Assessment, Evaluation and Feedback
What this domain tests
Assessment questions ask you to choose the right mode for a purpose, judge the quality of an assessment, interpret results and give feedback that moves learning forward. You must distinguish assessment for, of and as learning, and know the basics of Ghana’s school-based assessment and BECE.
Core rules and concepts
- Assessment vs evaluation: assessment gathers evidence of learning; evaluation judges it against criteria or standards.
- Purposes: diagnostic (before teaching), formative (during teaching, to adjust), summative (after a period, to report). Formative is defined by use, not by timing alone.
- AfL, AoL, AaL: assessment for learning is ongoing and feedback-rich; assessment of learning is summative; assessment as learning develops learner self-monitoring.
- Quality criteria: validity (measures what it claims), reliability (consistency), fairness (no bias or unnecessary barriers), practicality (time, cost, resources).
- Reference points: norm-referenced compares learners; criterion-referenced compares performance to stated criteria-the usual basis for syllabus indicators.
- Ghana context: school-based assessment (SBA) is continuous and contributes to terminal certification; BECE is the external examination at the end of JHS. Traditionally SBA and external examination are weighted, but always check the current WAEC/GES circular rather than relying on memory.
- Item types: selected-response (multiple choice, true/false, matching) and constructed-response (short answer, essay, practical). A table of specification balances content and cognitive levels.
- Feedback: specific, timely, actionable; say what is correct, what needs work and what to do next.
Worked example
A learner scores 6/10 on a quiz and the teacher writes “Good.” The reasoning: this is evaluative praise, not feedback. It does not tell the learner which items were wrong or how to improve. A stronger comment is: “You correctly converted all fractions to decimals. In questions 4 and 7 you reversed numerator and denominator; rewrite each as division and check with a calculator. Re-do questions 4 and 7 tomorrow.” This is descriptive, task-focused and feed-forward; it names the error and prescribes practice.
Traps that cost marks
- Calling every end-of-topic test “formative” because it is short.
- Confusing validity with reliability.
- Treating feedback as praise or a grade.
- Writing test items that assess recall when the indicator demands application.
- Ignoring fairness in language, context and accommodations.