Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment

Measurement, Assessment and Evaluation are unique terms widely employed interchangeably in the educational context. All terms possess an entirely different stance. A few differences are listed here.

Assessment is the process of gathering information about student learning and performance. Evaluation is the process of interpreting that information and making judgments about what has been learned. Measurement is assigning numbers to represent how much of a particular quality a student has demonstrated.

Relationship between Measurement, Assessment and Evaluation

These terms express a distinct relationship.

1. Evaluation and Assessment are used for educational tasks. Assessment is used to know the progression and evaluation is used for decision-making based on progression. These do not involve tests or examination only but there are varied strategies for conduction of both procedures. Both terms are not synonyms but are closely and procedurally related.

2. Measurement interprets the situation numerically. Evaluations and assessments are then used to describe for judgment and ranking resulting in finding the worth and value of the data.

3. If there is no evaluation, measurement becomes meaningless as the evaluation adds value and gives a name to the results.

4. Evaluation is a continuous and comprehensive procedure whereas measurement is the quantitative assessment of educational outcomes.

5. Measurement results in quantitative determination whereas evaluation makes a qualitative determination of the learner’s performance.

These are the various factors that differentiate and form a relationship between measurement assessment and evaluation.