Educational assessment

Educational assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution, or the educational system as a whole (also known as granularity).
The final purpose of assessment practices in education depends on the theoretical framework of the practitioners and researchers, their assumptions and beliefs about the nature of human mind, the origin of knowledge, and the process of learning.
Alternate meanings
According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary the word assessment comes from the root word assess which is defined as:

to determine the rate or amount of (as a tax)
to impose (as a tax) according to an established rate b: to subject to a tax, charge, or levy
to make an official valuation of (property
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