ERIC ED451217: Assessment: A Teacher's Guide.

7 Pages·2001·0.12 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
ED 451 217 TM 032 445
AUTHOR
Ediger, Marlow
Assessment: A Teacher's Guide.
TITLE
PUB DATE
2001-00-00
NOTE
6p.
PUB TYPE
Non-Classroom (055)
Guides
EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
Educational Assessment; Elementary Secondary Education;
DESCRIPTORS
*Evaluation Methods; Performance Based Assessment;
*Portfolio Assessment; Portfolios (Background Materials);
*Public Schools; Standardized Tests; *Student Evaluation
ABSTRACT
There is currently much interest in the assessment of
student achievement in public schools. This guide to forms of assessment
discusses some of the most common tests and their uses. Standardized tests
are described, and some of their limitations are outlined. State-mandated
tests are common, and, because the creators of such tests are removed from
the classroom situation, these tests may have little relation to what is
actually taught. The use of portfolios provides a way that is aligned with
the constructivist approach to learning to measure student achievement on a
day-to-day basis. Rubrics may be developed to assess each product in the
portfolio, making the interpretation of portfolio contents easier. Portfolio
results cannot be reduced to a number, however, nor can they be machine
scored, making this form of assessment more difficult to use in communicating
student achievement results.
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Assessment: A Teacher's Guide
Marlow Ediger
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ASSESSMENT A TEACHER'S GUIDE
Much is being written about assessment of studentachievement in public
schools. The purpose given here,
pertains to conveying information of student achievement
to the lay public. Testing has been a salient way stressed
to know how well students are doing in academic achievement. There
are several kinds of tests which will be
discussed to assist teachers to differentiate
among these tests.
Standardized Testing
Standardized tests have the following characteristics:
1. They are published by commercial companies who have
moneys for doing pilot studies.
2. They are based on norms from pilot studies. These
norms then are used to make comparison with
students who have presently taken the test.
3. The norms are built upon the guideline that
a test item is positive if it was answered correctly by those
high on the total test. Conversely, a test item is negative if
a person low on the total test answers
the individual test items correctly.
4. A spread of test scores from the pilot study is
a result from the 99th down to the first percentile. This is a
built-in device to spread students out from high
to low. Standardized tests have a philosophy of
their tests are developed to show this spread. This
appears to separate "the sheep from the goats,"
a Biblical statement.
5. Multiple choice test items are inherent in standardized
tests. Students then respond to these test items,
not show creative responses.
6. These tests are not valid in terms of content/skills taught
in a local classroom. The test was developed by
those external and removed from the individual student's
classroom.
7. Specific academic disciplines may not have content
to be measured in a standardized test. Thus,
a
minimal number of test items may pertain to science/social
studies in these tests.
8. Standardized tests are weak in student creations such
as writing and speaking. Rather, the test writers
determine which test items in multiple choice form for
students to answer.
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9. Each multiple choice item is to be unrelated to the others. Why? Clues are not to be given to test takers
when answering sequential test items.
10. A numeral provides data on student achievement for the total test results, such
as a percentile. Subtest
results may also be given in a percentile.
State Mandated Tests
As the name indicates, these tests are developed on the state level. The writers also
are removed in time and
place from the local classroom. State mandated tests emphasize the following:
1. They generally have accompanying objectives for the classroom teacher to
use in teaching students.
Thus, validity of the tests can be high if aligned with the objectives.
2. The quality of multiple choice items on the test may be lower than standardized tests due
to not trying
these out in pilot studies.
3. Both validity and reliability data are lacking due, largely, to
a lack of pilot studies.
4. These tests may also be known as high stakes testing if the results from students
are used to determine
who graduate from high school or who is promoted from one grade level to the
next.
5. They are also a part of the standards setting movement in a state. High standards, along with
high
expectations for learners to achieve are in emphasis.
6. Test results can be machine scored in mass numbers, as is true of standardized
tests.
7. Report cards from student test results may be averaged to
compare one school district with the next.
These comparisons are then made public. Standardized test results, if given
on the state level, may
also be contrasted, district by district, in report card form.
8. Poorly performing schools, from test results, may eventually be taken
over by the state in governance
and curriculum supervision. This may be true regardless of the socio-economic
levels of
participating schools or school districts.
9. The charter school movement, within a public school district, offers unique solutions
for low achieving
schools. They, if approved by the state, would not be tied to the red
tape which the public schools
are required to embrace. How satisfactory charter schools are has not been determined, other than
through opinions.
10. State mandated standards and tests are arbitrarily determined
as to the complexity level of inherent
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standards for student achievement.
Portfolios and Constructionism
Portfolios have come into the educational literature to emphasize what teachers and students do
on a day to
day basis in the classroom. External writers of tests such as standardized and state mandated
are minimized in their
importance. Thus, the philosophy of constructivism has stressed the importance of the following
every day
classroom experiences to become a part of the individual student's portfolio:
1. Written work such as poems, stories, reports, outlines, summaries, and journal writing of the
involved
learners developing the portfolio.
2. Art products including murals, bulletin board displays, pencil sketching, water color work,
as each
relates to objectives of instruction.
3. Construction items such as making models and dioramas. Snapshots of each large
item may be placed
into a portfolio.
4. Cassette recordings of oral work including book reports, committee work, and
peer instructions.
5. A video tape of seminars and cooperative learning involving the student preparing
the portfolio.
Rubrics may be developed to assess each product in the portfolio. A five point Likert scale
may be
developed by raters of the students' portfolios. Each of the five levels needs
to be clearly written so that the rubrics
can be used to rate the diverse portfolios. Interscorer reliability is important. The following
are additional
considerations in rating each portfolio or sub part of it:
1. The numerical rating given may be quite subjective due to
a lack of agreement by raters doing the rating.
2. Numerical ratings are not the major objective in portfolio
assessment. The major objective is to view
student processes and products. Here, one can notice achievement of
the every day progress of the
student, first hand.
3. Parents may observe what their offspring is achieving in school.
4. Portfolio development provides ample opportunities for the student
to reflect and think about what has
been learned and what is left to achieve.
5. Ownership of the portfolio resides within the student. Internal personnel,
not external test writers, are
involved in portfolio development. Assessment is ongoing and continuous.
Assessment has always been a major goal in teaching and learning. Presently, the testing and measurement
movement is strong among state governors and legislators. However, there is not general agreement on how students
should be assessed to notice achievement. Portfolio development has strong merit, but their results are difficult to
communicate. These results cannot be reduced to a numeral, nor can they be machine scored.
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