Introduction

What do measurement, assessment and evaluation mean?

You might want to read how Dr. Bob Kizlik differentiated these three.

Measurement - according to Stevens (1959, in Wright, 1997)is the process of assigning numerals to events or objects (or in our case persons/students).

Review the different levels of measurement here.

Assessment

• Usually used synonymously with test or testing
• A formal attempt to determine students’ status with respect to an educational variable of interest
• A task or series of tasks used to obtain systematic observations presumed to be representative of educational traits or attributes

Tests may be classified in several ways:

Teacher-made	constructed by teachers for use within their own classroom
Standardized	constructed by test specialists working with curriculum experts and teachers

Norm-referenced tests (NRTs)	designed to measure individual differences in achievement, intelligence, interests, attitudes, or personality
Criterion-reference tests (CRTs)	relate a student’s score on an achievement test to a domain of knowledge rather than to another student’s score

Individual tests	designed to be administered to one person at a time These tests are normally given orally and require examiner’s constant attention
Group tests	can be given to many persons at a time less complicated than individual tests "Paper-and-pencil" tests are almost always given to groups

Objective tests	those tests that have clear and unambiguous scoring criteria – that is, independent scorers can agree on the number of points answers should receive
Subjective tests	have vague scoring criteria

Power tests	have generous time limits so that most students will be able to attempt every item Items are arranged from easiest to most difficult; last few items are normally so difficult that no one is expected to get a perfect score
Speed tests	have severe time limits, but the items are so easy that few students are expected to make errors The severity of time limits make it almost improbable for any student to finish all items

Verbal tests	emphasize the use of language as the primary means of responding to test items or questions
Nonverbal tests	de-emphasize the role of reading in testing
Nonlanguage tests	are administered in pantomime or by gestures and require no language facility on the part of the examinee
Performance tests	require examinees to perform a task rather than answering questions

Ability tests	contain items that can be scored in terms of speed, accuracy, or both
Personality tests	related to overt and covert dispositions of the individual – for example, the tendency that a person will show a particular behavior or response in any given situation

Types of Abilities

Achievement	refers to previous learning
Aptitude	refers to potential for learning or acquiring a specific skill
Intelligence	commonly refers to a person’s general potential to solve problems, adapt to changing circumstances, think abstractly, and profit from experience, independent of prior learning

Types of Personality Tests

Structured personality tests	provide a statement, usually of the “self-report” variety, and require the test taker to choose between two or more alternatives
Projective personality test	one in which the stimulus (test materials) and the required response or both are ambiguous

Evaluation

• A process through which a value judgment or decision is made from a variety of observations and from the background and training of the evaluator
• Some equate the term with grading
• Others equate the term with program or curriculum evaluation (consider WJ Popham's definition below)

Evaluation is an appraisal of the worth of an educational program or, in the case of classroom teachers, either the effectiveness of an instructional activity or the competence of the teacher

Types of Evaluative Decisions

• Selection
  
  
• Selection tests and other measurement devices are used to help decide who will be accepted or rejected by an institution
  
  
• Placement and Classification
  
  
• Placement tests, usually administered after applicants are selected, assign individuals to different levels or types of categories.
• Placement involve “vertical” grouping within a single job, program, or subject
  
  
• Classification tests are designed to place individuals in optimal programs to increase the probability of success
  
• Classification involves “horizontal” groupings in different curricula or different jobs
  
  
• Diagnosis and Remediation
  
  
• Diagnostic tests determine a person’s strengths and weaknesses in order to improve performance or well-being
  
  
• Feedback
  
  
• The process of informing students, parents, teachers, and administrators regarding student progress
• There’s a good amount of evidence that supports the argument that knowledge of results increases student learning
• Feedback is NOT the same as marking or grading; marks, though, do provide feedback to students and their parents
  
  
• Administrative Policy
  
  
• Administrative policy decisions may be made at the school, district, regional/state, or national level
• These decisions may determine how much money should be given to a school district or a degree program in a school
  
  
• These decisions have the most impact on students
  
  
• Promotions decisions
  (whether a student’s score on a criterion is at or above the cutoff established to allow him/her to be promoted to the next grade/year level, or whether he/she will be offered an opportunity for remedial instruction or whether he/she is retained and must repeat the year)
  
  
• Graduation decisions
  (whether a student’s score on a criterion is at or above the cutoff established to allow the student to obtain a diploma)
  
  
• These decisions have direct impact on school staff as well
  
  
• Reconstitution
  (if a class, school, or district’s performance on a national test or high-stakes test is unacceptably low, a teacher, principal, or an entire school staff may be replaced or “reconstituted” in an effort to break a pattern of low achievement)
  
  
• Recognition
  (if the performance is high enough, the class, teacher, school, principal, district, etc., may qualify for financial and other incentives, including recognition at local, regional/state, and national gatherings)
  
  
• Program and Curriculum
  
  
• Measurement can be valuable in making decisions about programs and curricula
• Programs can involve innovative projects instituted by a school or district or by an individual teacher who wants to evaluate the effectiveness of his/her teaching methods
  
  
• Formative vs. Summative Evaluation
  
  
• Formative evaluation
  
• helps the teacher or administrator make effective decisions throughout the duration of the course of project
• this is done during the program
• It is closely related to feedback and diagnostic functions of testing
  
  
• Summative evaluation
  
• occurs at the end of a program or course and determines its overall effectiveness
• The purpose of summative evaluation is not so much to help individual students currently participating in the program as it is to make a decision about whether the project has been successful and should be continued or modified or whether it was unsuccessful and should be dropped
  

References

• Kubiszyn, T. & Borich, G. (2003). Educational testing and measurement: Classroom application and practice. (7th ed.) Singapore: John Wiley & Sons.
• Kaplan, R.M. & Sacuzzo, D.P. (1993). Psychological testing: Principles, applications and issues. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing.
• Popham, W. J. (2002). Classroom assessment: What teachers need to know. (3rd ed.). Singapore: Allyn and Bacon.
• Sax, G. (1997). Principles of educational and psychological measurement and evaluation. (4th ed.). CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.