Trends in Testing, Assessment and Evaluation Chapter 2 Types and purposes of classroom tests and assessment

Test
-is used to examine someones knowledge of something to determine what he or she knows or has learned. Testing measures the level of skill or knowledge that has been reached.

Assessment
- is the process of documenting knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs, usually in measurable terms,. The goal of assessment is to make improvements, as opposed to simply being judged. In an educational context, assessment is the process of describing, collecting, recording, scoring, and interpreting information about learning.

Test vs Assessment
Test: A single examination/set of questions to which the student responded and the results of these. Assessment: A summary of tests, learning results, lessons carried out along with other activities that relate to a student. Assessments measure student achievement (knowledge, skills, and abilities) in the Learning Standards; a test is one method of assessment, often used as a summative measure.

Test
When to conduct at the end of a unit, at the end of a semester or at the end of a year. Yearly and bi-yearly tests

Assessment
can be done at any time Teachers do assessments after a lesson, after they teach a specific skill or at the same time tests are done.

Required by required by laws such law? as No Child Left Behind.

are not usually required by law or by a school. Assessments are used informally by teachers so they can keep track of what students understand and what areas and subjects they might need to spend more attention on.

Test
Formats usually follow a general format, where questions are asked and students answer them. They might be essay questions, multiplechoice questions, fill-inthe-blank questions, or true-and-false questions, but the overall format is the same. show the student's ability to memorize facts and figures, instead of a true understanding of those facts and figures

Assessment
can have different formats. They might require a student to answer questions, might be a teacher talking to a student about what they know, could be a teacher's observation of a student working or talking about a subject, might also be graded assignments, presentations or class work that helps a teacher get an idea of what a student knows and doesn't know.

Results

an assessment done informally in the classroom might show that a student actually understands facts and figures, or a specific process.

Are you a good teacher ?

Often, students who do not score well on formal tests might still understand what they are being tested on, but might have test anxiety. A good teacher will use both assessments and tests so she can know whether a student has failed a test because he isn't a good test taker, or whether he really doesn't understand the materials.

Six basic purposes of assessment

(a) to help the student understand herself; (b) to provide information for educational and vocational counseling; (c) to help administrators, faculty, and other personnel to understand the nature of their student population; (d) to evaluate the academic progress and personal development of students; (e) to help the administrative staff appraise the educational program, and (f) to facilitate curriculum revision
(Fiore, 2012; Wright, 2011).

Type of Assessment
Classified in many different ways, depend on the frame of reference used

Maximum Performance vs Typical Performance

-classify based on nature of assessment
Type of assessment Maximum Performance Function of the assessment Determines what individuals can do when performing at their best Example Aptitude test, achievement tests Attitude, interest and personality inventories, observational techniques, peer appraisal, standardized multiple-choice test

Typical Performance

Determines what individuals will do under natural conditions

Fixed-choice Tests vs Complexperformance Assessments

-classify based on form of assessment
Type of assessment Fixed-choice Tests Function of the assessment Efficient measurement of knowledge and skills, indirect indicator Measurement of performance in contexts and on problems valued in their own right Example Standardized multiplechoice test

Complexperformance Assessments

Hands-on laboratory experiment, projects, essays, oral presentations

Placement, Formative, Diagnostic and Summative Assessment

-classify based on used in classroom instruction
Type of assessment Function of the assessment Determines prerequisite skills, degree of mastery of course goals, and /or best mode of learning Determines learning progress, provides feedback to reinforce learning and corrects learning errors Example Readiness tests, aptitude test, pretest on course objectives, self-report inventories, observational techniques Teacher-made tests, custom-made tests from textbook publishers, observational techniques

Placement

Formative

Placement, Formative, Diagnostic and Summative Assessment

-classify based on used in classroom instruction
Type of assessment Diagnostic Function of the assessment Determines causes (intellectual, physical, emotional, environmental of persistent learning difficulties Example

Published diagnostic test, teacher-made diagnostic tests, observational techniques

Summative Assessment

Determines end-of-course Teacher-made survey tests, achievement for assigning performance rating scales, grades or certifying product scales mastery of objectives

Criterion-Referenced Vs NormReferenced Measurement

-classify based on method of interpreting results
Type of assessment CriterionReferenced Function of the assessment Describes students performance according to a specified domain of clearly defined learning tasks (eg: adds single-digit whole numbers) Describes student performance according to relative position in some known group (eg: ranks 10th in a classroom group of 30) Example

Teacher-made tests, custom-made test from test publishers, observational techniques Standardized aptitude and achievement tests, teacher-made survey tests, interest inventories, adjustment inventories

NormReferenced

Criterion-Referenced Vs NormReferenced Measurement

-classify based on method of interpreting results In criterion-referenced assessment, particular abilities, skills or behaviours are each specified as a criterion which must be reached. The examiner has a list of criteria each of which must be satisfactorily demonstrated in order to pass The important thing is that failure in one criterion cannot be compensated for by above average performance in others; neither can you fail despite meeting every criterion simply because everybody else that day surpassed the criteria and was better than you.

Norm-Referenced Measurement
Norm-referenced assessment makes judgments on how well the individual did in relation to others who took the test. Often used in conjunction with this is the curve of normal distribution which assumes that a few will do exceptionally well and a few will do badly and the majority will peak in the middle as average. Others reasons (poor intake, /good intake, they have been taught well, or badly, half who have done it all before and half who are just starting the subject giving a bimodal distribution)