Role of Testing and Assessment in Education

Achievement tests

measures accomplishment and focus on the learning that has occurred as a result of relatively structured input

Aptitude tests (prognostic tests)

typically used to make predictions and focus on informal learning or life experiences

Diagnostic tests

used to identify areas of deficit to be targeted for intervention

Psychoeducational test batteries

test kits that are designed for normative comparisons and evaluation of testtakers’ strengths and weaknesses to plan educational interventions

Performance assessment

evaluation of performance tasks (work sample designed to elicit representative knowledge, skills, and values from a particular domain of study) according to criteria developed by experts from the domain of study tapped by those tasks

Portfolio assessment

evaluation of one’s work samples

Authentic assessment

evaluation of relevant, meaningful tasks that may be conducted to evaluate learning of academic subject matter but that demonstrate the student’s transfer of that study to real-world activities

Peer appraisal techniques

asking an individual’s peer group to obtain information about the individual and make an evaluation.