Assessment Literacy

The term “assessment literacy” has been used to describe the kinds of assessment know-how and understanding that teachers, in particular, need to assess their students effectively. In other words, assessment literate educators should have knowledge and skills related to the basic principles of quality assessment practices. Below are some assessment skills that educators need.

• Educators need to know how to define clear learning goals because such goals are the basis for developing or choosing ways to assess student learning.
• They also need to know how to use a variety of assessment methods to gather evidence of student learning and how to analyze student achievement data – both quantitative and qualitative data - and make good inferences from the data gathered.
• They need to know how to provide appropriate feedback to the learner.
• They need to know how to make appropriate instructional modifications to help students improve.
• They need to know how to involve students in the assessment process and how to communicate the results in effective ways.
• Most importantly, educators need to know how to create an effective classroom assessment environment that boosts student motivation to learn.

Few teachers have been given the opportunity to systematically develop their assessment skills either on the job as part of the school day or in ongoing professional development settings. At the same time, the No Child Left Behind legislation clearly puts a premium on teachers’ use of data to diagnose students’ instructional needs based on quality evidence collected. The next sections of this website will help educators at all levels get started in their efforts to develop their assessment knowledge and skills and use that understanding to improve student outcomes.

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