1. Portfolio
1.1. What is it?
1.1.1. Collections of student work that exhibit the students' efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas. (The Cross Sectoral Assessment Working Party, 2011)
1.1.2. Portfolios include reflections on their learning. Asking students to spell out the concepts or techniques used with each piece, the themes addressed, and hurdles faced also brings a sense of completion to the learning process. (Center for Teaching and Learning)
1.2. Pros/Cons
1.2.1. The portfolio consists of evidence assembled to show how the student can meet specified learning outcomes or assessment criteria. Valuable for the assessment of vocational or professional practice. (Atherton J S, 2013)
1.2.2. Portfolios can be large and difficult to navigate. They are also not a good assessment of a student's performance in the moment, as students take time to develop each part. (Atherton J S, 2013)
1.3. Of and For Learning
1.3.1. I would say a portfolio assessment is both OF and FOR learning, as a portfolio is built over time and reflects a student's process of learning and growth. Portfolios demonstrate what a student has mastered, but can also show what they are capable of in future learning through the thorough demonstration of process.
2. High-stakes
2.1. What is it?
2.1.1. A high-stakes test is any test used to make important decisions about students, educators, schools, or districts, most commonly for the purpose of accountability. (Hidden Curriculum, 2014)
2.1.2. Standardized testing is used to evaluate school/teacher performance, statewide and for grade promotion.
2.1.3. What distinguishes a high-stakes test from a low-stakes test is not its form (how the test is designed) but its function (how the results are used). (Hidden Curriculum, 2014)
2.2. Pros/Cons
2.2.1. They provide motivation for students to study and pay attention in class, and give great insight to teachers. (Summative Assessment, 2013)
2.2.2. A test may not be a clear measure of a student's knowledge. Many teachers are accused of teaching to the test.
2.3. OF Learning
2.3.1. High stakes assessments are assessments OF learning, since they measure mastery after a unit of learning has taken place.
3. Authentic
3.1. What is it?
3.1.1. Authentic tasks are activities that are genuine and purposeful. (The Cross Sectoral Assessment Working Party, 2011)
3.1.2. These can include real life tasks, like shopping tasks, measuring a ball-park, designing a home, building a bridge or tower, writing about significant issues and so on. (The Cross Sectoral Assessment Working Party, 2011)
3.2. Pros/Cons
3.2.1. Authentic Assessments are most useful in practical and tangible subjects. It would be difficult to use this type of assessment for cerebral or philosophical subjects.
3.3. Of and For Learning
3.3.1. Depending on the assessment, I would call it OF and FOR learning. A student would learn a great deal in the process of completing the assessment, if they were allowed to research and check data during the process. If students are only allowed to complete the assessment without checks and research, it would be primarily an assessment OF learning.
4. Self-assessment
4.1. What is it?
4.1.1. Self-evaluation is student reflections about her/his own achievements and needs relative to program goals. (The Cross Sectoral Assessment Working Party, 2011)
4.1.2. Students fill out a form or write a reflection on their performance based on clear guidelines and expectations.
4.2. Pros/Cons
4.2.1. Self assessment it is about getting students to develop the skills and judgement to assess themselves. This helps students to be more responsible learners. (Atherton J S, 2013)
4.2.2. Students need clear guidelines and criteria for assessment.
4.3. OF and FOR Learning
4.3.1. Self-assessment is of and for learning, as a student will learn what they need to work on from the assessment itself. Students will see where their knowledge is lacking if guidelines are clearly set. As assessment used at the end of a lesson, it is a measure of learning.
5. Peer-Assessment
5.1. What is it?
5.1.1. Peer evaluation is assessment by students about one another's performance relative to stated criteria and program outcomes. (The Cross Sectoral Assessment Working Party, 2011)
5.1.2. Students can easily score each other's simple assessments, such as a spelling test or short answer assignment.
5.2. Pros/Cons
5.2.1. Students can learn about their own work by assessing their classmates. Students become better at evaluating and become more familiar with rubrics and guidelines.
5.2.2. Relationships between students may affect scoring. Students need very clear guidelines and rubrics when assessing, since each score is from a different perspective. This method is the least biased when there is no room for interpretation of performance and tests are measurable and direct.
5.3. OF Learning
5.3.1. Peer assessment is a measure of learning because the outcome of the assessment does not affect the students' subsequent instruction.
6. Summative
6.1. What is it?
6.1.1. Given at the end of the year or unit, summative assessments assess a student’s mastery of a topic after instruction. (Ronan, 2015)
6.1.2. Summative assessments are design to measure student achievement at end of instruction. These types of assessments evaluate student learning at the end of a project, unit, course, or school year. (Ronan, 2015)
6.2. Pros/Cons
6.2.1. They provide motivation for students to study and pay attention in class, and give great insight to teachers. (Summative Assessment, 2013)
6.2.2. A test may not be a clear measure of a student's knowledge. Many teachers are accused of teaching to the test.
6.3. OF Learning
6.3.1. Summative assessments are assessments OF learning, since they measure mastery after a unit of learning has taken place.
7. Resources
7.1. Atherton J S (2013) Learning and Teaching; Forms of Assessment. Retrieved 12 August 2015 from http://www.learningandteaching.info/teaching/assess_form.htm Center for Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Methods of Assessment. Retrieved August 12, 2015, from http://ctl.utexas.edu/teaching/assess-learning/methods-overview Hidden curriculum (2014, August 26). In S. Abbott (Ed.), The glossary of education reform. Retrieved from http://edglossary.org/hidden-curriculum Hurst, M. (2015). Forms of Assessment: Informal, Formal, Paper-Pencil & Performance Assessments - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com. Retrieved August 12, 2015, from http://study.com/academy/lesson/forms-of-assessment-informal-formal-paper-pencil-performance-assessments.html Ronan, A. (2015, April 29). Every Teacher's Guide to Assessment. Retrieved August 12, 2015, from http://www.edudemic.com/summative-and-formative-assessments/ Sasser, N. (2015). What Are the Advantages & Disadvantages of Formative Assessment? Retrieved August 12, 2015, from http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/advantages-disadvantages-formative-assessment-28407.html Summative Assessment: What Teachers Need to Know. (2013, February 27). Retrieved August 12, 2015, from http://education.cu-portland.edu/blog/teaching-strategies/summative-assessment-what-teachers-need-to-know/ The Cross Sectoral Assessment Working Party. (2011, June 1). Teacher's Guide to Assessment. Retrieved August 12, 2015, from http://www.det.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/297182/Teachers_Guide_to_Assessment_Web.pdf
8. Performance-based
8.1. What is it?
8.1.1. Performance assessments, on the other hand, are assessments in which students demonstrate their knowledge and skills in a non-written fashion. These assessments are focused on demonstration versus written responses. (Hurst, 2015)
8.1.2. For example, giving oral presentations, completing physical assessments in physical education (PE) classes, performing experiments in a lab, or dissecting activities in anatomy classes fall under this category. (Hurst, 2015) staging a play, a concert, a dance performance, n exhibition, an expedition, and a sports competition (Atherton J S, 2013)
8.2. Pros/Cons
8.2.1. Performance projects are big events, and can easily absorb much more time than expected on the part of students and staff. You should integrate several modules under the overall project, if you can. (Atherton J S, 2013)
8.2.2. Performance-based assessments are translated into a practical expression, generally involving a group working together. (Atherton J S, 2013)
8.3. OF Learning
8.3.1. A performance is an assessment of learning, although if the performance takes a long time to prepare for, a great deal of learning should take place during the preparation. The end result is a clear indication OF learning.
9. Diagnostic
9.1. What is it?
9.1.1. Given at the beginning of the school year, or the beginning of a new unit of study, a diagnostic test attempts to quantify what students already know about a topic. (Ronan, 2015)
9.1.2. Diagnostic assessments assess strengths, weakness, and prior knowledge and is vital for effective differentiation in the classroom. Many teachers use the same diagnostic assessment as a formative or summative assessment later into the unit to compare a student’s score at the beginning, middle, and end of instruction. (Ronan, 2015)
9.2. Pros/Cons
9.2.1. Students have a better idea of what to expect from the course and teachers have a basis for the foundation levels of knowledge for each student.
9.2.2. If a teacher bases their lesson entirely on the results of a diagnostic assessment, this would be a disadvantage. Some students may get lucky and answer a question correctly, but they really do not grasp the material.
9.3. FOR Learning
9.3.1. Diagnostic assessment is for learning, because it is used to check students' understanding and plan subsequent instruction.
10. Formative
10.1. What is it?
10.1.1. Given throughout the learning process, formative assessments seek to determine how students are progressing through a certain learning goal. (Ronan, 2015)
10.1.2. Formative assessment monitors student performance and progress during learning, and is often low-stakes and ungraded. It’s used as a way for the teacher to see if the student is making progress toward the end goal of mastering the skill, and to monitor student learning so that they can provide feedback or help along the way. (Ronan, 2015)
10.1.3. Formative assessments are anything that gives you an idea of a student's comprehension of a concept. These vary from conversations, projects, quizzes, etc.
10.2. Pros/Cons
10.2.1. Formative assessments are not graded, which takes the anxiety away from students. They serve as a practice for students before the final tests. Teachers address these issues early on instead of waiting until the end of the unit to assess. Teachers have to do less reteaching at the end because many of the problems with mastery are addressed before final tests. (Sasser, 2015)
10.2.2. Some teachers complain about sacrificing time to assess during the lesson and fear that they may not even finish the lesson. Students may not take these assessments seriously. (Sasser, 2015)
10.3. FOR Learning
10.3.1. Formative assessments are assessments FOR learning, since they measure content comprehension and areas for further instruction. They are sometimes tools for learning.