Glossary - Assessment

Term: Assessment

Definition: A system of evaluation of professional accomplishments using defined criteria and usually including an attempt at measurement either by grading on a rough scale or by assigning numerical value. The purpose of assessment in an educational context is to make a judgment about the level of skills or knowledge, to measure improvement over time, to evaluate strengths and weaknesses, to rank students for selection or exclusion, or to motivate. Assessment should be as objective and reproducible as possible. A reliable test should produce the same or similar scores on two or more occasions or if given by two or more assessors. The validity of a test is determined by the extent to which it measures whatever it sets out to measure. One can distinguish three types of assessment:

• Formative assessment is testing that is part of the developmental or ongoing teaching/learning process. It should include delivery of feedback to the student.
• Summative assessment is testing which often occurs at the end of a term or course, used primarily to provide information about how much the student has learned and how well the course was taught.
• Criterion-referenced assessment refers to testing against an absolute standard such as an individual's performance against a benchmark.

URL: http://www.iime.org/glossary.htm