Comprehensive assessment frameworks help educators understand that the most thorough evaluation systems address assessment as both an art and a science.

1. Take a cup and dip it once into the sea. It is highly unlikely that your cup will contain any
sampling of fish as you lift it to the surface. This particular method of collection is simply
insufficient for the task and increasing the number of attempts is unlikely to yield different
results. Moreover, the absence of a "catch" gives us no reason to conclude that there are no fish
in the sea. Similarly, a lack of verifiable data does not always mean that learning did not occur.
Educators are calling for more equitable measures of student progress and there is one in
particular that is rising in popularity. It was recently coined "balanced assessment system." This
system [see figure 1] typically categorizes assessments according to type or purpose and places
learning goals at the forefront of it all.
Such a classification system is very useful for identifying assessments according to its features or
performance measures. Systems such as these primarily serve as descriptions of assessment

2. practices and also aim to assist educators in framing testing behaviors. An authentic evaluation
of student performance requires a more comprehensive view of assessment and helps make
tangible for educators the dynamics of evaluation and testing. First, let’s clear-up the confusion
that exists around two terms that are often used interchangeably but have very different
meanings.
Assessments vs. Tests
An assessment is an evaluation of information. It is often used to guide decision-making and is
not meant to be prescriptive. An overall assessment of reading might include a battery of tests of
specific skills and formal as well as informal observations to help educators evaluate student
reading performance. A test, on the other hand, is a systematic procedure used to capture a
sample of student behavior in a specific area. Tests provide more targeted information but rarely
serve as sufficient measures of overall student performance. For example, a teacher might decide
to test a student’s ability to apply reading skills that support an understanding of the main ideas
of a selection. A sample test consisting of 5-10 multiple-choice questions that require the student
to select the choice which best captures the gist of the answer is one way to measure the
application of skills in this area.
The Science of Assessment
We have grown quite comfortable in the recent years with this view of assessment. In fact, our
current practices suggest that most of us are unwilling to view assessment any other way. The
common misconception is that we can only measure that which can be observed in a controlled
and predictable environment. A clear cause-effect relationship is established and the experiment
can be retested by someone else to produce similar results.
One popular framework or scientific equivalent in education is the "teach-test-repeat cycle" with
goal-setting usually occurring at the onset. When we view assessment within this framework, we
ignore the most critical element in our efforts to affect change—the student. Our assessments of
student performance have as much to do with the observer as it does the subject under study. The
lens through which we evaluate student progress is colored by our own predispositions of what is
most important, past experiences, and personal biases which can ultimately color our judgment.
The interaction between (and understanding of) the evaluator, environment, and learner all play
an important role in shaping fair assessment systems.
The Art of Assessment
Essential to educational practice is the bimodal view of assessment as both an art and a science.
An authentic assessment requires more subjectivity than most are initially comfortable with. The
process of evaluation requires a level of intuition that is sometimes very uncomfortable for some
people. Also, assessors must be able to recognize persistent patterns, validate or invalidate
predictions, and take into consideration all that the assessee brings to the table upon measure as
this will impact the student’s ultimate performance.

3. Assessment as an art places the student at the center of a problem-solving model surrounded by
multiple variables. Each variable can potentially affect student performance in some way or
another. Also, small changes in the environment can have a significant impact on student
performance. Unfortunately, these changes often go undetected and their impact on student
performance is ignored. This leads many to arrive at erroneous conclusions and inaccurate
predictions of student behavior.
How heavily does background weigh-in as a factor that affects performance? What are the
subject matter requisites for success? How clear are my learning objectives or do they require
alteration or complete change? Reflection runs in tandem and supplies the oil necessary for
sustaining a more balanced system—and answers to questions such as these help inform our
decision-making and are likely to contribute to greater efficacy in our aims to use data to make
educational decisions. The art of assessment has—as its greatest reward—a proclivity to produce
educational artisans who understand that there truly is far more to evaluation than what meets the
naked eye.
A scientific renaissance is currently underway and there is a growing need to develop tools that
help inform our observations of data. As the era of accountability nears its peak, we are
becoming increasingly dependent upon better tools to help us understand the subjective nature of
information as well as its objective and measurable-side.
Sources
Office of Educational Accountability, Balanced Assessment System, Wisconsin
Department of Public Instruction, 2009.
Rick Stiggins, A Call for the Development of Balanced Assessment Systems, Educational
Testing Services, 2008.
Wren, D.G. (2009). Performance Assessment: A Key Component of a Balanced
Assessment System, Department of Research, Evaluation, and Assessment, 2009.
Copyright Dessalines Floyd. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.