Why Access?

Examples

Cohen (1994) identified a number of specific reasons for assessing students' learning and organized them by administrative, instructional, and research functions, as shown in the following chart.

To reflect the times we live in, we might add "accountability" to the administrative functions of assessment — you may be able to think of other reasons for assessment that are not covered by these categories. For example, Shohamy (2001) challenges us to identify some of the unspoken agendas behind many of our stated reasons for testing.