Variety and Drift in the Functions and Purposes of Assessment in K-12 Education

Author: Andrew Ho         Consulting Editor: James Pellegrino
In addressing three broad purposes of assessment, the NRC Committee on the Foundations of Assessment has focused on assisting learning, measuring individual achievement and evaluating programs. The members of the Committee concluded that the purpose of an assessment determines its priorities, and the context of the use of assessment imposes constraints. “Thus it is essential to recognize that one type of assessment does not fit all” purposes. In the current national climate for assessment in education, accountability, as purpose, appears to dominate in educational policy and distorts educational practice. The author of this paper is asked to examine all reasonable purposes for which educational assessment can be used and to speculate concerning the functions of assessment in educational policy and practice as the 21^st century progresses. VIEW DRAFT