> Nancy Sattler wrote
>
> >Hi!
> >Do you have a special assessment technique that you use in your classroom
> >that is a "little bit different?" If so, would you be willing to share it
> >with the Placement/Assessment Committee (PAC) of AMATYC?
> >
> >If so, please send replies to nsattler@terra.cc.oh.us
>
>
> NANCY,
>
> WOULD YOU DEFINE/DESCRIBE "ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUE" FOR ME.
> THANKS.
>
> ED
>
My two cents:
The sense I get from the use of current educational buzzwords is this:
My dictionary defines "assessment" as "to evaluate, esp. for taxation."
However, in education, the words "evaluation" and "assessment" are
differentiated. To be precise, an evaluation is a specific type of
assessment. An evaluation is an activity, usually an exam of some kind,
which is used by someone in authority to determine whether the student has
passed or failed.
An assessment is a much more broad term that describes any sort of
activity at all that provides feedback to someone regarding student
achievement. This includes traditional evaluations (exams,papers,etc.), but
also includes activities where the "someone" may be the student or parent
and the purpose is more to measure progress and not to determine whether the
student has passed or failed. An example would be a practice exam where
the purpose is to determine whether the student is adequately prepared
for the "real" exam and to identify areas which need work.
Assessment is a hopping field in education right now, and there are
zealots at both extremes. There are those who feel that standardized
exams are the be-all and end-all of assessment, and there are those who
regard traditional pencil-and-paper tests as evil and that all assessment
should be "authentic" (buzzword alert!: authentic means "real-world"). I
think the truth is that all forms of assessment have value. The person
designing the assessment must themself 1) What am I assessing? and 2) What
will the results be used for?, to decide what kind of assessment is
appropriate.
Dan Galvin
Educational Opportunity Program
SUNY Cortland
D-124 Cornish Hall
Cortland, NY 13045
(607)753-2997
galvind@snycorva.cortland.edu