ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION

OBJECTIVES OF EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT

With regards the learner, assessment is aimed at providing information that will help make decisions concerning remediation, enrichment, selection, exceptionality, progress and certification. With regards teaching, assessment provides information regarding achievement of objectives, the effectiveness of teaching methods and learning materials

FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Assessment can be done at various times throughout the school year and a comprehensive assessment plan will include both formative and summative assessment. The point at which assessment occurs and the aim of assessing distinguishes these two categories of assessment.

Formative Assessment:

Formative assessment is often done at the beginning of during the school year, thus providing the opportunity for immediate evidence for student learning in a particular subject area or at a particular point in a programme. Classroom assessment is one of the most common formative assessment techniques. The purpose of this technique is to improve quality of student learning and should not be evaluative or involve grading students.

	Formative Assessment	Summative Assessment
Timing	Conducted throughout the teaching-learning process	Conducted at the end of a teaching-learning phases (e.g. end of semester or year)
Method	Paper & pencil tests, observations, quizzes, exercises, practical sessions administered to the group and individually	Paper & pencil tests, oral tests administered to the group
Aim	· To assess progress and recommend remedial action for non-achievement of objectives ·  Remediation or enrichment or reteach the topic	· Grading to determine if the programme was successful. · To certify students and improve the curriculum
Example	Quizzes, essays, diagnostic tests, lab reports and anecdotal records	Final exams, national examinations, qualifying tests.

           Figure 1.7 Differences between Formative and Summative Assessment

In formative assessment the teacher compares the performance of a student to the performance other students in the class and not all students in the same year. Usually, a small section of the content is tested to determine if the objectives have been met. Formative assessment is action-oriented and forms the basis for improvement of instructional methods.  

For example, if a teacher observes that some students do not grasp a concept, he or she may design a different activity or use a different instructional strategy. Likewise, students can monitor their progress with periodic quizzes and performance tasks. The results of formative assessments are used to modify and validate instruction. In short, formative assessments are on-going and include reviews, and observations of what is happening in the classroom.

Summative Assessment:

Summative assessment is comprehensive in nature; provides accountability and is used to check the level of learning at the end of the programme (which may be at the end of the semester, year or after two years). For example, after three years in secondary school, students take a National Examination which is summative in nature since it is based on the cumulative learning experiences of students. Summative assessments are typically used to evaluate the effectiveness of an instructional programme at the end of an academic year or at a pre-determined time. 

The goal of summative assessment is to make a judgment of student competency–after an instructional phase is complete. For example, in Malaysia national examinations are administered at the end of 6 years of primary school; at the end of lower secondary school and at the end of upper secondary school. It is a summative assessment to determine each student's acquisition of several subject areas of 2 to 3 years coverage of content. Summative evaluations are used to determine if students have mastered specific competencies and letter grades may be are assigned to assess learner achievement. See Figure 1.8 which lists the differences between the two types of tests.

NORM REFERENCED AND CRITERION-REFERENCED TESTS 

There are two types of tests depending on how its results are interpreted and used. Traditionally there are two types of tests called Norm-Referenced Tests and Criterion-referenced Tests.

Norm-Referenced Tests:

The major reason for norm-referenced tests is to classify students. These tests are designed to highlight differences between and among students to produce dependable rank order of students across a continuum of achievement from high-achievers to low achievers (Anastasi, 1988). With norm-referenced tests, a representative group of students is given the test and their scores form the norm after having gone through a complex process of administration and analysis. 

Anyone taking a norm-referenced test can compare his or her score against the norm. For example, a student who obtained a score of 70 on a norm-referenced will not mean much until it is compared to the norm. When compared to the norm, her score is the 80^th percentile which means that she performed as well or better than 80% of students in the norm group. This type of information can be useful for deciding whether or not students need remedial assistance or is a candidate for the gifted programme. However, the score gives little information about what the student actually knows or can do. A major criticism of norm-referenced tests is that they tend to focus on assessing low level basic skills. If it measures achievement, norm-referenced tests tend to measure a sample of the academic content taught in schools nationwide.

Criterion-Referenced Tests:

Criterion-referenced tests determine what students can or cannot do, and not how they compare to others (Anastasi, 1988). Criterion-referenced tests report how well students are doing relative to a pre-determined performance level on a specified set of educational goals or outcomes included in the curriculum. Criterion-referenced tests are used when teachers wish to know how well students have learned the knowledge and skills which they are expected to have mastered. This information may be used as one piece of information to determine how well the student is learning the desired curriculum and how well the school is teaching that curriculum. Criterion-referenced tests give detailed information about how well a student has performed on each of the educational goals or learning outcomes included on that test. For instance, a criterion-referenced test score might describe which arithmetic operations a student can perform or the level of reading difficulty experienced. See Figure 1.8 which lists the differences between the two-types of tests.

	Norm-Referenced Test	Criterion-Referenced Tests
Aim	·     Compare a student’s performance with other students ·     Select students for certification	·     Compare a student’s performance against some criteria (e.g. learning outcomes) ·     Extent to which student has acquired the knowledge or skill ·     Improve teaching & learning
Types of Questions	Questions from simple to difficult	Questions of nearly similar difficulty relating to the criteria
Reporting of results	Grades are assigned	No grades are assigned (whether skill or knowledge achieved or not
Content coverage	Wide content coverage	Specific aspects of the content
Examples	UPSR, PMR, SPM national examinations, end of semester examinations, end of year examinations	Class tests, exercises and assignments

             Figure 1.8 Differences between Norm-Referenced and Criterion Tests

REFERENCE

http://www.aeu.edu.my/