What are the types of assessment?

There are different types of assessment in education. All assessment methods have different
purposes during and after instruction. This article will tell you what types of assessment are most
important during developing and implementing your instruction.

Written by KnowlyContent writer

Posted onJuly 22, 2020
Reading time3 minutes

Pre-assessment or diagnostic assessment

Before creating the instruction, it’s necessary to know for what kind of students you’re
creating the instruction. Your goal is to get to know your student’s strengths, weaknesses
and the skills and knowledge the posses before taking the instruction. Based on the data
you’ve collected, you can create your instruction.

Formative assessment
Formative assessment is used in the first attempt of developing instruction. The goal is to
monitor student learning to provide feedback. It helps identifying the first gaps in your
instruction. Based on this feedback you’ll know what to focus on for further expansion for
your instruction.

Summative assessment
Summative assessment is aimed at assessing the extent to which the most important
outcomes at the end of the instruction have been reached. But it measures more: the
effectiveness of learning, reactions on the instruction and the benefits on a long-term base.
The long-term benefits can be determined by following students who attend your course, or
test. You are able to see whether and how they use the learned knowledge, skills and
attitudes.

Read more about formative and summative assessments.

Confirmative assessment
When your instruction has been implemented in your classroom, it’s still necessary to take
assessment. Your goal with confirmative assessments is to find out if the instruction is still a
success after a year, for example, and if the way you're teaching is still on point. You could
say that a confirmative assessment is an extensive form of a summative assessment.

Norm-referenced assessment
This compares a student’s performance against an average norm. This could be the
average national norm for the subject History, for example. Other example is when the
teacher compares the average grade of his or her students against the average grade of the
entire school.

Criterion-referenced assessment
It measures student’s performances against a fixed set of predetermined criteria or learning
standards. It checks what students are expected to know and be able to do at a specific
stage of their education. Criterion-referenced tests are used to evaluate a specific body of
knowledge or skill set, it’s  a test to evaluate the curriculum taught in a course.

Ipsative assessment
It measures the performance of a student against previous performances from that student.
With this method you’re trying to improve yourself by comparing previous results. You’re not
comparing yourself against other students, which may be not so good for your self-
confidence. 

Read more about Assessment methods and strategies and the Objectives of assessment

and evaluation.

Useful resources

Edudemic

Frequently asked questions

✔️What are the types of assessment?

Pre-assessment or diagnostic assessment, Formative assessment, Summative
assessment, Confirmative assessment, Norm-referenced assessment, Criterion-referenced
assessment and Ipsative assessment.

Types of Classroom Assessment

Making assessment an integral part of daily mathematics instruction is a challenge. It requires planning
specific ways to use assignments and discussions to discover what students do and do not understand. It
also requires teachers to be prepared to deal with students' responses. Merely spotting when students
are incorrect is relatively easy compared with understanding the reasons behind their errors. The latter
demands careful attention and a deep knowledge of the mathematics concepts and principles that
students are learning… The insights we gain by making assessment a regular part of instruction enable
us to meet the needs of the students who are eager for more challenges and to provide intervention for
those who are struggling.
Burns 2005, p. 31

Assessment is integral to the teaching–learning process, facilitating student learning and improving
instruction, and can take a variety of forms. Classroom assessment is generally divided into three types:
assessment for learning, assessment of learning and assessment as learning.

Assessment for Learning (Formative Assessment)

The philosophy behind assessment for learning is that assessment and teaching should be integrated
into a whole. The power of such an assessment doesn't come from intricate technology or from using a
specific assessment instrument. It comes from recognizing how much learning is taking place in the
common tasks of the school day – and how much insight into student learning teachers can mine from
this material.
McNamee and Chen 2005, p. 76

Assessment for learning is ongoing assessment that allows teachers to monitor students on a day-to-day

basis and modify their teaching based on what the students need to be successful. This assessment
provides students with the timely, specific feedback that they need to make adjustments to their
learning.

After teaching a lesson, we need to determine whether the lesson was accessible to all students while
still challenging to the more capable; what the students learned and still need to know; how we can
improve the lesson to make it more effective; and, if necessary, what other lesson we might offer as a
better alternative. This continual evaluation of instructional choices is at the heart of improving our
teaching practice.
Burns 2005, p. 26

Assessment of Learning (Summative Assessment)

Assessment of learning is the snapshot in time that lets the teacher, students and their parents know
how well each student has completed the learning tasks and activities. It provides information about
student achievement. While it provides useful reporting information, it often has little effect on learning.

Comparing Assessment for Learning and Assessment of Learning

Assessment for Learning Assessment of Learning
(Formative Assessment) (Summative Assessment)

Checks learning to determine what to do next and Checks what has been learned to date.
then provides suggestions of what to do—
teaching and learning are indistinguishable from
assessment.
Is designed to assist educators and students in
improving learning.
Is designed for the information of those not directly
involved in daily learning and teaching (school
administration, parents, school board, Alberta
Education, post-secondary institutions) in addition
to educators and students.

Is used continually by providing descriptive Is presented in a periodic report.

feedback.

Usually uses detailed, specific and descriptive Usually compiles data into a single number, score
feedback—in a formal or informal report. or mark as part of a formal report.

Is not reported as part of an achievement grade. Is reported as part of an achievement grade.

Usually focuses on improvement, compared with
the student's “previous best” (self-referenced,
making learning more personal).
Usually compares the student's learning either with
other students' learning (norm-referenced, making
learning highly competitive) or the standard for a
grade level (criterion-referenced, making learning
more collaborative and individually focused).

Involves the student. Does not always involve the student.

Adapted from Ruth Sutton, unpublished document, 2001, in Alberta Assessment Consortium, Refocus:
Looking at Assessment for Learning (Edmonton, AB: Alberta Assessment Consortium, 2003), p. 4. Used
with permission from Ruth Sutton Ltd.

Assessment as Learning

Assessment as learning develops and supports students' metacognitive skills. This form of assessment is
crucial in helping students become lifelong learners. As students engage in peer and self-assessment,
they learn to make sense of information, relate it to prior knowledge and use it for new learning.
Students develop a sense of ownership and efficacy when they use teacher, peer and self-assessment
feedback to make adjustments, improvements and changes to what they understand.

For more information about assessment for, as and of learning, see the WNCP publication Rethinking

Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind.