Another example of a testing program designed to asses group rather than individuals is the National Assessment of educational progress Tylor et.al in
Nitko,1983:6. Besides test, there are some terms which are similar in use such as
Measurement, Evaluation, Assessment, and Examination.
2. Measurement
Measurement is a procedure for assigning numbers usually called scores to a specified attribute or characteristic of persons in such a manner as to maintain the
real world relationship among the persons with regard to the attribute being measured. For example, if you are a better speller than I, a spelling test design to
measure our spelling ability should result in your score i.e., your measurement being higher than mine. For many of the characteristics measured in education and
psychology the “procedure” is to count the number of correct answers or number
of points earned on a test. Lord et.al in Nitko,1983:5
While Tuckman 1975:12 states that measurement is a broad term that refers to the systematic determination of outcomes or characteristics by means of some
sort of assessment device. Testing is a less specific term that has typically been taken to mean educational measurement. More specifically a test can be
considered to be a kind or class of measurement device typically used to find out something about person. A test is sometimes taken to mean an instrument that is
used to obtain data on which a person is “judged”, in the most individious sense of term.
3. Assessment
Brown 2004:4 states that tests are prepared administrative procedures that occur at identifiable times in curriculum when learner master all their faculties to offer
peak performance, knowing that their responses are being measured and evaluated. Assessment, on the other hand, is an ongoing process that
encompasses a much wider domain. Tests are a subset of assessment; they are certainly not the only form of assessment that a teacher can make. Tests can be
useful devices, but they are only one among many procedures and tasks that teacher can ultimately use to assess students
According to Brown 2004:5 there are 2 kinds of assessments : Formal and
Informal Assessment. Informal assessment can take a number of forms, starting with incidental, unplanned comments and responsive, along with coaching and
other impromptu feedback to the students. Informal assessment does not stop there, on the other hand, formal assessment are exercises or procedures
specifically designed to tap into a storehouse of skills and knowledge. Is formal assessment the same as a test? We can say that all tests are formal assessment but
not all formal assessment are testing. Two functions are commonly identified in the literature formative and
summative assessment. For all practical purposes, virtually all kinds of informal assessments are or should be formative. Formative Assessment is evaluating
students in the process of “forming” their competence and skills with the goal of helping them to continue that growth process. The key to such formation is the
delivery by teacher and internalization by the student of a appropriate
feedback on performance, with an eye toward the future continuation or formation of learning. Summative Assessment aims to measure, or summarize,
what a student has grasped, and typically occurs at the end of a course or unit of instruction. A summation of what a student has learned implies looking back and
taking stock of how well that student has accomplished objectives, but does not necessarily point the way to future progress. Final exams in a course and general
proficiency exams are examples of summative test
4. Evaluation
