| General Education
Assessment Resource Center |
| GLOSSARY |
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Alternative Assessment
(also known as Authentic or Performance Assessment) |
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An assessment that requires students to generate a response to a question rather than choose from a set of responses provided to them. Exhibitions, investigations, demonstrations, written or oral responses, journals, and portfolios are examples of the assessment alternatives we think of when we use the term "alternative assessment." Ideally, alternative assessment requires students to actively accomplish complex and significant tasks, while bringing to bear prior knowledge, recent learning, and relevant skills to solve realistic or authentic problems. (CRESST)
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| Assessment |
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The systematic collection,
review, and use of information about educational programs undertaken
for the purpose of improving student learning and development. (Palomba
& Banta, 1999) |
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An ongoing process aimed
at understanding and improving student learning. It involves making
our expectations explicit and public; setting appropriate criteria
and standards for learning quality; systematically gathering, analyzing,
and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches
those expectations and standards; and using the resulting information
to document, explain, and improve performance. (Angelo, 1995) |
| Assessment System |
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The combination of multiple assessments into a comprehensive reporting format
that produces comprehensive, credible, dependable information upon which
important decisions can be made about students, schools, districts, or states.
An assessment system may consist of a norm-referenced or criterion-referenced assessment, an alternative assessment system, and classroom assessments. (CRESST) |
| Benchmark |
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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 the
benchmarks to measure progress toward achievement. (New Horizons for
Learning) |
| Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives |
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Six levels arranged in order of increasing
complexity (1=low, 6=high):
1. Knowledge: Recalling or remembering information without
necessarily understanding it. Includes behaviors such as describing,
listing, identifying, and labeling.
2. Comprehension: Understanding learned material and includes
behaviors such as explaining, discussing, and interpreting.
3. Application: The ability to put ideas and concepts to
work in solving problems. It includes behaviors such as demonstrating,
showing, and making use of information.
4. Analysis: Breaking down information into its component
parts to see interrelationships and ideas. Related behaviors include
differentiating, comparing, and categorizing.
5. Synthesis: The ability to put parts together to form something
original. It involves using creativity to compose or design something
new.
6. Evaluation: Judging the value of evidence based on definite
criteria. Behaviors related to evaluation include: concluding, criticizing,
prioritizing, and recommending. (Bloom, 1956)
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| Classroom Assessment |
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The systematic and on-going study of what
and how students are learning in a particular classroom; often designed
for individual faculty who wish to improve their teaching of a specific
course. Classroom assessment differs from tests and other forms of
student assessment in that it is aimed at course improvement, rather
than at assigning grades. (National Teaching & Learning Forum) |
| Classroom Assessment Techniques |
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Simple, non-graded, anonymous, in-class activities that help instructors
gather feedback from students on the teaching-learning process.
The National
Teaching & Learning Forum website provides an introduction
to the effective use of CATs.
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| Criterion-Referenced Assessment |
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An assessment where an individual's performance is compared to
a specific learning objective or performance standard and not to
the performance of other students. Criterion-referenced assessment
tells us how well students are performing on specific goals or standards
rather that just telling how their performance compares to a norm
group of students nationally or locally. In criterion-referenced
assessments, it is possible that none, or all, of the examinees
will reach a particular goal or performance standard. (CRESST)
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| Direct Assessment |
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Gathers evidence about student learning
based on student performance that demonstrates the learning itself.
Can be value added, related to standards, qualitative or quantitative,
embedded or not, using local or external criteria. Examples are written
assignments, classroom assignments, presentations, test results, projects,
logs, portfolios, and direct observations. (Leskes, 2002) |
| Embedded Assessment |
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A means of gathering information about student learning that is built into and a natural part of the teaching-learning process. Often uses for assessment purposes classroom assignments that are evaluated to assign students a grade. Can assess individual student performance or aggregate the information to provide information about the course or program; can be formative or summative, quantitative or qualitative. Example: as part of a course, expecting each senior to complete a research paper that is graded for content and style, but is also assessed for advanced ability to locate and evaluate Web-based information (as part of a college-wide outcome to demonstrate information literacy). (Leskes, 2002) |
| Evaluation |
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The use of assessment findings (evidence/data) to judge program effectiveness; used as a basis for making decisions about program changes or improvement. (Allen, Noel, Rienzi & McMillin, 2002) |
| Formative Assessment |
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The gathering of information about student learning-during the progression of a course or program and usually repeatedly-to improve the learning of those students. Example: reading the first lab reports of a class to assess whether some or all students in the group need a lesson on how to make them succinct and informative. (Leskes, 2002) |
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| High Stakes Test |
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A test used to provide results that have important, direct consequences for examinees, programs, or institutions involved in the testing. (System for Adult Basic Education Support) |
| Indicator |
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A specific description of an outcome in
terms of observable and assessable behaviors. An indicator specifies
what a person who possesses the qualities articulated in an outcome
knows or can do. Several indicators are generally needed to adequately
describe each outcome. (McTighe & Ferrara) |
| Indirect Assessment |
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Acquiring evidence about how students feel
about learning and their learning environment rather than actual demonstrations
of outcome achievement. Examples include surveys, questionnaires,
interviews, focus groups, and reflective essays. (Eder, 137) |
| Information Literacy |
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The set of skills needed to find, retrieve,
analyze, and use information. Information literate individuals employ
technology to retrieve, manage, and present information, but more
importantly, they are able to discern when information is needed,
develop efficient search strategies, and critically evaluate the information.
(DeMars, Cameron, & Erwin, 253) |
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| Learning Outcomes |
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Operational statements describing specific
student behaviors that evidence the acquisition of desired knowledge,
skills, abilities, capacities, attitudes or dispositions. Learning
outcomes can be usefully thought of as behavioral criteria for determining
whether students are achieving the educational objectives of a program,
and, ultimately, whether overall program goals are being successfully
met. Outcomes are sometimes treated as synonymous with objectives,
though objectives are usually more general statements of what students
are expected to achieve in an academic program. (Allen, Noel, Rienzi
& McMillin, 2002) See also BMCC's General
Education Learning Outcomes Goals & Objectives |
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| Norm-Referenced
Assessment |
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An assessment where student performance
or performances are compared to a larger group. Usually the larger
group or "norm group" is a national sample representing
a wide and diverse cross-section of students. Students, schools, districts,
and even states are compared or rank-ordered in relation to the norm
group. The purpose of a norm-referenced assessment is usually to sort
students and not to measure achievement towards some criterion of
performance. (CRESST) |
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| Performance Criteria |
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The standards by which student performance
is evaluated. Performance criteria help assessors maintain objectivity
and provide students with important information about expectations,
giving them a target or goal to strive for. (New Horizons for Learning) |
| Portfolio |
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A systematic and organized collection of a student's work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a student's efforts, achievements, and progress over a period of time. The collection should involve 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-relection or evaluation. It should include representative work, providing a documentation of the learner's performance and a basis for evaluation of the student's progress. Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning and have been gathered in the form of a physical collection of materials, videos, CD-ROMs, reflective journals, etc.
(New Horizons for Learning) |
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The training portfolio is a required
or mandated exhibit of efforts collected during learning or in a curriculum
programme. It highlights the core professional knowledge, skills or
competencies a person has acquired and is collected during the time
frame of a course as a representative sample of the students' work.
Some relective comments in the training portfolio might explain the
selected evidence. |
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The reflective portfolio is a
purposeful and personally collected array of work providing evidence
of growth and accomplishments to be brought forward for promotion
and admission. The compilation of evidence reveals best practices
or key competencies chosen to meet certain criteria along with a self-appraisal
showing progress over times and understanding of accomplishments across
different contexts. |
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The personal development portfolio
is a personal evaluation and reflective account of professional growth
during a long-term process. The collection itself is an opportunity
to dicuss and give value to the activities of the person who is building
an identity. (Smith, & Harm, 627) |
| Portfolio Assessment |
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A portfolio becomes a portfolio assessment when (1) the assessment purpose is defined; (2) criteria or methods are made clear for determining what is put into the portfolio, by whom, and when; and (3) criteria for assessing either the collection or individual pieces of work are identified and used to make judgments about performance. (CRESST) |
| Qualitative Assessment |
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Collects data that does not lend itself to quantitative methods but rather to interpretive criteria. (Leskes, 2002) |
| Quantitative Assessment |
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Collects data that can be analyzed using quantitative methods. (Leskes, 2002) |
| Rubric |
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Specific sets of criteria that clearly define for both student and teacher what a range of acceptable and unacceptable performance looks like. Criteria define descriptors of ability at each level of performance and assign values to each level. Levels referred to are proficiency levels which describe a continuum from excellent to unacceptable product.(System for Adult Basic Education Support)
A useful introduction rubrics as an assesment tool can be found
here.
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| Standards |
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Sets a level of accomplishment all students are expected to meet or exceed. Standards do not necessarily imply high quality learning; sometimes the level is a lowest common denominator. Nor do they imply complete standardization in a program; a common minimum level could be achieved by multiple pathways and demonstrated in various ways. (Leskes, 2002) |
| Summative Assessment |
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The gathering of information at the conclusion of a course, program, or undergraduate career to improve learning or to meet accountability demands. When used for improvement, impacts the next cohort of students taking the course or program. Example: examining student final exams in a course to see if certain specific areas of the curriculum were understood less well than others. (Leskes, 2002) |
| Triangulation |
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Involves the collection of data via multiple
methods in order to determine if the results show a consistent outcome.
(Allen, Noel, Rienzi & McMillin, 2002) |
| Validity |
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The extent to which an assessment measures what it is supposed to measure and the extent to which inferences and actions made on the basis of test scores are appropriate and accurate. For example, if a student performs well on a reading test, how confident are we that that student is a good reader? An assessment cannot be valid if it is not reliable. (CRESST) |
| Value Added |
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The increase in learning that occurs during a course, program, or undergraduate education. Can either focus on the individual student (how much better a student can write, for example, at the end than at the beginning) or on a cohort of students (whether senior papers demonstrate more sophisticated writing skills-in the aggregate-than freshmen papers). Requires a baseline measurement for comparison. (Leskes, 2002) |
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| Sources |
| Allen, Mary; Noel, Richard, C.; Rienzi,
Beth, M.; and McMillin, Daniel, J. (2002). Outcomes
Assessment Handbook. California State University, Institute
for Teaching and Learning, Long Beach, CA. |
| Angelo, Dr. Tom (1995). Reassessing (and
defining) assessment. The AAHE Bulletin, 48(2), 7-9. |
| Bloom, B.S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational
objectives: the classification of educational goals. Handbook I: Cognitive
Domain. White Plains, N.Y.: Longman. |
| DeMars, C. E., Cameron, L., & Erwin, T.
D. (2003). Information literacy as foundational: determining competence.
JGE: The Journal of General Education, 52(4), 253. |
| Eanes, R. [n. d.]. Rubrics. |
| Eder, D. J. (2004). General education assessment
within the disciplines. JGE: The Journal of General Education,
53(2), 135. |
| Leskes, Andrea (2002). Beyond confusion: an assessment glossary. Peer Review, 4(2/3). |
| McTighe, J., & Ferrara, S. (1998). Assessing
learning in the classroom. Washington D.C.: National Education
Association. |
| National Center for Research on Evaluation,
Standards & Student Testing (CRESST). Glossary. |
| National Teaching & Learning Forum,
Classroom Assessment
Techniques. |
| New Horizons for Learning. (2002). Glossary
of Assessment Terms. |
| Palomba, C & Banta T. (1999). Assessment
essentials: planning, implementing, and improving assessment in higher
education. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. |
| Smith, K., & Harm, T. (2003). Clarifying
different types of portfolios. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher
Education, 28(6), 625. |
| System for Adult Basic Education Support. Glossary
of Useful Terms. |
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