Assessment Terminology

Rubric

A scoring guide used in subjective assessments. The explicit description of performance characteristics corresponding to a point on a rating scale.

Achievement Test

A standardized test designed to efficiently measure the amount of knowledge and/or skill a person has acquired, usually as a result of classroom instruction. Such testing produces a statistical profile used as a measurement to evaluate student learning in comparison with a standard or norm.

Portfolio

A systematic and organized collection of a student's work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of their efforts, achievements, and progress over a period of time. A collection that involves the student in selection of its contents, and should include information about the performance criteria, the rubric or criteria for judging merit, and evidence of student self-reflection or evaluation.

Objective Test

A test for which the scoring procedure is completely specified, enabling agreement among different scorers. A correct-answer test.

Norm Referenced Tests

A test in which a student or a group's performance is compared to that of a norm group. In this type of test,the student or group scores will not fall evenly on either side of the median established by the original test takers. The results in this type of test are relative to the performance of an external group and are designed to be compared with the norm group providing a performance standard. This test is often used to measure and compare students, schools, districts, and states on the basis of norm-established scales of achievement.

Multiple Choice Tests

A test in which students are presented with a question or an incomplete sentence or idea. In this type of test, the students are expected to choose the correct or best answer/completion from a menu of alternatives.

Project

A complex assignment involving more than one type of activity and production. These can take a variety of forms, some examples are a mural construction, or other collaborative or individual effort.

Norm

A distribution of scores obtained from a norm group. This is the median of scores or performances of the students in a group. Fifty percent will score above and fifty percent will score below this.

Process

A generalizable method of doing something, involving steps or operations which are usually ordered and/or interdependent. This can be evaluated as part of an assessment, as in the example of evaluating a student's performance during a pre-writing exercise leading up to the final production of an essay or paper.

Profile

A graphic compilation of the performance of an individual on a series of assessments.

Cohort

A group whose progress is followed by means of measurements at different points in time.

Norm Group

A random group of students selected by a test developer to take a test to provide a range of scores and establish the percentiles of performance for use in establishing scoring standards.

Percentile

A ranking scale ranging from a low of 1 to a high of 99 with 50 as the median score. This indicates the percentage of a reference or norm group obtaining scores equal or less than the test-taker's score. This does not refer to the percentage of questions answered correctly, it indicates the test-taker's standing relative to the norm group standard.

Rating Scale

A scale based on descriptive words or phrases that indicate performance levels.

Subjective Test

A test in which the impression or opinion of the assessor determines the score or evaluation or performance. A test in which the answers cannot be known or prescribed in advance.

Criterion Referenced Test

A test in which the results can be used to determine a student's progress toward mastery of a content area. In this type of test, performance is compared to an expected level of mastery in a content area rather than to other students' scores. The scores in this type of test have meaning in terms of what the students knows or can do, rather than how the test-taker compares to a reference or norm group. This type of test can have norms, but comparison to a norm is not the purpose of the assessment.

Competency Test

A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for promotion, graduation, certification, or other official acknowledgement of achievement.

Performance-Based Assessment

A test of the ability to apply knowledge in a real-life setting. Assessment of the performance that is done using a rubric or analytic scoring guide to aid in objectivity.

Essay Test

A test that requires students to answer questions in writing. Responses in this type of test can be brief or extensive. Tests for recall, ability to apply knowledge of a subject to questions about the subject, rather than the ability to choose the least incorrect answer from a menu of options.

Self-Assessment

A type of assessment in which the learner uses an assessment list or rubric and benchmarks to assess his or her own work.

Analytical Scoring

A type of rubric scoring that separates the whole into categories of criteria that are examined one at a time. Student writing, for example, might be scored on the basis of grammar, organization, and clarity of ideas. Useful as a diagnostic tool.

Sampling

A way to obtain information about a large group by examining a smaller, randomly chosen selection of group members. If conducted correctly, the results will be representative of the group as a whole.

Standards

Agreed upon values used to measure the quality of student performance, instructional methods, curriculum, etc.

Alternative Assessment

An alternative to regular paper and pencil testing which might require students to answer an open-ended question, work out a solution to a problem, perform a demonstration of a skill, or in some way produce work rather than select an answer from choices on a sheet of paper.

On-Demand Assessment

An assessment process that takes place as a scheduled event outside the normal routine. A test that attempts to summarize what students have learned that is not embedded in classroom activity.

Summative Assessment

An evaluation at the conclusion of a unit or units of instruction or an activity or plan to determine or judge student skills and knowledge or effectiveness of a plan or activity.

Anchor item

An item which is included in two or more tests. It has known characteristics, and forms one section of a new version of a test in order to provide information about that test and the candidates who have taken it, e.g. to calibrate a new test to a measurement scale. Its purpose is to align the curriculum/instructional tasks with the standards.

Standardized Test

An objective test that is given and scored in a uniform manner. These tests are carefully constructed items and are selected after trials for appropriateness and difficulty.

Outcome

An operationally defined educational goal, usually a culminating activity, product, or performance that can be measured.

Item Analysis

Analyzing each item on a test to determine the proportions of students selecting each answer. This can be used to evaluate student strengths and weaknesses; may point to problems with the test's validity and possible bias.

High States Testing

Any testing program whose results have important consequences for students, teachers, schools, and/or districts. Such stakes may include promotion, certification, graduation, or denial/approval of services and opportunity.

Dimension

Aspects or categories in which performance in a domain or subject area will be judged. Separate descriptors or scoring methods may apply to each of these to assess student performance.

Formative Assessment

Assessment occurring during the process of a unit or a course

Multidimensional Assessment

Assessment that gathers information about a broad spectrum of abilities and skills.

Curriculum-embedded or Learning-embedded Assessment

Assessment that occurs simultaneously with learning such as projects, portfolios, and exhibitions. This type of assessment occurs in the classroom setting, and, if properly designed, students should not be able to tell whether they are being taught or assessed.

Evaluation

Both qualitative and quantitative descriptions of progress towards and attainment of project goals. The use of collected information (assessments) to make informed decisions about continued instruction, programs, and activities.

Authentic Assessment

Evaluating by asking for the behavior the learning is intended to produce; ideally mirroring and measuring student performance in a "real world" context. Tasks used are meaningful and valuable, and are part of the learning process. The concept of model, practice, feedback in which students know what excellent performance is and are guided to practice an entire concept rather than bits and pieces in preparation for eventual understanding. The goal of this is to gather evidence that students can use knowledge effectively and be able to critique their own efforts.

Assessment Literacy

Knowledge about the basic principals of sound assessment practice, including terminology, the development and use of assessment methodologies and techniques, familiarity with standards of quality and assessment.

Mean

One of several ways of representing a group with a single, typical score. This is figured by adding up all the individual scores in a group and dividing them by the number of people in the group. This can be affected by extremely high or low scores.

Measurement

Quantitative description of student learning and qualitative description of student attitude.

Scoring Criteria

Rules for assigning a score or the dimensions of proficiency in performance used to describe a student's response to a task. These may include rating scales, checklists, answer keys, or other scoring tools.

Action Research

School and classroom-based studies initiated and conducted by teachers and other school staff. It involves teacher, aides, principals, and other school staff as researchers who systematically reflect on their teaching or other work and collect data that will answer their questions.

Scale Scores

Scores based on a scale ranging from 001 to 999. These scales are useful in comparing performance in one subject area across classes, schools, districts, and other large populations, especially in monitoring change over time.

Benchmark

Student performance standards (the level of student competence in a content area). An actual measurement of group performance against an established standard at defined points along the path toward the standard. Subsequent measurements of group performance use these to measure progress toward achievement.

Journals

Students' personal records and reactions to various aspects of learning and developing ideas. A reflective method often found to consolidated and enhance learning.

Performance tasks

Test item types that are useful for assessing the ability to organize, apply, and synthesize information and skills and use of resources. Examples are tasks that yield specific products, authentic assessments, and extended projects.

Open tasks

Test item types that are useful for assessing the ability to reason, use of strategies in solving problems, ability to interpret and apply information, and the ability to communicate thinking. Examples are open-ended tasks or processes, and constructed responses.

Closed tasks

Test item types that are useful for content-based standards (knowledge-level). Examples are MCQ, T/F, fill in the blank, and matching.

Holistic Method

The assigning of a single score based on an overall assessment of performance rather than by scoring or analyzing dimensions individually. The product of this method is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the quality of a final produce or performance is evaluated rather than the process or dimension of performance.

Quartile

The breakdown of an aggregate of the percentile rankings into four categories: the 0-25th percentile, 26th-50th percentile, etc.

Curriculum Alignment

The degree to which a curriculum's scope and sequence matches a testing program's evaluation measures.

Metacognition

The knowledge of one's own thinking processes and strategies, and the ability to consciously reflect and act on the knowledge of cognition to modify those processes and strategies.

Reliability

The measure of consistency for an assessment instrument. In order to achieve this, the assessment should yield similar results over time with similar populations in similar circumstances.

Median

The point on a scale that divides a group into two equal subgroups. This is not affected by low or high scores as is the mean.

Assessment

The process of observing learning; describing, collecting, recording, scoring, and interpreting information about a student's learning. Used to determine placement, promotion, graduation, or retention. An essential tool for evaluating the effectiveness of changes in the teaching-learning process.

Performance Criteria

The standards by which student performance is evaluated. Helps assessors maintain objectivity and provide students with important information about expectations, giving them a target or goal to strive for.

Product

The tangible and stable result of a performance or task. An assessment is made of student performance based on evaluation of the this as a demonstration of learning.

Validity

This test measures the desired performance and appropriate inferences can be drawn from the results. This assessment accurately reflects the learning it was designed to measure.

Self-assessment/reflection

Type of assessment that develops knowledge of strengths and weaknesses (metacognition), helps identify personal goals, reveals opinion about a topic, etc. Examples are journals, student checklists, group reflection activities, daily/weekly self-evaluations, and teacher-student interviews.

Informal assessment

Type of assessment that reveals understanding, reasoning, the ability to communicate and collaborate, and process and strategy use. Examples are teacher observations, teacher checklists, and conversations or interviews.