Assessment Artifact Essay

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Assessment Artifact Name Institution Assessment Artifact Assessments form an essential means for teachers to gain insight on learning the progress of students. Assessments determine how students grasp concepts in class, which indicates the ability to make correct decisions. To evaluate learners’ performance, teachers make use of formal and informal assessments. This paper analyzes types of formal and informal assessments that an educator may use to appraise students understanding of concepts. Formal assessments refer to the systematic and pre-planned methods used in determining how students understand class teachings (Brady & McColl, 2010). The method uses standardized measures where students sit for tests and conclusions on performance drawn from data computed from the results. Scores such as percentiles and standard scores computed mathematically support conclusions about student’s understanding of subjects. There exist four types of formal assessments: standardized, program, essay and criterion-referenced tests (Wright, 2015). Standardized tests involve administration of instructions, questions and scoring to all individuals in a similar manner. The test aims at comparing students’ knowledge in a given class, region or country. Program tests involve the use of teacher-made trial to determine how well scholars understand a particular content. Criterion-referenced tests compare student performance against a set standard while essay tests require students to give answers to several questions demonstrating their ability to recall, organize and interpret information in a logically integrated manner. On the other hand, informal assessments evaluate a student’s progress and performance individually. Such evaluations do not depend on data when drawing conclusions. Informal assessments depend on performance and
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