Purposes and Uses of Assessment

Topic 2: Purposes and Uses of Assessment

Using Assessment Results

Teachers collect assessment information to help them understand how and what their students are learning. Two ways they can use assessment results are to: monitor student learning and modify, or change, instruction.

Monitor learning

Assessments give teachers a "snapshot" of student abilities. When teachers assess achievement on an ongoing basis, they can check how well students are learning. If students do well, it shows that they are progressing toward the learning outcomes. If students get poor results, they may need more practice with these skills. Or, students might need to practice these skills in a different way. You might decide to focus on providing practice that favors a different learning style, for example. Assessments may be more or less structured. For example, you can give a pop-quiz. Or, you can informally listen to students' conversations to see if they understand the material.

Modify instruction

Assessments also give teachers a view of the effectiveness of their course. Sometimes the information that you gather during assessment will make you realize that instruction needs to be changed. Imagine that everyone in the class got a low score on a test. While this could mean that the test was too difficult, it may also mean that the lesson was not as effective as it needed to be. The teacher might need to change the course material to help students achieve better results. Or, he might need to make changes to an activity, a lesson, or even an entire course.

Keeping clear records of student achievement will help keep you informed about student learning and about the effectiveness of your materials and instruction.