Different Types of Assessments
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Diagnostic Assessments
(Aubrey Sung)
What is it?
Diagnostic assessments are pre-tests that you would give your students in order to see what they do and don't know about a topic you are going to start covering in class. (Tookoian, 2018)
Why use it?
This type of assessment will help you plan your lessons, like what things you may need to focus on (to fill in gaps of knowledge) versus briefly talk about (they are more knowledgeable about so it could be boring for them). You would give a diagnostic assessment at the beginning of a unit, semester, etc. and it is not graded. (Tookoian, 2018)
One great idea!
At the end of the unit, you could use your pre-test again as the post-test to assess their knowledge and show their progress! (Tookoian, 2018)
Examples: (Formplus Blog, 2021)
-A survey or questionnaire
-A standard test that you could use as a post-unit test, too
-A pop quiz
-An entry slip
-A checklist
Resources:
Formplus Blog. (2021, October 28). Diagnostic Assessment in Education: Purpose, Strategies, Examples. Formplus. Retrieved April 27, 2022 from https://www.formpl.us/blog/diagnostic-assessment
Tookoian, J. (2018, August 16). What is Diagnostic Assessment?. Edulastic. Retrieved April 27, 2022 from https://edulastic.com/blog/diagnostic-assessment/
Performance Assessments by Ying Han Li
Examples
What is performance assessment? (EducationWeek, 2019)
Why performance assessments
Resourses
Performance assessments is a way to measure how well the students can apply their knowledge, skills and abilities to problems created by the teachers. The distinct features for performance assessments is that it requires students to produce something, like a report, a performance, or an experiment which will then be graded by the teachers according to a specific criteria.
Resources:
EducationWeek. (2019, February 5). What is Performance Assessment. Retrieved April 26, 2022. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-is-performance-assessment/2019/02
Performance assessment is a great way to determine if a student fully understands the teaching material. By letting students create projects by themselves, it gives them the opportunity to learn critical thinking and be independent. It uses project based learning to allow students to progress in their learning as they master a set of standard.
Examples:
-A report
-An experiment if in science class.
-A presentation
-A stage performance if in literature class
-An analysis for an essay
Ipsative assessment
John Liebhardt
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What is it?
Ipsative assessments are iterative assessments which compares an individuals existing performance with his/her previous performance. The goal of the ipsative assessment is to score your personal personal best -- not score against an external standard. You compete against yourself.
(Hughes, 2014).
Why Use It?
- Motivation. Comparing previous results with a second (or third) try motivates students to improve their skills and set goals. It helps students learn from their mistakes and compels them to do better. This is a major tenet of the Growth Mindset.
- Individual progress is more important than meeting a statistical 'norm.' We shouldn't just look at the students who gained the highest scores in standardized tests. We should look at those who saw the greatest improvement
Examples
-Providing feedback on a first draft of a writing assignment or speech
-Two-stage assessments:students first answer questions individually then discuss them in teams prior to resubmitting answers
-Gamified online quizzes and digital escape rooms (for language learners)
-Reflection journals or reflection questions regarding understanding of concepts to discuss with teacher
Summative Assessment
By Phil Walley
What is a Summative Assessment?
This type of assessment is used to evaluate students' understanding and learning. It is often used in comparison to a set of standards. These types of assessments are graded and are often a significant percentage of a student's grade. Summative assessments also "take place under controlled conditions, and therefore have more visibility." (Promethean, 2021)
Sources
Promethean. (2021, October 7). Types of summative assessment and Formative Assessment. ResourcEd a Promethean Blog. Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://resourced.prometheanworld.com/types-of-summative-formative-assessment/
Summative assessments. Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. (2020, November 24). Retrieved April 28, 2022, from https://dpi.wi.gov/strategic-assessment/cycles-assessment/summative
Why use summative assessment?
Summative assessments allow teachers and administration insight into how well their students know and understand a set of standards. Data from these types of assessments can reveal gaps in knowledge that students have. Summative assessments also play an important role in developing and modifying curriculum and criteria that students are evaluated by. (Promethean, 2021)
Examples
-Semester Exams
-Midterm Exams
-Unit Tests
-Final Project or Portfolio
-Standardized Tests
-Other cumulative assessments
(Promethean, 2021)
Formative Assessments (Nick Stafford)
What is it?
Formative assessment is a tool to gauge the students' understanding of the material in real time, before taking a standard test. It is quick, informal or informal, and used often to monitor the needs of the students.
Why use it?
Formative assessments help the teacher gauge wether or not the current teaching strategy is effective. They help provide the data the teacher needs in order to meet objectives, either with the in-place strategies or with new ones.
Examples:
-Fist to Five
-Brainstorming
-Exit Tickets
-Think Pair Share
References
Formative Assessments Why When and Top 5 Examples. (2016, November 15). Teachings in Education. Retrieved on April 28, 2022 from www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RXYTpgvB5I
In Action:
During class, the teacher want to gauge how well the students believe they understand the material. The teacher asks them to hold up 0-5 fingers to rate themselves on their comprehension. If many students are holding up few fingers, the teacher can review the material, ask what questions the students have, or use a different strategy to teach the current material. If most students hold up many fingers, the teacher knows that they are confident that they understand the material and can move on to more formal assessment.
References
Armstrong, T. (March 5, 2020.) 10 Things Educators Should Know About Ipsative Assessments. American Institute for Learning and Human Development.
https://www.institute4learning.com/2020/03/05/10-things-educators-should-know-about-ipsative-assessments/
Hughes, G. (2011). Towards a personal best: a case for introducing
ipsative assessment in higher education, Studies in Higher Education, 36:3, 353-367, DOI:10.1080/03075079.2010.486859
Hughes, G. (2014). Ipsative assessment : motivation through marking progress. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137267221
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Norm Referenced Assessment (Sarah Choumar)
What is it?
Norm-referenced assessments are tests designed to compare an individual to a group of their peers, usually based on national standards and occasionally adjusted for age, ethnicity or other demographics.
Why use Norm Referenced Assessment? norm-referenced assessments draw from a wide range of data points to make conclusions about student achievement.
Types of norm-referenced assessments include:
IQ tests
Physical assessments
Standardized college admissions tests like the SAT and GRE
Proponents of norm-referenced assessments point out that they accentuate differences among test-takers and make it easy to analyze large-scale trends. Critics argue they don’t encourage complex thinking and can inadvertently discriminate against low-income students and minorities.
Norm-referenced assessments are most useful when measuring student achievement to determine: Language ability, grade readiness, physical development, need for additional learning support, college admissions decisions
Summative Assessments can:
-Help identify gaps in student learning
-Determine what standards students have mastered
-Determine what students have retained
-Reveal the positives and negatives of a curriculum
(Promethean, 2021)
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Criterion-referenced assessments
(Nathan Wiley)
What is it?
Criterion-referenced assessment compares the student to a given benchmark or learning standard. Student's are not compared against each other but instead a standard believed to be achievable for students of that age group or class level
Why use it?
It can help to see if students match certain criteria. Benchmarks can be created and graded on a pass fail bases. If students are not meeting standards or meeting certain criteria, this type of assessment will let you see.
Resources
Prodigy (2019, September). 6 Types of Assessment (and How to Use Them). https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/types-of-assessment/
Renaissance (N.D.). What’s the difference? Criterion-referenced tests vs. norm-referenced tests.
https://www.renaissance.com/2018/07/11/blog-criterion-referenced-tests-norm-referenced-tests/
Examples
- Advanced Placement Exams
- National Assessments
- Surveys
- Grade specific testing
- Standardized testing
Limits of this form of assessment
This form of assessment does not give a good understanding of how the student compares to their peers. If this student outperforms all peers, but still doesn't meet the criteria, this assessment will not show the student's success in comparison to peers. Also, the material of assessment can influence student success heavily, so if it is an unfair assessment, the majority of students will under-perform.
Assessments of, as, and for Learning
(Aubrey Sung)
What are "assessments of learning"?
This is similar to summative assessment. It is when you are checking what the students have learned, so it is usually given at the end of a unit, semester, etc. (Harapnuik, 2020)
What are "assessments for learning"?
This is like a formative assessment. You use this type of assessment to check-in with your students to help you decide what to do next, like if you need to go back and explain something again. These assessments are given during the learning progress. (Harapnuik, 2020)
What are "assessments as learning"?
This is usually an assessment where students are assessing themselves. They are reviewing their own work or peer reviewing each other, and then using that information to move forward and decide what strategies to use to improve. (Harapnuik, 2020)
Why use it?
This type of assessment is grade-based and helps a teacher evaluate a student's progress and tell others (parents, admin, etc.) the student achievements. (6 Types, 2021)
Examples: (6 Types, 2021)
-Summative assessments
-Norm-referenced assessments
-Criterion-reference assessments
-Exams
-Portfolios
-Final projects
-Standardized tests
Why use it?
This is a great way to check student understanding as you teach and should be ongoing. This type of assessment will help you make changes to your lesson plans to best help fill in gaps of knowledge or misconceptions the students may have. It will help you improve your instruction. (6 Types, 2021)
Examples: (6 Types, 2021)
-Formative assessments
-Diagnostic assessments
-Fist to Five
-Pre-test
-Exit Ticket
Why use it?
This makes students active in their learning process and give them more responsibility for their education. It teaches them critical thinking, problem-solving, and goal setting. (6 Types, 2021)
Examples: (6 Types, 2021)
-Peer assessments
-Self-assessments
-Ipsative assessments
Resources:
Harapnuik, D. (2020, December 24). Assessments OF/FOR/AS Learning. It's About Learning. Retrieved May 1, 2022 from https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8475
6 Types of Assessment (and How to Use Them). (2021, September 24). Prodigy Education. Retrieved May 1, 2022 from https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/types-of-assessment/
6 types of assessments -shiyuwang
(https://www.prodigygame.com/main-en/blog/types-of-assessment/)