Roles and Purposes of Assessment in

Education

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Roles of classroom assessment
1. Assessment serves as a basic mechanism for
generating data that support evaluative
decisions and policies at the various levels of
educational institutions.
2. Accountability – the responsibility of educators
and educational institutions to demonstrate that
schooling is yielding the expected results in
term of student performance is an integral part
of how public education systems operate.

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Roles of classroom assessment
3. Basically, the purpose of assessment can be
divided into four general purposes:
(a) Instructional decisions
– determine the expected learning outcomes
– revising instructional objectives
– information on remedial/enrichment works

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Roles of classroom assessment
(b) Guidance decisions
– students need guidance in their choice of
vocations, educational programs and personal
problems. Help students to develop accurate
self-concepts
(c) Administrative decisions
– provide information for selection,
classification and placement decisions

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Roles of classroom assessment
(d) Research decisions
– research decisions cut across the three
preceding types of decisions. Thus research
decisions are being made whenever
information is gathered as a prelude to
decision making

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Roles of classroom assessment
4. Apart from that, assessment is applied in:
• Classroom teaching and decision-making
• Diagnosing needs of students
• Planning appropriate interventions for mainstream
and special education
• Setting graduation requirements

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Roles of classroom assessment
4. Apart from that, assessment is applied in:
• Classroom teaching and decision-making
• Diagnosing needs of students
• Planning appropriate interventions for mainstream
and special education
• Setting graduation requirements

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Roles of classroom assessment
• Evaluating how well programs and services are
functioning
• Admitting individuals to special programs
• Providing access or opportunities in selective
programs
• Licensing and credentialing educational professionals

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Purpose of assessment
Assessment of learning
i. Assessment of learning refers to strategies
designed to confirm what students know,
demonstrate whether or not they have met
curriculum outcomes or the goals of their
individualized programs, or to certify
proficiency and make decisions about
students’ future programs or placements

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Purpose of assessment
Assessment of learning
ii. It is designed to provide evidence of
achievement to parents, other educators, the
students themselves and sometimes to
outside groups (e.g., employers, other
educational institutions).

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Purpose of assessment
Assessment of learning
iii. Assessment of Learning is the assessment that
becomes public and results in statements or
symbols about how well students are learning. It
often contributes to pivotal decisions that will
affect students’ futures. It is important, then,
that the underlying logic and measurement of
assessment of learning be credible and
defensible

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Purpose of assessment
Assessment for learning
i. The emphasis shifts from summative to FORMATIVE
assessment in Assessment for Learning.
ii. Assessment for Learning happens during the learning,
often more than once, rather than at the end.
iii. Students understand exactly what they are to learn,
what is expected of them and are given feedback and
advice on how to improve their work.

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Purpose of assessment
Assessment for learning
iv. In Assessment for Learning, teachers use
assessment as an investigable tool to find out as
much as they can about what their students know
and can do, and what confusions, preconceptions,
or gaps they might have.

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Purpose of assessment
Assessment for learning
v. The wide variety of information that teachers
collect about students’ learning processes provides
the basis for determining what they need to do
next to move student learning forward. It provides
the basis for providing descriptive feedback for
students and deciding on groupings, instructional
strategies, and resources.

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Purpose of assessment
Assessment as learning
i. Assessment as learning is based on the conviction
that students are capable of becoming adaptable,
flexible, and independent in their learning and
decision-making. When teachers involve students
and promote their independence, they are giving
them the tools to undertake their own learning
wisely and well.

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Purpose of assessment
Assessment as learning
ii. To become independent learners, students must
develop sophisticated combinations of skills,
attitudes, and dispositions. Self-monitoring and
evaluation are complex and difficult skills that do
not develop quickly or spontaneously.

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Purpose of assessment
Assessment as learning
iv. Like any other complex set of skills, becoming
metacognitively aware requires modelling and
teaching on the part of the teacher, and practice on
the part of the student

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Shifting the balance

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Tutorial

Discuss the teachers’ roles and give an example in

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