Stealth Assessment

When assessment is seamlessly woven into the fabric of the learning or gaming environment so that it’s virtually invisible—blurring the distinction between learning and assessment—this is stealth assessment. It is intended to [Page 675]be invisible, be ongoing, support learning, and remove (or seriously reduce) test anxiety while not sacrificing validity and consistency. A good way to describe stealth assessment is with a metaphor. Consider the way that businesses were run before the onset of barcodes in the mid-1970s. Before barcodes, businesses had to close down once or twice a year to take inventory of their stock. But with the advent of automated checkout and barcodes for all items, businesses today have access to a continuous stream of information that can be used to monitor inventory ...