Classroom Assessment

The Ministry considers classroom assessment to play an important role in student achievement. Classroom assessment is the process of gathering evidence of what a student knows, understands, and is able to do. It can also help to identify students' learning needs.

Teachers can use feedback from classroom assessment to identify areas of learning that might need increased focus and support.

Students can use feedback from classroom assessment to set learning goals for themselves, identify areas of learning they want to improve and consider how they might make such improvements.

Current literature suggests three approaches to classroom-based assessment that can be used in conjunction with each other to support student achievement.

Assessment for learning refers to formative assessment through which teachers collect information about student achievement and use this information to plan follow-up classroom activities.
Assessment as learning refers to the active involvement of students in assessment of their own learning. Assessment as learning assists students in understanding what they might need to improve upon in order to successfully meet learning outcomes.
Assessment of learning refers to assessment practices that take place at the end of a lesson or unit so that student achievement can be reported.

In criterion-referenced classroom assessment, a student's performance is compared to established criteria rather than to the performance of other students.

Teachers use their insight, knowledge about learning, and experience with students, along with the specific criteria they establish, to make judgments about student performance in relation to prescribed learning outcomes.

Key Resources