Student Assessments
Assessments FOR learning
Assessments OF learning
Diagnostic
Form of pre-assessment that allows the teacher todetermine strengths, weaknesses, knowledge and skills prior to instruction
Advantages: Allows teachers to plan meaningful and efficient instruction. Provides information onwhich to individualise instruction
Disadvantages: May cause the teacher to make incorrect inferences about the students' ability level.
Formative
Evaluation during the learning process. Use information from formative instruction to better instruct students. Monitor student learning and provide ongoing feedback.
Advantages: Helps individualise and scaffold the learning. Not graded so less anxiety for the students.
Disadvantages: Means sacrificing time during lessons. Students may not take as seriously as not graded.
Self-Assessment
Students can evaluate their own work and learning progress.
Advantages: Can give a more rounded perspective of student development. Students develop more interest in and ownership of their learning.
Disadvantages: Time consuming. Students are not always invested in the importance or worth of self-assessment.
Peer Assessment
Arrangement for learners to assess other equal status learners.
Advantages: Students become more engaged with one another and become willing to help and ask each other questions. Students generally care what their peers think of them.
Disadvantages: Students may question their peers' ability to assess their work.
Summative
Evaluates learning at the conclusion of a unit or series of lessons by comparing against a standard or benchmark. Evaluation after the learning has taken place. Usually grades are given.
Advantages: Accountability for all students and teachers and schools. Determines achievements and can make academic records.
Can be demotivating for teachers and students. High chance of anxiety effecting outcome. Measures performance of teachers teaching to the test - not an accurate reflection of learning.
Performance Based
Measures the ability of students to apply skills and knowledge learned from the unit or series of lessons. Usually tests higher order thinking skills. Mirrors 'real life' situations - authentic.
Advantages: Supposed to give students applicable 'life skills' and prepare for the 'work force'.
Disadvantages: When used specifically to prepare children for some vague conception of a 'work force' - depressing. Also can be time consuming to set up, perform and assess. Can be a subjective base on which to apply grades.
High Stakes
Have high impact outcomes. Often used to determine major decisions about a student, such as their readiness to graduate. Usually standarised tests.
Advantages:Beased on defined standards.
Disadvantages: Based on defined standards. High stakes often mean high anxiety for the student. Students with learning disabilities, ESL students, disadvantaged students are among the groups who are at a disadvantage with high stakes standardised testing. Produces teaching to the test. Does not improve education.
Portfolio
Learners can do together with teachers. Contains samples of the students' work over a period of time showing growth over that period. Opportunity to self-reflection and learning.
Advantages: Acknowledges student learning styles and provides a comprehensive illustration of student performance over time.
Disadvantages: Demanding for students and teachers to execute. The outcomes can be personnel which makes them difficult to objectively assess.
Authentic
Aims to evaluate students' abilities in 'real world' contexts, such as conducting social science research, writing stories and reports, reading and interpreting texts
Time intensive to manage, monitor and coordinate. Tasks can be ill-defined. Difficult to coordinate with defined standards.
Advantages: Focus on analytic skills, creativity, collaboration and communication etc.
References
Authentic Assessment Overview. Retrieved from https://www.teachervision.com.
Benefits and Limitations of Peer Assessment. Retrieved from https://www.classroom-assessment-theory-into-practice.
Brummitt-Yale, J. What is Diagnostic Assessment? Definitions and Examples. Retrieved from http://www.study.com.
Fairtest. (2007, December 17). The Dangerous Consequences of High-Stakes Standardized Testing. Retrieved from http://www.fairtest.org.
Hibbert, K.M., et al. Teacher’s Guide to Performance-Based Learning and Assessment, and Why is it Important? Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org.
Jenkins, T. What are the advantages and disadvantages of diagnostic assessments? Retrieved from http://www.teachingchannel.org.
Reddy, K. (2017, December 8). Summative Evaluation – Top 22 Advantages and Disadvantages. Retrieved from https://www.content.wisestep.com.
Sasser, N. What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Formative Assessment? Retrieved from https://www.classroom.synonym.com.
Student Self-Assessment. Retrieved from https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu.
The Pros and Cons of Assessing Students through Portfolios. Retrieved from http://www.teach-nology.com.
Example: Rubriks - students monitor their own work on reading and analysis of a single or series of documents. Students can reflect on their performance and progress and evaluate areas that could be improved.
Example: Students grade each others papers according to a rubric
Examples: General class discussion to see what students already know about an event or period in history. Teacher tests for misconceptions, gaps in knowledge and existing knowledge.
Example: Exit tickets - students answer questions on the main issue/topic/question of the lesson.
Example: End of unit/term/grade essay or extended essay.
Examples: Close analysis of primary document - answering questions and/or producing an overview or summary and analysis of relevence.
Example: End of grade/unit/year written exam.
Example: Folder containing samples of work over a period of time including formal entries, essays, research paper and written assignments and reports.
Example: Evaluating and analysing primary and secondary sources evaluating their importance and argument.