Assessment Design Toolkit

Let's move away from asking, "What assessment should I use?" to "What information do I need?"

Understanding the Goals & Types

When thinking about assessment for instructional planning and assessing the outcome of instruction, there are four main goals that need to be understood: (Torgesen, J.K. 2006)

to identify students who are 'at risk' for reading difficulties.
to monitor students' progress during the year to determine whether students are making adequate progress.
to collect information from students that will give insight into the students' strengths and weaknesses.
to assess whether the instruction provided was successful in helping all students meet standards.

There are four main types of assessments that correspond to the four goals discussed above:

Universal screening (identify): Answers the question, "Which of my students are at-risk for difficulty?"
Progress monitoring (monitor): Answers the question, "How much progress are my students making?"
Diagnostic (collect): Answers the question, "Where do I need to focus intervention?"
Outcome (assess): Answers the question, "Have my students learned the material that has been taught?"