Achievement

In education, achievement is the construct of understanding student learning and educational effectiveness. Because what a student knows and can do cannot be measured directly but must be inferred, determining the nature and level of a student's achievement—identifying achievement in real-life cases—is necessarily problematic. Apparent precision in achievement test [Page 8]scores belies the elusiveness of achievement and maintains public confidence that test scores accurately indicate achievement. Although increasingly prominent since the mid-19th century, standardized high-stakes achievement testing has generated concern and opposition. Thus, as achievement has become evermore crucial in educational accountability and evaluation, determining achievement has become correspondingly controversial.