Types of Assessments

Student assessment is the foundation for determining instructional practices, programs, and resources. Therefore, educators must be able to identify the characteristics of various types of assessment. Assessment can be formal or informal. Assessments can be administered in a group or individually. Certain assessments may be done annually while other assessment is used to provide information for ongoing instructional planning. Assessment can be used to initially screen student performance or to pinpoint specific strengths and weaknesses and provide detailed information about a student.

Objective

In this section you will explore the characteristics of various assessment types, including criterion-referenced assessment, norm-referenced assessment, and the meaning of formative assessment as opposed to summative assessment. You will also examine how to use a variety of formative reading assessment methods.