age, education or social class. Peer groups are an informal primary group of people who share a similar or equal status and who are usually of roughly the same age, tended to travel around and interact within the social aggregate Members of a particular peer) or the learner, providing feedback on a student's work, and would not necessarily be used for grading purposes. Formative assessments are diagnostic.

Educational researcher Robert Stake explains the difference between formative and summative assessment with the following analogy:

Summative and formative assessment are often referred to in a learning context as assessment of learning and assessment for learning respectively. Assessment of learning is generally summative in nature and intended to measure learning outcomes and report those outcomes to students, parents, and administrators. Assessment of learning generally occurs at the conclusion of a class, course, semester, or academic year. Assessment for learning is generally formative in nature and is used by teachers to consider approaches to teaching and next steps for individual learners and the class.^[5]

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.^[6]

Performance-based assessment is similar to summative assessment, as it focuses on achievement. It is often aligned with the standards-based education reform Education reform in the United States since the 1980s has been largely driven by the setting of academic standards for what students should know and be able to do. These standards can then be used to guide all other system components. The standards-based reform movement calls for clear, measurable standards for all school students. Rather than and outcomes-based education movement. Though ideally they are significantly different from a traditional multiple choice test, they are most commonly associated with standards-based assessment A standards based test is one based on the outcome-based education or performance-based education philosophy. Assessment is a key part of the standards reform movement. The first part is to set new, higher standards to be expected of every student. Then the curriculum must be aligned to the new standards. Finally, the student must be assessed if 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 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) is often categorized as either objective or 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 choice is a form of assessment in which respondents are asked to select the best possible answer out of the choices from a list. The multiple choice format is most frequently used in educational testing, in market research, and in elections-- when a person chooses between multiple candidates, parties, or policies. Multiple choice testing, multiple-response and matching questions. Subjective questions include extended-response questions and essays. Objective assessment is well suited to the increasingly popular computerized or online assessment In its broadest sense, e-assessment is the use of information technology for any assessment-related activity. This definition embraces a wide range of student activity ranging from the use of a word processor to on-screen testing. Due to its obvious similarity to e-learning, the term e-assessment is becoming widely used as a generic term to format.

Some have argued that the distinction between objective and subjective assessments is neither useful nor accurate because, in reality, there is no such thing as "objective" assessment. In fact, all assessments are created with inherent biases built into decisions about relevant subject matter and content, as well as cultural (class, ethnic, and gender) biases.^[7]

Basis 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 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 relationship to a specified subject matter. Most tests and quizzes written by school teachers are criterion-referenced tests. The objective is simply to see whether or not the student, as the name implies, occurs when candidates are measured against defined (and objective) criteria. 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 In education, grading on a curve is a statistical method of assigning grades designed to yield a pre-determined distribution of grades among the students in a class. The "curve" in question is supposed to be the "bell curve", the graphical representation of the probability density of the normal distribution (also called the"), typically using a norm-referenced test 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 population, with respect to the trait being measured. This estimate is derived from the analysis of test scores and possibly other relevant data from a sample drawn from the population. The, is not measured against defined criteria. 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).^[8]

Ipsative assessment Ipsative literally means "of the self" (from the Latin ipse), and is used in psychology as in the phrase "ipsative measure" to indicate a specific type of measure in which respondents compare two or more desirable options and pick the one which is most preferred (sometimes called a "forced choice" scale). This is is self comparison either in the same domain over time, or comparative to other domains within the same student.

Informal and formal

Assessment can be either formal or informal. Formal assessment usually implies 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 A rubric is a scoring tool for subjective assessments. It is a set of criteria and standards linked to learning objectives that is used to assess a student's performance on papers, projects, essays, and other assignments. Rubrics allow for standardised evaluation according to specified criteria, making grading simpler and more transparent, performance and portfolio assessments, participation, peer and self evaluation, and discussion.^[9]

Internal and external

Internal assessment is set and marked by the school (i.e. teachers). Students get the mark and feedback regarding the assessment. 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 (i.e. what bits they answered correctly.)

Standards of quality

In general, high-quality assessments are considered those with a high level of reliability In statistics, reliability is the consistency of a set of measurements or measuring instrument, often used to describe a test. Reliability is inversely related to random error and validity In science and statistics, validity has no single agreed definition but generally refers to the extent to which a concept, conclusion or measurement is well-founded and corresponds accurately to the real world. The word "valid" is derived from the Latin validus, meaning strong. Approaches to reliability and validity vary, however.

Reliability

Reliability In statistics, reliability is the consistency of a set of measurements or measuring instrument, often used to describe a test. Reliability is inversely related to random error relates to the consistency of an assessment. 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. Traditionally, the reliability of an assessment is based on the following:

1. Temporal stability: Performance on a test is comparable on two or more separate occasions.
2. Form equivalence: Performance among examinees is equivalent on different forms of a test based on the same content.
3. Internal consistency: Responses on a test are consistent across questions. For example: In a survey that asks respondents to rate attitudes toward technology, consistency would be expected in responses to the following questions:
   • "I feel very negative about computers in general."
   • "I enjoy using computers."^[10]

Reliability can also be expressed in mathematical terms as: Rx = VT/Vx where Rx is the reliability in the observed (test) score, X; Vt and Vx are the variability in ‘true’ (i.e., candidate’s innate performance) and measured test scores respectively. The Rx can range from 0 (completely unreliable), to 1 (completely reliable). An Rx of 1 is rarely achieved, and an Rx of 0.8 is generally considered reliable. ^[11]

Validity

A valid In science and statistics, validity has no single agreed definition but generally refers to the extent to which a concept, conclusion or measurement is well-founded and corresponds accurately to the real world. The word "valid" is derived from the Latin validus, meaning strong assessment is one which measures what it is intended to measure. 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 A syllabus , is an outline and summary of topics to be covered in an education or training course. It is descriptive (unlike the prescriptive or specific curriculum). A syllabus is often either set out by an exam board, or prepared by the professor who supervises or controls the course quality upon which the examination is based; they are, effectively, questioning the validity of the exam.

Validity of an assessment is generally gauged through examination of evidence in the following categories:

1. Content – Does the content of the test measure stated objectives?
2. Criterion – Do scores correlate to an outside reference? (ex: Do high scores on a 4th grade reading test accurately predict reading skill in future grades?)
3. Construct – Does the assessment correspond to other significant variables? (ex: Do ESL ESL , ESOL (English for speakers of other languages), and EFL (English as a foreign language) all refer to the use or study of English by speakers with a different native language. The precise usage, including the different use of the terms ESL and ESOL in different countries, is described below. These terms are most commonly used in relation to students consistently perform differently on a writing exam than native English speakers?)^[12]
4. Face – Does the item or theory make sense, and is it seemingly correct to the expert reader?^[13]

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 generalize from this. The more reliable our estimate is 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 destabilize the whole assessment industry.

It is well to distinguish between "subject-matter" validity and "predictive" validity. The former, used widely in education, predicts the score a student would get on a similar test but with different questions. The latter, used widely in the workplace, predicts performance. Thus, a subject-matter-valid test of knowledge of driving rules is appropriate while a predictively-valid test would assess whether the potential driver could follow those rules.

Testing standards

In the field of psychometrics Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of educational and psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits. The field is primarily concerned with the construction and validation of measurement instruments, such as questionnaires, tests, and, the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing is a set of testing standards developed jointly by the American Educational Research Association , American Psychological Association (APA), and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). APAstandards^[14] place standards about validity and reliability, along with errors of measurement In science, measurement is the process of estimating or determining the magnitude of a quantity, such as length or mass, relative to a unit of measurement, such as a metre or a kilogram. The term measurement can also be used to refer to a specific result obtained from the measurement process and related considerations under the general topic of test construction, evaluation and documentation. The second major topic covers standards related to fairness in testing, including fairness Justice is the concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, fairness, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics in testing and test use, the rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement — i.e. rights are normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory. The concept of rights is often fundamental to civilized societies, and it is of vital importance in such disciplines and responsibilities Social responsibility is an ethical or ideological theory that an entity whether it is a government, corporation, organization or individual has a big responsibility to society at large. This responsibility can be "negative", meaning there is exemption from blame or liability, or it can be "positive," meaning there is a of test takers, testing individuals of diverse linguistic backgrounds Language is a term most commonly used to refer to so called "natural languages" — the forms of communication considered peculiar to humankind. By extension the term also refers to the type of human thought process which creates and uses language. Essential to both meanings is the systematic creation, maintenance and use of systems of, and testing individuals with disabilities The World Health Organization defines Disability as follows: "Disabilities is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a. The third and final major topic covers standards related to testing applications, including the responsibilities of test users, psychological testing and assessment Psychological testing is a field characterized by the use of samples of behavior in order to assess psychological construct, such as cognitive and emotional functioning, about a given individual. The technical term for the science behind psychological testing is psychometrics. By samples of behavior, one means observations over time of an, educational testing and assessment A test or an examination is an assessment, often administered on paper or on the computer, intended to measure the test-takers' or respondents' (often a student) knowledge, skills, aptitudes, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). Students are often allowed to bring reference books especially in the teaching fields of Mathematics,, testing in employment Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. An employee may be defined as: "A person in the service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and direct the employee in the material details of how and credentialing Professional certification, trade certification, or professional designation, often called simply certification or qualification, is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task. Many certifications are used as post-nominal letters indicating an earned privilege from an oversight professional body acting to, plus testing in program evaluation and public policy.

Evaluation standards

In the field of evaluation, and in particular educational evaluation, the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation^[15] has published three sets of standards for evaluations. "The Personnel Evaluation Standards"^[16] was published in 1988, The Program Evaluation Standards (2nd edition)^[17] was published in 1994, and The Student Evaluation Standards^[18] 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.

Controversy

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, often used to gauge student progress, teacher quality, and school-, district-, or state-wide educational success.

No Child Left Behind

For most researchers and practitioners, the question is not whether tests should be administered at all—there is a general consensus that, when administered in useful ways, tests can offer useful information about student progress and curriculum implementation, as well as offering formative uses for learners.^[19] The real issue, then, is whether testing practices as currently implemented can provide these services for educators and students.

In the U.S., the No Child Left Behind Act mandates standardized testing nationwide. These tests align with state curriculum and link teacher, student, district, and state accountability to the results of these tests. Proponents of NCLB argue that it offers a tangible method of gauging educational success, holding teachers and schools accountable for failing scores, and closing the achievement gap across class and ethnicity.^[20]

Opponents of standardized testing dispute these claims, arguing that holding educators accountable for test results leads to the practice of "teaching to the test." Additionally, many argue that the focus on standardized testing encourages teachers to equip students with a narrow set of skills that enhance test performance without actually fostering a deeper understanding of subject matter or key principles within a knowledge domain.^[21]

High-stakes testing

The assessments which have caused the most controversy in the U.S. are the use of high school graduation examinations, which are used to deny diplomas to students who have attended high school for four years, but cannot demonstrate that they have learned the required material. Opponents say that no student who has put in four years of seat time should be denied a high school diploma merely for repeatedly failing a test, or even for not knowing the required material.^[22][23][24]

High-stakes tests have been blamed for causing sickness and test anxiety in students and teachers, and for teachers choosing to narrow the curriculum towards what the teacher believes will be tested. In an exercise designed to make children comfortable about testing, a Spokane, Washington newspaper published a picture of a monster that feeds on fear.^[25] The published image is purportedly the response of a student who was asked to draw a picture of what she thought of the state assessment.

Other critics, such as Washington State University's Don Orlich, question the use of test items far beyond standard cognitive levels for students' age.^[26]

Compared to portfolio assessments, simple multiple-choice tests 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. Standardized tests (all students take the same test under the same conditions) often use multiple-choice tests for these reasons. Orlich criticizes the use of expensive, holistically graded tests, rather than inexpensive multiple-choice "bubble tests", to measure the quality of both the system and individuals for very large numbers of students.^[26] Other prominent critics of high-stakes testing include Fairtest and Alfie Kohn.

The use of IQ tests has been banned in some states for educational decisions, and norm-referenced tests, which rank students from "best" to "worst", have been criticized for bias against minorities. Most education officials support criterion-referenced tests (each individual student's score depends solely on whether he answered the questions correctly, regardless of whether his neighbors did better or worse) for making high-stakes decisions.

21st century assessment

It has been widely noted that 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. Traditional assessment practices, however, focus in large part on the individual and fail to account for knowledge-building and learning in context. As researchers in the field of assessment consider the cultural shifts that arise from the emergence of a more participatory culture, they will need to find new methods of applying assessments to learners.^[27]

Assessment in a democratic school

Sudbury model of democratic education schools do not perform and do not offer assessments, evaluations, transcripts, or recommendations, asserting that they do not rate people, and that school is not a judge; comparing students to each other, or to some standard that has been set is for them a violation of the student's right to privacy and to self-determination. Students decide for themselves how to measure their progress as self-starting learners as a process of self-evaluation: real life-long learning and the proper educational assessment for the 21st century, they adduce.^[28]

According to Sudbury schools, this policy does not cause harm to their students as they move on to life outside the school. However, they admit it makes the process more difficult, but that such hardship is part of the students learning to make their own way, set their own standards and meet their own goals.

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.^[29]

The final stage of a Sudbury education, should the student choose to take it, is the graduation thesis. Each student writes on the topic of how they have prepared themselves for adulthood and entering the community at large. This thesis is submitted to the Assembly, who reviews it. The final stage of the thesis process is an oral defense given by the student in which they open the floor for questions, challenges and comments from all Assembly members. At the end, the Assembly votes by secret ballot on whether or not to award a diploma.^[30]

Notes and references

1. ^ "Educational Assessment". Academic Exchange Quarterly, available at Rapidintellect.com. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
2. ^ Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2005). Available at Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved on 1/28/2009.
3. ^ Black, Paul, & William, Dylan (October 1998). "Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment."Phi Beta Kappan. Available at PDKintl.org. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
4. ^ Scriven, M. (1991). Evaluation thesaurus. 4th ed. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 0-8039-4364-4.
5. ^ Earl, Lorna (2003). Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximise Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA, Corwin Press. ISBN 0-7619-4626-8. Available at WYOAAC.org, Accessed January 23, 2009.
6. ^ Reed, Daniel. "Diagnostic Assessment in Language Teaching and Learning." Center for Language Education and Research, available at Google.com. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
7. ^ Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC). "What Do We Mean by e-Assessment?" JISC InfoNet, available at JISCinfonet.ac.uk. Retrieved January 29, 2009.
8. ^ Educational Technologies at Virginia Tech. "Assessment Purposes." VirginiaTech DesignShop: Lessons in Effective Teaching, available at Edtech.vt.edu. Retrieved January 29, 2009.
9. ^ Valencia, Sheila W. "What Are the Different Forms of Authentic Assessment?" Understanding Authentic Classroom-Based Literacy Assessment (1997), available at Eduplace.com. Retrieved January 29, 2009.
10. ^ Yu, Chong Ho (2005). "Reliability and Validity." Educational Assessment. Available at Creative-wisdom.com. Retrieved January 29, 2009.
11. ^ Vergis A, Hardy K (2010). "Principles of Assessment: A Primer for Medical Educators in the Clinical Years". The Internet Journal of Medical Education 1 (1). http://www.ispub.com/journal/the_internet_journal_of_medical_education/volume_1_number_1_74/article_printable/principles-of-assessment-a-primer-for-medical-educators-in-the-clinical-years-4.html.
12. ^ Moskal, Barbara M., & Leydens, Jon A (2000). "Scoring Rubric Development: Validity and Reliability." Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(10). Retrieved January 30, 2009 from PAREonline.net
13. ^ Vergis A, Hardy K (2010). "Principles of Assessment: A Primer for Medical Educators in the Clinical Years". The Internet Journal of Medical Education 1 (1). http://www.ispub.com/journal/the_internet_journal_of_medical_education/volume_1_number_1_74/article_printable/principles-of-assessment-a-primer-for-medical-educators-in-the-clinical-years-4.html.
14. ^ The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
15. ^ Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation
16. ^ Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. (1988). "The Personnel Evaluation Standards: How to Assess Systems for Evaluating Educators." Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
17. ^ Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. (1994). The Program Evaluation Standards, 2nd Edition. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
18. ^ Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation. (2003). The Student Evaluation Standards: How to Improve Evaluations of Students. Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press.
19. ^ American Psychological Association. "Appropriate Use of High-Stakes Testing in Our Nation's Schools." APA Online, available at www.apa.org/pubinfo/testing.html. Retrieved January 29, 2009. APA.org, Retrieved January 24, 2010
20. ^ (nd) Reauthorization of NCLB. Department of Education. Retrieved 1/29/09.
21. ^ (nd) What's Wrong With Standardized Testing? FairTest.org. Retrieved January 29, 2009.
22. ^ Dang, Nick (18 March 2003). "Reform education, not exit exams". Daily Bruin. http://dailybruin.ucla.edu/stories/2003/mar/18/reform-education-not-exit-exam/. "One common complaint from failed test-takers is that they weren't taught the tested material in school. Here, inadequate schooling, not the test, is at fault. Blaming the test for one's failure is like blaming the service station for a failed smog check; it ignores the underlying problems within the 'schooling vehicle.'"
23. ^ Weinkopf, Chris (2002). "Blame the test: LAUSD denies responsibility for low scores". Daily News. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/BLAME+THE+TEST+LAUSD+DENIES+RESPONSIBILITY+FOR+LOW+SCORES-a086659557. "The blame belongs to 'high-stakes tests' like the Stanford 9 and California's High School Exit Exam. Reliance on such tests, the board grumbles, 'unfairly penalizes students that have not been provided with the academic tools to perform to their highest potential on these tests'."
24. ^ "Blaming The Test". Investor's Business Daily. 11 May 2006. http://old.investors.com/editorial/editorialcontent.asp?secid=1501&status=article&id=155734&secure=3598. "A judge in California is set to strike down that state's high school exit exam. Why? Because it's working. It's telling students they need to learn more. We call that useful information. To the plaintiffs who are suing to stop the use of the test as a graduation requirement, it's something else: Evidence of unequal treatment... the exit exam was deemed unfair because too many students who failed the test had too few credentialed teachers. Well, maybe they did, but granting them a diploma when they lack the required knowledge only compounds the injustice by leaving them with a worthless piece of paper.""
25. ^ ASD.wednet.edu
26. ^ ^{a b} Bach, Deborah, & Blanchard, Jessica (April 19, 2005). "WASL worries stress kids, schools." Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved January 30, 2009 from Seattlepi.nwsource.com.
27. ^ Fadel, Charles, Honey, Margaret, & Pasnik, Shelley (May 18, 2997). "Assessment in the Age of Innovation." Education Week. Retrieved January 29, 2009 from Edweek.org.
28. ^ Greenberg, D. (2000). 21st Century Schools, edited transcript of a talk delivered at the April 2000 International Conference on Learning in the 21st Century.
29. ^ Greenberg, D. (1987). Chapter 20, Evaluation, Free at Last — The Sudbury Valley School.
30. ^ Graduation Thesis Procedure, Mountain Laurel Sudbury School.

See also

• Computer aided assessment
• Confidence-Based Learning accurately measures a learner's knowledge quality by measuring both the correctness of his or her knowledge and the person's confidence in that knowledge.
• E-scape, a technology and approach that looks specifically at the assessment of creativity and collaboration.
• Educational evaluation deals specifically with evaluation as it applies to an educational setting. As an example it may be used in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) government program instituted by the government of the U.S.
• Educational measurement is a process of assessment or an evaluation in which the objective is to quantify level of attainment or competence within a specified domain. See the Rasch model for measurement for elaboration on the conceptual requirements of such processes, including those pertaining to grading and use of raw scores from assessments.
• Educational psychology
• Electronic portfolio is a personal digital record containing information such as a collection of artifacts or evidence demonstrating what one knows and can do.
• Evaluation is the process of looking at what is being assessed to make sure the right areas are being considered.
• Grading is the process of assigning a (possibly mutually exclusive) ranking to learners.
• Health Impact Assessment looks at the potential health impacts of policies, programs and projects.
• Program evaluation is essentially a set of philosophies and techniques to determine if a program "works".
• Psychometrics, the science of measuring psychological characteristics.
• Rubrics for assessment
• Science, Technology, Society and Environment Education
• Social Impact Assessment looks at the possible social impacts of proposed new infrastructure projects, natural resource projects, or development activities.
• Standardized testing is any test that is used across a variety of schools or other situations.
• Standards-based assessment

External links

• Assessment in Higher Education web site.
• Edutopia: Assessment Overview A collection of media and articles on the topic of assessment from The George Lucas Educational Foundation
• The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
• Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation
• Creating Good MCQs A whitepaper by Focalworks
• Assessment 2.0 Modernizing assessment

Categories: Academic transfer | Educational assessment and evaluation | Educational psychology | Evaluation methods | Evaluation | School terminology | Thought | Standards-based education | Mental structures

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