TYPES OF ASSESSMENT

INFORMAL AND FORMAL ASSESSMENT

Informal assessmentInformal assessment involves observing the learners as they learn and evaluating them from the data gathered. It can be compared to formal assessment, which involves evaluating a learner's level of language in a formal way, such as through an exam or structured continuous assessment.

Example

The teacher has carried out informal assessment of the learners during speaking activities throughout the course by keeping notes about how well individuals are doing in speaking and uses the data gathered to evaluate the learners at the end of the course.

Formal assessment

Formal assessment uses formal tests or structured continuous assessment to evaluate a learner's level of language. It can be compared to informal assessment, which involves observing the learners' performance as they learn and evaluating them from the data gathered.

ExampleAt the end of the course, the learners have a final exam to see if they pass to the next course or not. Alternatively, the results of a structured continuous assessment process are used to make the same decision.

In the classroomInformal and formal assessments are both useful for making valid and useful assessments of learners' knowledge and performance. Many teachers combine the two, for example by evaluating one skill using informal assessment such as observing group work, and another using formal tools, for example a discrete item grammar test.

FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Formative assessmentThe goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically, formative assessments: help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that

need work help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems

immediately

Formative assessments are generally low stakes, which means that they have low or no point value. Examples of formative assessments include asking students to: draw a concept map in class to represent their understanding of a topic submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture turn in a research proposal for early feedback

Summative assessment

The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark.

Summative assessments are often high stakes, which means that they have a

high point value. Examples of summative assessments include:

a midterm exam

a final project

a paper

a senior recital

Information from summative assessments can be used formatively when students or faculty use it to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent courses.

NORM REFERENCED AND CRITERION REFERENCED TESTS

Norm-referenced tests (or NRTs) compare an examinee’s performance to that of other examinees. Standardized examinations such as the SAT are norm-referenced tests. The goal is to rank the set of examinees so that decisions about their opportunity for success (e.g. college entrance) can be made.

Criterion-referenced tests (or CRTs) differ in that each examinee’s performance is compared to a pre-defined set of criteria or a standard. The goal with these tests is to determine whether or not the candidate has the demonstrated mastery of a certain skill or set of skills. These results are usually “pass” or “fail” and are used in making decisions about job entry, certification, or licensure. A national board medical exam is an example of a CRT. Either the examinee has the skills to practice the profession, in which case he or she is licensed, or does not.