classroom assessment

DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER EDUCATION

COURSE OUTLINE FOR CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT

Unit 1: INTRODUCTION TO CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT: CONCEPTS AND           CONTEXT

1.1        Overview of the Course/ sharing Grading Policy/Assignments/Field-based tasks

1.2        Key concepts / Basic terminology in Classroom Assessment

1.3        Linkage of the course with National professional Standards for Teachers in Pakistan

1.4        Re-visiting Assessment practices in Elementary and Secondary Schools in Pakistan/Personal experiences with tests in Schools

1.5        Distinction between Assessment of Learning and Assessment for Learning

1.6        Research on positive effects  continuous Assessment

1.7        National Educational Policy (NEP-2009-2015)- Statement & Action Plan about Assessment

1.8        Distinction between Formative and Summative Assessment

1.9          Challenges of transforming a Culture of Testing in schools into a Culture of Assessment

Unit 2: ASSESSMENT AS THE BRIDGE BETWEEN TEACHING AND LEARNING

2.1        Types of Test: Merits and Demerits of  Objective type and Essay type tests

2.2  Guidelines for constructing Objective Type Test

2.2.1        Rules for writing Selected- Response Objective  type test questions

2.2.2        Rules for writing Constructed- Response Objective type test questions

2.3                  Guidelines for constructing Essay Type Test

2.3.1        Guidelines/Rules for writing Restricted-Response Essay type test questions

2.3.2        Guidelines/Rules for writing Extended- Response Essay type test questions

2.3.3        Scoring rubrics for Restricted-Response and Extended-Response Essays

2.4  Assembling the Test

             2.4.1          Building and finishing Table of Specification

2.4.2          Checking balance between the coverage of learning objectives

                   2.4.3         Determining the length of the test     

            2.4.4     Relationship between Reliability and Validity

2.5  Making sense of the test items

                   2.5.1     Item analysis and report on the result of item analysis

                   2.5.2     Deciding which item to be eliminated/ improved

                   2.5.3     Guidelines for test administration

Unit 3: INTEGRATING AND SHARING ASSESSMENT RESULTS

3.1  Definition of feedback

3.2  Characteristics of feedback

3.3  Conclusions from Research on feedback in the classroom and the role of feedback in increasing lines for students’ learning

3.4  Guidelines for writing effective feedback

3.5  Sharing assessment results with parents

3.6  Providing feedback to parents in a way that facilitate teaching-learning environment at home

3.7  Designing and reviewing Feedback Framework : Medal, Mission and Goals

Unit 4: THE ARRAY OF AVAILABE ASSESSMENT TASKS

4.1  Informal Performance Assessment

4.2  Learning objectives for performance Assessment

4.3  Strengths and Weaknesses in Performance Assessment

4.4  Informal behavioral observation with check list

4.5  Class discussion assessment

4.6  Portfolio Assessment: Issues and Challenges

4.7  Review of the course

4.7.1        What went well?/(Strengths)

4.7.2        What was frustrating? (Limitation/weaknesses)

4.7.3        What should be included in/excluded from the course?

4.7.4        Your own version of Philosophy of Assessment in classroom as Elementary/Secondary School Teacher

How should we assess?

1.     Day to day observation

2.     Test and quizzes

3.     Rubrics

4.     Rating scales

5.     Project work

6.     Port folio

By assessment we can assess the students:

·        To find out how student go about the tasks of doing their work

·        To find out how student feel about their work.

That’s why assessment is important in classroom.

Assessment  

Assessment is the ongoing process of gathering, analysing and reflecting on evidence to make informed and consistent judgements to improve future student learning.                                                                       

Assessment refers to the general process of monitoring or keeping track of the learners’ progress        ( Hedge, 2008)

• Assessment provides students with a tool to be more involved in their learning, and give them a better sense of control for their own learning. (Richards, 2002)

• it is the concern with measuring significant learning. Or, the act of judging or forming an opinion about something / somebody.(Saphier, 1997)

Functions of assessment

Evaluate students’ overall level.

Evaluate students’ progress.

Evaluate how well students have learnt specific material during a course.

Evaluate students’ strengths and weaknesses. (Ur, 2012)

• Purposes of assessment•

 Formative assessmentv One purpose is pedagogically motivated, i.e. formative assessment, where the teacher will use information gained from assessments about learners progress as the basis for further classroom work. (Hedge, 2008)

•  v Formative assessment happens in the middle of a period of learning rather than at the end, provides clear feedback in the form of error correction and suggestion for improvement. (Ur, 2012)

• • Summative assessmentv the second purpose for assessment is to measure learner achievement. This is referred to as summative assessment. (Hedge, 2008)v They provide only a grade, often expressed as a percentage, offer no specific feedback on aspects of performance, and are designed to summarize or conclude a period of learning. Summative assessment may be used as final school grades, or for acceptance into further education.

What is classroom assessment?

Classroom assessment is the process of
gathering evidence of what a student knows,
understands, and is able to do. It can also
help to identify students' learning needs.

An assessment developed, administered, and scored by a teacher to evaluate individual or classroom student performance.

Classroom assessment is the process, usually conducted by teachers, of designing, collecting, interpreting, and applying information about student learning and attainment to make educational decisions

 What is formative assessment?

Formative assessments are on-going
assessments, reviews, and observations in a
classroom. Teachers use formative
assessment to improve instructional methods
and student feedback throughout the
teaching and learning process.

 

What is summative assessment?

Summative assessments are typically used to
evaluate the effectiveness of instructional
programs and services at the end of an
academic year or at a pre-determined time.  

 

 

Assessment and testing Assessment 

•  Assessment refers to the general process of monitoring or keepingtrack of the learners’ progress.Assessment is a boarder concept, itis a part of the whole educationalprocess of teaching and learning.TestingTesting is one kind of assessment, one which is typically used at the end of a stage of instruction of measure studentachievement.Testing is a term that is not always used precisely, here, it refers to the specific procedure that teachers and examiners employ to try to measurability in the language.

• What is testing?

Testing is by far the most common basis for assessment. The criterion for success is a fixed level which the student is expected to reach; and the result is usually expressed as a percentage. Tests are relatively easy to design and check, take place at pre-test times and places, give clear-cut results, and are in general accepted as reliable bases for course grades.( Ur, 2012)

•  Principle of administrating tests

Inform your students about the test well in advance.v Allot some class time to preparation.v Provide, or review, essential information about the test as you present it.

Help students with instructions.

 Check and return tests as soon as you can. ( Ur, 2012)

Preparing the testing environment.

 This involve arranging the place of testing, materials and equipment, personal, time of testing, and physical conditions under which the test is administered.( Bachman & Palmer, 1996)

•  Functions of the test

• Act as ‘station’, marking off the ends of units

• Encourage students to review material.

• Motived studentsv give a sense of achievement and progress.

• Provide learning or review. (Ur, 2012)

• Problems of tests

vthey are not always valid.

vThey may not be reliable.

vThey are a one-off event which might not give a fair representation of the student’s overall ability.v

They discriminate against students with test anxiety that perform badly under test conditions. (Ur, 2012)

• four major types of tests

v Proficiency testsv 

Aptitude testsv 

Diagnostic testsv

 Achievement tests (Hughes, 1998)

 

Features of good tests

vAccuracy

vObjectivity

vReliability

vValidityv

Score ability (Hughes, 1996)

• Other types of test

v Standardized and non-standardized tests

v External and internal tests.

v Oral and written tests.

v Objective and subjective tests.

• Standardized and non-standardized tests• Standardized tests usually includes tests prepared by teams of specialists. Standardized test are used widely in some educational settings for both first and second language assessment. • Teacher-made school test is non-standardized because it may be applied once and then forgotten. ( Genesee, 1996)

• Standardized tests have the following qualities

v They provide a "systematic procedure for describing behaviors, whether in terms of numbers or categories."

v They include specified procedures for administration and scoring.v

 The test items are derived from experience, either by experiment or observation, rather than theory.

v They have an established format and set of materials.

v They present the same tasks and require the same response modes formal test takers.v They provide tables of norms to which the scores of test takers can be compared in order to ascertain their relative standing. ( Genesee, 1996)

• Performance Evaluationv a performance evaluation is a dynamic tool by the help of which the performance of an individual could be measured by the concern authority. For example, such document is presented to the school and college students for gauging the status of the institute.Bartolomei, Kyra (2010)