Measurement means a lot of things but above all it lets you enhance the overall educational

movement based on the resulting analytics you get, the more accurate and detailed, the better.
Therefore, this piece of writing will discuss the type of measurements used in education.

However, that can’t be done without strong foundations and strategies, including the concept of
modern curriculum, which includes a set of knowledge, skills, and directions planned by the
school or educational institution.

According to Shepard, (2000) measurement or introductory assessment is used before starting

any study program and aims to determine the extent of the student’s previous information and
knowledge to start a new stage for which he is well qualified.

Stiggins, (2005) states that, sstructural mmeasurement is an organized process throughout the
study period, where the teacher conducts continuous assessments on the course, and this type of
measurement aims to know the extent to which goals and knowledge have been achieved after
each lesson or unit of study, diagnosing topics and lessons that constitute difficulty for the
student and quickly finding solutions to them, and modifying teaching methods to become more
appropriate to the skills of the students.

Standard Measurement is the type of assessment compares the performance of the student with
the performance of the rest of his colleagues on the same test, to explain the calculation of the
average performance of the group of students and to know the criteria for increase or decrease
based on this average. For example, if a student scores 44 in a test, this score does not determine
whether the student is superior or not. But if we calculate the average score for the rest of the
students, it can be determined if the 44 score is less than the average. Then this is a weak score,
but if it is higher, it is a high score (Delpit, 2012).

Level Measurement assessment determines the student’s level in relation to the test or a fixed,
pre-determined level based on the behavioral and cognitive objectives of the course. This type is
commonly used recently because it is classified within the objective methods of judging the
student’s level of knowledge and achievement. It judges the student in relation to themselves,
their abilities, and their capabilities and not in relation to the abilities and capabilities of others
(Delpit, 2012).

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It deals with individual differences among students in achievement, abilities, and skills because it
depends on evaluating the student’s performance without the intervention of any other factors.

The Initial assessment is the means in which to gather information about the learners and to not
only assess their ability to complete the course that they are taking part in, but to enable the
teacher to plan the structure of the sessions required. It also assists the Teacher to decide the pace
and pitch of the sessions as well as the choice of resources to use to gain the best out of the
Learner. The method most commonly used is the Pre-course Application Form / Questionnaire.
This enables the teacher to assess the learner’s standard of written English and understanding.

It also enables them to asses previous academic experience, in terms of qualifications already
attained and will also tell the teacher when the learner was last in an educational environment.
This would enable the teacher to assess the learner’s spoken communication skills. The
information collected during the initial assessment should allow the learner to be placed on an
appropriate pre-vocational or vocational learning programme which matches their skills,
knowledge and abilities. Work towards a level of qualification which is appropriate to their level
of skills, knowledge and ability.

Assessment of and for students’ learning is the process of gathering and analyzing information as

evidence about what students know, can do and understand. It is part of an ongoing cycle that
includes planning, documenting and evaluating students’ learning. Bransford, et al
(2000), proposes two types of assessment to be carried out in schools. According to it, integratin
gcontinuous assessment in an education system will help in reaching this objective. Continuous
assessment, which can be complementary to the end-of-year summative assessment, must help
toreduce students’ anxiety about sitting for a high-stake exam at the end of the academic
year which, on its own, may not reflect the aptitudes, skills and knowledge gained by the student
throughout the year 

These two types of assessment are very crucial to the teaching and learning process and must be
complementary. Summative assessments are used to test students’ understanding at the end of a
chapter, to promote students, to make sure they have achieved required standards towards
earning best grades for school completion or to be admitted certain occupations, or as a selection
entry for further study. But assessment may also serve a formative function.

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Formative and continuous assessment must be given more emphasis according to
the NCF. During classes, formative assessment refers to usual, interactive assessments
of students’ progress and understanding so as to spot learning needs and read
just teaching appropriately. Teachers using formative assessment approaches and techniques are
better prepared to meet diverse students’ needs through differentiation and adaptation of teaching
to raise levels of student achievement and to achieve a greater equity of student outcomes

The formative assessment is a continuous method of assessment that is conducted throughout the
course of tuition. As a session progresses, the teacher must be able to assess that the learners
have understood what they have been taught at each stage. Without continual assessment there is
no way of judging whether the learners are able to move on to the next stage. The assessments
can be conducted using various means such as oral question and answers, multiple choice
questions or group tasks or exercises. The assessments used will enable the teacher to make an
informed decision whether or not to carry on, or to re-teach and confirm as required.

Formal assessments are given in a formal environment and are distributed by testing companies
that provide statistical data related to large reference groups. Informal assessments are what
teachers do on a daily basis throughout their classrooms to measure the amount of material the
students comprehend. In this essay, I will compare and contrast the formal and informal
assessment techniques used for measuring student progress in the schools educational system.

The first formal assessment examined was the standardized achievement test. Test of this type
provides a level of achievement with a specific reference group. Achievement test measure the
schools in broad state mandated goals; there are several advantages and disadvantages to formal
assessments such as achievement test (Miller, Linn, & Gronlund, 2009).

Another type of formal assessment examined is aptitude test. As in the achievement test, the
aptitude test provides qualities of good assessment such as: reliability, standardization, validity
and practicality. The primary purpose of the aptitude test is to assess students’ general capability
to learn. This test is supposed to help predict their general academic success. All standardized
test have their advantages and disadvantages (Biggs, 2003). 

An advantage of the aptitude test is the practicality. The standardized aptitude test takes less time
to assess the students than informal testing procedures. They are easily administered by giving

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explicit directions to each student in the same manner. Machines to the grading and computers
track the levels of achievement to different reference groups (Badders, 2010).

Informal assessment is conducted daily in the classroom setting. It is used by the teachers as a
form of evaluation to determine the students’ level of comprehension. This type of evaluation
will allow for immediate assessment for the teacher to review during instruction to the student.
Informal assessment may consist of assigned homework, group cooperation activities, one on
one interview with student and teacher created checklists.

The first type of informal testing is homework. A teacher assigns homework to be completed at
the end of formal instruction or to be completed outside the classroom. Advantages to using this
type of assessment is that it allows the students to take their time to get the assigned work
completed before due date. This can alleviate stress for the student who is a slower worker.
Another advantage to using homework as an assessment is that it is easy for the teacher to grade.
The teacher may wish to allow the students to grade their own papers. The rationale behind this
process it that the students will see the errors they made, corrections will be given by the teacher
and a clearer understanding of the mistakes will provide the student with a new perception
(Burke, 2005).

A second informal assessment is group cooperation activities. Assessments of this type allow the
teacher to observe the students and see the students use what they have learned from the formal
instruction. The first advantage to group learning is that it allows the student to engage and learn
from their peers. Things are discussed and thought out by each member of the group to arrive at
the final answer. The second advantage is that the teacher can observe the students and make
decision concerning the review of particular items that may be unclear and need to be explained
further. The teacher can adjust her lesson plans to meet those needs immediately (Burke, and
Belgrad, 2002).

To conclude, curricula are often influenced by the type of assessment regimes put

in place and it becomes difficult to isolate the variables contributing to student achievement. If i
mportant decisions are presumed to be related to test results, then teachers will teach to the test.
High stakes tests can focus instruction giving students and teachers specific goals to attain. High
stakes assessment can drive the curriculum content, the relative time spent on subjects and
the pedagogical approaches.

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 REFERENCES

Shepard, L.A. (2000), “The role of assessment in a learning culture” Educational

Researcher, 4-14. 2.

Stiggins, R. (2005), “From formative assessment to assessment for learning: A path to

success in standards-based schools” Phi Delta Kappan, 324-328.

Delpit, L.D. (2012), “Multiplication is for white people: Raising expectations for other people's
children,” The New Press.

Bransford, J., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R. (Eds.). (2000), “How people learn: Brain, mind,
experience, and school,” Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Burke, K. (2005), “How to assess authentic learning (4th Ed.)”, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Burke, K., Fogarty, R., & Belgrad, S (2002), “The portfolio connection: Student work linked
to standards (2nd Ed.)”, Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Badders, W. (2010). Methods of Assessment. Web.

Biggs, J. B. (2003). Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does (2nd
ed.) Buckingham: Open University Press.

Brophy, J. E., and T. L. Good. (1986). “Teacher Behavior and Student Achievement.”
Handbook of Research on Teaching. Ed. M. C. Wittrock. 3rd ed. New York: McMillan.