Assessment Midterm

Assessment

A broad and nonrestrictive descriptor for the kinds of monitoring, testing and educational measuring that teachers must do

A formal, systematic attempt to determine students’ status with respect to educational variables of interest (knowledge, skills or dispositions)

Embraces diverse kinds of tests and measurements and should go beyond “paper and pencil tests” 

 

Testing

The process of evaluating or measuring a student’s knowledge and skills through a variety of assessments so that the student’s understanding of the subject can be inferred

Evaluation

The determination of the worth or value of a completed assessment

An appraisal of the worth of an educational program or, in the case of classroom teachers, either the effectiveness of an instructional activity or the competence of the teacher

A systematic process that assesses the quality of an individual student’s performance

Purposes of Assessment 

determine public perceptions of educational effectiveness

included as part of the teacher evaluation process

Clarify teachers’ instructional intentions and improve instructional quality 

Decision-Driven Assessment 

basis for decisions related to both on-going, differentiated instruction and assignment of grades.

decision should be stated in advance of administering the assessment. This helps guarantee that the results will be useful with regards to the intended purpose.

guide the types of items on the assessment. 

The Role of Curricular Aims/Instructional Objectives 

What an assessment is aligned with to measure the extent to which the student has met the intended standard

written in terms of what students can do

Cognitive assessment

measures a student’s intellectual operations; that is, the student’s knowledge and skills of academic content

Affective assessment

measures a student’s attitudes, interests, and values

Psychomotor assessment

measures a student’s large-muscle or small-muscle skills

Content Standards

curricular aims that describe the knowledge or skills that students are expected to know or be able to do; also called academic content standards

Performance Standards

identify the desired levels of proficiency at which content standards are mastered; also called academic achievement standards

The Importance of Clearly Defined Instructional Objectives 

•  Better instruction occurs 

• More efficient and effective learning results 

• Better student assessment occurs 

• Students become more competent for future learning 

Goals

A broad statement about the overall purpose of a lesson or unit

intentionally general and non-specific

describe an array of skills the students should achieve

lead to specific instructional objectives

Daily Instructional Objectives

a statement that specifies in measurable, observable terms what a learner will do as a result of instruction. It describes the intended OUTCOME of instruction

Observable objective

if the action verb in the statement is such that the teacher can directly see the student do the verb 

Criteria for Daily Instructional Objectives: student oriented

focused on what the student is expected to do, rather than what the teacher is going to do

“The student will…”. 

Criteria for Daily Instructional Objectives: Describes an Appropriate Learning Outcome of Instruction

includes what the student will be able to do as a result instruction, not the instructional activity used during instruction

should be something the students can do outside of a formal classroom setting

the verb should be the “main intent”

Criteria for Daily Instructional Objectives: Measurable & Observable

include an action verb and a Level of Proficiency (the degree the behavior must be completed for the student to have met the objective; also called a criterion)  

Criteria for Daily Instructional Objectives: Clearly articulated

includes only one verb and should be stated explicitly in a way such that two people reading the objective would interpret it in the same way, free from ambiguity

Why National and State Content Standards are NOT Daily Instructional Objectives 

•  Not written specific enough to be achieved as a result of one day of instruction 

• Written in terms of what a student should know and be able to do by the end of a grade level  

• Not necessarily observable and measurable 

• Often contain more than one verb 

• Do not include a performance criteria 

• Written broad and ambiguous with a range of possible interpretations 

• Are intended to be decomposed into incremental skills 

Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy for Classifying Instructional Objectives: Knowledge or Remember

Recall facts, methods or processes & basic concepts (Define, List, State) 

Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy for Classifying Instructional Objectives: Comprehension or Understand

Explain ideas or concepts (Classify, Describe, Summarize, Interpret, Infer, Discuss, Explain, Identify)

Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy for Classifying Instructional Objectives: Apply

Use information in new situations (Execute, Implement, Solve, Use, Interpret)

Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy for Classifying Instructional Objectives: Analyze

Draw connections among ideas (Differentiate, Compare, Contract, Distinguish, Examine)

Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy for Classifying Instructional Objectives: Evaluate

Justify a stand or decision (Defend, Judge, Support, Critique)

Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy for Classifying Instructional Objectives: Create

Produce new or original work (Design, Construct, Formulate, Produce)

Constructing Daily Instructional Objectives that are Aligned with National/State Content Standards 

• Select the National or State Content Standard that is to be decomposed into daily instructional objectives 

 

• Identify what students already know that is prerequisite knowledge for the selected standard; the objectives constructed should go beyond what is already known 

 

• List the concepts or topics & subtopics articulated in the Content Standard – these are usually nouns 

 

• List the subskills of the skill(s) stated in the standard or express the verb found in the standard as a collection of action verbs – these are all action verbs the students is expected to do, at varying levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy 

 

• Construct a logically-sequenced set of daily instructional objectives that follow the criteria for writing instructional objectives and that include one concept and one subskill in each instructional objective 

Formal

Any assessment that results in a score, whether numerical or some other indicator that the assessment has been evaluated in some way (i.e., “U” or “S” Unacceptable or Satisfactory)

any assessment that is “graded”

Informal

Any assessment used strictly for monitoring behaviors, noting details which are used for instructional decisions and to monitor student progress; usually on-going (teachers are constantly observing)

any assessment that is not “graded”

Formative

Assessments administered to students ‘midstream’ in their progress toward meeting an objective to see how well both the students and the teacher are doing

Can be either Formal or Informal

Summative

Assessments administered to students at the end of a unit of instruction or grading period or academic year; used for the teacher/ school/ district/ state to determine how well each student has achieved the content objectives by observation of the student performing the target skill

Always Formal 

Traditional

“Paper and pencil tests

multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, true/false, short answer, essay

Alternative

Any of a variety of assessment techniques used as an alternative to paper and pencil tests

Authentic

Assessments that are worthwhile and relevant to the student’s real life

Assessments that take place in a real-life situation as much as possible

typically are performance-based 

Performance-based

Assessments that are based on observation and evaluation of student created products and/or performances

intended to provide a rich portrait of student learning 

Standardized

Any form of test that requires all test takes to answer the same questions or a selection of questions from a common test bank of questions in the same format which is scored in a standard, consistent manner

typically refers to large-scale tests administered to large populations of students

Norm-referenced

Standardized tests that are designed to compare and rank all those who took the test in relation to one another

results are in terms of performance that is better or worse than the average performance of those who have previously taken the test

Criterion-referenced

Assessments that are designed to measure student performance against a fixed set of predetermined criteria or learning standards/curricular aims

results are in terms of performance that is at or above established expectations; i.e. a certain percentage of correct responses for each standard being assessed 

Accountability

high-stakes, standardized tests that are used to measure student achievement for the purposes of holding teachers, administrators and schools accountable for student learning outcomes

often accompanied by rewards for high student performance and sanctions for low student performance

used to determine how well a school is educating its students

can be linked to resource allocation

Test Blueprints

Typically dimensional tables with one dimension listing the curricular aims being assessed and the other dimension listing the levels of cognitive functioning desired or the number of items (weight) assessing each aim 

Mississippi MAAP Test Blueprints 

Describe the content and structure of an assessment and define the ideal percentage of operational test items by reporting category. 

• Curriculum design, instructional planning, local assessments 

Process of Formative Assessment and Assessment for Learning 

assessment FOR learning during an instructional unit to help students learn 

Assessment for learning should be the dominant form of assessment 

What Formative Assessment is NOT 

• It is not a “test” all by itself and it is not high-stakes tests. 

• It is not a collection of instantaneous, fly by the seat of one’s pants changes in instruction during the moment 

• It is not a set of commercially produced assessments for classroom use 

• It is not quick or easy 

• It is not in constant use – it depends on what is being taught  

Conclusions about Formative Assessment from Research 

• improves learning

• Student gains in learning were “amongst the largest ever reported for educational interventions (Black & Williams, 1998a pg. 61).” 

• nearly certain to work if used consistently by teachers. 

• no negative effects on student learning. 

• strengthens the quality of the teacher’s instruction.  

The Role of Learning Progressions 

A sequenced set of subskills or understandings that a student must master to master the overarching skill or learning objective

an ordered checklist of requisite skills the student must acquire to master the stated learning objective  

A Process for Building a Learning Progression  

• Step 1: Acquire a Thorough Understanding of the Learning Objective Content (or the Target Curricular Aim) 

 

• Step 2: Identify All Necessary and Essential Subskills and Understandings that are Required to Master the Learning Objective (Target Curricular Aim) 

 

• Step 3: Determine the Measurability of Each Subskill Identified in Step 2; that is, Determine how you will collect evidence of the student’s attainment of each subskill 

 

• Step 4: Arrange the Identified Subskills in a Logically-Sequenced Order that Makes Sense for Instruction

Checklists for Formative Assessment  

• Identify the objective of the assessment 

 

• Construct a list of observable components/descriptors that make up the behavior being assessed; include only those behaviors you intend to develop during instruction; To “check off” a skill, you must be able to see it, not infer it 

 

• Arrange the components/descriptors in the order they are likely to appear 

 

 

• Devise a simple “present/absent” marking system; for example, a blank in front of each component for placing a checkmark or a “yes”/“no” to be circled 

Lower-Order Questioning 

allow the teacher to assess thinking and understanding at the Knowledge or Recall and Comprehension Levels of Blooms Taxonomy before assessing higher-levels of thinking 

Higher-Order Thinking Questions 

promote divergent thinking or thinking that results in multiple ideas and aspects in response to a question or problem.  

 Application Questions (HOT)

ask students to apply essential knowledge to new settings and contexts.

For example: How would you illustrate this process in action? What can we generalize from these facts?

Analytical Questions (HOT)

ask students to dissect key information and analyze essential concepts, themes and processes.

For example: How are these characters alike and different? What is an analogy that might represent this situation?

Synthesis Questions (HOT)

require students to formulate a holistic summary of key ideas, make inferences, or create new scenarios.

For example: Based on these facts, what predictions would you make? How might you invent a solution to this ecological problem?

Interpretive Questions (HOT)

require students to formulate opinions in response to ideas presented in a print or non-print (e.g. art work, audio-visual) medium. Students must support their opinions with direct textual evidence.

For example: Why does the photographer emphasize only his subject’s eyes?

Evaluative Questions (HOT)

require students to formulate and justify judgments and criticisms based upon clearly articulated evaluative criteria.

For example: How might you defend that character’s actions? How would you verify that conclusion?

Classroom Strategies for Promoting Higher-Order Thinking 

•  Use the think-pair-share strategy to allow students to respond to questions cooperatively. 

• Avoid predictable question patterns by calling on students randomly and varying the amount of wait time. 

• Ask students to “unpack their thinking” by describing how they arrived at an answer. 

• Promote active listening by asking for summaries of individual and class responses to key questions. 

• Ask students why they hold a particular position or point of view on a subject. 

• Survey the class (e.g., How many of you agree? – Thumbs up, thumbs down,…) 

• Encourage student-constructed questions. 

• Emphasize “why?” and “how?” questions. 

• Use hypothetical thinking: What would happen if…? What if this had happened? 

• Employ reversals: What happens if we reverse the steps? 

• Apply different symbol systems: How can we present these ideas in a visual form? 

• Use analogies: How is this like ______? 

• Analyze points of view: What else might account for this? 

• Employ completion activities: Before we read the conclusion, what ending would you recommend? 

Types of Questions for Reinforcing Students’ Deep Understanding of Concepts and Procedures: Comparison

How are these things alike? How are they different?

Types of Questions for Reinforcing Students’ Deep Understanding of Concepts and Procedures: Classification

Into what groups could you organize these things? What are the rules for membership in each group? What are the defining characteristics of each group?

Types of Questions for Reinforcing Students’ Deep Understanding of Concepts and Procedures: Induction

Based on the following facts (or observations), what can you conclude? Based on this information, what is a likely conclusion?

Types of Questions for Reinforcing Students’ Deep Understanding of Concepts and Procedures: Deduction

Based on the following generalizations (or rules or principles), what predictions can you make or what conclusions can you draw that must be true? If you know that _____________________ has happened, then what do you know will have to occur? What are the conditions that make this conclusion inevitable?

Types of Questions for Reinforcing Students’ Deep Understanding of Concepts and Procedures: Error Analysis

What are the errors in reasoning in the following information? Based on the following calculations, why is this answer incorrect?

Types of Questions for Reinforcing Students’ Deep Understanding of Concepts and Procedures: Constructing Support

What is an argument that would support this claim? What are the limitations of or assumptions underlying this argument? How is this information trying to persuade you?

Types of Questions for Reinforcing Students’ Deep Understanding of Concepts and Procedures: Abstraction

What is the general pattern underlying this information? To what other situations can this general pattern be applied?

Types of Questions for Reinforcing Students’ Deep Understanding of Concepts and Procedures: Analyzing Perspectives

Why would someone consider this to be good (or bad or neutral)? What is the reasoning behind this perspective? What is an alternative perspective and what is the reasoning behind it?