DOMAIN B: LITERATURE REVIEW

Domain B: Literature Review Artifact 3

Sara Smith
National University
December 14, 2016

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for

TED 690 Capstone Course
Dr. Clifton Johnson

DOMAIN B: LITERATURE REVIEW

2
Abstract

This paper reviews and reflects on the article What Are Some Types of Assessment? found on the
Edutopia website. The author explains various forms of assessment and their value.
Standardized assessment is discussed and its purpose. Alternative assessment is also covered
which is called by different names such as authentic, comprehensive, or performance assessment.
Examples of authentic assessment will also be given and the author will discuss and reflect on
these various formats.

DOMAIN B: LITERATURE REVIEW

Artifact 3 - Literature Review

Assessment is huge part of teaching for many reasons: it provides diagnostic feedback so
that we know where our students current knowledge is and what needs to be covered; it helps
educators set standards; it evaluates progress so that we know how the students are doing and
whether or not our teaching methods are effective; and it motivates performance by promoting
both student self-evaluation, as well as teacher self-evaluation so that we can all continue to
improve and move forward. There are different forms of assessment such as standardized and
alternative which are covered in the article What are Some Types of Assessment? found on the
Edutopia website.
According to the article, Knowledge is attained not just by receiving information, but
also interpreting the information and relating it to the learners knowledge base. What is
important, and therefore should be assessed, is the learners ability to organize, structure, and use
information in context to solve complex problems. I love this quote because it shows how
necessary it is to build on prior knowledge to truly understand more complex material and ideas.
Without some form of assessment, teachers would not know where to begin, or even where to go
next for that matter.
Standardized assessment is state-mandated testing and every student at a particular grade
level is required to take the same test. The questions given, the time the students have to take the
test, and the time of year are all regulated by the state. These types of tests have become the
basis for such critical decisions as student promotion from one grade to the next, and
compensation for teachers and administrators, according to the article. They are not necessarily
something that an educator would use to judge their effectiveness in teaching methods or their

DOMAIN B: LITERATURE REVIEW

students understanding of subject matter though. That leads us into the next type of testing:
alternative assessment.
Alternative assessment has other names as well, such as authentic, comprehensive, or
performance assessment and is usually designed by the teacher to check for student
understanding. Content assessment relates directly to the content of instruction and measures
students understanding with various methods such as open-ended questions, oral presentations,
portfolios of student work, projects, experiments, etc. Effective assessments give students
feedback on how well they understand the information and on what they need to improve, while
helping teachers better design instruction, according to Why is Assessment Important? It is also
a great idea to allow students the opportunity to be involved in the assessment creation process.
This gives students a very clear idea of expectations and lets them be a part of their selfevaluation and goal setting. According to the article, these are some types of authentic
assessment: observations, essays, interviews, performance tasks, exhibitions and
demonstrations, portfolios, journals, teacher-created tests, rubrics, and self- and peerevaluations. The variety of this list of testing shows how valuable it is to differentiate
assessment styles as much as you differentiate instruction. Not every student does well on the
same kind of assessment, so offering various styles of testing will show a more accurate gauge of
how well the students understand the material.
Assessments are a fantastic tool for both students and teachers to check for understanding
and figure out what they all need to do to improve learning. Testing does not need to be a boring
typical scantron format; including various forms will help students be less anxious about testing
and give the teacher a much better picture of how well the students actually understand the
material.

DOMAIN B: LITERATURE REVIEW

Resources:

What Are Some Types of Assessment? (2008, July 15). Retrieved December 12, 2016, from
https://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide-description