Compare and Contrast 1

Compare and Contrast

Formal and Informal Assessments


MEE 7998 Practicum III
Wilmington University


Martha S. Castro


Compare and Contrast 2



Assessment happens all throughout an instruction, that is, an effective teacher constantly
monitors a student's learning progress during a lesson. A combination of formal and informal
assessments are helpful tools to meet this goal. These are the 2 major types of assessments.
Formal assessments are standardized tests created by a group of educators, experts in test
design while informal assessments are teacher-designed tests. Formal assessments are
administered according to specific procedures followed exactly by the test giver and test taker.
These assessments are often given at the end of the school year to give an accountability of
student learning in several content areas. Very seldom are these given at the start of a school
year. Informal assessments, on the other hand, can be given anytime - at the start of a school year
as a diagnostic test, end of a school year as part of a student's final grade, and anytime during the
course of the instruction that the teacher deems necessary to give a written assessment. The
teacher uses her own procedures in giving her tests. Formal and informal assessments give
quantitative results. But, an informal assessment also gives qualitative results. Formal
assessments are written tests that measure primarily content knowledge proficiency which means
the student has to reproduce what he knows. Whereas, informal assessments besides written
tests, can be done through observations by measuring presence or absence of behaviors
according to a checklist, through interview to determine what the student know and does not
know, through the creation of a portfolio to monitor students progress in the content area and
through anecdotal records which is a documentation of students behavior that reflects his
attitude towards instruction. Below is a comparison and contrast of informal assessments from
formal assessment in table format.
Compare and Contrast 3




Category

Similarities between
Formal and Informal
Assessments


Formal Assessments

Informal Assessments
Author Group of educators considered experts
in test design
Teacher-designed
Type according to
purpose

Summative and formative
When administered Start of school year
Towards the end of the
school year
Anytime, includes start of the
school year as a diagnostic test
and at the end of the school
year as a summative test.
How administered According to specific procedures,
followed exactly by the test giver
and test takers anywhere. The
instructions are often scripted to
ensure uniformity in test
administration.

Teacher uses own procedures in
giving her tests.
Length Considerably longer than a teacher-
designed test since a single test
covers several content areas.

Test is shorter and covers one
content area.
Main characteristics Norm-referenced implies
comparison of students scores to
group of similar students
Reliability consistency of results
under similar conditions
Valid test result reflects what it is
supposed to measure
Student score is compared to own
previous score.
Students class standing is
examined to describe
performance.
Compare and Contrast 4



Category

Similarities between
Formal and Informal
Assessments


Formal Assessments

Informal Assessments
Coverage
- Content know.
- Skill prof.
- Higher order
thinking

Yes

Yes


No




Yes
Test items Selected response and short
answer
- multiple choice
- true/false
- cloze
Limited extended written response Teacher gives more extended
written response questions
accompanied by a rubric so
that students are clear on
expectations.
Teacher can also make use of
observations, interviews,
collaborative products to
measure student achievement.
Feedback

Timeliness

Quantitative

Results are issued after several weeks
due to length of the test.

Also qualitative.

Immediate.
Impact of test results

- Determine curriculum
- Decide funding for the school
- Effect district and state
educational reforms
- Shape national standards
- Give accountability of learning to
the public
- Place children in special education
or remedial programs
- Accurately measures students
learning progress
- Helps the teacher modify her
teaching strategies to meet
students needs effectively
Compare and Contrast 5



Category

Similarities between
Formal and Informal
Assessments


Formal Assessments

Informal Assessments
Impact of test results
(Cont)

- Give a sense of how well own
students perform against students
across the country

Lets the teacher plan for reteaching
and enrichment
Alignment with
learning objectives
Test items may sometimes be
outdated because of the gap
between its design and
implementation, which may be as
long as two years (Worthan,
2001).
Aligns directly with learning
objectives.
Always current.
Ease in making changes Costly; time-consuming since any
change has to be tested that it is
fair, appropriate and bias-free

Teacher can easily modify her tests
when necessary.
Cost Requires a lot of money for test
development and implementation

Cheaper to create and implement

Examples
IQ tests, McGraw Hill terra nova test,
TOEFL (Test of English as a
Foreign Language)
All tests created by the classroom
teacher.
Users

Teachers, parents, students
Also, principals, school
superintendents, state Dept. of
Education, citizens


Reference:

Worthan, S.C. (2001). Assessment in Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.