Okuzeka
Education & Teaching vocabulary · Assessment and Grading

Diagnostic assessment

Meaning in education & teaching, with examples

nounCommon term

In education & teaching, diagnostic assessment means: Assessment done before teaching a topic or course to find out what students already know, what they misunderstand and where they need support.

In Turkish: tanılayıcı değerlendirme, hazırbulunuşluk değerlendirmesi, seviye belirleme

How it is used

Teachers give a diagnostic assessment or diagnostic test at the start of a year or unit, often as a short pre-test. A placement test is a type of diagnostic test that puts learners into the right level or group.

Example sentences

  1. The diagnostic assessment showed that half the class had gaps in multiplication.

  2. We start every unit with a short diagnostic assessment that does not count towards grades.

Common collocations

  • diagnostic assessment
  • diagnostic test
  • pre-test
  • placement test
  • formative assessmentAssessment that takes place during learning to check how students are progressing and to adjust teaching, rather than to give a final grade.
  • summative assessmentAssessment at the end of a unit, term or course that measures what students have learned, usually to give a grade or make a decision.
  • assessmentThe process of collecting information about what students know and can do, for example through tests, tasks, questions or observation, and judging their progress.
  • differentiationAdapting tasks, support, materials or outcomes so that students with different levels, needs and interests can all make progress in the same lesson.

More terms: Assessment and Grading

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