Assessments in Education
Hans Henrik Sievertsen

TL;DR
Assessments are crucial in education for guiding learning, evaluating effectiveness, and influencing opportunities, but they also introduce biases and inequalities that impact well-being and fairness.
Contribution
This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the roles, impacts, and implications of assessments in education, highlighting issues of bias, inequality, and their effects on well-being.
Findings
Assessments influence educational and labor market sorting.
Biases and heterogeneity in assessments contribute to inequality.
Assessment results impact stress and well-being of students.
Abstract
Assessments such as standardized tests and teacher evaluations of students' classroom participation are central elements of most educational systems. Assessments inform the student, parent, teacher, and school about the student learning progress. Individuals use the information to adjust their study efforts and to make guide their course choice. Schools and teachers use the information to evaluate effectiveness and inputs. Assessments are also used to sort students into tracks, educational programmes, and on the labor market. Policymakers use assessments to reward or penalise schools and parents use assessment results to select schools. Consequently, assessments incentivize the individual, the teacher, and the school to do well. Because assessments play an important role in individuals' educational careers, either through the information or the incentive channel, they are also…
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Taxonomy
TopicsSchool Choice and Performance · Student Assessment and Feedback · Educational Assessment and Improvement
