Assessment or educational assessment is a process used to determine what a student knows or what he is able to do. It is the process
Assessment was first introduced through the frames of psychometrics and intelligence testing. Since intelligence was at the time considered to be a predetermined characteristic, it could be measured and compared to a specific norm (norm-referenced).
This paradigm was later in the 1960s shifted towards educational measurement2) which, unlike norm-referenced psychometrics classified test-takers according to some criterion (criterrion-referenced). The educational measurement approach also:3)
Finally, another change was introduced into the perspective on assessment suggesting it should be used not only to evaluate past or current achievements, but to
This change is an ongoing process as today assessment is still
in which assessment has more forms and roles than before.
Some of the reasons assessment is used in the educational process are to:6)7)
Two quotes should answer this question directly:
Assessment in general should be:10)