What is the purpose of assessment as diagnosing learners difficulties and misconceptions?
Formative and Summative AssessmentsAssessment can serve many different purposes. Most instructors are familiar with the traditional way of assessing students, such as by mid-term and final exams (usually using multiple-choice questions). There is a reason that this type of assessment is so popular – it is cost efficient (as in the example of multiple choice exams), takes a relatively short amount of time to create and grade, and provides a numerical summary (grade) of how much a student has learned. Show
The downside of this method is that it does not provide the learner or instructor any feedback on the learning process that has taken place, only a summative result. This lack of opportunity to apply new learning and receive formative feedback hinders student ability to learn. Another type of assessment, known as formative assessment, has a different purpose from summative assessment. Formative assessments capture learning-in-process in order to identify gaps, misunderstanding, and evolving understanding before summative assessments. Formative assessment may take a variety of forms, such as informal questions, practice quizzes, one-minute papers, and clearest/muddiest point exercises. Formative assessment allows students to practice skills or test knowledge without the pressures associated with grades. Paul Black (1998), who is often lauded as the forefather of these concepts, described the difference between these terms using the analogy of cooking. As a cook is making her soup, she occasionally tastes it to decide if it needs a bit more spices or ingredients. With each taste she is assessing her soup, and using that feedback to change or improve it - in other words, the cook is engaging in formative assessment. Once the soup is served to the customer, the customer tastes it and makes a final judgment about the quality of the soup – otherwise known as summative assessment. Get this page as a PDF: Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments (PDF) BackgroundDue to the school closures resulting from the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, state and federal testing requirements for summative assessments for English language arts/literacy, (ELA), mathematics, science, and English language proficiency were waived. Deep concerns about learning loss have triggered an urgency that district and school staff have in place useful diagnostic assessments that can identify where students are in their learning within key content areas when they return to school so teachers can teach them most effectively. As we think about the need for diagnostic assessments to help teachers address the variability that students are likely to exhibit after very different learning experiences this spring, it is important to remember that each assessment is designed with a specific purpose. Researchers (Earl and Katz 2006) identify three primary purposes of assessments: assessment for learning, assessment as learning, and assessment of learning. Identifying the purpose of an assessment is important for ensuring its appropriate use. Experts note that formative assessments are for learning, while summative assessments are of learning. When assessments are performance-based—that is, when they ask students to show what they know and can do by actually doing certain tasks (e.g., writing an essay or designing an experiment)—they support the learning process. These are examples of assessments as learning, and they highlight the importance of the self-assessing and self-monitoring processes students use during learning, which have a high potential to engage students in fostering their own ongoing learning. To measure learning progress over time, it is important that assessments be scaled across a multiyear continuum of learning that can evaluate how students are progressing in particular areas (e.g., word recognition and decoding, reading comprehension, understanding of ratio and proportion). Summative assessments typically sample a wide range of information to produce an overall score that evaluates what has been learned, but they do not provide sufficiently detailed information to guide personalized teaching and learning. Furthermore, statewide summative assessments used for federal accountability purposes focus primarily on grade-level standards, which means they do not test skills above or below grade level; hence, they cannot accurately show where a student’s understanding of a specific skill or concept is nor what the teacher should focus on to ensure successful student learning. Diagnostic assessments are intended to help teachers identify what students know and can do in different domains to support their students’ learning. These kinds of assessments may help teachers determine what students understand in order to build on the students’ strengths and address their specific needs. Diagnostic and formative tools can guide curriculum planning and teaching in more specific ways than most summative assessments. In addition to diagnostic assessments, teachers and students can use the formative assessment process to monitor and adjust learning together. Formative assessment practices provide feedback both to the teacher and the learner; the feedback is then used to adjust ongoing teaching and learning strategies to improve students’ attainment of curricular learning targets or goals. The formative assessment process has four attributes:
Examples of teachers in action, focusing on the four
attributes, can be viewed in the Smarter Balanced video “Formative Assessment Practices to Support Student Learning.” Researchers have found that very large learning gains can occur when teachers: first, provide students with rich tasks that are well-supported; then, offer thoughtful feedback (comments, not grades) about what has been accomplished and what can be done next; and then, provide opportunities for immediate practice and revision using the feedback. These formative assessment opportunities focus both students and teachers on how to improve (Black and Wiliam 2010). Resources for formative assessment are provided in each of California’s curriculum frameworks, along with examples to assist teachers, coaches, site- and district-administrators, and counselors—for all subjects, including ELA, mathematics, and science. Teachers can use tools such as rubrics to clarify expectations and to provide feedback; journals, quick writes, and discussions to see what students are thinking; pre-tests and exit tickets to see where they are at the beginning and end of class; strategic questioning and performance tasks during the lesson; observations of students working in small groups; student work samples; and a variety of others. Many of the diagnostic tools described later in this guidance offer lessons in which formative tools are embedded, accompanied by instructional guidance on how teachers might respond to various conceptions or misconceptions students appear to hold. In evaluating their students’ knowledge and performance, teachers should use multiple measures (Brookhart 2009) from district, school, and classroom assessments; narrative report cards; essays; class projects; and so forth. Multiple measures from various data sources should be used to determine where students are in their learning and identify areas in which they may need additional support. In a return to school as complex as that anticipated this fall, teachers likely will want to use a variety of informal tools to assess student learning and performance—as well as their social-emotional well-being and home situation—in the first week or two of school and plan for a more formal diagnostic assessment after students have grown comfortable in the learning community and have gotten used to being “back at school.” Guidance for Using State ResourcesThis guidance describes how local educational agencies (LEAs) can use California’s approved assessments to evaluate where students are academically at the start of and throughout the school year. At the state level, the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) and the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC) provide summative assessments for ELA, mathematics, science, and English language proficiency to meet state and federal requirements. The assessment programs also provide resources for teachers that are aligned with California standards to help teachers implement the formative assessment process during instruction and when sharing information with other educators, students, and parents. These assessment tools include the Smarter Balanced assessment system, developed by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, which is freely available to all public school districts, schools, and teachers in California. The guidance also includes a number of additional tools approved for diagnostic assessment in grade two—all of which measure the state standards and have the capacity to assess student progress across a longer continuum of performance, typically covering the ELA and mathematics domains in K–8 or K–12. Smarter Balanced Assessment SystemIn California, the Smarter Balanced assessment system provides assessments for, as, and of learning in an integrated manner. The system has three components:
All of these are designed to measure the Common Core State Standards and all include performance tasks as well as selected-response and open-ended response items. Figure 1. Continuous Process of Instruction and LearningAccessible version of Figure 1 Interim assessments and formative assessment tools are available throughout the year to all K–12 teachers in all LEAs, including charter schools. Educators at nonpublic schools who provide direct instruction to California public school students also are eligible to use these assessments. The Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments are fixed-form (nonadaptive) tests designed to provide meaningful information for gauging student progress toward mastery of the skills measured by the summative assessments, but they also can be used to delve more deeply into particular domains and can be used at any point along the learning continuum. The interim assessments were developed for students in grades three through eight and high school, but may be administered to students at any grade level. Although California Education Code (EC) Section 60642.7(b) does not allow the results from the interim assessments to be used for any high-stakes purpose, LEAs may want to use the Interim Comprehensive Assessments for an overview of students’ status on grade-level standards for their grade level during 2019–2020, and then follow up with groups of students in more specific domains that appear to need more reinforcement using the Interim Assessment Blocks, which provide more detailed information to guide teaching in particular areas (e.g., multiplying and dividing within 100). The interim assessments are described below:
Figure 2. ICAs, IABs, and Focused IABsAccessible version of Figure 2
Related Resources
Practice and Training TestsFurthermore, teachers and students can use the CAASPP and the ELPAC practice and training tests in formative ways during instruction. These tests provide them with the opportunity to become familiar with the testing software before interim or summative assessments are administered. They also allow students to access and respond to the different types of questions they will encounter on the tests. Practice and training tests are available for the following:
For practice or training resources, visit the CAASPP Online Practice and Training Tests Portal Other Diagnostic ToolsThe CDE has approved a set of assessments for diagnostic testing in ELA and mathematics that meet the requirements of EC Section 60644. These assessments have been identified as aligned with the Common Core State Standards and can be used for tracking learning progress and for guiding instruction mapped to student needs. They are listed and described on the CDE website (refer to the Grade Two Diagnostic Assessments web page [https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/da/]) as well as in table 1, below. (We note that other publishers have inquired about adding their resources to this list; however, funding is no longer available for vetting additional grade two diagnostic assessments.) LEAs can certify to the CDE the number of students in grade two who are administered these assessments pursuant to EC Section 60644 for the purpose of determining apportionment funding as set by the California State Board of Education annually. These assessments were initially evaluated for grade two diagnostic testing, but all are scaled assessments that show how students are progressing along a continuum that extends across grade levels and can be used over multiple school years to inform instruction. LEAs that already use one of these assessments can examine student progress over time from prior years to the present and into the coming year(s). Table 1. CDE-Approved Diagnostic Assessments
*In addition to the resources listed above, many California districts participate in the Mathematics Assessment Project (MAP) ReferencesAccessibility AppendixAccessible Version of Figure 1. Continuous Process of Instruction and LearningImage from the Smarter Blanced Assessment Consortium that demonstrates a smarter assessment system, which includes a continuous process of instruction and learning. State standards lead to college and career readiness. Resources and data to support teaching and learning are provided by three integrated components: summative assessments, interim assessments, and instructional supports (tools for teachers). Back to Content After Figure 1 Accessible Version of Figure 2. ICAs, IABs, and Focused IABsInterim Assessments at a GlanceInterim Comprehensive AssessmentsImage of a three by three by three cube with all parts filled. Assess the same targets as the summative. Examples:
Current Interim Assessment BlocksImage of a three by three by three cube, with a two by two by two cube portion filled. Assess 1-8 targets in math and ELA/literacy. Examples:
Focused Interim Assessment BlocksImage of a three by three by three cube with a two by one by one portion filled. The two by one by one filled portion is within the portion that had been a two by two by two portion. Assess 1-3 targets in math and ELA/literacy. Examples:
Back to Content After Figure 2 Last Reviewed: Monday, May 23, 2022 What are the purpose of diagnostic assessment?This assessment is used to collect data on what students already know about the topic. Diagnostic assessments are sets of written questions (multiple choice or short answer) that assess a learner's current knowledge base or current views on a topic/issue to be studied in the course.
What is the purpose of assessment in the classroom?Classroom Assessment is a systematic approach to formative evaluation, used by instructors to determine how much and how well students are learning. CATs and other informal assessment tools provide key information during the semester regarding teaching and learning so that changes can be made as necessary.
What is the purpose of assessment as determining what learners need to learn next?Assessment for learning: provides students with information and guidance so they can plan and manage the next steps in their learning. uses information to lead from what has been learned to what needs to be learned next.
How can diagnostic assessment help in improving the student's science learning?Diagnostic assessment (pretests) to help determine what students know when they begin any educational task. Formative assessment to help guide day-to-day classroom activities. Student outcome or summative assessment to find out what students have learned and mastered in their individual programs.
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