The Difference Between

Assessment and Evaluation

H. Stephen Straight
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
Teaching Assistant Orientation
28 August 2002
What Is Teaching?
Brainstorm:
Think of different ways to define
teaching.
Write down at least three different
definitions of teaching.
Pair up with someone to choose the best
ONE of your six-plus definitions.
Share your definitions with the group, one
at a time in sequence.

Definitions of Teaching
To present information, insights.
To reveal knowledge or skill.
To help students learn.
NOTE: All of the above can be
accomplished either deliberately or
incidentally.
That is, you can teach by means of explicit
instruction, ongoing guidance, deliberate
modeling, or accidental example.
Ways to Improve Teaching
and Learning
Implement research-based best
practices.
Employ an assessment-informed model
of teaching focused on measurable
student learning outcomes.
Good Practice in UG Education
(after Arthur Chickering & Zelda Gamson 1989)
1. Maximizes student/faculty contact.
2. Develops student cooperation.
3. Uses active learning techniques.
4. Gives feedback promptly.
5. Emphasizes time on task.
6. Communicates high expectations.
7. Respects learners diversity.
Ways to Improve Teaching
and Learning
Implement research-based best
practices.
Think of at least one way to implement
each item of practice.
Write down each example.
Pair up with the person next to you to
choose the best example of each.
Share your findings with the group.
Ways to Improve Teaching
and Learning
Implement research-based best
practices.
Employ an assessment-informed model
of teaching focused on measurable
student learning outcomes.
But first we need to distinguish
assessment from evaluation.
Assessment vs. Evaluation
What are the three most striking
differences between the two?
If we had time, Id have you
Think
Write
Pair
Share
Dimensions of Difference Between
Assessment and Evaluation
Timing
Focus of Measurement
Relationship Between Administrator &
Recipient
Findings, Uses Thereof
Ongoing Modifiability of Criteria, Measures
Thereof
Standards of Measurement
Relation Between Different Objects of A/E

Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Formative: Ongoing
to Improve Learning
Timing
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Formative: Ongoing
to Improve Learning
Summative: Final to
Gauge Quality
Focus of Measurement
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Formative: Ongoing
to Improve Learning
Summative: Final to
Gauge Quality
Process-Oriented:
How Learning Is Going
Focus of Measurement
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Formative: Ongoing
to Improve Learning
Summative: Final to
Gauge Quality
Process-Oriented:
How Learning Is Going
Product-Oriented:
Whats Been Learned
Administrator/Recipient
Relationship
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Formative: Ongoing
to Improve Learning
Summative: Final to
Gauge Quality
Process-Oriented:
How Learning Is Going
Product-Oriented:
Whats Been Learned
Reflective: Internally
Defined Criteria/Goals
Administrator/Recipient
Relationship
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Formative: Ongoing
to Improve Learning
Summative: Final to
Gauge Quality
Process-Oriented:
How Learning Is Going
Product-Oriented:
Whats Been Learned
Reflective: Internally
Defined Criteria/Goals
Prescriptive:External-
ly Imposed Standards
Findings, Uses Thereof
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Formative: Ongoing
to Improve Learning
Summative: Final to
Gauge Quality
Process-Oriented:
How Learning Is Going
Product-Oriented:
Whats Been Learned
Reflective: Internally
Defined Criteria/Goals
Prescriptive:External-
ly Imposed Standards
Diagnostic: Identify
Areas for Improvement
Findings, Uses Thereof
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Formative: Ongoing
to Improve Learning
Summative: Final to
Gauge Quality
Process-Oriented:
How Learning Is Going
Product-Oriented:
Whats Been Learned
Reflective: Internally
Defined Criteria/Goals
Prescriptive:External-
ly Imposed Standards
Diagnostic: Identify
Areas for Improvement
Judgmental: Arrive at
an Overall Grade/Score
Ongoing Modifiability
of Criteria, Measures
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Formative: Ongoing
to Improve Learning
Summative: Final to
Gauge Quality
Process-Oriented:
How Learning Is Going
Product-Oriented:
Whats Been Learned
Reflective: Internally
Defined Criteria/Goals
Prescriptive:External-
ly Imposed Standards
Diagnostic: Identify
Areas for Improvement
Judgmental: Arrive at
an Overall Grade/Score
Flexible: Adjust As
Problems Are Clarified
Ongoing Modifiability
of Criteria, Measures
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Process-Oriented:
How Learning Is Going
Product-Oriented:
Whats Been Learned
Reflective: Internally
Defined Criteria/Goals
Prescriptive:External-
ly Imposed Standards
Diagnostic: Identify
Areas for Improvement
Judgmental: Arrive at
an Overall Grade/Score
Flexible: Adjust As
Problems Are Clarified
Fixed: To Reward
Success, Punish Failure
Standards of
Measurement
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Process-Oriented:
How Learning Is Going
Product-Oriented:
Whats Been Learned
Reflective: Internally
Defined Criteria/Goals
Prescriptive:External-
ly Imposed Standards
Diagnostic: Identify
Areas for Improvement
Judgmental: Arrive at
an Overall Grade/Score
Flexible: Adjust As
Problems Are Clarified
Fixed: To Reward
Success, Punish Failure
Absolute: Strive for
Ideal Outcomes
Standards of
Measurement
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Reflective: Internally
Defined Criteria/Goals
Prescriptive:External-
ly Imposed Standards
Diagnostic: Identify
Areas for Improvement
Judgmental: Arrive at
an Overall Grade/Score
Flexible: Adjust As
Problems Are Clarified
Fixed: To Reward
Success, Punish Failure
Absolute: Strive for
Ideal Outcomes
Comparative: Divide
Better from Worse
Relation Between
Objects of A/E
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Reflective: Internally
Defined Criteria/Goals
Prescriptive:External-
ly Imposed Standards
Diagnostic: Identify
Areas for Improvement
Judgmental: Arrive at
an Overall Grade/Score
Flexible: Adjust As
Problems Are Clarified
Fixed: To Reward
Success, Punish Failure
Absolute: Strive for
Ideal Outcomes
Comparative: Divide
Better from Worse
Coperative: Learn
from Each Other
Relation Between
Objects of A/E
Assessment n Evaluation
(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)
Reflective: Internally
Defined Criteria/Goals
Prescriptive:External-
ly Imposed Standards
Diagnostic: Identify
Areas for Improvement
Judgmental: Arrive at
an Overall Grade/Score
Flexible: Adjust As
Problems Are Clarified
Fixed: To Reward
Success, Punish Failure
Absolute: Strive for
Ideal Outcomes
Comparative: Divide
Better from Worse
Coperative: Learn
from Each Other
Competitive: Beat
Each Other Out
Summary of Differences
Dimension of Difference Assessment Evaluation
Timing Formative Summative
Focus of Measurement
Process-
Oriented
Product-
Oriented
Relationship Between
Administrator and Recipient
Reflective Prescriptive
Findings, Uses Thereof Diagnostic Judgmental
Ongoing Modifiability of
Criteria, Measures Thereof
Flexible Fixed
Standards of Measurement Absolute Comparative
Relation Between Objects of
A/E
Coperative Competitive
Assessment vs. Evaluation
If we had time, Id have you Think, Write,
Pair, Share to come up with examples of
assessment and evaluation to show that:
The multidimensionality of the difference
between them, and the variation in each
dimension, result in a very diverse array of
examples, the majority of which are
neither assessment nor evaluation but
rather hybrids.
Ways to Improve Teaching
and Learning
Implement research-based best
practices.
Put the examples into practice.
Employ an assessment-informed model
of teaching focused on measurable
student learning outcomes.
How to do this?
Employ an assessment-
informed model of teaching
Define learning outcomes (desired by
teachers and/or learners) well in advance.
Assess progress toward outcomes, by and
for both teacher and learner, continually
during learning.
Evaluate attainment of outcomes rigorously
as each learning opportunity concludes.
Moment-by-moment, meeting-by-meeting,
course-by-course, semester-by-semester.

Measures of Learning

If we had time, Id also have you examine
examples of ways to measure learning with
the aim of showing:
that any measurement of learning can be
used either for assessment or for
evaluation purposes,
but that some measures are better for one
than for the other.
Ways to Improve Teaching
and Learning
Implement research-based best
practices.
Employ an assessment-informed model of
teaching focused on measurable student
learning outcomes.
Be vocal about what youre doing to
improve your teaching and your
students learning and listen to others
stories about what they are doing.
Five Assessment Principles
(after Thomas Angelo & Patricia Cross 1993)
To improve their
teaching, faculty must
define learning
outcomes and measure
their attainment.
To improve their
learning, students must
learn how to use
feedback to assess their
own progress (= self-
assessment).
The best assessment
derives from teachers
questions about their
own teaching.
Systematic assessment
can be an intellectually
challenging source of
faculty satisfaction.
Assessment provides an
impetus for active
student involvement, a
proven best practice.
Sources
Chickering & Gamson, Change (the
journal of the Amer Assn for Higher Ed)
Apple, Process education teaching
institute handbook (Pacific Crest)
Angelo & Cross, Classroom assessment
techniques: A handbook for college
teachers, Second edition (Jossey-Bass)
Presenter: Steve Straight
H. Stephen Straight
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education,
Binghamton University - SUNY
Professor of Anthropology and of Linguistics
Co-Director, Harpur College Linguistics Program
Associate Director, Center for Research In Translation
mailto:straight@binghamton.edu
607.777.2150 (secretary: Deborah Dunn)
607.777.2824 (private voice mail)
607.777.4831 (fax)