Vocabulary
A process of observing a sample of a student's behavior and drawing inferences about the student's knowledge and abilities.
assessment
Involves conducting an assessment after instruction, perhaps for the purpose of assigning final class grades or determining which students are ready for more advanced classes.
summative assessment
tests, quizzes, projects
formal assessments
the extent to which an assessment instrument yields consistent information about the knowledge, skills, or characteristics being assessed.
Reliability
Assessments that involve spontaneous, day-to-day observations of what students say and do at school.
informal assessment
An approach where a teacher frequently assesses students' progress, keeping a lookout for students who have unusual difficulty acquiring certain basic skills despite teachers' evidence-based practices in both whole-class instruction and follow-up small-group work.
response to intervention (RTI)
journaling, four corners, exit slips
informal assessment
The extent to which assessments involve similar content and format and are administered and scored similarly for everyone
standardization
formal assessment
List of characteristics that good performance on an assessment task should have
checklist
think pair share, strategic questioning, classroom polls
formative assessment
Extent to which an assessment actually measures what it is intended to measure and allows appropriate inferences about the characteristic or ability in question
validity
Teachers' instructional goals determine - or at least should determine - not only the content of classroom lessons but also the nature of assignments, tests, and other measures of students' achievement levels
backward design
Two-dimensional table that includes two or more characteristics on one dimension and concrete criteria for rating them on the other dimension; useful in evaluating a multifaceted performance or product
rubric
test and retest to show growth
dynamic assessment
The extent to which an assessment instrument or procedure is inexpensive and easy to use and takes only a small amount of time to administer and score.
practicality
Involves determining what students know and can do before or during instruction, perhaps to identify students' existing strengths and interests
formative assessment
Systematic examination of how easily and in what ways a student can acquire new knowledge or skills, perhaps within the context of instruction or scaffolding
dynamic assessment