by Michele Van Pelt

Created on: March 07, 2010

In the classroom, and within the school, a teacher will be utilizing many different types of assessments with his or her students.  Some assessments may be formal, such as Standardized Achievement Tests or Informal Achievement Tests while others are less conventional.  Both offer the teachers a good basis for determining what skills are being learned (or not learned) within the classroom.

Formal assessments are commonly used throughout the United States.  The first type of formal assessment that many school districts are acquainted with is that of the Standardized Achievement Tests. These tests measure the outcomes and content taught in a majority of schools across the United States.  These are excellent sources of information in assessing exactly where a student stands academically with his or her peers on content knowledge.  Another advantage to this test is that it is easy to administer and has a high reliability rate. A disadvantage to the Standardized Achievement Tests is the fact that the data is often not available soon enough for teachers to adjust their curriculum.  Many times the results are given after a teacher has passed on the particular group of tested students onto the next grade level.  Also, Standardized Achievement Tests are often multiple choice using a scantron answer sheet.  While this makes for quick grading, the students are not challenged with actually coming up with the correct answer on their own.

The second type of formal (or conventional) assessment a teacher may choose to use are informal achievement tests.  These tests follow the same guidelines of the Standardized Achievement Tests but are developed by local school districts and are more closely linked to that school district's curriculum. These tests are often given more than just once a year sometimes as often as every six weeks.  This is advantageous to the teacher as there is a more immediate feedback as to whether or not his or her students are grasping the material being presented or if particular concepts need to be re-taught.  Also, this test is advantageous in that it can help evaluate a particular student's level of understanding with that of his or her classmates.  If there is a pattern being established that the student is continuously falling behind, additional support for that student can be given right away.  Likewise, this form of testing has its disadvantages.  The overall

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