Literary Review of Assessment for Instructional Planning

Sean Figge

In the article Assessment for Instructional Planning, the authors discuss the use of assessment in

the classroom as a means to planning instruction. They discuss that there are three main reasons for

assessment, ethical, legal and logical, but focus the article on the logical reasoning for assessment.

Teachers have lots to do in very little time in the classroom, so logically, using assessment to determine

the best course of instruction is very important. Assessment can help to maximize the accuracy of

instructional decision by having the decisions based on sound data.

The authors discuss the tools and terms used in creating data to base instructional planning on.

Measurement is the systematic use of numbers to quantify characteristics of people. Assessment is the

process of collecting info about characteristics of people via measurement. Good assessment is based

on a variety of sources. Evaluation is the process of using information collected through assessment to

make decisions, such as those for planning instruction. Treatment validity means that the measures

used for assessment must match what is being assessed. For example, assessment of addition skills must

use problems focused on addition skills, not a different skill like solving puzzles, which is not directly

related to the skill being assessed. The ultimate goal of assessment, and teaching overall, is to improve

outcomes for all students by planning instruction that is effective.

 The authors discuss that there are different kinds of assessments that take place in school

setting. There are universal screening assessments which are quick and valid assessments of all students

in a school or district for evaluating each student, relative to peers or to a standard or criterion. The data

from these assessments allow schools to identify students in need. Using this data, they can compare

districts to the national norms, or schools within a district, or classes within a school. This can be very

helpful to gain a general insight into which districts, schools, classes or individual students are struggling

with certain skills. Screening assessments provide a quick sample of performance rather than in-depth

assessment. In-depth assessment can be known as diagnostic assessment, analytic assessment or

instructional planning. Instructional planning is the term they prefer to use for the article.

Assessment is needed to determine both what to teach and how to teach it. It is important to

know what skills the students have mastered and what skills need more teaching. When making a

decision about a specific skill, the measure used must consist of enough items to make a reliable

decision regarding the student’s proficiency. After ecological factors are ruled out, understanding the

reason for poor performance is important. Is it lack of motivation, lack of mastery in prerequisite skills,

or both. One can determine lack of motivation with assessment using goal setting, performance

feedback, or reward system to increase motivations. If these means do not increase performance on an

assessment, it is likely there is skill deficit, a lack of prerequisite skills or proficiency in the prerequisite

skills are insufficient. The assessment should provide information that will lead to development of

effective interventions. The instructional hierarchy of accuracy, fluency, generalization, and adaption can

be used as a guide to understand skill proficiency. It is important to evaluate the intervention with

ongoing assessment towards mastery of the skill. If there is no desired change in proficiency, assessing

why the intervention is not helpful is important.

 Finally, in conclusion, the authors state that there are four core components to increasing

students with sufficient academic skills. First, they must be identified early. Second, there must be a

focus on students’ proficiency in the skill. Next, teachers must develop intervention for increasing

student proficiency in skills. Lastly, the benefits of the intervention must be assessed. With these

components, students will be given a greater chance to have proper skill proficiencies.

Works Cited

Hosp, J. L., & Ardoin, S. P. (2008). Assessment for Instructional Planning. Assessment for
Effective Intervention, 33(2), 69–77. https://doi.org/10.1177/1534508407311428