EVALUATION PROCEDURES: BASIC CONCEPTSJo I. Bartolata, Ed.D

Assessment refers to the wide variety of methods that educators use to evaluate, measure, and document the academic readiness, learning progress, and skill acquisition of students from preschool through college and adulthood.

ASSESSMENT is the process of gathering information about student performance; commonly used for the word measurement.

Assessment focuses on learning, teaching and outcomes. It provides information for improving learning and teaching.

Assessment is an interactive process between students and faculty that informs faculty how well their students are learning what they are teaching.

The information is used by faculty to make changes in the learning environment, and is shared with students to assist them in improving their learning and study habits. This information is learner-centered, course based, frequently anonymous, and not graded.

EVALUATION: A process in which the teacher uses information derived from many sources to arrive at a value judgment. Evaluation might be based on measurement data but also might be based on other types of data such as questionnaires, direct observation, written or oral performance, ratings or interview

Dimension of Difference

Assessment Evaluation

Content: timing, primary purpose

Formative: ongoing, to improve learning

Summative: final, to gauge quality

Orientation: focus of Measurement

Process-oriented: how learning is going

Product-oriented: what’s been learned

Findings: uses thereof Diagnostic: identify areas for improvement

Judgmental: arrive at an overall grade/score

KEY DIFFERENCES

MEASUREMENT is the process used to obtain data concerning student learning. For instance, a paper-and-pencil test is used to measure the achievement of a student, but other types of data collection can be used such as performance-based measures.

TESTS are tools that effectively enhance the educational process; represent an attempt to provide objective data that can be used with subjective impressions to make better, reliable decisions.

Student Evaluation is necessary to help teachers determine the degree to which educational objectives have been achieved and to help teachers know their students as individuals.

Classroom Issues, anyone?Exams only test memory so coursework is much more valuable and needed to demonstrate learning.

Giving assessed work back helps keep track of student learning and provide holistic view of performance.

Getting students to reflect on the feedback and explain what actions may be taken can help close the feedback loop and promote learning.

“I don’t even have time to teach; how can I learn about assessment and carry out the strategies?”