Assessment is a professional practice which involves
collecting data about students’ learning, analyzing the collected data and interpreting
the processed data followed by feedback. Teaching practitioners may have
different purposes of carrying out the assessment in the classrooms. On the
basis of predefined purposes, there are three types of assessment such as assessment
of learning, assessment for learning and assessment as learning. An in-depth
understanding of these types of assessment is important before applying them in
classrooms. They need to be clear with why they are carrying out assessment
practices in their teaching.
Teaching practitioners need to report the progress
of their students to different agencies of education such as school management,
governing bodies, parents and so on. Reporting about students’ progress needs to
be done at the end of each short term and long term educational programme,
academic session or a unit in a particular subject. Assessment carried out for purpose
of reporting which includes the performance shown by students is known as
assessment of learning. For instance, assessments at the end of each month are worked
out in schools to overview the progress shown by students during the whole
month and the progress of each student is reported to school management and
parents or students with feedback to improve weak areas.
Assessment for learning is done during the academic
activities by the teaching practitioners throughout the academic session. If
the purpose of the assessment is to improve teaching practitioners own skills
of teaching, then such type of assessment is called assessment for learning. For
example, teachers in classroom while teaching ask questions or observe
students’ work whether activities are going according to plan or need to make
some changes in planned activities. In assessment for learning, after applying the
assessment tools, a sort of reflective overlook plays an important role in
improving the need improvement areas on teaching practitioner’s end.
Assigning tasks to students for preparation of
examinations or taking part in an educational competitions or delivering
presentations is common practice in schools. In order to prepare themselves for
examinations, competitions or presentations, students seek help from books,
internet, make their task review with other colleagues or ask for feedback on
the work done with their peers. Such type of assessment carried out by students
themselves and planned by the teachers is called assessment as learning. As a
precedent, for speech competitions or essay competitions, students after
preparing a draft, review and improve or ask others to provide feedback on the
prepared draft so that the mistakes could be rectified and misconceptions could
be clarified. Engagement in such type of assessment is said to be assessment as
learning.
Assessment is at the heart of teaching and learning
process. Any activity related to teaching and learning cannot be separated from
the assessment in classrooms. The purpose by the teachers or school
administration may be varying such as reporting or improving teachers’ teaching
skills or improving students’ need improvement areas through their selves. Due
to these varying purposes, assessment is labeled into types namely assessment
of learning, assessment for learning and assessment as learning.
Broadening Horizons