Types of Assessment Tests 1) Develop a chart (matrix) of 1000? 1, 250 words that compares and contrasts the different types of assessments, the characteristics of each, and for what situations each is best suited. It should address the following: a) How is each type of assessment scored? b) Discuss the value and limitations of each test in determining knowledge and skill standards. c) Analyze each instrument for reliability and validity. 2) APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected. ) Submit the assignment to the instructor by the end of Module 3. Ok I am going to lay the paper out as follows, I will give the type of assessment first, and then how it is scored, then its limitations and then reliability. Not sure how many you need to compare so I will give you all that I am aware of and have used in the past. Formative Assessment- This type of assessment assesses students prior to introducing a new concept to see how much background knowledge they actually have on the subject and how much more they will need to learn.
This assessment makes it easier to determine what and what does not work to be eliminated. Anything that works will be included in the lesson to be taught before the real lesson is delivered in order for the students to understand the concept. Students who have extensive background knowledge of the subject and have done a lot of traveling usually score much better on these types of assessments especially in the science and social studies fields. Formative Assessment is scored on a regular testing scale using 0-100% accuracy.
This type of assessment is usually based on the goals that are in need of being accomplished. For example, if an objective states that the children will be able to identify the difference between bodies of water such as a river, lake, and ocean, the test questions should be based on those attributes. Once the investigation is completed, the students can then be taught based on their prior knowledge. It is extremely rare that all students score exceptionally high or unusually low on this kind of assessment in most cases there will be a balance of scores.
As far as being reliable and valid, this type of assessment is a terrific one that gives the teacher the ability to teach in groups or create games and activities based on what the children already know or don’t already know. There is no need in re-teaching a subject to children what they already know, and a demand in building background knowledge for students who do not have it. We used to call this kind of teaching front loading. Summative Assessment- This is probably the most common type of assessment used most often by teachers. This assessment is given after a topic has been introduced and taught in its entirety.
This test will allow the teacher to see whether he or she did a terrific job getting the children to retain the information he has taught. The importance of using this assessment is astonishing. Once this information is gathered a teacher can easily determine if the students achieved what he or she wanted them to. If they did not, an anecdotal note can be made or a graph or chart that will allow the teacher to revisited with those students who failed the test. These types of assessments are your typical spelling tests that allow students an opportunity to review prior to taking the test.
This assessment is highly reliable and the results are valid as long as a student does not copy from another student or fail on purpose. This can be eliminated by splitting the students up or giving the test independently while others are working on other topics. Oral Assessment- This is oral or read aloud. This kind of assessment can be extremely beneficial for special needs students who are not reading to capacity and who may have a hard time with comprehension skills. The only downside to this type of testing is that the students will not always be given this opportunity throughout life.
This kind of assessment can be given at the start of a unit or at the end depending on what information it is the teacher wants to gather. These can also be highly informal and done in a large group setting. If introducing a new topic, start by just asking some real easy questions regarding the topic and then write them down on a large piece of paper. This gives the students a visual aide and allows the teacher to have bases of what information the kids know and what still needs to be addressed. Students on most occasions tend to truly like this assessment because it gives them a chance to speak and be heard.
Some students on the other hand do not actually like it unless they are in a one on one setting with a teacher. Oral Assessment instruments should have an acceptable level of reliability in terms of internal consistency, test and re-test reliability and alternative form reliability. Its content must also have the necessary validity to be a valid assessment instrument, must be predictive and concurrent. Woodcock Johnson Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities Revised. It has good high level tasks for specific drill down areas and strong norms including pediatrics /grade level equivalents but is not normed for ABI or other disease categories.
Woodcock Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities Third Edition It’s comprehensive battery is strong and well normed. Client can pick and choose the subtests. Limitations: This is an expensive test to administer and it is cumbersome to get full picture of client in one hour with this tool. Scores in Oral Fluency Assessment is done through Norm Refereenced. This is determined through a set of scores of many different students. These students are at the same grade level in different racially and economically diverse districts. Percentiles indicate the percentage of students that received scores equal to, or lower than, the raw score.
For example, the raw score at the 50th percentile for 5th-grade students in the fall semester is 105 WCPM. This means 50% of the 5th-grade students during the fall semester scored 105 WCPM or less on their Oral Fluency Assessment. A Student who reads at the 50th percentile of fluency have appropriate reading comprehension of grade-level text. Informal assessment is a straightforward means that teachers use to create feedback about their teaching methodology and activates students’ learning process. It identifies the weakness and strength of one student at a time without due regards to the students age or grade level.
Activities used include measurement, i. e. collecting data about prior knowledge and skills the students already have and judgment of the student’s performance. Informal Assessment provide information for one student only and not for group comparisons within the classroom. These tests comprise matching items such as true-false responses or multiple-choice answers, called selected response tests. Considered objective questions, these tests evaluate a student’s foundational understanding. Short-answer tests all under the auspices of objective tests used for the same reason. Scores for such tests can be summed up accurately and quickly.
The tests do not reveal if the student can apply the knowledge they have acquired over time rather students rely on memorization. Written tests only cover a limited range of skills. Students who are creatively visual or have strong verbal skills may underperform. A student below average could hide below the radar in the classroom environment. The validity of informal assessment should show that the data received from the method used reflects instructional goals and objectives. Validating the use of informal assessment measures must be a clear evidence of curricular expectations in terms of goals and objectives.
Reliability of informal measures is established by making a clear statement of the expected outcome for student performance in the curriculum and the teachers is consistent on the criteria set on those expectations. If the assessment outcome accurately shows students’ progress and accurately recognize the different progress made by students then it is reliable. Scoring: Before beginning any lesson, give the end-of-the-unit test. Students who score 80 percent or better should not be required to “ relearn” content they already know.
Instead, these students should be given task that is challenging. Give them the chance to perform an separate project. The informal assessment is not particularly beneficial when involving the standards and objectives because of the informal nature. If this oral assessment is given for a grade, all of the questions should be based on the standards. This is not all that reliable either because the teacher is aware of whether or not the students understand the information, but as far as the students being able to provide the answers on paper that is to be determined.
If it is in the students IEP to be given an oral assessment then there is more validity to the scores. Running Records: This type of assessment is most valuable as far as seeing how far the students have come from point A to point B. This type of testing is done on a running basis of the teachers choice, this could be weekly, or monthly, and if a child needs extra help could even be assisted everyday although you cannot expect to see much improvement in a just a day. This assessment is done while a child is reading to the teacher and the teacher is taking notes on what words the child gets right.
In most cases, the teacher will also have a copy of what the child is reading and can write on the sheet as needed. If a child gets word right, put a check mark over the work if they cannot pronounce the word. Give them three seconds and then give them hints for sounding it out. Once the student’s record is completed for the week or month it is then filed away and compared to others from the previous months or weeks. These assessments are extremely beneficial when a parent conferencing to show that their child is progressing or not.
Running records is not based on any of the standards initially but can be used to determine if the student has met the required standards. The best way to do this is to compare the records and see if the child is reading at a faster rate and so forth. For example, if last month the child was reading 30 words per minute and this week they are reading 35. The standard may say that the students need to be reading 40 words per minute at year’s end. You now know that the student needs to progress 5 more words to meet the standard.
SCORING: While listening to the direct reading or recording of your student, indicate mistakes by clicking the text book and selecting the types of errors made. The following scoring methods should be used. Error Rates: Total Words /Total Errors; Self Correction Rate: Total Errors + Total Self Corrections) / Total Self Corrections; Accuracy Rate: total words – total errors / total words * 100; Words Per Minutes: 60 / (recording time) * total words and Words Correct per Minutes: 60 / (recording time) * total words correct. http://www. az-kids. com/main/ViewPage/name/RunningRecordInfo/context/teachercorner These assessments are highly valid if kept organized and done on the scheduled dates due to the fact that you have previous data to compare. This information is also often used when determining if a child has a learning disability or even gifted. Be sure the information is correct and up to date because it could be used at any time. Standardized Assessment- This is the type of assessment is state required and is related to the no child left behind act.
Many professionals will complain about the authenticity of being able to know if a child is succeeding or not. This is in most cases a written exam that uses a bubble sheet for answering. The teacher will stand in front of the room and read the questions for the younger students and the students will read to themselves if they are older. There is a time limit set and once the time limit is up, students are required to turn in the test for scoring. These tests can be unusually intense for students because of the idea that they could be retained based on the results.
Standardized testing is composed of multiple-choice, true-false, essay questions and authentic assessments. Multiple-choice and true or false items are frequently used to scoring because they cheap and quick to manage by using Scranton answer sheets. The assessment uses some short essay writing sections or short questions that require short answers. The test are assigned to an private evaluators who use rubrics and benchmark papers to determine the grade to be given to a response.
Standardize assessment is used in classroom assessment to guide and evaluate learning; (2) used to identify students for special programs; (3) for evaluating programs and monitoring trends; and (4) high-stakes assessment of achievement to hold individual students, teachers, and schools accountable. These kinds of tests are aligned perfectly with the standards that need to be met and are used to determine if the child met their yearly goals. There is a lot of controversy as to their validity because of the fact that so much pressure is put on the children to pass these tests.
In some cases a student will score a perfect score and one can almost assume that this child knows the information and can go on to the next grade. The controversy comes from the students who do not pass the tests. There are many factors that can lead to a student not doing as well as they could have, stress, not enough sleep, and the environment that the test is given in. Alternative Assessment- This type is used for students who are completing a project at home or giving some kind of presentation. These are scored using some kind of rubric. For the most accurate results, the same rubric must be used for each student.
Alternative assessment emphasizes student’s strengths instead of their weaknesses. They are created and formulated differently from traditional tests and are graded differently. It is performance based. The strategy work well in learner-centered classrooms. It is based on the assumption that students can evaluate their own learning and learn from the evaluation process as well. These methods allow students opportunities to reflect on both their linguistic development and their learning processes, that is, what helps them understand and what will help them better learners.
Therefore alternative assessment gives teachers a way to connect the test with a review of learning strategies. Teaching to the test risk factor, the incentives that generate to fraud or overstate the results of the tests, the lack of understanding of the diversity, social and economic differences of the students who are being evaluated. Standardized Assessments: Six Critical Reflections … (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://epaa. asu. edu/ojs/article/view/751. Professional Practice (English Teaching and … (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://professionalprac. logspot. com/. The rubric is what will be based on the standards in this case. If the entire grade level is doing some type of project that requires alternative assessment such as a power point presentation, essay, project, or portfolio. The entire grade level should use the same rubric. This validity is also difficult to judge because of the terms of the project. If a shy student is asked to give a speech or read an essay in front of the entire class to be graded on, he or she may fail miserably even if they know the information.
If a child who comes from a lousy home is asked to do a project and create an Indian mound of some sort, he or she may not have the materials or assistance needed to create a quality project. References: Arizona Department of Education/Standards and Assessment Division. (2008). Arizona academic standards. http://www. ade. state. az. us/standards/contentstandards. asp b) Illlinois State Board of Education. (n. d. ). English language proficiency standards. http://www. isbe. state. il. us/bilingual/htmls/elp_standards. htm I hope this helps!! The contents of the attached solution document are copied and pasted here for you.
This text box does not show italics and other APA formatting, and the attachment does. Thank you for using BrainMass! To approach responding to this assignment, first review both of the supplied Web sites, which compare Arizona’s state teaching standards and Illinois’ state standards relating to English language proficiency. The points specified in the essay that you will eventually write are what you are looking for: how can those standards (both sites) be used to differentiate instruction, how can data be used to drive instruction and how do the standards provide for high expectations and differentiation?
Second, review terms to be sure you understand the assignment. Differentiation is adjusting the instruction to meet the varied cognitive (mental processing level) needs of the various learners in the class, and although the word may be new, the concept is not. It is something good teachers have always done. Good teachers have always recognized that some students excel, and need additional activities in depth (acceleration), and some students lag behind, and need additional activities (remediation) to catch up. This is nothing new. a) Arizona Department of Education/Standards and Assessment Division. 2008). Arizona academic standards. http://www. ade. state. az. us/standards/contentstandards. asp b) Illlinois State Board of Education. (n. d. ). English language proficiency standards. http://www. isbe. state. il. us/bilingual/htmls/elp_standards. htm Visit the Web sites and electronic resources listed above, ii) Examine the format and alignment of the ELL proficiency standards. iii) Examine the alignment with the language arts standards (reading and writing). iv) Write an essay addressing the historical and political incentives for standards-based instruction. 1) How can the Arizona or TESOL English learner standards be used as a guide for differentiating instruction for various levels of ELLs? (2) How can data from various sources relating to the learners’ progress be used as a tool to drive the standards-based instruction? (3) How do the varieties of standards available to teachers provide a focus on high expectations and the motivation needed to tailor instruction to meet the needs of the learner? v) Use standard essay format in APA style, including an introduction, conclusion, and title page.
An abstract is required. Third, review APA formatting protocol standards. There are several excellent Web sites which can help with this, and, of course, if Education will be your major, you might want to even purchase the APA Manual to help guide your work. It is not dreadfully expensive, and Amazon. com (and other book-selling sites) often have the 6th edition in used format for even less cost. Search the Web using the term APA formatting to find sites. One that I like is found at: http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/560/01/. This s only one good site among many. APA specifies a title page format, but many colleges and universities specify a title page to suit their needs. Follow your class requirements for the title page, even if it is not strictly APA, and edit the suggested title page if your school specifies something different. To write an abstract, check out several references in the ERIC database. Those have abstracts you can look at to see how they are done. Next, your instructions tell you to write an essay on the historical and political incentives for standards-based education.
The philosophies of education which demand a return to the basics of a classical education are called Essentialists. Their philosophical camp believes that there are essential things that educated people should know. Being able to demonstrate knowledge of these essential things is the foundational principle of standards-based education, and the federal legislation No Child Left Behind. This information reference comes from: Gutek, G. L. (2004). Philosophical and ideological voices in education. Pearson Education, Inc: Boston, MA.
All that is left in the essay now is to address the three elements the instructions state should be in the essay (1, 2 and 3). If you have not written many essays, creating an outline will be the best way to be sure you stay on track and that your essay is logically organized. With practice, you will only need to create an outline when you are instructed to do so to prove that you know how. However, this essay already specifies what you should address in the assignment instructions, so we will skip this particular step.
Once the essay is written, you must proofread it to catch and correct errors in grammar, capitalization and punctuation (especially commas), formatting and diction (word choice). Use some big words to prove that you do know some. Use spell check if you have it – it won’t catch every error, but it does help. Use a thesaurus to vary your word choices. A model sample essay is composed for you below. This example suggests some ideas that you might want to incorporate into your essay. Take note of word
