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Tag: Assessment Resources For Teachers

  • The Difference Between A Good Question And A Bad Question – TeachThought

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    November 16, 2025 | Updated November 17, 2025

    What’s the definition of a ‘good question’?

    We often say to one another, ‘That’s a good question,’ by which we usually mean, ‘I don’t know the answer’ or ‘I had not yet thought to ask that but it seems worth asking.’

    We can begin to define a good question by taking a look at its opposite. A question can be ‘bad’ for a number of reasons. A question is only a strategy (for inquiry) and must therefore have a purpose or intention if we want to evaluate its quality.

    (I’ve wondered about the Purpose Of A Question before which I included in our Guide To Questioning In The Classroom).

    It must have some kind of goal.

    So most broadly, a question could be said to be ‘bad’ if it either doesn’t have a purpose or intention or doesn’t accomplish that goal or intention (while also failing to cause some other effect that was unintended but still somehow positive).

    A bad question can be said to be so if it’s irrelevant, imprecise, or uses unclear language.

    A bad question will obscure rather than reveal what a student knows now.

    Further, a bad question will deter rather than encourage–or allow and promote–a student to create new knowledge.

    A question might be thought of as bad if it, used in formative assessment, yields no useable (formal or informal) data that a teacher can use to revise planned instruction.

    Thus asked, a bad question stops both the teacher and student cold with no clear and practical path forward.

    A bad question intimidates, confuses (though not all confusion is bad), or somehow causes a jarring emotion that makes the students ability to use their cortex as effectively as they would in a calmer state.

    It could be based on faulty premises, it could be loaded with cognitive biases, logical fallacies, or other irrational patterns of thinking.

    It could be outside of the Zone of Proximal Development for the person it’s asked to (i.e., too easy or too difficult).

    It may not be too difficult (in terms of content knowledge) but its language or syntax could be unnecessarily complex. The result here is that the student gets the question ‘wrong’ even though the ‘knew the content.’

    As we’ve clarified, a question is simply a strategy for learning. A tool. You might, then, think of a ‘bad question’ like a ‘bad tool’: it simply doesn’t do what it’s intended to do.

    In education, this usually means that it fails to facilitate/promote learning in the short-term and/or long-term for the student.

    A good question, of course, is different. While (mostly) ignoring the nuance of the concept of quality, there are some things we might consider generally qualify a question as good (note the purposely vague language–some things…might consider…generally qualify).

    A good question–on a test, for example–will be efficient and precise relative to its purpose. If a specific academic standard the teacher wants to assess the student’s mastery of, the question will have to be written in a way that does exactly that: assesses their mastery of exactly that standard.

    As we’ve discussed, it will not have ‘fat’–unnecessary words, overly complex vocabulary, or require other (unnecessary, unrelated, or still unlearned) knowledge or skills. Certainly, a question can have such language and require knowledge or skills unrelated to the specific standard being assessed provided that the teacher understands this–and thus understands that the student may get the question ‘wrong’ while potentially still mastering the standard.

    See? It’s complicated.

    Traditional education has long held that we should help students learn and they can best prove they’re learning by answering questions accurately. But answering questions accurately can’t possibly be the goal of education, only a strategy itself in pursuit of a larger goal.

    The simplest criteria to evaluate the quality of a question, then, might be this: a good question helps students learn and learn how to learn in a sustainable, inquiry-based, student-led way. In its very best carnations, a bad question centers itself as a kind of academic bar for the student to leap over to prove themselves.

    At its worst, a bad question halts the process of learning entirely through confusion, imprecision, and discouragement, misleading both the teacher and student as they make their way through the learning process. (See also What Is The Cognitive Load Theory?)

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    Terry Heick

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  • 18 Of The Best Formative Assessment Tools For Digital Exit Tickets

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    contributed by Ryan Schaaf, Assistant Professor of Technology, Notre Dame of Maryland University



    Digital Exit Slips: 21 Formative Assessment Tools for Grades 8-12

    You have a classroom full of students packing up after an instructional lesson.

    Your mind goes to the critical questions: Did my students get the lesson? Are there any concepts or skills they are still unsure of? Do students have misconceptions about the content? Do I need to review anything tomorrow?

    These are the questions reflective educators contemplate. These questions are addressed immediately by using an **exit ticket**. Exit tickets are a simple, quick, and insightful **formative assessment** method employed at the end of a lesson. They require learners to answer a few questions or perform a task based on the content explored during class.

    Exit ticket formats vary. You can use multiple-choice, short written responses, matching, or polls. Exit tickets must be short, concise, and engage learners in reviewing the skills explored. They are also ideal for continuing the learning into the next class, often used to activate students’ previous knowledge immediately upon entry.

    In the age of digital learning, exit tickets are no longer confined to paper slips. Numerous digital tools are available to collect this valuable performance data instantly.

    These tools move beyond simple paper collection, providing you with student data in real time or in easy-to-analyze reports, streamlining your instructional decisions.

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    TeachThought Staff

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  • 20 Teacher Tools To Create Online Assessments

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    20+ Teacher Tools To Create Online Assessments (2025)

    Build quick checks, quizzes, exams, and performance tasks with the classroom-ready tools below. For broader teaching stacks, see
    Teacher Productivity Tools,
    MOOCs for Teachers & Students, and
    Essential EdTech Tools.

    Online Assessment Tools

    URL for this post: https://www.teachthought.com/technology/teacher-tools-to-create-online-assessments/

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    TeachThought Staff

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  • The Difference Between Assessment Of And For Learning

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    The Difference Between Assessment Of And Assessment For Learning

    It boils down to purpose. In 50 Ways To Measure Understanding, I talked about the purpose of assessment:

    Assessment: Of Learning vs. For Learning

    Assessment is often discussed as though it were a single act—a quiz, test, or score. But its real power comes from clarity of purpose.
    If you’re wondering what is the purpose of assessment?,
    the answer determines how you design, use, and respond to it.

    Think like a doctor: Before you design an assessment, you need a plan for how you’ll use the results.
    Data without a purpose wastes time, energy, and resources—both yours and your students’.

    Assessment For vs. Of Learning

    Assessment for learning
    (What Is Formative Assessment?)
    is designed to inform instruction. The goal is not to sort or label students, but to generate feedback teachers can use to revise lessons, activities, or pacing.
    In this sense, the assessment’s purpose is diagnostic—it helps teachers decide what to do next.

    Assessment of learning (commonly called summative assessment) measures what students have learned after instruction.
    The purpose here is accountability—demonstrating achievement against standards, benchmarks, or objectives.
    These assessments are usually graded and reported, often carrying high stakes for students.

    In practice, the same assessment tool can serve either function. A quiz might be used as a quick check to guide tomorrow’s lesson (for learning),
    or as an end-of-unit measure of mastery (of learning). The difference lies in how the results are used.

    Before, During, and After Instruction

    Assessment is commonly grouped by timing:

    • Pre-assessment: Before instruction, to identify prior knowledge and guide planning.
    • Formative assessment: During instruction, to provide ongoing feedback and inform next steps.
    • Summative assessment: After instruction, to measure achievement or proficiency.

    Pre-assessments can blur categories. They assess what students already know (of learning) but also generate information teachers can use to adapt instruction (for learning).

    The Purpose Question

    Ultimately, the central question is simple: What is the assessment supposed to do?

    If the goal is to reveal what students can do, it’s of learning.
    If the goal is to guide what teachers should do next, it’s for learning.

    The distinction is less about labels and more about use. The real value of assessment is not the score itself, but the instructional decisions it makes possible.

    Related Reading

    Research

    Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment.
    Phi Delta Kappan, 80(2), 139–148.

    If you’re trying to decide on a type of assessment, you first have to know your the purpose. What do you need to know?

    Vagueness can make teaching more difficult–in terms of purpose and goals and assessment items,. etc., But specificity in the fast-moving and at-scale classrooms where a teacher can be responsible for hundreds of students and their need for that kind of specificity.

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    Terrell Heick

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  • 6 Types Of Assessment Of Learning

    6 Types Of Assessment Of Learning

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    6 Types Of Assessment For Learning

    by TeachThought Staff

    What are the types of assessment for learning?

    And more importantly, when should you use which? If curriculum is the what of teaching and learning models are the how, assessment is the puzzled ‘Hmmmm’–as in, I assumed this and this about student learning, but after giving this assessment, well….’Hmmmmm.’

    In The Difference Between Assessment Of Learning And Assessment For Learning, we explained that “assessment for learning is commonly referred to as formative assessment–that is, assessment designed to inform instruction.” Below, we identify types of assessment of learning–very briefly, with simple ways to ‘think about’ each so that you hopefully wake up with a better grasp of each type.

    6 Types Of Assessment Of Learning

    1. Diagnostic Assessment (as Pre-Assessment)

    Diagnostic assessments are used at the beginning of a course or unit to determine students’ prior knowledge, skills, and understanding of the subject matter. This type of assessment helps teachers identify students’ strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to plan instruction that meets their students’ specific needs. Examples include pre-tests, surveys, or initial observations.

     

    One way to think about it: Assesses a student’s strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, and skills before instruction

    Another way to think about it: A baseline to work from

    Tip: Done at the beginning–of the school year, beginning of a unit, beginning of a lesson, etc.

    See also What Is Project-Based Learning?

    2. Formative Assessment

    Formative assessments are ongoing processes that teachers use to monitor student learning and provide feedback during instruction. These assessments help teachers adjust their teaching strategies to improve student understanding and performance. Examples include quizzes, class discussions, and homework assignments that inform teachers about student progress.

    One way to think about it: Assesses a student’s performance during instruction, and usually occurs regularly throughout the instruction process

    Another way to think about it: Like a doctor’s ‘check-up’ to provide data to revise instruction

    Tip: Using digital exit ticket tools like Loop can be an easy means of checking whether students have understood lesson content, while also promoting student reflection.

    3. Summative Assessment

    So what are the different types of assessment of learning? The next time someone says ‘assessment,’ you can say “Which type, and what are we doing with the data?” Summative assessment, for example.

    Summative assessments evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional period, such as the end of a unit, course, or school year. These assessments are used to determine if students have met the learning objectives and to assign grades. Examples include final exams, end-of-term projects, and standardized tests.

    One way to think about it: Measures a student’s achievement at the end of instruction. It’s like talking to someone about a movie after the movie is over. : )

    Another way to think about it: It’s macabre, but if formative assessment is the check-up, you might think of summative assessment as the autopsy. What happened? Now that it’s over, what went right and what went wrong?

    Tip: Summative assessments can be useful for teachers to improve units and lessons year over year by measuring student performance because they are, in a way, as much a reflection on the quality of the units and lessons themselves as they are on the students.

    4. Norm-Referenced Assessment

    One way to think about it: Compares a student’s performance against other students (a national group or other ‘norm’)

    Another way to think about it: Place, group or ‘demographic’ assessment. Many standardized tests are used as norm-referenced assessments.

    Tip: These assessments are useful over time in student profiles or for placement in national-level programs, for example.

    5. Criterion-Referenced Assessment

    One way to think about it: Measures a student’s performance against a goal, specific objective, or standard

    Another way to think about it: a bar to measure all students against

    Tip: These can be a kind of formative assessment and should be integrated throughout your curriculum to guide the adjustment of your teaching over time. Mastery or competency-based learning would use criterion-referenced assessments.

    6. Interim/Benchmark Assessment

    One way to think about it: Evaluates student performance at periodic intervals, frequently at the end of a grading period. Can predict student performance on end-of-the-year summative assessments. A benchmark assessment is an interim assessment so it could be useful to think of them as distinct even though they function similarly.

    Another way to think about it: Bar graph or chart growth throughout a year, often against specific ‘benchmarks’

    Tip: Benchmark assessments can be useful for communicating important facts and data to parents, district officials, and others. One goal is to inform the allotment of resources (time and money) to respond to that data.

    6 Types Of Assessment Of Learning

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    TeachThought Staff

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