Assessment/Evaluation Primer

Assessment is the process of gathering data and analyzing it in order to determine if intended outcomes or objectives of the educational activity, program or intervention have been met.

Evaluation is the process of placing value or judging the worth of the performance of the initiative or program as evidenced by the data gathered during the assessment process.

AWE provides high quality tools that have been tested for validity and reliability for you to gather assessment data on your program's activities. Once you have gathered those data, you can use them to make evaluation decisions.

For instance, you can use the AWE Pre-College instruments to gather data on all your pre-college activities. Once you have those assessment data, you can examine them in conjunction with the cost of the activities, participation and yield rates and make decisions about which activities to keep and which to modify or eliminate.

For definitions of other terms (e.g. reliability, validity) related to assessment and evaluation refer to Links to Relevant Sites.