Chapter 12 Flashcards
Assessment
The process of observing a sample of students’ behaviour and drawing inferences about their knowledge and abilities
Informal assessment
Assessment that results from teachers’ spontaneous day-to-day observations of how students behave and perform in class
Formal assessment
A systematic attempt to determine what students have learned. It is typically planned in advance and used for a specific purpose
Paper-pencil assessment
Assessment in which students provide written responses to written items (ex. test/exam)
Performance assessment
Assessment in which students demonstrate their knowledge and skills in a non-written fashion (ex. oral presentation)
Traditional assessment
Assessment that focuses on measuring basic knowledge and skills in relative isolation from tasks more typical of the outside world (ex. tests/quizzes)
Authentic assessment
Assessment of students’ knowledge and skills in an authentic, “real-life” context that is an integral part of instruction rather than a separate activity
Standardized test
A test developed by test construction experts and published for use in many different schools and classrooms
Teacher-developed assessment instrument
An assessment tool developed by an individual teacher for use in their own classroom
Formative evaluation
An evaluation conducted during instruction to facilitate students’ learning
Summative evaluation
An evaluation conducted after instruction is completed and used to assess students’ final achievement
How do assessments in the classroom promote learning?
- help to motivate students to learn the material
- mechanisms for review
- Influences on cognitive processing
- learning experiences
- provides feedback
RSVP characteristics
Reliability
Standardization
Validity
Practicality
Reliability
The extent to which an assessment instrument yields consistent information about the knowledge, skills or abilities one is trying to measure
What are some factors that affect reliability?
- day-to-day changes in students
- variations in the physical environment
- variations in administration of assessment
- characteristics of the assessment instrument
- subjectivity in scoring
Test-re-test reliability
The degree to which the instrument yields similar information over a short time interval
Scorer reliability
The degree to which different experts are likely to agree in their assessment of complex behaviours
Internal consistency reliability
The extent to which different parts of the instrument are all measuring the same characteristic
Reliability coefficient
A numerical index of an assessment tool’s reliability-ranges from 0-1, with higher numbers indicating higher reliability (also known as a correlation coefficient)
Standard error of measurement
A statistic estimating the amount of error likely to be present in a particular score on a test or other assessment instrument
Confidence interval
A range around an assessment score reflecting the amount of error likely to be affecting the scores accuracy
Standardization
The extent to which assessment instruments and procedures involve similar content and format and are administered and scored in the same way for everyone (increases reliability)
Validity
The extent to which an assessment instrument actually measures what it is intended to measure
Content validity
The extent to which an assessment includes a representative sample of tasks within the content domain being assessed
Table of specifications
A two-way grid that indicates both the topics to be covered in an assessment and the things that students should be able to do with each topic
Predictive validity
The extent to which the results of an assessment predict future performance
Validity coefficient
A numerical index of an assessment tool’s predictive validity; ranges from 0-1, with higher numbers indicating more accurate predictions
Construct validity
The extent to which an assessment accurately measures an unobservable educational or psychological characteristic
Practicality
The extent to which an assessment instrument or procedure is inexpensive and easy to use and takes only a small amount of time to administer and score
Criterion-referenced score
A test score that specifically indicates what students know and can do
Norm-referenced score
A score that indicates how a student’s performance on an assessment compares with the average performance of other students
Norms
As related to socialization, society’s rules for acceptable and unacceptable practice. As related to testing practice, data regarding the typical performance of various groups of students on a standardized test or other norm-referenced assessment
Mean
The average of a set of scores which is calculated by adding all the scores and dividing by the total number of people who have obtained those scores
Standard deviation
A statistic that reflects how close together or far apart a set of scores are, indicating the validity of the scores
Normal distribution
A theoretical pattern of educational and psychological characteristics in which most individuals lie somewhere in the middle range and few at either extremes
Percentile rank
A test score that indicates the percentage of people in the norm group getting a raw score less than or equal to a particular student’s raw score
Standard score
A test score that indicates how far a student’s performance is from the mean with respect to standard deviation units
Confidence interval
Error of an assessment score accuracy (related to “percentile” calculation)
Grade equivalent score
A test score that indicates that grade level of students to whom a student’s test performance is most similar
Age equivalent score
A test score that indicates the age level of students to whom a student’s test performance is most similar
High-stakes testing
Where a single test, exam or assignment will singularly determine the interpretation of student performance (ex. EQAO testing)
Achievement tests
To assess how much students have learned from what they have specifically been taught
Ability tests
A test designed to assess one’s general capacity to learn; typically used to predict students’ success in future learning situations (ex. IQ tests)
Specific aptitude tests
A test designed to predict students’ ability to learn in a particular content domain
IQ scores
A score on an intelligence test, determined by comparing one’s performance on the test with the performance of others in the same age group; for most tests, it is a standard score with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15
Stanine
A standard score with a mean of 5 and a standard deviation of 2; it is always reported as a whole number
z score
A standard score with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1
T-score
A standard score with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10
Test anxiety
Excessive anxiety about a particular test of about assessment in general
Cultural bias
The extent to which the items or tasks of an assessment instrument either offend or unfairly penalize students because of their ethnicity, sex or socioeconomic status
Testwiseness
Test-taking know-how that enhances test performance (knowing how to study effectively, using time efficiently, deductive reasoning etc.)
How can we accommodate students with special needs on classroom assessments?
- modify the presentation format
- modify the response format
- modify the timing
- modifying the assessment setting
- administering part but not all of an instrument
- using different assessment instruments to be more compatible with students’ ability levels and needs
Halo effect
A phenomenon where people are more likely to perceive positive behaviours in a person they like or admire
Horns effect
Expecting inappropriate behaviour from a student with a history of misbehaviour
Recognition task
A memory task in which one must identify correct information among irrelevant information or incorrect statements (ex. multiple choice, true/false questions, matching etc.)
Recall task
A memory task in which one must retrieve information in its entirety from long-term memory (ex. essays, word problems)
Products vs. processes
You can look at tangible products that students have created or at the specific processes and behaviours that students exhibit (ex. oral presentation, playing an instrument etc.)
Individual vs. group performance
Teachers may consider individual students’ behaviours and achievements or instead, the entire groups accomplishment
Restricted vs. extended performance
Short performance tasks and performance that is exhibited over days and weeks
Static vs. dynamic assessment
Static indicators focus on identifying students’ existing abilities and achievements while dynamic assessment indicates what students are likely to be able to accomplish with appropriate structure and guidance
Checklist
An assessment tool with which a teacher evaluates student performance by indicating whether specific behaviours or qualities are absent or present
Rating scale
An assessment tool with which a teacher evaluates student performance by rating aspects of the performance on one or more continua
Analytic scoring
Scoring students’ performance on an assessment by evaluating various aspects of their performance separately
-useful in conducting formative evaluations and promoting students’ learning (use checklists/rating scales)
Holistic scoring
Summarizing students’ performance on an assessment with a single score
-often used in summative evaluations
Item analysis
An analysis of students’ responses to the individual items of an assessment instrument; used to identify possibly flawed items
Item difficulty
The proportion of students getting a particular assessment item correct (indicates difficulty level of each item)
Item discrimination
The relative proportion of high-scoring and low-scoring students getting a particular item correct
