PRINCIPLES FOR

ASSESSING
MATHEMATICS
LEARNING
In this chapter, three
educational principles based
on content, learning, and
equity are set forth to guide
changes in mathematics
assessment.
THE CONTENT PRINCIPLE

“Assessment should reflect the

mathematics that is most important for
students to learn.”
 Any assessment of mathematics learning should first
and foremost be anchored in important mathematics.
Assessment should do much more than test discrete
procedural skills so typical of today's topic-by-process
frameworks for formal assessments. Many current
assessments distort mathematical reality by presenting
mathematics as a set of isolated, disconnected
fragments, facts, and procedures. The goal ought to be
assessment tasks that elicit student work on the
meaning, process, and uses of mathematics.
 Important mathematics must shape and define the
content of assessment. Appropriate tasks emphasize
connections within mathematics, embed mathematics in
relevant external contexts, require students to
communicate clearly their mathematical thinking, and
promote facility in solving nonroutine problems.
Considerations of connections, communication, and
nonroutine problems raise many thorny issues that test
makers and teachers are only beginning to explore.
However, these considerations are essential if students are
to meet the new expectations of mathematics education
 The mathematics in an assessment must never be
distorted or trivialized for the convenience of
assessment. Assessment should emphasize problem
solving, thinking, and reasoning. In assessment as in
curriculum activities, students should build models that
connect mathematics to complex, real-world situations
and regularly formulate problems on their own, not just
solve those structured by others. Rather than forcing
mathematics to fit assessment, assessment must be
tailored to the mathematics that is important to learn.
 Implications of the content principle extend
as well to the scoring and reporting of
assessments. New assessments will require
new kinds of scoring guides and ways of
reporting student performance that more
accurately reflect the richness and diversity of
mathematical learning than do the typical
single-number scores of today.
THE LEARNING PRINCIPLE

“Assessment should enhance mathematics

learning and support good instructional
practice.”
 To be effective as part of the educational
process, assessment should be seen as an
integral part of learning and teaching rather
than as the culmination of the process. Time
spent on assessment will then contribute to the
goal of improving the mathematics learning of
all students.
 If assessment is going to support learning, then
assessment tasks must provide genuine
opportunities for all students to learn significant
mathematics. Too often a sharp line has been drawn
between assessment and instruction. Teachers
teach, then instruction stops and assessment occurs.
In the past, for example, students' learning was
often viewed as a passive process whereby students
remember what teachers tell them to remember.
 Consistent with this view, assessment has often
been thought of as the end of learning. The student
is assessed on material learned previously to see if
her or she remembers it. Earlier conceptions of the
mathematics curriculum as a collection of
fragmented knowledge led to assessment that
reinforced the use of memorization as a principal
learning strategy.
 Today we recognize that students make their own
mathematics learning individually meaningful.
Learning is a process of continually restructuring
prior knowledge, not just adding to it. Good
education provides opportunities for students to
connect what is being learned to prior knowledge.
Students know mathematics if they have developed
the structures and meanings of the content for
themselves.
 If assessment is going to support good
instructional practice, then assessment and
instruction must be better integrated than is
commonly the case today. Assessment must enable
students to construct new knowledge from what they
know. The best way to provide opportunities for the
construction of mathematical knowledge is through
assessment tasks that resemble learning tasks in that
they promote strategies such as analyzing data,
drawing contrasts, and making connections.
 This can be done, for example, by basing
assessment on a portfolio of work that the student
has done as part of the regular instructional
program, by integrating the use of scoring guides
into instruction so that students will begin to
internalize the standards against which the work
will be evaluated, or by using two-stage testing in
which students have an extended opportunity to
revise their initial responses to an assessment task.
 When the line between assessment and
instruction is blurred, students can engage in
mathematical tasks that not only are meaningful
and contribute to learning, but also yield
information the student, the teacher, and perhaps
others can use. In fact, an outstated goal of reform
efforts in mathematics education is that visitors to
classrooms will be unable to distinguish
instructional activities from assessment activities.
THE EQUITY PRINCIPLE

“Assessment should support every

student's opportunity to learn important
mathematics.”
 The idea that some students can learn
mathematics and others cannot must end;
mathematics is not reserved for the talented few,
but is required of all to live and work in the twenty-
first century. Assessment should be used to
determine what students have learned and what
they still need to learn to use mathematics well. It
should not be used to filter students out of
educational opportunity.
 Designing assessments to enhance equity will
require conscientious rethinking not just of what we
assess and how we do it but also of how different
individuals and groups are affected by assessment
design and procedures. The challenge posed by the
equity principle is to devise tasks with sufficient
flexibility to give students a sense of accomplishment,
to challenge the upper reaches of every student's
mathematical understanding, and to provide a window
on each student's mathematical thinking.
 Equity implies that every student must have an opportunity
to learn the important mathematics that is assessed. Obviously,
students who have experience reflecting on the mathematics
they are learning, presenting and defending their ideas, or
organizing, executing, and reporting on a complex piece of
work will have an advantage when called upon to do so in an
assessment situation. Especially when assessments are used to
make high-stakes decisions on matters such as graduation and
promotion, the equity principle requires that students be
guaranteed certain basic safeguards. Students cannot be
assessed fairly on mathematics content that they have not had
an opportunity to learn.
 Assessments can contribute to students'
opportunities to learn important mathematics only
if they are based on standards that reflect high
expectations for all students. There can be no
equity in assessment as long as excellence is not
demanded of all. If we want excellence, the level of
expectation must be set high enough so that, with
effort and good instruction, every student will learn
important mathematics.
 Assessments can contribute to students'
opportunities to learn important mathematics only
if they are based on standards that reflect high
expectations for all students. There can be no
equity in assessment as long as excellence is not
demanded of all. If we want excellence, the level of
expectation must be set high enough so that, with
effort and good instruction, every student will learn
important mathematics.
 Summary:
Improved assessment can lead to improved
instruction. Assessment can play a key role in
exemplifying the new types of mathematics
learning students must achieve. Assessments can
indicate to students not only what they should learn
but also the criteria that will be used in judging
their performance.
 Assessment can also be a powerful tool for
professional development as teachers work together
to understand new expectations and synchronize
their expectations and grades. Teachers are rich
sources of information about their students. With
training on methods of scoring new assessments,
teachers can become even better judges of student
performance.
The Content Principle, the Learning
Principle, and the Equity Principle
were incorporated into the first three
of the six assessment standards in
Mathematics:
Assessment should reflect the
mathematics that all students need to
know and be able to do. Mathematics
Curriculum Guide provides a vision of
the mathematics that all students should
know and be able to do. Assessment
should match this vision.
Assessment should enhance mathematics
learning. Assessments should be learning
opportunities as well as opportunities for students
to demonstrate what they know and can do.
Although assessment is done for a variety of
reasons, its main goal is to improve students’
learning and inform teachers as they make
instructional decisions. As such, it should be a
routine part of ongoing classroom activity rather
than an interruption.
Assessment should promote equity. Assessment should be
a means of fostering growth toward high expectations rather
than a filter used to deny students the opportunity to learn
important mathematics. In an equitable assessment, each
student has an opportunity to demonstrate her or his
mathematical power; this can only be accomplished by
providing multiple approaches to assessment, adaptations for
bilingual and special education students, and other
adaptations for students with special needs. Assessment is
equitable when students have access to the same
accommodations and modifications that they receive in
instruction.
Assessment should be an open process.
Three aspects of assessment are involved
here. First, information about the assessment
process should be available to those affected
by it, the students. Second, teachers should be
active participants in all phases of the
assessment process. Finally, the assessment
process should open to scrutiny and
modification.
Assessment should promote valid inferences about
mathematics learning. A valid inference is based on
evidence that is adequate and relevant. The amount
and type of evidence that is needed depends upon the
consequences of the inference. For example, a teacher
may judge students’ progress in understanding
integers through informal interviews and use this
information to plan future classroom activities.
However, a large-scale, high-stakes assessment
requires much more evidence and a more formal
analysis of that evidence.
Assessment should be a coherent process.
Three types of coherence are involved in
assessment. First, the phases of assessment
must fit together. Second, the assessment
must match the purpose for which it is being
conducted. Finally, the assessment must be
aligned with the curriculum and with
instruction.
Pre-assessment Questions
Taking assessment is always an integral part of
teaching-learning process that makes “teaching
worth teaching”. A teacher keeps the following
questions in mind before starting a step in
assessment.
1.What is the purpose of assessment?
Basic in the assessment prices is the purpose of conducting it. The
teacher must be clear with the direction and activities in line with
the purpose of determining how far or how less the students have
progressed and what can they may be in the next level of learning.
It may include the purpose of determining how far the instruction
has improved either in the context of certain discipline with the
learners or the whole educational institution, and what steps shall
be adopted to improve the quality of instruction. This includes
identification of purpose, either for comparison of a single or
group performance among others (norm based), or against a set of
criteria (criterion based), or against self (ipsative).
2. What educational objectives shall be the
focus of assessment?
In ensuring of meeting the purpose, the teacher
shall identify and prioritize the instructional
objectives that were covered in the entire period.
This attempt limit the scope of assessment and
the objectivity and validity of assessment is
likely observed.
3. What topics are covered by the learning
objectives?
The teaching-learning process covers a variety
of topics or areas of instruction to carry out the
course objectives. With this, the assessor must
concentrate on the specific areas that were
finished not just covered in the entire period of
assessment. This makes the assessment
instrument valid in content.
4. What part of the entire assessment does each area
cover?
There are many tasks and activities the teacher undertakes
as there are many situations that are necessary for
instruction to allow the students to learn in many different
and unique ways about every specific instructional area. It
is important that a proportionate representation of the
content of each task or topic is properly distributed in the
assessment instrument with respect to time and
educational domains of learning.
5. What kind of data is needed?
In starting the objectives of assessment the
assessor must be definite of the needed data. It is
the determination of whether or not the assessors
needs the quantitative data, qualitative data or a
combination of both to address the purpose of
assessment.
6. How much time or how long will the assessment be?
Time is an important element in the conduct of assessment
not only in its administration but also in scoring,
recording, interpreting and communicating. This requires
the assessor to zero-in on the mean length of time the
learners may be able to finish each item, task or problem
given. The assessment period must not be too long that
may permeate physical and mental fatigue of assessed nor
too short that it does not cover the entire content of the
assessment objectives.
7. When and where will assessment be?
The conduct of assessment must consider not only
the time but also the day and place vis-à-vis test
readiness of those to be assessed. Considering that
taking assessment requires both the physiological
and mental preparations, the assessment must be
done in such time and day the learners feel the
comfort or free from classroom and other
environmental disturbances or pollutants.
8. What assessment tools shall be used?
Each of the assessment tools has its specific use and
purpose. Important in designing an assessment program is
the determination of the kind of tool that elicits the
required data that truly address the purpose and surely
represent the assessed individuals or groups. This requires
value judgment on the importance of each kind of
assessment tool from among the array of traditional and
authentic ones.
9. What type of problems, or questions, or tasks shall
be included?
At this point the assessor must identify the kind of
problems and items to be included in assessment. The type
and category of assessment and the placement of each item
or task shall be and utmost consideration to achieve the
purpose. This includes the process of choosing either
paper-pen, oral, performance, portfolio or other tools that
may be appropriate as desired.
10. What material and manpower resources are
necessary and available for assessment?
Knowledge of the available materials and manpower
resources is an important factor to consider for a smooth
and effectively assessment program. A carefully designed
assessment tool only becomes responsive to the purpose
with the sufficiency and availability of the needed
manpower and material resources on time. This includes
the ready for use of equipment and other facilities during
the entire assessment operation.
PURPOSES OF
ASSESSMENT
GENERAL PURPOSE OF
CLASSROOM
ASSESSMENT
1. Assessment for Learning
a. Assessment undergoes two phases- initial or
diagnostic assessment and formative assessment
b. It can be based on variety of information sources
(e.g. portfolios, work in progress, teacher
observation, conversation, etc.)
c. Its verbal or written feedback to the students is
primarily descriptive and emphasizes strengths,
identifies challenges, and points to next steps.
d. Teachers’ check on understanding allows adjusting their
instruction to keep students on track.
e. No grades or scores are given-record keeping of primarily
anecdotal and descriptive.
f. It occurs throughout the learning process, from the outset of
the course of the study to the time of summative assessment.
g. Assessment for learning (Afl) involves using assessment in the
classroom to raise pupils’ achievement. It is based on the idea
that pupils will improve most if they understand the aim of their
learning, where they are in relation to this aim and how they can
achieve the aim (close the gap in their knowledge)
h. Effective assessment for learning happens all the time in the
classroom. It involves:
a. Sharing learning goals with students
b. Helping students aware of the learning outcomes aimed for
c. Providing feedback that helps students find means to improve
learning
d. Providing feedback helps students find means to improve
learning.
e. Believing that every student has the capacity to learn better than
before.
f. Both the teacher and students cooperating to enhance learning
g. Students making unique ways for self-assessment and
improvement
2. Assessment as Learning
a. Assessment begins as students become aware of the goals of
instruction and the criteria for performance.
b. It involves goal-setting, monitoring progress, and reflecting on
results.
c. It implies student ownership and responsibility for moving or
thinking forward (metacognition - knowledge of one’s own
thought processes).
d. AaL emerges from the idea that learning is not just a matter of
transferring ideas from someone who is knowledgeable to
someone who is not, but mainly an active process of cognitive
restructuring that occurs when individuals interact with new ideas.
e. AaL is based on research about how learning happens,
and is characterized by students reflecting on their own
learning and making adjustments so that they achieve
deeper understanding.
f. It occurs throughout the learning process.
g. It provides learning by both the teacher and students.
h. Teachers engage in AaL by helping students develop
their capacity to be independent, autonomous learners who
are able to set individual goals, monitor their own
progress, determine next steps, and reflect on their
thinking and learning.
i. There are some instruments in the implementation of AaL that
teachers can utilize to help students, such as: presentations,
conferences, essays, demonstrations, interviews, observations,
quizzes, tests, and examinations. When applying these
instruments, teachers perform an observation to obtain
information about what students already known and what they
have not known.
j. Teachers can also find information about students
understanding through various instruction activities, namely
comments, explanations, questions, answers, and other students’

activities in the classroom.

3. Assessment of Learning
a. An assessment is accompanied by a number or letter grade
(summative).
b. It compares one student’s achievement with standards
c. It compares can be communicated to the student and parent.
d. AoL is used in recording and reporting material has been
learned.
e. The purpose of AoL is to measure, certify, and report the
level of students’ learning, so that reasonable decisions on
students’ achievement can be made
f. It occurs at the end of the learning unit.
Complete the table.
General Purpose of Classroom Assessment
Assessment of Assessment for Assessment as
Learning Learning Learning
Why am I assessing?

What I am assessing?

What assessment
method should I use?
(2)
Read the article entitled “A Vignette of Assessment in
Action” and write a reflection (300 words).