Educational assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skill, attitudes, and beliefs.
Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution, or the educational system as a whole (also known as granularity).[citation needed]
The final purpose of assessment practices in education depends on the theoretical framework of the practitioners and researchers, their assumptions and beliefs about the nature of human mind, the origin of knowledge, and the process of learning.
Alternate meanings
According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary the word assessment comes from the root word assess which is defined as:
1. to determine the rate or amount of (as a tax)
2. to impose (as a tax) according to an established rate b: to subject to a tax, charge, or levy
3. to make an official valuation of
(property) for the purposes of taxation 4. to determine the importance, size, or value of (assess a problem)
5. to charge (a player or team) with a foul or penalty to evaluate something or someone
Assessment in education is best described as an action "to determine the importance, size, or value of."[1]
Types
The term assessment is generally used to refer to all activities teachers use to help students learn and to gauge student progress.[2] Though the notion of assessment is generally more complicated than the following categories suggest, assessment is often divided for the sake of convenience using the following distinctions: Educational assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skill, attitudes, and beliefs.
Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution, or the