What is the Difference Between Formal and Informal Assessment?

The main difference between formal and informal assessment lies in their structure, objectivity, and grading criteria. Here are the key differences between the two:

Formal Assessment:

• Grading system-based evaluation to monitor students' knowledge.
• Standardized measures, often administered to an entire class, grade level, or group of students.
• Provides a broad view of a student's knowledge.
• Typically includes beginning- and end-of-year testing, ELA measures (reading and writing), and standardized math tests.
• Can be norm-referenced or criterion-referenced.
• More accurate but requires more time to complete.

Informal Assessment:

• Method of student evaluation that does not have any standard grading criteria.
• Non-standardized measures, often personalized to the student.
• Provides detailed information about a student's progress and understanding.
• Includes work samples, portfolios, observations, and checklists.
• Typically less time-intensive than formal assessments but can be lacking in accuracy.
• Allows instructors to provide immediate feedback to students and address any misunderstandings.

Both formal and informal assessments serve different purposes in the educational process. Formal assessments are useful for measuring student performance, determining diagnosis, and evaluating the effectiveness of curricula and instruction. Informal assessments, on the other hand, provide individualized information about a student's progress and understanding, which can be applied to creating individualized goals and instruction.

Comparative Table: Formal vs Informal Assessment

Here is a table comparing the differences between formal and informal assessments:

Both formal and informal assessments are essential components of the learning process. They can be used to further develop learning and education, and each assessment type has its own advantages and disadvantages.