Glossary of Assessment Terms
Each Term is followed by a brief definition, click on the term for additional information
- Formative Assessment – Informs teaching and student learning during instruction
- Whole Interval – If a behavior occurs for the entire duration of an interval of time
- Summative Assessment – Evaluates teaching and student learning at the end of a lesson, unit, or course
- Momentary Time Sampling – Data is recorded only at the end of a specified time interval
- Benchmark – Targeted goal or objective derived from large sample of data
- CBM – General outcome measurement that provides ongoing performance feedback that is used to evaluate instruction
- Screening – Identifies individuals that are at-risk
- CBA – Test stimuli taken from curriculum, tested repeatedly over time, and information is used to inform instruction
- Diagnostic – Provides detailed information regarding a student’s current skills and knowledge
- Antecedent – The environmental condition in which a behavior occurs
- Adequate Yearly Progress – Continuous and substantial yearly progress toward state academic standards
- Anecdotal Observation – Creating a narrative of events
- Validity – Warranted conclusions about relationships between variables
- Functional Analysis – Systematic manipulation of a potential variables maintaining a behavior
- Reliability – Consistently having the same or similar scores
- Task Analysis – Breaking down an academic or behavioral task into component steps
- Sensitivity to Change – Smallest level of learning needed to impact measurement
- Accommodation – Alterations that allow access to content
- Event Recording – Recording each occurrence of a behavior
- Modification – Alterations that modify content in order to be appropriate
- Partial Interval – If a behavior occurs at any time during an interval of time
Thanks to Alex Smith (Univeristy of Missouri) and Alisa Baroffio, Nicole Bobrzynski, Katelyn Emigh, Lucia Gugliotta-Kremer, Ciarra Lewis, Michelle Mannella and Emily Zeh (Duquesne University) for the development of this glossary!