Definition of Assessment

Assessment is defined as the process of gathering evidence of student achievement to inform instructional decisions (Stiggins, 2018). Properly conceived, designed, and implemented assessment can serve as a positive influence on attaining learning goals for students (Pellegrino, 2014). Assessments should faithfully represent the standards and should model good teaching and learning practice. They should also provide clues as to why students think the way they do and show how they learn as well as their reasons for misunderstandings. The teacher can use this evidence to understand where a student has gaps and how their instruction needs to be adjusted.

Effective assessments should be designed to serve a specific predetermined purpose, should arise from a specific predetermined definition of success, and be built of high-quality elements to yield dependable results (Stiggins, 2008). To determine the type of assessment used, the teacher should work to align all steps of the assessment process. Alignment refers to relating instruction, learning objectives, learning goals, standards, types of assessments, and cognitive levels (Fives et al., 2016). This can be done by understanding the learning objectives, creating the assessment first, and working backwards to build the lesson. The systematic alignment of each step of the assessment process creates more valid evaluations of student learning and progress (Fives et al., 2016). This is important because it helps ensure that assessments and learning targets align and it creates assessment results that provide evidence of students’ understanding the essential knowledge found in the curriculum.