Roles and Purpose of Assessment

in Teaching and Learning

Prepared by:
Ngu Sze Ling
Wong Li Siang

Overview
Reasons / Purpose
of Assessment

Assessment of
Learning /
Assessment for
learning

Types of tests:
Proficiency,
Achievement,
Diagnostic,
Aptitude and
Placement tests

Reasons/Purpose of Assessment
Children

Public

Purpos
e

Early
Childhood
Teachers

Families

Children
Identify what children know/ special
needs
Determine appropriate placement
Select appropriate curricula to meet
individuals needs

Families
Provide students
progress and learning
Relate school activities to
home activities and
experience

Early Childhood Teachers

Identify students skills, abilities and needs
Select suitable materials and how to
implement lesson
Monitor and improve teaching-and learning
process
Report to parents of childrens developmental
status

The Public
Inform the public of
childrens achievement
Provide information relating
to students school-wide
achievement

Assessment for
learning and of
learning
For learning
Assessment
Of learning

For Learning
Helps teachers
gain insight into
students
understanding
plan and guide
instruction
Includes clear
goals for learning
activities

Provide feedback
to students
Involves
teachers,
students and
parents
reflecting on
evidence

Of Learning
Plan future
learning goal
for students

Provide
evidence of
achievement
(parents,
educators,
students)

Provides
transparent
interpretation

Difference between assessment

for and of
For

Difference

Of

Throughout teaching
and learning process

Process

At the end of teaching

and learning process

To constantly adjust
instructional strategy

Purpose

To rank students
achievement levels
against a standard

Teachers Role in Assessment for

Learning
Identify students needs and use
different approaches and strategies
suits their needs
Selecting and adapting materials and
resources

Teachers role in Assessment of

Learning
Reporting students learning
accurately and fairly based on
evidence (variety of contexts and
applications.)
Need to provide clear description of
intended learning

Proficienc
y tests
Placeme
nt tests

Aptitude
tests

Types
of
tests

Achieveme
nt tests

Diagnostic
tests

Brown, H. D. (2007).Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to

language pedagogy. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

Proficiency tests
To tap global
competence in a
language

Standardised
multiple-choice
items on grammar,
vocabulary, reading
comprehension and
sometimes a
sample of writing.

Example : Test of
English as a Foreign
Language (TEFOL) &
International English
Language Testing
System (IELTS)

Achievement Tests
Related directly to
classroom lessons,
units or even a
total curriculum.

Limited to
particular material
covered in a
curriculum within a
particular time
frame

Serve as indicators
of features that a
students needs to
work on in the
future

To determine the
acquisition of
course objectives
at the end of a
period of
instruction

Diagnostic Tests
To provide
information about
the specific strengths
and weaknesses of
learners.

To asses students
abilities to a more
specific level

Eg: If a teacher suspects

that his students have
problem with a particular
grammatical structure, he
can conduct a diagnostic
test to confirm the
suspicious.

Aptitude Tests
A test that predict a
persons future
success.

To measure a
persons capacity or
general ability to
learn a foreign
language

Eg: Modern
Language Aptitude
Test (MLAT) &
Pimsleur Language
Aptitude Test (PLAB)

Memorising
numbers and
vocabulary,
listening to foreign
words and detecting
spelling clues and
grammatical pattern

Placement Tests
To place a student into
an appropriate level

Includes sampling of
material to be covered
in the curriculum

Provides an indication
of the point at which
the students will find a
level or class to be
neither too easy nor too
difficult but
appropriately
challenging