Informal Assessment

Informal Assessment:

Is a way of collecting information about our students' performance in a normal classroom conditions. Sometimes it is reffered to as a continous assessment, as it is done over a period like a term or an academic year. It involves paying attention to the students’ abilities such as speaking, listening, writing and reading. The informal assessment is not a replacement for all the other forms of assessments (self assessment, formal assessment, etc.) because teachers also evaluate non linguistic aspects such student’s homework, attitude, projects etc.

To develop effective informal assessment we need to carry out systematic observation:

• Work out what we are going to assess (specify).
• Establish clear criteria.
• Link the informal assessment with our formal assessment (tests) and with self-assessment done by the students themselves.
• Informal assessment does not replace any of the other assessments.