Assessment and Evaluation

What is Evaluation? What is Assessment?

Evaluation is the judgment of a program. It is a structured process to assess the success or failure of a program or a
process in achieving the desired goals. For instance, you can evaluate your program of study by employing various
assessment tools to find out whether or not the program has achieved the intended goals. During the program, we
learn a few lessons. Reflecting on those lessons is also evaluation. Hence evaluation is of two broad types. One is
formative evaluation, i.e. the continuous evaluation of a program. The other evaluation is summative, which means
that it is the overall final judgment of a program or a process.

As against it, assessment means systematic collection and analysis of specific information about something. There
are different types of assessments. In order to explain them, let us take an example of a teacher who is teaching a
course. Formative assessment consists of several assessment procedures that the teachers use during the process of
learning in order to assess the student's performance or to modify their own methods, techniques or strategies in
order to improve their students' performance. The teacher also records the students' overall performance at the end
of a phase or a course. Such assessment is called summative assessment. There are individual differences among
the students, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Therefore, the teacher will use diagnostic assessment to
find out the strengths and areas of improvement among the students so that he can make informed decisions about
his teaching.

Methods of Assessment
 Tests
 Presentations
 Projects
 Observation of Performance
 Portfolios
 Assignments
What is Testing?
Testing is one of the several assessment methods. A test aims at measuring the student's aptitude, skill, knowledge
or proficiency in a given subject.
Not all the tests are perfect. These can be good or bad. You can decide whether a test is a good test or a bad test. A
good test always measures what it is supposed to measure. That is the greatest test of a test.
Types of Tests
 Proficiency tests
 Diagnostic tests
 Placement tests
 Achievement tests
 Aptitude tests
 Admission tests
 Progress tests
 Language dominance tests

Dr. Muhammad Rashid Hafeez

Assistant Professor
Department of English
GC Women University
Sialkot, PAKISTAN