The World of Assessment

Consider the options!

Scores based on developmental
levels of academic achievement
Age-Equivalent scores
Includes standardized or norm-referenced tests such as
intelligence tests

Formal Assessment
The time when children are actually understanding and
succeeding at the learning task

Academic Learning Time

The fairness of the test

Test Bias
An alternative assessment method based on a students’
performance on a skill based on a real-life situation.

Performance-based assessments
The careful watching and recording of events or
behavior for later reflection and analysis

Observations
 Includes such items as work samples, portfolios, and
projects, or oral questioning as well as other traditional
and nontraditional ways of measuring students’
understanding and progress.

Informal Assessment
 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills

Use absolute standards (criteria) to answer specific

questions about student achievement or mastery (PPR,
TAKS). Passing requires answering a pre-determined
percentage of items correctly.

Criterion-referenced tests
A measurement process that is on-
going, developmentally appropriate,
and dynamic.

Assessment
The truthfulness of the assessment information; does
the score report really measure what it purports to
measure?

Validity
 ACT ~ ACT

Formal assessment measure in which an individual’s

performance is compared with others in the test-
norming sample

Standardized test
 An authentic assessment tool used to assess
student progress; consists of a collection of the
student’s work

Portfolio
Typically refers to all means used in schools to formally
measure student performance or behavior and make
judgments based on the results of the programs and
procedures implemented

Evaluation
Demonstrating a specific skill by constructing a product
or solving a problem that could be generated by a real-
life situation

Authentic
An umbrella term that describes
an area of the curriculum, such
as basic math skills

Domain
A test-taker’s performance is reported in relationship to
other test takers in the same age or grade sample.
Results are reported in standards scores, percentile
ranks, or t and z scores.

Norm-referenced tests
Data collected by teacher through careful watching and
charting of specific student behaviors

Observation data
Assessment data that show a student’s progress or lack
of progress toward curricular objectives during the
process of instruction.

Formative assessment
 2.0 or 6.0 or 8.0 or 10.0

Based on developmental norms, reporting such scores

assumes that all children or all children in certain
grades have received uniform instruction.

Grade-equivalent scores
 A process where students reflect on their
achievement and progress; student interviews
and portfolios are often used as student self-
assessments.

Self-assessment
 % %
Standardized scores that compare an individual with
other test takers and report scores as well as or better
than a certain percentage of the norm sample.

Percentile rank
 Test on Friday!

Informal measures of student progress based on the

objectives of the curriculum and classroom instruction.

Teacher-made test
The World of Assessment

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