Quality Assessment

5 Key ideas about Quality Assessment

Before identifying what a quality assessment is, one must understand what assessment means. To assess you must identify the purpose of the assessment, explain its targets, knowing the aim for the assessment is crucial as this determines what the assessment looks like, how it is administered and marked, and how the outcome will be used. Scherer indicates that there is an over emphasis on test scores, and that multiple measures need to be used to achieve quality assessment. McMillan supports this and states that assessment 'is much more than simply testing'.

The following five key concepts represent quality assessment.

The First key Idea, is that quality assessments must serve a purpose. Teachers need to be able to clarify the purpose of gathering the information. Standardised tests have a place in the curriculum, but they often lack purpose for the individual, that is why there are other 'purposes' for assessments such as diagnosing strengths vs weaknesses, monitoring progress and motivation.

Secondly, measurement and the use of methods to measure performance need to be established. Standardised testing is traditional and limited to one form of measurement, this fails to encompass the full knowledge that the students have gained as it lacks numerous opportunities to pass this type of assessment. Multiple measures demonstrate what students understand, level of skill, knowledge and interpretation. Most importantly it helps teachers plan future lessons appropriate to the students level.

Thirdly, evaluation is the interpretation of what has been measured and proved during testing. Criteria and performance standards are crucial towards evaluation as criteria demonstrate evidence of understanding the information, and setting performance standards as the benchmark, then assessing and reviewing the work against which the actual performance is measured.

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