Assessment vs Evaluation

 

I have been improperly using Assessment and Evaluation interchangeably in previous submissions.  I was treating them like synonyms.  After reading the documents in this module I have realized that they are not the same thing.  To oversimplify the differences: assessment is formative and evaluation is summative.   Formative assessments are used to improve the ongoing process of learning.  Summative evaluations are used to gauge the final results of the learning.

The differences between assessment and evaluation are further broken down in these documents.  The dimensions of differences between assessment and evaluation include: timing, focus of measurement, relationship between teacher and student, the use of the findings, the modifiability of criteria, and standards of measurement.  The timing element was discussed before.  The formative assessment is done during the process of learning. The timing of a summative evaluation is at the end of the learning or the final exam.  Some other qualities of assessment and evaluation in relation to the dimensions of differences include the process oriented nature of assessment and the product oriented nature of evaluation.  This is in respect to the focus of measurement dimension.  In other words, the focus of measurement in assessment is in the process of learning.  The focus of measurement for evaluation would be the final exam grade, which is a final product of the learning.  Therefore, assessments are flexible and open to modification within the learning process.  Evaluations are fixed because they document achievement in relation to the learning objectives.  These qualities relate to the modifiability of criteria.

            Both assessment and evaluation are needed for a functional educational system.  Assessment is needed to document the important criteria within the learning process.  Evaluation is necessary to demonstrate the results of the learning.  The documentary, Waiting for Superman bases its judgements and suggestions for improvement of the American educational system on statistics and data.  Much of the statistics used in proving their thesis were culled from data of summative evaluations.  The success and failure of public schools can be determined by the results of summative testing.  The results of the summative evaluations point back to the formative process of learning.  In order to raise the scores of summative evaluations, more attention and skill must be applied to the formative process of learning.  Obviously, if a student is noticed to not understand a necessary concept during the learning process through formative assessment, more attention can be paid in supporting the student.  This should increase the students chances of not falling behind and scoring higher on a summative evaluation.Teachers and administrators have to be more careful and skillful in using formative assessments in order to bring up the test scores used as summative evaluations – which end up being summative statistics for schools, school districts, states and nationwide. 

            When I was teaching at a higher learning institution, results were very important.  My success as a professor information literacy was based mainly on the achievements of my students on certain standards across the curriculum.  Therefore, if the students did well this reflected positively upon me.  If I were to become a classroom professor again I would give more attention to formative assessment in the learning process.  This would ensure that less students fall behind and that the students can score as high as possible on their summative exams - which is how I was being evaluated.