Types of Assessment

Diagnostic Assessment (Justin)

Done before learning process

Goals

Process

Assess student's current knowledge level

Assess students' current skills, abilities, and weaknesses

Inform teacher about what still must be taught/assist in curriculum planning

Who can most benefit?

Teachers joining school

Teacher assigned to new class

Teacher with new class as start of new school year

Often not marked/incorporated into final grade

Teacher should start by defining a goal: what are we seeking to assess?

Methods may include student reflective journals, interviews, quizzes, or mind maps/graphic organizers

"What did you do over your summer vacation" essay prompt on the first day of school to assess language arts skills.

Edwards, C. and Ng, Clara. (2015, Feb 9). "Designing it right: making an impact with diagnostic assessments." Learning guild. https://www.learningguild.com/articles/1619/designing-it-right-making-an-impact-with-diagnostic-assessments/

Tookoian, J. (2022, July, 16). "What is diagnostic assessment?". Edulastic. https://edulastic.com/blog/diagnostic-assessment/

Formative Assessment (Selina)

Planned, ongoing process used by all students and teachers during learning and teaching

Elicit and use evidence of student learning.

capture levels of knowledge and skill along the learning journey

The teachers and students can make small, immediate, impactful decisions to support learning-goal achievement

Using formative assessment evidence is appropriate for making decisions during the practice phases of learning

formative assessment scores are not appropriate for calculating grades or for making placement decisions.

They can begin with variety of methods and tools

simple questions

True/False questions

Entrance / Exit ticket

Keep the questions going

Kahoot / Quizizzs / Quizlet / Gimkit / Google Forms / Poll Everywhere

Mind map / Coggle / Padlet

Summary / Reflection

Quiz

Clarifying learning goals

Students have context of what they are learning, why they are learning it, how it connects to previous lessons.

Teachers responding by adjusting learning strategies or next instructional steps

Engaging in self-assessment and peer feedback.

Having students reflect on their progress helps them become active participants in learning.

Students collaborating with each other, asking questions, making observations, celebrating successes, and suggesting improvements in ways that support them in attaining challenging learning goals.

References:

  1. What is formative assessment https://www.nwea.org/blog/2021/what-is-formative-assessment/
  2. 7 Smart, Fast Ways to Do Formative Assessment https://www.edutopia.org/article/7-smart-fast-ways-do-formative-assessment
  3. 27 easy formative assessment strategies for gathering evidence of student learning https://www.nwea.org/blog/2022/27-easy-formative-assessment-strategies-for-gathering-evidence-of-student-learning/
  4. 75 digital tools and apps teachers can use to support formative assessment in the classroom https://www.nwea.org/blog/2021/75-digital-tools-apps-teachers-use-to-support-classroom-formative-assessment/

Summative assessments (Evelyn)

measure learning when instruction is over and thus may occur at the end of a learning unit, module, or the entire course.

Assessment of Learning

provide data to confirm course outcomes to both students and teachers

Privide students the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in the learning objectives.

educators can gain insight into how well students have learned the content and how well instructors have presented

evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.

give detailed feedback students need to be more focused in their study efforts.


methords

Mid-term exam

Unit Test

Written assignments – such as papers or authentic assessments like projects or portfolios of creative work

Final exam

Performances

Performative Assessment

Allowing students to play an active role in the assessment process, which experts have found increases their engagement and, in turn, enhances their learning.

Providing teachers with information about how well a student understands and applies knowledge

Three types of performance-based assessment from which to choose: products, performances, or process-oriented assessments.

A product refers to something produced by students providing concrete examples of the application of knowledge. Examples can include brochures, reports, web pages and audio or video clips.

Performances allow students to show how they can apply knowledge and skills under the direct observation of the teacher. Examples include oral reports, skits and role-plays, demonstrations, and debates

Process-oriented assessments provide insight into student thinking, reasoning, and motivation. They can provide diagnostic information on how when students are asked to reflect on their learning and set goals to improve it. Examples are think-alouds, self/peer assessment checklists or surveys, learning logs, and individual or pair conferences.

References:

  1. Engaging Students through Performance Assessment
  2. Griffith, W., & Lim, H. Y. (2012). Performance-based assessment: rubrics, web 2.0 tools and language competencies. Mextesol Journal, 36(1).
  3. McTighe, J., & Ferrara, S. (1998). Assessing Learning in the Classroom. Washington, DC: National Education Association.
  4. Maier, A., Adams, J., Burns, D., Kaul, M., Saunders, M., & Thompson, C. (2020). Using performance assessments to support student learning: How district initiatives can make a difference. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute.

Types of Rubrics

Two types of rubrics are often used in scoring performance: holistic and analytic.

A holistic rubric evaluates the overall performance in a qualitative manner. Speaking scores on the iBT TOEFL, for example, are graded holistically. Scores on such scales give an overall impression of student ability and often use a 4 or 5 point scale. One common example is given by the categories “excellent”, “good”, “fair”, and “poor.”

Analytic rubrics break down the performance into different levels of behavior and assign point values to each. Points are then totaled to derive a quantitative measure of performance. For example, a speaking rubric might include the dimensions of pronunciation, use of proper tense, use of transitions, vocabulary, and fluency.

The most important thing is to remember that not all activities can be used as performance-based assessments. Performance-based assessments require the application of knowledge and skills in context and not just the simple completion of a task. That is, they generally require higher-order thinking skills.