THE CONCEPTS OF TEST, MEASUREMENT, ASSESSMENT AND

EVALUATION IN EDUCATION

These concepts are often used interchangeably by practitioners and if they have the
same meaning. This is not so. As a teacher, you should be able to distinguish one
from the other and use any particular one at the appropriate time to discuss issues
in the classroom Measurement. The process of measurement as it implies involves
carrying out actual measurement in order to assign a quantitative meaning to a
quality i.e. what is the length of the chalkboard? Determining this must be
physically done. Measurement is therefore a process of assigning numerals to
objects, quantities or events in other to give quantitative meaning to such qualities.
In the classroom, to determine a child’s performance, you need to obtain
quantitative measures on the individual scores of the child. If the child scores 80 in
Mathematics, there is no other interpretation you should give it. You cannot say he
has passed or failed. Measurement and Evaluation in Education (PDE 105) 36
Measurement stops at ascribing the quantity but not making value judgment on the
child’s performance. Assessment is a fact finding activity that describes conditions
that exists at a particular time. Assessment often involves measurement to gather
data. However, it is the domain of assessment to organize the measurement data
into interpretable forms on a number of variables. Assessment in educational
setting may describe the progress students have made towards a given educational
goal at a point in time. However, it is not concerned with the explanation of the
underlying reasons and does not proffer recommendations for action. Although,
there may be some implied judgment as to the satisfactoriness or otherwise of the
situation. In the classroom, assessment refers to all the processes and products
which are used to describe the nature and the extent of pupils’ learning. This also
takes cognizance of the degree of correspondence of such learning with the
objectives of instruction. Some educationists in contrasting assessment with
evaluation opined that while evaluation is generally used when the subject is not
persons or group of persons but the effectiveness or otherwise of a course or
programme of teaching or method of teaching, assessment is used generally for
measuring or determining personal attributes (totality of the student, the
environment of learning and the student’s accomplishments). A number of
instrument are often used to get measurement data from various sources. These
include Tests, aptitude tests, inventories, questionnaires, observation schedules etc.
All these sources give data which are organized to show evidence of change and
the direction of that change. A test is thus one of the assessment instruments. It is
used in getting quantitative data. Evaluation adds the ingredient of value judgment
to assessment. It is concerned with the application of its findings and implies some
judgment of the effectiveness, social utility or desirability of a product, process or
progress in terms of carefully defined and agreed upon objectives or values.
Evaluation often includes recommendations for constructive action. Thus,
evaluation is a qualitative measure of the prevailing situation. It calls for evidence
of effectiveness, suitability, or goodness of the programme. It is the estimation of
the worth of a thing, process or programme in order to reach meaningful decisions
about that thing, process or programme. The Purposes of Evaluation According to
Oguniyi (1984), educational evaluation is carried out from time to time for the
following purposes: (i) to determine the relative effectiveness of the programme in
terms of students’ behavioural output; Measurement and Evaluation in Education
(PDE 105) 37 (ii) to make reliable decisions about educational planning; (iii) to
ascertain the worth of time, energy and resources invested in a programme; (iv) to
identify students’ growth or lack of growth in acquiring desirable knowledge,
skills, attitudes and societal values; (v) to help teachers determine the effectiveness
of their teaching techniques and learning materials; (vi) to help motivate students
to want to learn more as they discover their progress or lack of progress in given
tasks; (vii) to encourage students to develop a sense of discipline and systematic
study habits; (viii) to provide educational administrators with adequate information
about teachers’ effectiveness and school need; (ix) to acquaint parents or guardians
with their children’s performances; (x) to identify problems that might hinder or
prevent the achievement of set goals; (xi) to predict the general trend in the
development of the teaching-learning process; (xii) to ensure an economical and
efficient management of scarce resources; (xiii) to provide an objective basis for
determining the promotion of students from one class to another as well as the
award of certificates; (xiv) to provide a just basis for determining at what level of
education the possessor of a certificate should enter a career. ACTIVITY 1 1.
Distinguish clearly between Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation. Other
definitions of evaluation as given by practitioners are: 1. A systematic process of
determining what the actual outcomes are but it also involves judgement of
desirability of whatever outcomes are demonstrated. (Travers, 1955) 2. The
process of ascertaining the decision of concern, selecting appropriate information
and collecting and analysing information in order to report summary data useful to
decision makers in selecting among alternatives (Alkin, 1970). 3. The process of
delineating, obtaining and providing useful information for judging decision
alternatives (Stufflebeam et al 1971) In line with this fine distinction between
assessment and evaluation, we shall briefly deliberate a little more here on
evaluation and leave the discussion on assessment to the latter units. Measurement
and Evaluation in Education (PDE 105) 38 ACTIVITY 1I 1. Why is evaluation
important to the classroom teacher?

TYPES OF EVALAUTION There are two main levels of evaluation:

Programme level and student level. Each of the two levels can involve either of the
two main types of evaluation – formative and summative at various stages.
Programme evaluation has to do with the determination of whether a programme
has been successfully implemented or not. Student evaluation determines how well
a student is performing in a programme of study. Formative Evaluation The
purpose of formative evaluation is to find out whether after a learning experience,
students are able to do what they were previously unable to do. Its ultimate goal is
usually to help students perform well at the end of a programme. Formative
evaluation enables the teacher to: 1. draw more reliable inference about his
students than an external assessor, although he may not be as objective as the
latter; 2. identify the levels of cognitive process of his students; 3. choose the most
suitable teaching techniques and materials; 4. determine the feasibility of a
programme within the classroom setting; 5. determine areas needing modifications
or improvement in the teaching-learning process; and 6. determine to a great extent
the outcome of summative evaluation. (Ogunniyi, 1984) Some of the questions
often asked under this type of evaluation include: 1. What is the objective of the
lesson? 2. What materials will be needed to teach this lesson? 3. In what sequence
will the different aspects of the topic be treated? How much time should be given
to different aspects of the topic? 4. What teaching techniques will be most suitable
to transmit this knowledge or skill? 5. What evaluation techniques would be used
to assess student achievement? Will they be effective or not? 6. What assignment
or project should be given as part of or apart from class work? 7. Has the objective
been achieved? 8. What progress are the students making? What difficulties are
they encountering relative to the topic? Measurement and Evaluation in Education
(PDE 105) 39 9. What additional facilities or resources would enhance the
knowledge or skills gained by the students? 10. Are students’ needs and interests
being met? Are the students able to transfer their knowledge or skills to other
areas? Thus, Formative evaluation attempts to: (i) identify the content (i.e.
knowledge or skill) which has not been mastered by the students; (ii) appraise the
level of cognitive abilities such as memorization, classification, comparison,
analysis, explanation, quantification, application and so on; and (iii) specify the
relationships between content and levels of cognitive abilities. In other words,
formative evaluation provides the evaluator with useful information about the
strength or weakness of the student within an instructional context. SUMMATIVE
EVALUATION Summative evaluation often attempts to determine the extent the
broad objectives of a programme have been achieved (i.e. SSSCE, (NECO or
WAEC), PROMOTION, GRADE TWO, NABTEB Exams and other public
examinations). It is concerned with purposes, progress and outcomes of the
teaching-learning process. Summative evaluation is judgemental in nature and
often carries threat with it in that the student may have no knowledge of the
evaluator and failure has a far reaching effect on the students. However, it is more
objective than formative evaluation. Some of the underlying assumptions of
summative evaluation are that: 1. the programme’s objectives are achievable; 2. the
teaching-learning process has been conducted efficiently; 3. the teacher-student-
material interactions have been conducive to learning; 4. the teaching techniques,
learning materials and audio-visual aids are adequate and have been judiciously
dispensed; and 5. there is uniformity in classroom conditions for all learners.
ACTIVITY III 1. With suitable examples, distinguish between formative and
summative evaluation, FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR SUCCESSFUL
EVALUATION 1. Sampling technique – Appropriate sampling procedure must be
adopted. 2. Evaluation itself must be well organized. - treatment Measurement and
Evaluation in Education (PDE 105) 40 - conducive atmosphere - intended and un-
intended outcomes and their implications considered. 3. Objectivity of the
instrument. - Feasibility of the investigation - Resolution of ethical issues -
Reliability of the test (accuracy of data in terms of stability, repeatability and
precision) - validity – test should measure what it is supposed to measure and the
characteristics to be measured must be reflected. 4. Rationale of the evaluation
instrument 5. It must be ensured that the disparity in students’ performances are
related to the content of the test rather than to the techniques used in administering
the instrument. 6. The format used must be the most economical and efficient. 7.
Teachers must have been adequately prepared. They must be qualified to teach the
subjects allotted to them. SUMMARY In this unit, we have distinguished clearly
between measurement, assessment and evaluation. • Measurement is seen as a
process of assigning numbers to objects, quantities or events in other to give
quantitative meanings to such qualities. • Assessment is the process of organizing
measurement data into interpretable forms. It gives evidence of change and the
direction of change without value judgement. • Evaluation is the estimation of the
worth of a thing, process or programmes in order to reach meaningful decisions
about that thing, process or programme. It calls for evidence of effectiveness,
suitability of goodness of the programme or process. • Evaluation serves a number
of purposes in education • Evaluation could be formative or summative. The two
serve different purposes in the classroom. • A number of factors such as sampling
techniques, organization, objectivity etc must be considered for successful
evaluation. ASSIGNMENT 1. Distinguish clearly between programme and student
evaluation. 2. Describe how a normal programme can be evaluated. Measurement
and Evaluation in Education (PDE 105) 41 REFERENCES Ogunniyi, M. B.
(1984) Educational Measurement and Evaluation: Longman Nig. Mc. Ibadan.
Okpalla P. M. et al (1999) Measurement and Evaluation in Education. Stiching –
Horden Publishers (nig.) Ltd. Benin City. Measurement and Evaluation in
Education (PDE 105) 42 UNIT TWO: ASSESSMENT AND CLASSROOM
TESTS INTRODUCTION In the last unit, we distinguished between assessment,
measurement and evaluation. We also discussed the importance of evaluation in
education. In this unit, we shall discuss the purpose of assessment and tests in the
classroom. You should pay particular attention here as you may have to construct
special types of tests in the latter unit. OBJECTIVES At the end of this unit, you
should be able to: i. give the purpose of assessment; ii. explain Bloom’s taxonomy
of educational objectives; iii. give stages in assessment practice; iv. compare old
and modern assessment practices; v. explain what a test is; and vi. state the aims
and objectives of classroom tests. HOW TO STUDY THIS UNIT 1. You should
take note of the new words and their usage. 2. Attempt all the activities. 3. Try to
visualize how you will carry out the new skills in your classroom PURPOSE OF
ASSESSMENT Assessment involves deciding how well students have learnt a
given content or how far the objective we earlier set out have been achieved
quantitatively. The data so obtained can serve various educational functions in the
school viz: (a) Classroom function This includes (i) determination of level of
achievement (ii) effectiveness of the teacher, teaching method, learning situation
and instructional materials (iii) motivating the child by showing him his progress
i.e. success breeds success. (iv) it can be used to predict students performance in
novel situations. Measurement and Evaluation in Education (PDE 105) 43 (b)
Guidance functions Assessment procedure can give the teacher diagnostic data
about individual pupils in his class. These will show the pupils’ strength,
weaknesses and interests. It can also help to decide on which method to use or
what remedial activities that are necessary. Parents and pupils can also be rightly
guided in terms of career choice. (c) Administrative functions (i) Assessing can
serve as communication of information when data collected are used in reports to
parents (ii) It could form the basis upon which streaming, grading, selection and
placement are based. (iii) Making appropriate decisions and recommendations on
curricula packages and curricula activities. For any form of assessment to be able
to serve the above functions, it cannot be a one shot kind of assessment. It has to be
an on-going exercise throughout the teaching and learning processes. This is why
continuations assessment is advocated in the classroom. THE CONCEPT OF
CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT By continuous assessment, we mean assessing or
weighing performance of students periodically to be able to determine progress
made in teaching-learning activities. Continuous assessment tests are used to
evaluate the progress of students periodically. Continuous assessment tests can be
done daily, weekly, monthly, depending on the goals of teaching and learning.
Continuous assessment is defined in the Federal Ministry of Education handbook
as: “A mechanism whereby the final grading of a student in the cognitive, affective
and psychomotor domains of behaviour takes account in a systematic way, of all
his performances during a given period of schooling. Such an assessment involves
the use of a great variety of models of evaluation for the purpose of finding and
improving the learning and performance of the students.” Continuous assessment
thus is a veritable tool in assessment in that it is comprehensive, systematic,
cumulative and guidance oriented. Many schools in the country have since
embarked on the implementation of continuous assessment. It is not surprising
therefore to find teachers testing their pupils weekly, at the end of each unit or
module etc. In recent times however, these tests have assumed disciplinary status
to check noise making, absenteeism etc. At this juncture, Continuous Assessment
in practice ceases to be a tool for aiding learning. One can only call it what it is –
“Continuous Testing”. I urge you to be aware of the practice of continuous testing
in our school system which is injurious to learning as against Continuous
Assessment that is being advocated. The following are the advantages of a
continuous assessment: → It provides useful information about the academic
progress of the learner; → It makes the learner to keep on working in a progressive
manner; Measurement and Evaluation in Education (PDE 105) 44 → It informs the
teacher about the teaching-learning effectiveness achieved; → It gives a true
picture of the student academic performance since it is a continuous process rather
than one duration type of test which may be affected by many variables such as
sickness, fatigue, stress, etc; and → It makes learning an active rather than a
passive process. USING CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT TO IMROVE
TEACHING AND LEARNING (a) Motivation The effectiveness of efforts to help
people learn depends on the learner’s activities and the achievement that results.
Feedback regarding one’s effectiveness is positively associated with perceived
locus of causality, proficiency and intrinsic motivation (Deci, 1980). When
assessment is carried out systematically and in a purposive manner and the
feedback of such is given immediately, it can go a long way in correcting any
anomaly in the teaching-learning continuum. In the past, students often do hasty
and last minute preparation towards final examinations. This neither helps them to
have a thorough grasp of the learning experiences nor does it allow the teacher to
apply remedial measures to the areas of deficiency or improve on his teaching
methods. However, using Continuous Assessment appropriately, students study
more frequently and retain what they study for longer period of time. This
generally improves their learning which goes a long way in motivating them to
study further. (b) Individual Differences The classroom is an admixture of the slow
learners, average, gifted, extroverts, introverts, early bloomers etc. Each of these
categories of students should be given a particular attention by the teacher. Using
Continuous Assessment, the teacher will be able to identify these differences and
apply at the appropriate time, the necessary measure to improve not only his
teaching but the learning of the students and hence their performances. (c) Record-
Keeping Continuous Assessment affords the teacher the opportunity to compile
and accumulate student’s record/performances over a given period of time. Such
records are often essential not only in guidance and counselling but also in
diagnosing any problem that may arise in future. (d) Examination Malpractice This
is an endemic problem at all levels of our educational system. In practice,
continuous assessment had been able to minimize this to a tolerable level and the
fear of using one single examination to judge performance of a wide range of
course(s) is removed. Measurement and Evaluation in Education (PDE 105) 45
ACTIVITY 1 1. Which type of test do you think the Nigerian education system
support most: is it continuous assessment tests or one duration (e.g. 3-hour)
examination that is all in all? CHARACTERISTICS OF CONTINUOUS
ASSESSMENT TESTS i. In most cases, continuous assessment tests are
periodical, systematic, and wellplanned. They should not be tests organized in a
haphazard manner. ii. Continuous Assessment tests can be in any form. They may
be oral, written, practical, announced, or unannounced, multiple choice objective,
essay, or subjective and so on. iii. Continuous assessment tests are often based on
what has been learnt within a particular period. Thus, they should be a series of
tests. iv. In Nigerian educational system, continuous assessment tests are part of
the scores used to compute the overall performance of students. In most cases, they
are 40% of the final score. The final examination often carries 60%. v. Invariably,
continuous assessment tests are designed and produced by the classroom teacher.
Some continuous assessment tests are centrally organized for a collection of
schools or for a particular state. vi. All continuous assessment tests should meet the
criteria stated in Units three a