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CHAPTER 2

TYPES OF ASSESSMENT IN
MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS

INTRODUCTION
Earlier we have examined terms frequently associated with assessment, purpose of
assessment, phases of assessment, and interdependence nature of teaching, learning
and assessment. However the main goal is to advance students learning and to provide
teachers with information to make further instructional decisions. It is through
assessment that teachers can communicate clearly to students the activities and the
intended learning outcomes to be achieved. Assessment contributes significantly to
students learning. It is a platform for students to demonstrate what they know and
can do as a result of teachers instructions. Hence assessment can also be regarded
as learning opportunities. Assessment that enhances mathematics learning should be
a routine part of ongoing classroom activity rather than as an interruption or simply
marked the end of a learning cycle. Many opportunities both formal and informal
assessment can take place naturally in the classroom.
Assessment that enhances mathematics learning incorporates activities that are
consistent with the activities used in instruction and sometimes are the same. For
example, students can learn by communicating their mathematical ideas in writing, and
their knowledge of mathematics is assessed, in part by having them to write about
their mathematical ideas. If students learn in groups, they may be assessed in groups.
If graphic calculators are used in instruction, they should be available for use in the
assessment (Classroom Compass, 1996).
In this chapter we will examine the different types of assessment in mathematics
classrooms which include official, instructional, sizing-up, norm-referenced, criterionreferenced, standardized, and non-standardized assessment. Both formal and informal
assessment will also be examined related to organization of learners and classroom
activities.

OUTCOMES
At the end of this chapter students will be able to:
1. explain the different types of sizing-up, instructional and official assessment:;
2. explain the different types of norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessment:;
3. explain the different types of standardized and non-standardized assessment:;
4. explain the different types of assessment based on organization of learners in the
mathematics classroom; and
5. explain the different types of activities for mathematics classroom assessment.

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2.1 SIZING-UP, INSTRUCTIONAL AND OFFICIAL ASSESSMENT

What is the difference between sizing-up, instructional and official
assessment?

In general there three types of classroom assessments: sizing-up, instructional and official.
These different types of classroom assessment differ in various ways such as timing, purpose,
and evidence gathering. They are shown in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1: Three types of classroom assessments

2.1.1

Sizing-Up Assessment

Sizing-up assessment is the first type of assessment conducted in the early school
year to gather about students academic, social, and behavioural characteristics and
needs. Collection of information such as socioeconomic background of students,
personalities, learning styles, level of understanding, special needs, and language
capabilities will enable the teachers to foster and enhance instruction, communication,
and cooperation in the classroom. This information provides the teacher with a brief
perception and practical knowledge of pupils characteristics that are used in the
planning of his or her year long instruction. Can you imagine planning and teaching a
lesson for a group of students you do not know of? What strategies should you use?
Does a student act out because she is bored of schooling or testing the teacher? With
this information made available, teachers will be able to place students in suitable
positions in the classroom, group students accordingly when group work is warranted,
teach, motivate, manage classroom, and reward students effectively.
The following are common sources of sizing-up information:

Oral reports, class discussion, response to questions, politeness, and fluency of

communication demonstrated by the students

Work completion, involvement in task given, attention span, and getting along with peers
demonstrated by the students

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Homework completion, journals, neatness, organization provided by the students.

School records about level of ability, prior school performance, and any prior discipline
problems

2.1.2

Instructional Assessment

A second type of assessment refers to plan and deliver instruction, decide materials
to include during instruction, and how and when lesson will be taught. This kind of
assessment is regarded as instructional assessment. The purpose of this assessment
is to plan instructional activities and monitor the progress of instruction. Hence it is
conducted throughout the school year. In the process, both formal and informal
observation of students behavior and performance during each lesson are used as
evidence or data gathering. The teacher is more likely to gather cognitive data via
quizzes, class discussion, and tests. The affective data assists in maintaining and
increasing students motivation, interest and cooperation throughout the school year.

2.1.3

Official Assessment

Official assessment is the third type of assessment usually conducted for the purposes
of grading, assessing progress, grouping and placing of students in their respective
levels, interpreting test results, conferencing with parents, identifying students with
special needs. Teachers undertook these tasks as an employee of a school system
hence it is termed as official assessment. This information is used by teachers as
instructional assessment for better lesson plans by having considered evidences from
formal tests, papers, reports, quizzes, and assignment. Official assessment is
conducted periodically during the school year.

2.2

NORM-REFERENCED VERSUS CRITERION-REFERENCED

ASSESSMENT

What is the difference between norm-referenced assessment and criterionreferenced assessment?

Kubiszyn and Borich (1996) claimed that purpose of testing is to provide objective data
that can be used along with subjective impressions to make better educational
decisions. They discussed two main types of test used to make educational decisions:
norm-referenced tests and criterion-referenced tests. Figure 2.2 shows norm-reference
tests while Figure 2.3 shows criterion-referenced tests.

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2.2.1

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Norm-Referenced Assessment

Norm-Referenced Assessment Test

Norm-referenced test provide information regarding the students performance in comparison to

a norm or average of performance by the similar group of students.

School systems might want to classify students in this way so that they can be properly placed
in remedial or gifted programs.

These types of tests are also used to help teachers to select students for different ability level
mathematics instructional groups.

Norm-referenced tests are used to classify students.

Figure 2.2: Norm-referenced assessment test

2.2.2

Criterion-Referenced Assessment

Criterion-Referenced Assessment Test

On the other hand, criterion-referenced tests provide information about a students level of
proficiency in or mastery of some skills.

This is accomplished by comparing a students performance to a standard of mastery called a

criterion.

Such information tells us whether a student needs more or less work on some skills or subskills, but it says nothing about the students performance relative to other students.

Criterion-referenced tests determine what test takers can do and what they know, not how they
compare to others.

Educators or policy makers may choose to use criterion-referenced test when they wish to see
how well students have learned the knowledge and skills which they are expected to have
mastered.

Criterion-referenced report how well students are doing relative to a predetermined performance
level on a specified set of educational goals or outcomes included in the school, district, or
state curriculum.

Generally, these two tests differ in their intended purposes, the way in which content
is selected, the scoring process which means how the test results must be interpreted.

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2.3

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STANDARDISED VERSUS NON-STANDARDISED

ASSESSMENT

How is standardised assessment different from non-standardised

assessment?

2.3.1

Standardised Assessment

The information teachers collect and use in their classrooms comes from assessment
procedures that are either standardised or non-standardised. Standardised
assessment is assessment conducted to all test takers regardless of where or when
they are assessed. Subsequently, the scores obtained by test takers are examined
and interpreted in the same way. The main reason for standardised assessment is to
capture students scores across school, states and even at the national level. For
example, local standardised assessments conducted are the Ujian Penilaian Sekolah
rendah (UPSR), Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR), Sijil Pelajaran Menengah (SPM),
and Malaysian University English Entrance Examination (MUET) and many others. The
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the American College Testing program Test
(ACT), The Test of Mathematical Abilities are other examples of standardised tests.

2.3.2

Non-standardised Assessment

Nonstandardised assessments are tests conducted in schools and the tests are
constructed by teachers which focuses on assessment of the particular instruction
provided in that specific classroom. This kind of information assessment is used to
obtain feedback about students understanding in a single class but not those students
in other classes. Therefore standardised assessments are more frequently used as
compared to nonstandardised assessments because students are normally compared
and based on their grades, year or form levels. Standardised assessments involve
making comparison in a single group of students or beyond the classroom.

2.4

INDIVIDUAL VERSUS GROUP ASSESSMENT

As assessment is a communication process in which assessors learns about what students

know and can do. At the same time students learn the important or valued learning materials.
During and at the end of the process of learning variety assessment procedures can be
conducted. We will discuss types of assessment centered around organization of learners:
individual assessment, group or peer assessment.

2.4.1

Individual Assessments

Individual assessments focus on individual student progress. The assessment activities

constructed by the teacher are completed individually by the students. The activities
may be in the form written assignments, presentations, or performance assessment

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tasks so that teachers can assess individuals progress. Individual assessment is a

technique for assessing students who are working individually rather than students
collaborating in a group situation.
Individual assessment basically assist in making decision whether student has made
any progress from previous level (self-referenced) progress from predetermined
standard (criterion-referenced) and progress based on group standard (normreferenced).

2.4.2

Group Assessments

Group assessments focus on the progress of students working in groups cooperatively

and in collaborating to complete assessment activities organized by the teacher. This
kind of assessment usually is useful to assess social skills and cooperative learning
processes. The activities can be in the form of written assignments, presentations of
historical notes on related topics for the day (history of number system, history of
Leonardo Fibonacci, history of Pascal triangle), or performance of skills and processes
in groups working on specific topics such as probability, statistics, algebra.
Hence in group assessment, decisions must be made with respect to:

evaluating group work only by awarding the same mark to all members of the group,

evaluating individual student progress within the group. In this way group assessment is
only used to structure learning, but not for evaluation purposes, and

evaluating both group and individual and awarding marks proportionately.

2.4.3

Self- and Peer-Assessments

Self-assessment refers to the students own assessment of his or her progress in

knowledge, skills, processes, or attitudes. Peer-assessment refers to student
assessment of other students. Peer- assessments can be conducted either individually
or collaboratively in groups.
Students may be involved in a variety of self- and peer-assessment activities using
their individual efforts, their participatory efforts in a group, their own end products of
written assignments and presentations, or their performance of skills and processes.
Students may also be involved in assessing their efforts on quizzes and tests.
Contracts frequently have a self- or peer- assessment component. Self-assessment
occurs when students evaluate their own work. Peer-assessment occurs when a
students work is evaluated by some or all of the other students.
Information gathered through self- and peer- assessments can be used by students
to make judgments on their learning and on the learning of their peers. Self- and peerevaluation are designed to allow students to take more responsibility on their learning
by reflecting upon it and by receiving feedback from their peers. These are particularly
powerful formative evaluation methods. The essential difference between self-evaluation
and peer-evaluation is that in self-evaluation the student is learning about learning
through reflecting on his or her own activities. In peer- evaluation, the student is learning
about learning through reflecting on the activities of other students.
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Encouraging the student to become involved in setting criteria for evaluation of his or
her work shifts a portion of responsibility to the student. Self-evaluation can contribute
to a students ability to structure his or her learning. It can increase a students
ownership for the learning process.
Self- and peer-evaluation should be reserved for those situations where students selfknowledge about the learning process is important. Major projects involving a mix of
learning skills such as researching, planning, drafting, and bringing to completion are
good examples. Self- and peer-evaluation is also important in learning situations where
a high degree of student interaction is encouraged. In learning mathematics, these
opportunities are lacking.

2.5
2.5.1

OTHER LEARNING ASSESSMENT

Portfolios

A portfolio is a collection of student work that could assists the student and teacher to
make judgments about that students particular learning progress. Samples of work
may be done by the student, by the teacher, or by the student and teacher working
together. Copies of assignments, contracts, assessments of presentations,
assessments of the performance of skills and processes, quizzes, and tests are all
examples of items that may be included in portfolios. In addition, samples of students
day- to-day work may become part of the portfolio. Samples of work completed on an
individual basis may be included along with work completed in groups. Copies of selfassessment instruments and peer-assessment instruments may also become part of
the portfolio.
The portfolio is a collection of student-produced materials assembled over an extended
period of time that allows the teacher to evaluate student growth and overall learning
progress during that period of time. It is an organizational structure teachers may use
to accumulate and organize student assessment information.
In view of the materials in the portfolio have been collected over a period of time, the
students progress can be judged in a way few other assessment techniques can offer.
Reviewing the materials at the end of the course is like looking at a set of photographs
taken during a childs developmental years.
The portfolio has long been used by art educators and is gaining popularity in other
subjects. Its particular strengths lie in allowing you to evaluate students on
developmental patterns and on attributes such as creativity and critical thought,
responsibility for learning, research skills, perseverance, and communication skills.
Portfolios are powerful ways to report student progress to parents/guardians. Prepare
a typical portfolio with samples from students you have taught previously. Be sure to
remove names and obtain student permission. Make this sample available to parents/
guardians ahead of time, perhaps with the items in a folder in the waiting area or
mounted on a convenient wall. Your discussions with the parents/guardians can then
be informed by their awareness of what you expect of your students.

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2.5.2

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Contracts

A contract refers to an agreement between a student or a group of students with a

teacher regarding what activity will be undertaken, who will do it, how it will be done,
when it will be completed, and how it will be evaluated according to the criteria
established.
Contracts can be organized on an individual or a group basis and may involve written
assignments, presentations, or performance of skills and processes as part of the
structure. Students may partially fulfil the requirements of their contracts by selfassessment of their work. By developing performance contract, students can be
encouraged to take charge of their learning. Usually the contract includes a statement
of the goals, ways, schedule of learning and criteria to be achieved. Figure 2.4 shows
questions forwarded during contract planning.

Questions Forwarded During Contract Planning

How to ensure learning? What books will be used; what other resources will you consult? How
long will the resources be gathered?

How long will it take to finish the assignment?

What are the criteria for an A grade, for a B grade, or for a pass?

Figure 2.4: Questions forwarded during contract planning

Besides the questions in Figure 2.4, what other questions do you think should
be forwarded during contract planning?

2.5.3

Anecdotal Records

Anecdotal records refer to written descriptions of student progress that a teacher keeps
on a day- to-day basis. A teacher may decide to keep anecdotal records on students
ability to manipulate materials at assessment stations, to work in a group, to work in a
test-taking situation, or to complete a project or a written report. There are situations
where a teacher will keep anecdotal comments on the development of specific skills
related to instructional objectives, on the behaviour of a student, or on the attitude
expressed or demonstrated by a student. Anecdotal records are as flexible as a teacher
wishes to make them.
A)

26

Formative
The very act of recording observations may serve to alert you to some aspect of a
students learning or attitude that may need immediate attention; for example, an outburst
caused by frustration.

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Summative
Since the anecdotal record concentrates on describing incidents of student performance
over a period of time, the sequence of anecdotes can serve as a record of the students
development towards long term goals such as lifelong learning, healthy self-concept,
cooperative learning, skill development, work/study habits, knowledge attainment, and
interest/attitude.

C)

Diagnostic
Through the regular spotlighting of a students performance, areas needing special
attention may emerge. Examples include communication skills and personal
development. Your anecdotal records may start to show that Billy is consistently having
trouble in expressing coherent thoughts. As a consequence, you may decide to investigate
the causes of this behaviour more thoroughly.

2.5.4

Observation Checklists

Observation checklists are lists of criteria a teacher pre-determined views to be

important to observe in students at a particular time. Beside each of the criteria, a
notation is made as to whether that particular criterion was observed.
Checklists can be used to record the presence or the absence of knowledge, particular
skills, learning processes, or attitudes. They may be used to record such information
in relation to written assignments, presentations, classroom performance, test-taking
behaviours, individual or group work, fulfilment of the requirements of a contract, selfand peer-assessment of work, or completion of an assessment station. How a teacher
wishes to use an observation checklist depends upon the type of student progress
information required. The observation checklist is most appropriately used in situations
where you wish to assess your students abilities, attitudes, or performance in process
areas. For example, it can assess communication skills, cooperative learning skills,
extent of participation, interest in the topic, and psychomotor skills.
Table 2.1 shows the observation checklist for the assessment of affective and cognitive
aspects in mathematical problem solving skills.
Table 2.1: The Observation Checklist for the Assessment of Affective and
Cognitive Aspects in Mathematical Problem Solving Skills

Evaluation Criteria

In Evidence

Not in
Evidence

A. Task Attitude

show enthusiasm.
cooperates with others.
works hard at improving.
canwork with others on a team.
shows consideration for the safety and well-being of other.

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B. Motivation
can work by her/himself.
is able to predict/understand the tasks to be done and
completes them without being told.
C. Problem Solving Skills
able to decode the words in story problems or performance tasks.
able to understand the situation and circumstances described.
able to choose correct mathematical operations.
able to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information in
the problem.
able to perform correctly the necessary computation.
able to choose correct computational algorithm for use in
the problem.

2.5.5

Rating Scales

Rating scales have the same usage as observation checklists. The essential difference
lies in what is indicated. Observation checklists record the presence or absence of a
particular knowledge item, skill, or process. Rating scales are measuring instruments
that allow representation of the extent to which specific concepts, skills, processes,
or attitudes exist in students and their work. Rating scales record the degree to which
they are found or the quality of the performance.

2.5.6

Ongoing Assessment Techniques

The techniques in this category comprise those that are used by the teacher during
the normal running of the classroom. Elementary school teachers may be more
accustomed to using these techniques than secondary school teachers because
measures of a students progress in areas such as social development or
communication skills have traditionally been seen as important at elementary levels.
A)

Written Assignments
A teacher may wish to collect student progress information by having students plan,
organize, and produce a written product. This may be done on an individual or a group
basis and may occur in the form of a contract or as an ongoing task. The written report
may accompany a presentation or it may be the sole focus. Teachers may assess the
content, skill development, attitudes of the student toward the task, and learning
processes found within the task of producing a written product by using checklists or
rating scales. They may be included in a portfolio. Self-assessment or peer-assessment
may be used in conjunction with teacher-assessment of the written report.

B)

Presentations
Presentations may accompany written assignments and student performance
assessment. They may be done on an individual or group basis, be organized into
assessment stations or contracts, be self- and/or peer- assessed, and be included in
portfolios. Checklists, rating scales, and anecdotal records may be used to record
assessment information.

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C)

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Homework
Homework refers to assignments students are given that are to be completed during
their time away from the classroom. Homework is both an assessment technique and
an instructional method. As an instructional method it can involve activities for independent
study such as assigning questions, completing reports, and preparing for presentations.
As an assessment technique, it can be used to evaluate student performance through
the use of rating scales, checklists, or anecdotal records.

Understanding goals:
To help students understand percentages and their real-life uses in describing data.
To help students understand surveying as tool for collecting data that can be
expressed mathematically.

Performance of understanding:
Students develop surveys to collect information from fellow students about their
healthsay, the number of colds each person catches in a yearand some variable
that the students think will be related to healthiness (percentage of after school
time spent exercising, for example). They decide how to use graphs and charts to
represent their data most effectively. (For example, eighty percent of students who
report getting sick less than once a year spend fifty percent or more of their after
school time engaged in some exercise.)

Criteria for ongoing assessment:

The teacher shares with the students a sheet that describes the two categories of
criteria for their work: qualities of an effective survey and characteristics of an
effective use of percentages in survey work.

Feedback for ongoing assessment:

Students share drafts of their surveys with one another for feedback and critique.
They submit a first draft of their graphs and charts to the teacher for comment. The
final draft is submitted with a self-evaluation that the teacher includes as part of
their final grade.

2.5.7

Ongoing Assessment Principles

There are two principle components of the ongoing assessment process:

establishing criteria, and

providing feedback.

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Figure 2.5 illustrates the two principle components.

Figure 2.5: Two principle components of the ongoing assessment process

Figure 2.6 shows the criteria for each performance of understanding.

Criteria for Each Performance of Understanding

clear (articulated explicitly at the beginning of each performance of understanding--though they

may well evolve over the course of the performance, especially if it is new to the teacher as well
as the students).

relevant (closely related to the understanding goals for the unit).

public (everyone in the classroom knows and understands them).

Figure 2.6: Criteria for each performance of understanding

Figure 2.7 shows the feedback for ongoing assessment.

Feedback for Ongoing Assessment

Feedback needs to:

occur frequently, from the beginning of the unit to its conclusion, in conjunction with performances
of understanding. Some occasions for feedback may be formal and planned (such as those
related to presentations); some may be more casual and informal (such as responding to a
students comment in a class discussion).

provide students with information not only about how well they have carried out performances
but also how they might improve them.
inform your planning of subsequent classes and activities.
come from a variety of perspectives: from students reflection on their own work, from classmates
reflecting on one anothers work, and from the teacher.

Figure 2.7: The feedback for ongoing assessment

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Why should the feedback for ongoing assessment occur frequently?

2.5.8

Alternative Assessment

Alternative assessment, authentic assessment, portfolio assessment, self-assessment,

self-monitoring, and the list go on. Clearly, assessment is a popular topic in these days.
Frequently encountered in professional publications, workshops, in-service training, and
college courses, assessment meets the criteria for being a cutting-edge topic. Why is
there such an emphasis on assessment in the 1990s?
Alternative assessment is any type of assessment in which students create a response
to a question or task. In traditional assessment, students choose a response from a
given list, such as multiple-choice, true/false, or matching. Alternative assessment can
include short-answer questions, essays, journal performance, performance
assessment, oral presentations, demonstrations, exhibitions, and portfolios. The use
of alternative assessment allows teachers to evaluate students in a non-traditional
manner.

2.5.9

Authentic Mathematics Assessment

The new mathematics curriculum across world-wide and locally calls for an instructional
setting which is different from the typical classroom settings of the past. This
curriculum combines new as well as traditional topics and present mathematics to
students in the form of rich situational problems that actively engage the students. The
situational lesson or real-life problems as suggested should include four dimensions:

Thinking and reasoning students should engage in activities such as data gathering,
exploring, investigating, interpreting, reasoning

Settings working individually or in small groups

Mathematical tools using symbols, tables, graphs, calculators, computers, and

manipulative

Attitudes and dispositions include persistence, self-regulation and reflection,

participations and enthusiasms.

In sum, students work to construct new knowledge that is integrated with their prior
knowledge. The role of a teacher is that of a facilitator. The learning helps students to
acquire mathematical abilities to perceive patterns, cope with ambiguity and to solve
unconventional problems. With the advent of authentic assessment, assessment is
believed to be an integral part of teaching used as a tool to collect data and influence
instruction. This requires developing tasks that require mathematical thinking with the
aimed of meaningful learning.

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While multiple-choice test items can be used to check students knowledge of some
concepts and skills, other modes of assessment may be better for evaluating students
products. This means that performance tasks should increasingly become the basis
for judging mathematical achievement required for the success in the technological
world.
Figure 2.8 shows the types of authentic assessment tools in mathematics instruction
and evaluation.

Types of Authentic Assessment Tools in Mathematics Instruction and

Evaluation

Open-ended mathematics questions, which allow for 15-minutes answer session.

Short investigations, which are 60 to 90 minutes tasks given to students individually or in

groups. The primary purpose is to process skills and understanding of mathematical concepts.

Multiple-choice questions which emphasize understanding of important mathematical ideas

and generally involve integrating more than one mathematical concept.

A portfolio which is used to assess student attainments over a period of time and includes
selections of students work during the year.

Figure 2.8: Types of authentic assessment tools in mathematics instruction and evaluation

Exercise 2.1
1.

Discuss the three different types of assessment: sizing-up, instructional

and official.

2.

Describe and distinguish norm-reference assessment versus criterionassessment.

SUMMARY
This chapter explains the different types of sizing-up, instructional and official
assessment. The norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessments as well as
the standardized and non-standardized assessment are also covered. Other important
topics covered in this chapter are the different types of assessment based on
organization of learners in the mathematics classroom and the different types of
activities for mathematics classroom assessment.

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