The process of comparing a student's performance against his or her own previous performance is known as

Ipsative assessment compares a student's performance against his or her own previous performance rather than against others.

It measures personal progress and improvement over time.

Diagnostic evaluation locates the causes of a learner's specific difficulties.

Summative assessment grades final achievement at the end of instruction.

Informal assessment gathers evidence through everyday, unstructured observation.

Ipsative assessment stands beside norm-referenced comparison to peers and criterion-referenced comparison to fixed standards.