Resource Type GEM Controlled Vocabulary (4/5/2000)
Words and phrases that descibe student learning assessment methods and instruments.
Definitions were taken from the following resources:
DOE: A Dictionary of Education, Totowa, N.J. : Barnes & Noble
Books, 1982, c1981.
DOE3: Dictionary of education, 3d edition; New York, McGraw-Hill,
1973.
ERIC: Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors, 13th edition; Phoenix, AZ,
Orxy Press, 1995.
New Horizons: New Horizons for Learning (1995). Available at: http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/assess/terminology.htm
|
Term |
Description |
| Alternative assessment | Many educators prefer the description "assessment alternatives" to describe alternatives to traditional, standardized, norm- or criterion-referenced traditional paper and pencil testing. An alternative assessment 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. Portfolios and instructor observation of students are also alternative forms of assessment. (New Horizons) |
| Authentic assessment | Evaluating by asking for the behavior the learning is intended to produce. 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. A variety of techniques can be employed in authentic assessment. (New Horizons) |
| Curriculum based assessment |
Direct and frequent measurement of student performance
on the classroom curriculum in order to ascertain student instructional
needs -- used principally for instructional decision making, the approach also supports screening, placement, and monitoring in special education. (note: see also the identifier "curriculum related testing") (ERIC) |
| Informal assessment | Appraisal of an individual's or group's status or growth by means other than standardized instruments. (ERIC) |
| Observation | Directed or intentional examination of persons, situations, or things to obtain information -- includes the quantified values by which observed facts are represented. (ERIC) |
| Peer evaluation | Evaluation by one's peers. (ERIC) |
| Portfolio assessment | Systematic collection of a student's work samples, records of observation, test results, etc., over a period of time for the purpose of evaluating student growth and achievement -- used occasionally with populations other than students. (note: prior to dec94, "portfolios (background materials)" was used, usually with "student evaluation," to index this concept) (ERIC) |
| Self evaluation | Assessment of an institution, organization, program, etc., by its members or sponsors. (note: prior to mar80, the instruction "institutional self study, use institutional research" was carried in the thesaurus -- this concept was also sometimes indexed under "self evaluation") (ERIC) |
| Standardized testing | Tests for which content has been selected and checked empirically, norms have been established, uniform methods of administering have been developed, and which may be scored with a relatively high degree of objectivity. (ERIC) |
| Testing | Gathering and processing information about individuals' ability, skill, understanding, or knowledge under controlled conditions. (note: see also "evaluation" and "measurement") (ERIC) |
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