DEFINITION OF IMPORTANT TERMS
Assessment:
This is a general term that may refer to a variety of activities and purposes, such as measuring progress, estimating certain qualities in a program, or judging the worth of an activity.
Educational Assessment: the process of observing learning.
•It includes describing, collecting, recording, scoring and interpreting information about a student’s learning. It is an episode in the learning process.
•It is a formal attempt to determine students’ status with respect to educational variables of interest. It certainly includes traditional paper-and-pencil tests, but also covers many other kinds of procedures.
Classroom Assessment:
an assessment developed, administered, and scored by a teacher (or set of teachers), with the purpose of evaluating the performance of an individual or a group of students.
Measurement:
The process of quantifying the characteristics of persons according to
explicit procedures and rules.
• To measure means to assess by reference to a publicly agreed numerical scale or set of rules.
• Quantification involves the assignment of numbers to observed behavior. This differs from the assignment of non-numerical categories or ranking (e.g., assigning labels such as Excellent, Very Good, etc.).
Evaluation:
The systematic gathering of information for the purpose of making decisions.
• This refers to the systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to promote the improvement of a curriculum and
analyze its effectiveness within the context of a particular institution or educational system.
• It includes the process of judging the value or amount of something by use of a standard of appraisal. It may take the form of judgments, in terms of internal evidence or external criteria.
Test:
A group of questions or tasks to which a student responds, the purpose being
to produce a quantitative representation of the pupil’s trait that the test
is designed to measure.
• It is a procedure designed to elicit certain behaviors from which one can make inferences about certain characteristics of an individual.
• Test scores in themselves are not evaluative; it is only when the results of tests are used as a basis for making a decision that evaluation is involved.
• Tests are one important source of information on student learning, among several other potential sources.
ACTIVITY
Based on these definitions, it is clear that there is a degree of overlap among these terms. Look at the circles below and think of the relationship among these terms. Then write the name of each term in the appropriate circle.
TEACHER COMPETENCIES IN EDUCATIONAL ASSESMENT
Using this standard document as a basis for training provides an integrated structure that includes all aspects of assessment for language education professionals.
The competencies included in these standards cover the following three areas:
• Area 1: Instructional decision-making
• Area 2: Use of assessment results in various contexts
• Area 3: Fairness and ethical standards in educational assessment
To reach an adequate level of competency, teachers should be skilled in:
Area l . A Choosing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions.
• Teachers will be able to use the concepts of assessment error and validity when developing or selecting their approaches to classroom assessment of students.
• They will understand how valid assessment data can support instructional activities such as providing appropriate feedback to students, diagnosing group and individual learning needs, planning for individualized educational programs, motivating students, and evaluating instructional procedures.
• They will understand how invalid information can affect instructional decisions about students.
• They will also be able to use and evaluate assessment options available to them, considering among other things, the cultural, social, economic, and language backgrounds of the students.
• They will be aware that different assessment approaches can be incompatible with certain instructional goals and may impact quite differently on their teaching.
• For each assessment approach they use, teachers will know its appropriateness for making decisions about their pupils.
• Moreover, teachers will know of where to find information about and/or reviews of various assessment methods.
• Assessment options are diverse and include text- and curriculum-embedded questions and tests, standardized criterion-referenced and nom-referenced tests, oral questioning, spontaneous and structured performance assessments, portfolios, exhibitions, demonstrations, rating scales, writing samples, paper-and-pencil tests, seatwork and homework, peer- and self-assessments, student records, observations, questionnaires, interviews, projects, products, and others’ opinions.
Areas 1 .B Developing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions.
• Teachers will be skilled in planning the collection of information that facilitates the decisions they will make.
• They will know and follow appropriate principles for developing and using assessment methods in their teaching, avoiding common pitfalls in student assessment. Such techniques may include several of the options listed under Area l. A. The teacher will select the techniques which are appropriate to the intent of the teachers’ instructions.
• Teachers meeting this standard will also be skilled in using student data to analyze the quality of each assessment technique they use. Since most teachers do not have access to assessment specialists, they must be prepared to do these analyses themselves.
Area 1 .C Administering, scoring and interpreting the results of both externally-produced and teacher-produced assessment methods.
• Teachers will be skilled in interpreting informal and formal teacher-produced assessment results, including pupils’ performances in class and on homework assignments.
• Teachers will be able to use guides for scoring essay questions and projects, stencils for scoring response-choice questions, and scales for rating performance assessments. They will be able to use these in ways that produce consistent results.
• Teachers will be able to administer standardized achievement tests and be able to interpret the commonly reported scores: percentile ranks, percentile band scores, standard scores, and grade equivalents.
• They will have a conceptual understanding of the summary indexes commonly reported with assessment results: measures of central tendency, dispersion, relationship, reliability, and errors of measurement.
• Teachers will be able to apply these concepts of score and summary indices in ways that enhance their use of the assessments that they develop.
• They will be able to analyze assessment results to identify pupils’ strengths and errors.
• If they get inconsistent results, they will seek other explanations for the discrepancy or other data to attempt to resolve the uncertainty before arriving at a decision.
• They will be able to use assessment methods in ways that encourage students’ educational development and that do not inappropriately increase students’ anxiety levels.
Area 2.A Developing valid pupil grading procedures which use pupil assessments.
• Teachers will be able to devise, implement, and explain a procedure for developing grades composed of marks from various assignments, projects, in-class activities, quizzes, tests, and/or other assessments that they may use.
• Teachers will understand and be able to articulate why the grade they assign are rational, justified, and fair, acknowledging that such grades reflect their preferences and judgments.
• Teachers will be able to recognize and to avoid faulty grading procedures such as using grades as punishment.
• They will be able to evaluate and to modify their grading procedures in order to improve the validity of the interpretations made from them about students’ attainments.
Area 2.B Using assessment results when making decisions about individual students and in planning teaching.
• Teachers will be able to use accumulated assessment information to organize a sound instructional plan for facilitating students’ educational development.
• When using assessment results to plan and/or evaluate instruction and curriculum teachers will interpret the results correctly and avoid common misinterpretations, such as basing decisions on scores that lack curriculum validity.
• They will be informed about the results of local, district, governorate, and national assessments and about their appropriate use for pupil, classroom, school, district, governorate, and national educational improvement.
Area 2.C Communicating assessment results to students, parents, other lay audiences, and other educators
• Teachers will understand and be able to give appropriate explanations of how the interpretation of student assessments must be moderated by the student’s socioeconomic, cultural, language, and other background factors.
• Teachers will be able to explain that assessment results do not imply that such background factors limit a student’s ultimate educational development.
• They will be able to communicate to students and to their parents or guardians how they may assess the student’s educational progress.
This is a general term that may refer to a variety of activities and purposes, such as measuring progress, estimating certain qualities in a program, or judging the worth of an activity.
Educational Assessment: the process of observing learning.
•It includes describing, collecting, recording, scoring and interpreting information about a student’s learning. It is an episode in the learning process.
•It is a formal attempt to determine students’ status with respect to educational variables of interest. It certainly includes traditional paper-and-pencil tests, but also covers many other kinds of procedures.
Classroom Assessment:
an assessment developed, administered, and scored by a teacher (or set of teachers), with the purpose of evaluating the performance of an individual or a group of students.
Measurement:
The process of quantifying the characteristics of persons according to
explicit procedures and rules.
• To measure means to assess by reference to a publicly agreed numerical scale or set of rules.
• Quantification involves the assignment of numbers to observed behavior. This differs from the assignment of non-numerical categories or ranking (e.g., assigning labels such as Excellent, Very Good, etc.).
Evaluation:
The systematic gathering of information for the purpose of making decisions.
• This refers to the systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to promote the improvement of a curriculum and
analyze its effectiveness within the context of a particular institution or educational system.
• It includes the process of judging the value or amount of something by use of a standard of appraisal. It may take the form of judgments, in terms of internal evidence or external criteria.
Test:
A group of questions or tasks to which a student responds, the purpose being
to produce a quantitative representation of the pupil’s trait that the test
is designed to measure.
• It is a procedure designed to elicit certain behaviors from which one can make inferences about certain characteristics of an individual.
• Test scores in themselves are not evaluative; it is only when the results of tests are used as a basis for making a decision that evaluation is involved.
• Tests are one important source of information on student learning, among several other potential sources.
ACTIVITY
Based on these definitions, it is clear that there is a degree of overlap among these terms. Look at the circles below and think of the relationship among these terms. Then write the name of each term in the appropriate circle.
TEACHER COMPETENCIES IN EDUCATIONAL ASSESMENT
Using this standard document as a basis for training provides an integrated structure that includes all aspects of assessment for language education professionals.
The competencies included in these standards cover the following three areas:
• Area 1: Instructional decision-making
• Area 2: Use of assessment results in various contexts
• Area 3: Fairness and ethical standards in educational assessment
To reach an adequate level of competency, teachers should be skilled in:
Area l . A Choosing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions.
• Teachers will be able to use the concepts of assessment error and validity when developing or selecting their approaches to classroom assessment of students.
• They will understand how valid assessment data can support instructional activities such as providing appropriate feedback to students, diagnosing group and individual learning needs, planning for individualized educational programs, motivating students, and evaluating instructional procedures.
• They will understand how invalid information can affect instructional decisions about students.
• They will also be able to use and evaluate assessment options available to them, considering among other things, the cultural, social, economic, and language backgrounds of the students.
• They will be aware that different assessment approaches can be incompatible with certain instructional goals and may impact quite differently on their teaching.
• For each assessment approach they use, teachers will know its appropriateness for making decisions about their pupils.
• Moreover, teachers will know of where to find information about and/or reviews of various assessment methods.
• Assessment options are diverse and include text- and curriculum-embedded questions and tests, standardized criterion-referenced and nom-referenced tests, oral questioning, spontaneous and structured performance assessments, portfolios, exhibitions, demonstrations, rating scales, writing samples, paper-and-pencil tests, seatwork and homework, peer- and self-assessments, student records, observations, questionnaires, interviews, projects, products, and others’ opinions.
Areas 1 .B Developing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions.
• Teachers will be skilled in planning the collection of information that facilitates the decisions they will make.
• They will know and follow appropriate principles for developing and using assessment methods in their teaching, avoiding common pitfalls in student assessment. Such techniques may include several of the options listed under Area l. A. The teacher will select the techniques which are appropriate to the intent of the teachers’ instructions.
• Teachers meeting this standard will also be skilled in using student data to analyze the quality of each assessment technique they use. Since most teachers do not have access to assessment specialists, they must be prepared to do these analyses themselves.
Area 1 .C Administering, scoring and interpreting the results of both externally-produced and teacher-produced assessment methods.
• Teachers will be skilled in interpreting informal and formal teacher-produced assessment results, including pupils’ performances in class and on homework assignments.
• Teachers will be able to use guides for scoring essay questions and projects, stencils for scoring response-choice questions, and scales for rating performance assessments. They will be able to use these in ways that produce consistent results.
• Teachers will be able to administer standardized achievement tests and be able to interpret the commonly reported scores: percentile ranks, percentile band scores, standard scores, and grade equivalents.
• They will have a conceptual understanding of the summary indexes commonly reported with assessment results: measures of central tendency, dispersion, relationship, reliability, and errors of measurement.
• Teachers will be able to apply these concepts of score and summary indices in ways that enhance their use of the assessments that they develop.
• They will be able to analyze assessment results to identify pupils’ strengths and errors.
• If they get inconsistent results, they will seek other explanations for the discrepancy or other data to attempt to resolve the uncertainty before arriving at a decision.
• They will be able to use assessment methods in ways that encourage students’ educational development and that do not inappropriately increase students’ anxiety levels.
Area 2.A Developing valid pupil grading procedures which use pupil assessments.
• Teachers will be able to devise, implement, and explain a procedure for developing grades composed of marks from various assignments, projects, in-class activities, quizzes, tests, and/or other assessments that they may use.
• Teachers will understand and be able to articulate why the grade they assign are rational, justified, and fair, acknowledging that such grades reflect their preferences and judgments.
• Teachers will be able to recognize and to avoid faulty grading procedures such as using grades as punishment.
• They will be able to evaluate and to modify their grading procedures in order to improve the validity of the interpretations made from them about students’ attainments.
Area 2.B Using assessment results when making decisions about individual students and in planning teaching.
• Teachers will be able to use accumulated assessment information to organize a sound instructional plan for facilitating students’ educational development.
• When using assessment results to plan and/or evaluate instruction and curriculum teachers will interpret the results correctly and avoid common misinterpretations, such as basing decisions on scores that lack curriculum validity.
• They will be informed about the results of local, district, governorate, and national assessments and about their appropriate use for pupil, classroom, school, district, governorate, and national educational improvement.
Area 2.C Communicating assessment results to students, parents, other lay audiences, and other educators
• Teachers will understand and be able to give appropriate explanations of how the interpretation of student assessments must be moderated by the student’s socioeconomic, cultural, language, and other background factors.
• Teachers will be able to explain that assessment results do not imply that such background factors limit a student’s ultimate educational development.
• They will be able to communicate to students and to their parents or guardians how they may assess the student’s educational progress.
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ردحذفMohamed Sansd