Effective

classroom-
based
assessment

Eddy White
  This slide show was
used for a workshop in
Kyoto, Japan for the
JALT (Japanese
Association for
Language Teachers)
Pan SIG Conference
  May, 2008
  It has been modified
and revised for an
online format and
audience

Assessment literacy should

be an issue of concern and
professional development
for all educators.
Are you assessment literate?

How would you

respond
to this question in
a job interview?

In a discussion
with colleagues?
 reminder

• Focus= classroom–based
assessment

•  Not large-scale,
externally administered,
standardized testing
Consider   Research suggests
that teachers spend
from one-quarter to
one-third of their
professional time on
assessment-related
activities.

  Almost all do so
without the benefit
of having learned
the principles of
sound assessment.
(Stiggins, 2007)
Targets 1. Assessment literacy
explained
2. Some fundamental
assessment ideas
3. Your assessment
practices
4. Words of Wisdom:
the importance of
assessment
5. Conclusion
( + References)
  the kinds of assessment
know-how and
understanding that teachers
need to assess their students
effectively
  Assessment literate
educators should have
knowledge and skills related
to the basic principles of
quality assessment practices
(SERVE Center, University of North Carolina, 2004)
 Assessment skills educators need
1.How to define clear learning goals, which are the basis of developing
or choosing ways to assess student learning

2. How to make use of a variety of assessment methods to gather

evidence of student learning

3. How to analyze achievement data (both quantitative and qualitative)

and make good inferences from the data gathered

4. How to provide appropriate feedback to students

5. How to make appropriate instructional modifications to help students

improve

6. How to involve students in the assessment process (e.g. self and peer
assessment), and effectively communicate results

7. Most importantly, how to engineer an effective classroom assessment

environment that boosts student motivation to learn.

(SERVE Center, Univ. of North Carolina, 2004)

A basic understanding
of statistics may be
useful to organize
information, perform
analyses, and display
data.

But . . .
   Generally,teachers
do not calculate
reliability
estimates,
standard error of
measurement,
validity co-
  These techniques are
based on principles efficients, etc.
for developing large
scale objective tests,
with limited relevance
to the assessment
(Brookhart, 2005)
context of classrooom
teachers.
  Historically, educational leaders and teachers
have not been given the opportunity to learn
about sound classroom assessment practices.

  Further, over the years, the measurement

community has narrowed its role to one of
maximizing the efficiency and accuracy of
high-stakes testing while playing virtually no
attention to assessment as it plays out for
teachers or learners day to day in the
classroom.
  Assessment
for student-
learning
  Not
assessment as
measurement
Assessment Literacy

Know-how and
understanding
teachers need to
assess students
effectively and
maximize
learning
 Characteristics of an assessment literate educator
•  superior knowledge about content and substance of what is to
be learned

•  knowledge about learners and learning and a desire to help

students develop, improve and do better

•  skills in selecting and creating assessment tasks

•  knowledge of criteria and standards appropriate to assessment

tasks

•  evaluative skills and expertise in the analysis and use of

assessment information

•  expertise in giving appropriate, targeted feedback

(Sadler, 1998)
  understand
the
difference
between
sound and
unsound
assessment
practices.
  Assessment-literateeducators come
to any assessment knowing what they
are assessing, why they are doing so,
how best to assess the achievement of
interest, how to generate sound
samples of performance, what can go
wrong, and how to prevent these
problems before they occur.
Assessment
literate teachers
understand how
to use
assessment as a
teaching tool to
promote
learning.
3 Questions
   1.What are the
‘five cardinal
criteria’ that
can be used to
design and
evaluate all
types of
assessment?

Source: Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices (Brown,2004)

Five key assessment principles

practicality reliability

validity authenticity

washback
(Brown, 2004)
  These questions
provide an
excellent
criterion for a
self-assessment
of the
assessment
frameworks we
design and
implement.
Quiz question # 2

3
  Threetypes,
each serving a
different
purpose

Q. What are they?

1. Diagnostic

2. Summative

3. Formative
  precedes instruction, pre-assessments
  used to check students prior knowledge and
skill levels, identify student misconceptions,
profile learners’ interests, etc.
  provide information to assist teacher planning
and guide differentiated instruction
  normally not graded
  summarizes what students have learned at the
conclusion of an instructional segment
  evaluative; reported as a score or grade
  results typically ‘count’ and appear on report cards
and transcripts
  used alone, insufficient tools for maximizing student
learning
  waiting until the end of a teaching period to find out
how well students have learned - too late

Assessment of Learning
  on-going, occurs concurrently with instruction
  provides specific feedback to teachers and
students for the purpose of guiding teaching
to improve learning
  formal and informal methods, such as ungraded
quizzes, oral questioning, teacher observation,
draft work, self- and peer-assessment, etc.
  results not factored into summative evaluation
and grading
Assessment for Learning
 Formative
assessment is at
the heart of
effective teaching.
This seminal Black
and Wiliam (1998)
source is easily
accessed online.
  Students are expected to guess the
nature of assessment requirements
  Assessment requirements are often
separate to what happens in classes
  Assessment often covers only a part of
the course material
  Assessment is often unclear to
students
  Assessment is often summative rather
than formative
“Assessment is often shrouded in mystique,
governed by tradition and has the tendency to
be notoriously inadequate”(Beaumont-Kings,1994, p.1)
For many students,
assessment is not an
educational experience
in itself, but a process
of ‘guessing what the
teacher wants’.
(McLaughlin & Simpson, 2004)
  True–False Item   Inventories
  Multiple Choice
  Checklists
  Completion
  Peer Rating
  Short Answer
  Self Rating
  Essay
  Practical Exam   Journals
  Papers/Reports   Portfolios
  Projects   Observations
  Questionnaires   Discussions
  Presentations
  Interviews
Self-assess your
assessment
practices
How do your 1.  Key learning outcomes have
current been identified and assessments
practices based on them
match these 2.  Assessment practice helps
statements? students to understand what
they can do and where they need
to improve
True Partly Not 3.  Sharing of learning intentions is
true true
routine practice during classes
4.  Assessment practice enhances
classroom- the learning process
based
5.  Students are involved in
assessment
assessing their own work and
that of their peers
More food for thought

Words of wisdom: Assessment

Assessment
is the engine
that drives
learning.

(Cowan, 1998)
  Assessment is a central element in the overall
quality of teaching and learning in higher
education.
  Well-designed assessment sets clear
expectations, establishes a reasonable
workload (one that does not push students
into rote reproductive approaches to study),
and provides opportunities for students to
self-monitor, rehearse, practice and receive
feedback.
  Assessment is an integral component of a
coherent educational experience.

(James, McInnis, & Devlin, 2002, p.7)

  Thespirit and
style of student
assessment
defines the de
facto
curriculum.

(Rowntree, 1987)
  Improving student
learning implies
improving the
assessment system.
  Teachers often assume
that it is their teaching
that directs student
learning.
  In practice, assessment
directs student learning,
because it is the
assessment system that
defines what is worth
learning.
(Havnes, 2004, p.1)
  For most students, assessment
requirements literally define the
curriculum.
  Assessment is a potent strategic tool
for educators with which to spell out
the learning that will be rewarded and
to guide students into effective
approaches to study.
  Equally, however, poorly designed
assessment has the potential to hinder
learning.
  Students can, with
difficulty, escape
from the effects of
poor teaching.
  They cannot (by
definition if they
want to graduate)
escape the effects
of poor
assessment.
(Boud,1995)
  Thereis no
getting away from
the fact that most
of the things that
go wrong with
assessment are
our fault, the
result of poor
assessment
design- and not
the fault of our
students.

(Race et al., 2005)

The single most effective way of
enhancing learning within higher
education is through the
improvement of assessment
procedures. Assessment is at the
core of the academic role of
educators.

(Holroyd, 2000, p. 43)

Assessment Literacy

Know-how and
understanding
teachers need to
assess students
effectively and
maximize
learning
  The teachers’ degree of
assessment competence
has a huge influence on the
course being taught
  The degree of student
learning and success in a
course is also significantly
impacted by the instructors’
assessment literacy
  It is an overlooked and
undervalued aspect of
professional development.
Improving assessment literacy, and becoming
more competent assessors means a personal
commitment of time, effort and energy.
  “We owe it to
ourselves and our
students to devote at
least as much energy
to ensuring that our
assessment practices
are worthwhile as we
do to ensuring that
we teach well”.

Dr. David Boud, University

of Technology, Sydney
 Are you
assessment
literate?