Assessment of Classroom Learning

Chapter 14: Summary

The Role of Assessment in Teaching

Assessment-collecting information about how much knowledge and skill students have learned (measurement) and making judgments about the adequacy of acceptability of each student's level of learning (evaluation) (Ex. exams, respond to oral questions, do homework exercises, write papers, solve problems, create products, and make oral presentations)

Measurement- assigning numbers or ratings according to rules to create a ranking

Evaluation- making judgments about the value of a measure

Why should we assess student's learning?

1. summative evaluation: (to provide summaries of learning) measure achievement, assign grades; to provide to all interested parties a clear, meaningful, and useful summary or accounting of how well a student has met the teacher's objectives; when testing is done for the purpose of assigning a letter or numerical grade; a one time event after instruction
2. formative evaluation: (to monitor learning progress) monitor progress and plan remedial instuction; are the students keeping up with the pace of instruction and are understanding all of the material that has been covered so far (Ex. periodic quizzes, homework assignments, in-class worksheets, oral reading, responses to teacher questions, and behavioral observations); a dynamic, ongoing and interactive relationship with teaching
3. diagnosis: constructing an assessment that will provide specific diagnostic information
4. effects on learning: potentially positive effects on various aspects of learning and instruction; it guides students' judgment of what is important to learn, affects their motivation and self-perceptions of competence, structures their approaches to and timing of personal study, consolidates learning, and affects the development of enduring learning strategies and skills

Moderate testing produces more learning than no testing or infrequent testing

Ways to Measure Student Learning

Objectives can be classified in terms of: knowing about something; and knowing how to do something

Written tests- measures that attempt to assess the range and accuracy of someone's knowledge

Performance tests- measures that attempt to assess how well somebody can do something

Written Tests:

1. Selected-Response Tests: (multiple-choice, true-false, and matching) sometimes called "objective" tests because they have a simple and set scoring system; used to assess foundational knowledge (the basic factual information and cognitive skills that students need in order to do such high-level tasks as solve problems and create products); they are objectively scored and efficient but usually measure lower levels of learning and do not reveal what students can do
2. Short-Answer Tests: (a brief written response from the student) they are used for measuring foundational knowledge; scored quickly, accurately, and consistently; easily written; but measure lower levels of learning (no information on how the student can use what they learned)
3. Essay Tests: (students must organize a set of ideas and write a somewhat lengthy response to a broad question); reveal how well students can recall, organize and clearly communicate previously learned information; they can call on higher-level abilities such as analysis, synthesis and evaluation; hard to grade; consistency in grading; time-consuming to grade and only a few questions can be given

Constructing a Useful Test:

1. significance- test measures worthwhile skills
2. teachability- effective instruction can help students acquire the skills and knowledge measured by the test
3. describability- the skills and knowledge measured by the test can be described with sufficient clarity that they make instructional planning easier
4. reportability- test produces results that allow a teacher to identify areas of instruction that were probably inadequate
5. nonintrusiveness- the test does not take an excessive amount of time away from instruction

Performance Test- measure ability to use knowledge and skills to solve realistic problems, create products

Authentic assessment- realistic conditions when using performanc testing

TYPES OF PERFORMANCE TESTING:

1. Direct Writing Assessment- ask students to write about a specific topic under a standard set of conditions; each essay is then scored by 2 or more people according to a set of defined criteria
2. Portfolios- contains one or more pieces of a student's work, some which demonstrate different stages of completion
3. Exhibitions- involves a showing of such products as paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, videotapes, and models
4. Demonstrations- students are required to show how well they can use previously learned knowledge or skills to solve a somewhat unique problem or to perform a task

Characteristics of Performance tests:

1. emphasis on active responding- focus on processes and products
2. degree of realism- are more like everyday tasks when appropriate (time, cost, availability of equipment, and the nature of the skill being mastered are all factors that affect realism)
3. emphasis on complex problems- questions asked should be open ended and ill structured
4. close relationship between teaching and testing- must be established by the teacher it is not automatic
5. use of scoring rubrics- they increase objectivity and consistency of scoring, align instruction with assessment, communicate teachers' expectations, and help students monitor progress
6. emphasize formative evaluation- can be used as a source of feedback to help students improve the quality of their learning efforts (Ex. dress rehearsals, reviews of writing drafts, and peer response groups)
7. probably more responsive to cultural diversity

Concerns with Performance Testing:

1. the amount of time required by these tests to construct, administer, and score
2. it is harder to explain to parents the relationship between how such tests are often scored and the letter grades on students' report cards
3. adopting new responsibilities; the teachers becomes more of a collaborator and facilitator than a gatekeeper
4. different purposes of traditional standardized tests and performance test

Ways to Evaluate Student Learning

Norm-referenced grading- assumes that classroom achievement will naturally vary among a group of heterogeneous students because of differences in such characteristics as prior knowledge, learning skills, motivation, and aptitude

Norm-referenced grading: compare one student with others

1. determine percentage of students who will receive each grade
2. arrange the scores from highest to lowest
3. calculate which scores fall in which category and assign the grades accordingly

Strengths and Weaknesses of norm-referenced grading:

1. evaluating advanced levels of learning
2. selection for limited-enrollement programs
3. few situations in public schools were it is appropriate to use

Criterion-Referenced Grading- permits students to benefit from mistakes and improve their level of understanding and performance; it establishes an individual reward structure, which fosters motivation to learn to a greater extent

Criterion-referenced grading: compare individual performance with stated criteria; provides information about strengths and weaknesses

Strengths and Weaknesses of criterion-referenced grading:

1. provide more specific and useful information about student strengths and weaknesses
2. promote motivation to learn
3. the performance standards that one specifies are arbitrary and may be difficult to justify to parents and colleagues
4. a teacher's standards may appear to be stable from one test to another, but they may actually fluctuate as a result of unnoticed variation in the difficulty of each test and the quality of instruction

A Mastery Approach: give students multiple opportunities to master goals at their own pace (Suggestions for this approach on page 496-497)

Improving Your Grading Methods: Assessment Practices To Avoid

1. worshipping averages- it ignores measurement error or extenuating circumstances
2. using zeros indiscriminately- for late or incomplete assignments
3. providing insufficient instruction before testing
4. teaching for one thing but testing for another
5. using pop quizzes- surprise tests produce undesirable level of anxiety or other students may just give up
6. keeping the nature and content of a test a secret- what will be on a test needs to be told to your students
7. keeping the criteria for assignments a secret- students need to know what is expected of them
8. shifting criteria- trying to shock students into more appropriate learning behaviors (changing the amount each part is worth after informing the students)
9. combining apples and oranges

Technology for Classroom Assessment

1. Electronic gradebooks and grading programs
2. Technology-based Performance Assessment: (Ex. GLOBE- a web-based simulation that leads itself to the assessment of scientific inquiry www.globe.gov/globe_flash.html ; multimedia tools with audio, text, video, and graphics)
3. Digital-Portfolios: collection of work that is stored and illustrated electronically; exhibits individual efforts, progress, and achievements in one or more areas (Ex. digitized pictures and scanned images, documents, audio recordings, video clips, and multimedia presentations)

Advantages: the ability of students to explain in text and narration why they gave their portfolio it particular content and form; they can demonstrate what they know, how they came to know it, how their knowledge increased and evolved, and what they have accomplished with that knowledge

Disadvantages: access needs to be restricted, passwords can be forgotten, portfolios that are stored on a school server can be altered or destroyed by hackers; work on saved while working can be lost if computer crashes

Special rubrics available to assess digital portfolios and presentations. www.4teaches.org contains Rubistar (provides templates for creating rubrics for several kinds of digital products)and other things related to technology

Suggestions for Teaching in Your Classroom: Effective Assessment Techniques

1. As early as possible in a report period, decide when and how often to give tests and other assignments that will count toward a grade, and announce tests and assignments well in advance
2. Prepare a content outline or a table or specifications of the objectives to be covered on each exam, or otherwise take care to obtain a systematic sample of knowledge and skill acquired by your students
3. Consider the purpose of each test or measurement exercise in the light of the developmental characteristics of the students in your classes and the nature of the curriculum for your grade level
4. Decide whether a written test or a performance test is more appropriate
5. Make up and use a detailed answer key or rubric: (a) evaluate each answer by comparing it with the key or rubric (b) be willing and prepared to defend the evaluations you make
6. During and after the grading process, analyze questions and answers in order to improve future exams

Life Experiences:

We have all had to deal with testing or assessment. Now days our poor students have to deal with even more than we ever had to. I am not a big supporter of all of this standardized testing and how much pressure they put on students and teachers about it. There is way too many flaws in our state-wide assessment procedures right now. We can not have one test that "ALL" students must take except those that fall as significantly cognitively impaired. What about all those kids with learning disabilities, they are not significantly, cognitively impaired but they can not take those tests and do well like they want them to because they are not on grade level and they may never be. (Sorry didn't mean to get on my soap box, but this topic really gets me going)

Educational Psychology class:

I have learned so much from this class. It has been a great semester full of really good information. Sometimes you take a class and really wonder what did you learn, but not with this class. Ms. Graff, you are a great teacher. Keep up the good work.

BLOG of the Week:

I looked at each of these but I did not really care for http://www.speedofcreativity.org/ because it mainly deals with just technology and many ideas are way ahead of what can be done in a class. I also did not appreciate the OLPC foundation very much. How many students to computers do our school have right now, but we are to be so concerned with every child in another country having a laptop. I think we need to take care of our own children's needs in school and then we can take care of others. (Just strictly my opinion though) I just hate that our schools are so tight on money right now that we can not afford to add more technology resources for our teachers.

I choose the blog http://www.k12opened.com/blog/ because it contained some new information that I was not familiar with, open education. I have never heard of it and this website has some really great information. The idea of open-education textbooks that are out there and are free was a new thing to me. Also the idea of open-licensed content was new too. The blog about open vs. free unveiled some really important ideas about students blogging on certain sites and just because something is free does not mean it is open. This blog helps teachers to realize the importance of what they use out their and what their students may also be using.