Educational measurement is the science and practice of obtaining information about characteristics of students, such as their knowledge, skills, abilities, and interests. Measurement in education includes the development of instruments or protocols for obtaining information, procedures for analyzing and evaluating the quality of that information, and strategies for communicating the information to audiences, such as educators, policymakers, parents, and students.
All measurement in education has the common aims of
- arriving at defensible conclusions regarding students’ ability, achievement, or interests,
- gauging student progress toward specified educational goals, and
- Improving teaching and learning.