Assessment concepts

Attainment

The level of achievement reached by a child in respect of a sequence of learning.

Achievement

The progress which a child has made in meeting learning challenges.

Ability

The capacity which a child has to learn, which may be specific to particular areas of learning.

Standards

The specification of a specific level of educational achievement to which pupils and teachers should aspire.

Criterion-referenced assessment

The process of making assessments against a specific criterion related, for example, to a specific piece of work.

Non-referenced assessment

The process of making assessments with reference to relative achievement against other pupils in the cohort.

Forms of assessment

Baseline assessment

Assessment procedures that can be used when children enter school for diagnostic purposes and to provide a base-line for later calculation of progress made and 'added value'.

Formative assessment

Continuous assessment, often in diverse, non-standardised forms, made for the purpose of informing on-going teaching.

Summative assessment

Assessment procedures, often at the end of a programme of teaching and of a consistent or standardised type, used to assess learning outcomes.

Self assessment

Assessment by a learner for the purpose of self-knowledge, reflection and self-improvement.

Teacher assessment (TA)

A form of formative assessment required of teachers by the Education Reform Act, the results of which are reported to parents.

Standardised Assessment Tests (SATs)

A form of summative assessment used to test pupil learning of the core subjects of the National Curriculum at the end of Key Stages. The results are reported to parents.

Forms of recording

Portfolio of work

A folder or collection of documents, records or artefacts relating to a pupil's work over several years. Items collected are often carefully selected after consultation with the child and annotated. Often used formatively in discussions between parents, teachers and child and for self-assessment.

Records of achievement (ROA)

A semi-public record of achievements and attainments by a child over a course of time, perhaps in a school. Sometimes used to affirm and celebrate and often with a more summative, certificated feel than a portfolio.

Teacher records

A teacher controlled record system devised to assist in planning, providing and monitoring an appropriate curriculum for each pupil.

Forms of reporting

Parents evenings

Very common practice where parents get the opportunity to talk briefly to their child's teacher about their progress and discuss any difficulties.

Written reports

An annual document from school to parents summarising the achievements and attainment of each pupil.

League tables of pupil attainment

Tables, often published in newspapers, in which schools are ranked in order of their aggregate levels of pupil attainment at a public assessment point, such as at the end of Key Stage 2. This is relatively simple to do, but tends to reflect the social circumstances of the pupil intake more than the particular contribution of the schools.

League tables of added value