Teacher Interview Questions: Assessment and Evaluation Techniques

What is Assessment?

Assessment is known as continuous and systematic process of information collection about a learner’s lerning progress, abilities, needs, and learning outcomes. It helps teacher to understand how much a child has learned, how the child is learning, and what support they may still needed for outcome improvement. In simple words, assessment works like a mirror; it reflects students’ strengths as well as the areas where improvement is still needed.

Teachers use assessment to execute future class lessons, modify best teaching strategies cum tecniques, and provide meaningful feedback. Instead of being a one-time event, assessment happens before learning (diagnostic), during learning (formative), and after learning (summative). When assmessment used properly, it becomes a powerful tool to guide teaching and enhance students’ overall growth.

What is Evaluation?

Evaluation is a systematic process of interpreting and judging the quality, value, or achievement level of a learner. It analyses the information collected through assessment to determine whether the learning objectives have been met. Evaluation summarises student performance using tools such as marks, grades, or rating scales. It also helps teachers make decisions about promotion, remediation, or instructional changes. Overall, evaluation provides a clear picture of how effectively learning has taken place.

What Is The Purpose of Evaluation in Education?

• 1. Understanding Learning: Shows what students know, how they think, and where they need support.
• 2. Improving Performance: Feedback helps students improve, and teachers refine their teaching.
• 3. Setting Clear Goals: Makes learning objectives clear and tracks students’ progress.
• 4. Checking Curriculum & Methods: Reveals whether teaching materials and methods are effective.
• 5. Supporting School Decisions: Provides reliable data for planning, improvement, and resource use.
• 6. Strengthening Teaching–Learning: Helps teachers adjust methods and builds students’ confidence.

Principles of Evaluation in Education

1. Validity: Evaluation tools must measure what they are supposed to measure and align with the learning objectives taught in class.
2. Reliability: Assessments should give consistent results in similar conditions, ensuring the outcomes are stable and trustworthy.
3. Fairness: All students should have an equal chance to succeed. Evaluations must avoid bias and respect individual differences.
4. Authenticity: Assessment tasks should relate to real-life situations or meaningful classroom activities so students can apply what they learn.
5. Transparency: Teachers must clearly communicate expectations, criteria, and learning goals so students know how to succeed.
6. Multiple Measures: Using tests alone is not enough; projects, presentations, and group work help capture the full range of student abilities.
7. Ethical Considerations: Assessments must protect student privacy, support motivation, and avoid causing unnecessary stress.
8. Continuity: Evaluation should be ongoing, not limited to final exams. Regular checks help identify learning gaps early.
9. Comprehensiveness: A complete evaluation looks at academic skills, behaviour, attitudes, and overall personality development.
10. Objectives: Evaluations must align with educational goals and help identify areas where improvement is needed.
11. Learning Experience: Both curricular and extracurricular experiences should be considered to understand a student’s holistic growth.
12. Child-Centred Approach: The focus should be on the learner’s understanding and progress, guiding teachers to adjust their methods as needed.
13. Application: Evaluation should measure whether students can apply their knowledge in real-life, not just memorize facts.

Types of Evaluation in Education

Teachers use different types of evaluations to understand students’ progress and improve learning. These can be grouped based on function and based on interpretation. Below are the major types based on function:

1. Placement Evaluation

Placement evaluation is done before instruction begins to determine students’ prior knowledge, skills, and background. It helps teachers start teaching at the right level and plan lessons that match students’ readiness. Example: A pre-test before teaching algebra to check if students need revision of basic arithmetic.

2. Formative Evaluation

Formative evaluation occurs during the teaching–learning process. It provides continuous feedback and helps teachers identify how well students are understanding the content. It also guides immediate instructional adjustments. Example: Weekly quizzes or short assignments that reveal whether students are following the science lesson.

3. Diagnostic Evaluation

Diagnostic evaluation identifies specific learning difficulties and the reasons behind them. It is used when students consistently struggle with a concept and need targeted support. Example: Additional tests to find out whether students’ difficulty with fractions comes from weak number sense or poor division skills.

4. Summative Evaluation

Summative evaluation is conducted at the end of a teaching period to measure overall achievement. It determines how well learning objectives have been met and is often used for grading and reporting. Example: Final semester exams or major projects that show how much students have learned.

Types of Evaluation Based on Interpretation

1. Norm-Referenced Evaluation

Norm-referenced evaluation compares a student’s performance with that of their peers. It shows where a student stands within a group, often using rankings or percentiles. Standardized tests commonly use this method. While it is useful for identifying relative performance, it does not show how well a student has mastered specific learning objectives.

2. Criterion-Referenced Evaluation

Criterion-referenced evaluation measures a student’s performance against predetermined learning objectives or skill criteria. The focus is on individual mastery, not comparison with others. For example, in mathematics, it may assess whether a student can solve equations or understand geometric concepts. This method provides clear information on strengths and areas needing improvement.

3. Self-Referenced Evaluation

Self-referenced evaluation compares a student’s current performance with their own past performance. It highlights personal growth and progress over time.
For instance, if a student previously struggled with multiplication but now performs well, this improvement is recognized as success. This method encourages motivation by allowing students to compete with themselves rather than their peers.

15 Methods of Evaluation in Education

1. Peer Assessment: Students evaluate each other’s work and provide feedback. This promotes deeper understanding, collaboration, and shared responsibility for learning.
2. Self-Assessment: Students reflect on their own strengths and areas for improvement. Tools such as checklists or reflection questions guide this process.
3. Portfolio Assessment: A portfolio contains selected student work over time—essays, projects, reflections. It shows learning growth rather than a single performance.
4. Performance-Based Assessment: Students demonstrate learning through real-world tasks such as experiments, presentations, or practical projects. It checks application of knowledge.
5. Observation: Teachers observe students’ behaviour, participation, confidence, and problem-solving in class. It works best alongside other assessment methods.
6. Quizzes and Tests: Structured assessments used to check understanding. They may be short quizzes or longer exams and are more effective when combined with other methods.
7. Oral Examinations: Students respond verbally to questions, demonstrating both understanding and communication skills. These may be individual or in small groups.
8. Group Projects: Students work together to complete a task. This evaluates teamwork, creativity, and conceptual understanding, as well as the final product.
9. Case Studies: Students analyse real-life scenarios and apply their knowledge to find solutions. This method builds critical thinking and practical reasoning.
10. Surveys and Questionnaires: Teachers collect student feedback, reflections, or opinions to understand learning experiences and identify areas for improvement.
11. Rubric-Based Assessment: A rubric provides clear criteria and standards for grading. It ensures transparency and offers detailed, structured feedback.
12. Interviews: One-on-one interactions used to assess understanding, reasoning, and learning attitudes. Useful for personalised evaluation.
13. Focus Groups: Small-group discussions that provide insights into students’ thoughts, experiences, and challenges related to learning and instruction.
14. Experimental Designs: Teachers use small experiments or controlled activities to study how different teaching strategies influence learning outcomes.
15. Standardized Tests: Tests based on fixed benchmarks used to compare students across schools or regions. They provide broad data but should be used with other methods.

Assessment vs Evaluation

• Assessment for: Formative
• Assessment of: Summative
• Assessment as: Sels-assment