Teachers ask students to demonstrate learning in individual, as well as group performances. Student achievement is measured against specific instructional targets tied to standards. Teachers collect information about student learning from a variety of sources and on multiple occasions. The MAP defines some of the key terms used in discussions about measuring student learning, such as test, assessment, and evaluation. A test is narrow in focus, designed to measure a set of skills or behaviors at one point in time.
Assessment is broader in scope and involves gathering information over a period of time.
This information might include formal tests, classroom observations, student self-assessments, and data from other sources. Evaluation applies to assessment data that have been scored and analyzed to make judgments or draw inferences about students and educational programs. From a decision-making perspective, assessment data are collected because they can provide needed information for educators as they examine students' progress toward attaining the ESL standards. As shown in Exhibit 2, each phase of this dynamic cycle actually consists of many activities. For example, in the first phase, planning, teachers or educators using this approach would need to determine why assessment data were being collected and who would be interested in seeing them.