Assessments in Education

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 important for efficiency, equity, and well-being. The information channel is important for ensuring the most efficient human capital investments: students learn about the returns and costs of effort investments and about their abilities and comparative advantages. However, because students are sorted into educational programs and on the labor market based on assessment results, students optimal educational investment might not equal their optimal human capital investment because of the signaling value. Biases in assessments and heterogeneity in access to assessments are sources of inequality in education according to gender, origin, and socioeconomic background. These sources have long-running implications for equality and opportunity. Finally, because assessment results also carry important consequences for individuals' educational opportunities and on the labor market, they are a source of stress and reduced well-being.