What types of assessment exist?
Assessment that is designed for measuring achievement is called summative assessment. Summative assessment is used to measure progress and to grade students (for entry to university or employment). Assessment for learning is formative assessment. Formative assessment is used to aid the learning process by providing feedback to the student and their teacher which should subsequently alter their learning. Self-assessment is a type of formative assessment. Diagnostic assessment sits between summative and formative assessment. A diagnostic assessment is used to measure a students current level of knowledge with the purpose of identifying a suitable programme of learning. Diagnostic assessment is often used as a form of pre-entry test. Adaptive testing is a form of testing which changes as the test progresses. For example, the candidates response to the first few questions may alter the subsequent questions. Adaptive testing can be used for formative, diagnostic or (less commonly) summative
