Assessment Key Principles

Assessment plays a significant role in the learning experience of students. It determines their progression through their programmes and enables them to demonstrate that they have achieved the intended learning outcomes. It is assessment that provides the main basis for public recognition of achievement, through the awarding of qualifications and/or credit.

Assessment can be defined as the systematic gathering of information regarding the knowledge and ability of learners which enables learners to obtain feedback on the quality of their learning and enables teachers or assessors to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching/assessment.

A formative assessment provides informal feedback and information during the teaching process. This assessment measures student progress and performance thus allowing further improvement and development. It can also assess the teacher’s progress as an instructor, enabling the teacher to evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching methods.

Through the identification of these assessment methods, I will analyse their purpose and the role that they play in my learner’s development; and how these are used to identify learner progress and confirm their knowledge and understanding. I will explore theories and principals of assessment, covering formative and

The function of assessment in learning and development is to provide a measurable way of planning and supporting students’ progress. Assessment is carried out by means of checks and tests carried out throughout the course. Assessors should provide feedback throughout ensuring that learning is occurring and the learner is at the correct level. It is also important that assessor’s decisions are also consistently reviewed and internally and externally verified.

As stated in the video "Assessments are defined as a broad range of processes (formal and informal by which teachers gather information about students learning using a variety of assessments such as, paper and pencil test, performance and projects, observation, and testing (standardized test). These assessments can be viewed as a qualitative of quantitative assessment. Gambrell & Morrow pg 319 states that "a first concern for classroom teachers is collecting and using reading

Each formal assessment has identical expectations for all of the learners, additionally the assessment has specialized criteria used for scoring and interpretation. The principal objective of formative assessment is to evaluate the amount of knowledge that learners have remembered from previously taught instructions. There are four principal categories of formal

The teacher can use a lot of different methods here such as Question and Answer, Quiz, Peer-assessment, Observation, Discussion, to name a few. Assessing your students on a formative basis will enable you to see if they are ready prior to a summative assessment Gravells (2012:116).

Aistear refers to assessment as an ongoing process of “collecting, documenting , reflecting on, and using information” to gain a complete picture of the children in order to support and further their future learning (pg 72 Guidelines for good practice). Assessment aids children’s learning when the adult identifies their learning and development requirements (NCCA (1), 2009, p.102). All three of the theorists support the importance of assessment.

Teachers meet the needs of a diverse student population by differentiating their instruction. It is important to first develop the types of assessments a teacher will use in order to guide her instruction. Moon (2005) stated “allowing for multiple approaches to content, process, or product from an instructional standpoint also allows for multiple approaches from an assessment standpoint” (p. 232). In order for the assessments to inform instruction you have to view assessment in three ways: prior knowledge (before), tracking their learning (during), and measuring their performance (after) (Brimijoin, Marquissee & Tomlinson, 2003, p. 71).

1. Assessment: In education, “assessment” is used to refer to both the underlying philosophical framework and methods of measurement that are used to document or inform student readiness, progress towards objectives, and learning generally by stakeholders with potential implications for future actions.

Ultimately, they have to rethink assessment from the ground up as a coherent system, in which formative assessment is a critical part, but not the only critical part, well-designed and implemented formative assessment should be able to suggest how instruction should be modified, as well as suggest impressionistically to the teacher what students know and can do. Thus, teachers should be able to design assessment systems in which formative assessments routinely add to the teacher’s overall informal judgments of student

Assessments span across all classroom settings; whether it is a general education classroom or a special education classroom, assessment always seems to be a vital part of teaching. There are several types of assessments used across the field of education, including formative and summative. Therefore, there are different ways to approach assessments in every classroom.

Many assessments are for improvement for students learning in tests, writing, and other assessments when teachers administer students in class on a daily basis. When teachers approve of the different results they are directed

Validity and reliability are cornerstones to this type of classroom. It is critical for teachers to ensure student assessments used in the classroom possess these qualities. Valid assessments require accurate feedback and exactness of the teacher’s inferences about a student’s ability. Reliable assessments must be both repeatable and dependable. On the assessment continuum there are three types of assessment that can be delivered to students. Each of these categories of assessments serves a different purpose. Diagnostic assessments are given before learning occurs. This type of assessment is used to identify where the students are at in learning right now, as well as any misconceptions they may have. Diagnostic assessments are critical to gathering student information to help teachers plan content to be taught, as well as to differentiate their instruction. Examples of diagnostic assessments would be prior knowledge and skill checks and learning preference surveys. Formative assessments are used while learning is taking place. The aim of this type of assessment is to improve student learning, not just measure it. These assessments can be both formal and informal, and may include quizzes, oral questioning, teacher observations, and think-alouds. Although these assessments are used to evaluate students learning and progress, they should not be factored into a student’s grade. Formative assessments should be used by teachers to guide instruction to