Teacher, where do assessments come from? The Origins of an Assessment

by Kate Wolfe Maxlow

When an assessment is born, there are several different places it can come from, and there are pros and cons to each.

International Assessments

• Examples: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), International Baccalaureate (IB)
• Pros: These tests can let us know how students across the world compare. They are also highly standardized and generally provide good reliability (consistency) and valid inferences about student understanding.
• Cons: They may not fully match the students' actual (often state-set) curriculum, which can often say more about the curriculum than the particular instruction or student ability. The results are often very general (questions are not usually released), so there is a limited amount of information a specific teacher can gather from results.

National Assessments

• Examples: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NEAP) for Reading and Mathematics; Measure of Academic Progress, SAT/ACT, competency exams
• Pros: These tests compare students across the country. They provide statistical norms and can be measures of the curriculum as well as the instruction and student ability.
• Cons: Because these tests often require a large number of assessments to be graded, they tend to use more select-response style assessments. The results are often very general (questions are not usually released), so there is a limited amount of information a specific teacher can gather from results.

State Assessments

• Examples: Standards of Learning Tests, Common Core Assessments
• Pros: These tests are usually highly aligned to the state curriculum. Like national tests, they provide statistical norms and can be measures of the curriculum as well as the instruction and student ability.
• Cons: Similar to national assessments, there's a strong preference toward select-response style assessments. They usually occur more toward the end of the school year, and are therefore more like an autopsy of what was learned rather than a diagnostic check-up.  These are usually created by organizations with assessment departments, and therefore often have a high degree of validity and reliability.

District/Division Assessments

• Examples: Benchmark assessments, critical skills assessments, district/division performance assessments
• Pros: These can be specifically aligned to district curriculum and occur whenever the district sets them. Therefore, they don't have to be given at the end of the year. There's an option to have teachers grade their own, which means that the assessments can be more open-ended (like performance assessments)
• Cons: The district may or may not have the ability to run statistical analyses on the validity and reliability of the assessments, and those writing them may or may not have training in assessment writing. This can lead to less reliability or valid inferences of student knowledge. Unlike state assessments where there are often specific directions on how to give the assessment, validity may be compromised by how teachers implement the assessments (e.g., some teachers may allow their students to go back and check their work, whereas others do not).

Classroom Assessments

• Examples: Teacher created tests, quizzes, or other classroom activities
• Pros: These assessments can provide the most information to teachers. They also provide the most flexibility. They can be designed to target specific knowledge or skills.
• Cons: Teachers have to create or design them themselves. The level of reliability (consistency of results) and validity (do the results actually help us make valid inferences about what students know and are able to do?) may be impacted if the teacher has never had specific training on how to write assessments.

In short...there's a time and a place for each type of assessment, and knowing the strengths and limitations of each can help us make better decisions about how to use each.

Kate Wolfe Maxlow is the Director of Innovation and Professional Development for Hampton City Schools. You can follow her on Twitter @LearningKate or on Linked In or email her at kmaxlow@hampton.k12.va.us.