Assessment for and of Learning Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The main goal is to provide feedback to students that can be used to improve their learning.

Assessment for learning is formative assessment: it is carried out during teaching to find out where learners are, give them feedback on what to do next, and adjust instruction. Its purpose is improvement, not judgement.

Assigning grades and comparing performance with a standard or benchmark are the purposes of assessment of learning, which is summative. Labelling children as 'slow learners' is against the spirit of assessment for learning altogether.

Answer: C

Formative evaluation is related to ongoing development and improvement.

Formative evaluation takes place during the teaching-learning process, continuously, to give feedback that helps learners improve and helps teachers adjust their teaching. Its whole purpose is development while learning is still in progress.

Evaluation carried out at a fixed stage, such as the end of a term or course, is summative. Formative evaluation is not unchangeable, since it is designed to lead to changes, and merely describing what is happening in the classroom does not capture its purpose of improvement.

Answer: B

NOT true about assessment: It can only be done by the teacher.

Assessment can be carried out by many people. Students assess their own work (self-assessment) and each other's (peer assessment); parents and others can also contribute. Current guidance encourages these forms because they build reflection and responsibility for learning.

The other statements are true. Assessment helps judge the pace of a student's progress, gives a holistic picture when it draws on varied evidence, and presents concrete evidence of performance through work samples, records and results.

Answer: D

NOT formative: A term-paper at the end of the session.

Formative assessment happens during the learning process, so the teacher can give feedback and adjust teaching. A single task at the end of the session judges what has been learnt overall, which is summative assessment.

The other options describe assessment spread through the session: a combination of tests and tasks scattered over time, strategies from short tests to peer review throughout the session, and a series of oral and written tasks and role-plays throughout. All of these feed back into learning while it is happening, so they are formative.

Answer: A

The correct statement is Formative assessment goes on continuously through the learning phase.

Formative assessment is ongoing: the teacher checks understanding throughout teaching, through questions, observation, quizzes and feedback, and uses the information to adjust instruction while learning is happening.

The other statements are wrong. Summative assessment comes at the end of a unit, term or year, not before and during learning. 'Formative' refers to forming, shaping learning as it develops, not to the 'form' of learning. And summative assessment is an evaluation of achievement at a point, not the 'sum total of every form of assessment'.

Answer: A

A diagnostic assessment aims to identify the areas where students may need additional support or instruction.

Diagnostic assessment pinpoints specific strengths, gaps and misconceptions, often before or early in teaching, so that the teacher can plan remedial instruction for individual students.

Peer assessment is a different practice, an attitude survey for career guidance is not diagnosis of learning, and feedback about teaching methods is a by-product of assessment generally, not the defining purpose of diagnostic assessment.

Answer: A

The example of assessment for learning is a rubric given to students at the beginning of a project, outlining what they need to do to achieve a certain grade.

Assessment for learning is used during learning to help students improve. Sharing success criteria at the outset lets students see what quality looks like, check their own work against it and improve it while the project is under way.

A final exam and a national standardised test are assessments of learning, summing up or comparing achievement. A quiz and brainstorming to check prior knowledge is diagnostic pre-assessment that informs the teacher's planning; the key treats the rubric as the clearer case of assessment that guides students' own learning.

Answer: B

A continuous record of learning is a portfolio.

A portfolio is a purposeful collection of a learner's work over time, drafts, projects, assignments and reflections, showing progress and achievement across the year.

A diagnostic test and a proficiency assessment are single tests at a point in time, and continuous and comprehensive evaluation is an overall scheme of assessment rather than the record itself.

Answer: D

Such a test is a diagnostic test.

A diagnostic test pinpoints a learner's specific strengths and weaknesses, so that remedial teaching can target the exact problem.

A formative test checks progress during teaching, an objective test is defined by its question format, and validity is a property of a test, not a kind of test.

Its results are used to plan remedial teaching for the particular gaps it reveals, rather than to grade or rank the student.

Answer: A

Assessment should be dynamic and tasks should be authentic.

Dynamic assessment is ongoing and interactive: it looks at how a learner's understanding develops and how the learner responds to help, rather than taking a single fixed snapshot. Authentic tasks ask learners to apply knowledge to meaningful, real-life situations, such as planning a budget or investigating a local problem, instead of recalling isolated facts.

Objective and standardised assessments treat every learner identically and measure narrow, decontextualised outcomes. Options B, C and D each include one of these and so do not match the progressive view of assessment the CTET follows.