Large-Scale Student Assessment: Guidelines for Policymakers

Canadian Journal of Education / Revue canadienne de l'éducation, 2006

1994

This fastback reference analyzes contrasting opinions about educational assessment and testing in the light of available evidence. The reform of student assessment is an essential component of the revitalization of American schools. Accountability issues relate to the proliferation of testing and the increasing use of high-stakes tests for policy decisions. A new focus on cognitive psychology has stimulated innovations in assessment practices. While cognitivists may attempt to go beyond behaviorally developed tests, they have yet to produce convincing and practical methods that can be easily used in classrooms. Technological developments are making tests easier to develop, administer, and score, but critical economic and technological barriers must be overcome before technology fulfills its promise in assessment. As the adequacy of current assessments is considered, three areas of debate arise: purposes of assessment, standards of technical quality, and cost. These considerations are equally important in the development of alternative assessments. Alternative assessments promise a great deal yet require sober evaluation. One figure illustrates a developed test item. (Contains 25 references.) (SLD)

2000

The reasons for carrying out educational assessments can be grouped under three broad headings:

Canadian Journal of Education Revue Canadienne De L Education, 2014

Many Canadian provinces provide guidelines for teachers to determine students' final grades by combining a percentage of students' scores from provincial large-scale assessments with their term scores. This practice is thought to hold students accountable by motivating them to put effort into completing the large-scale assessment, thereby generating a more accurate assessment of their ability. This study examined teachers' perceptions of the accountability framework underpinning large-scale assessments-in particular, teachers' beliefs and practices related to using students' provincial assessment scores to determine final grades. Questionnaires were distributed to teachers and follow-up interviews were conducted. Findings revealed that teachers did not entirely endorse the practice of using large-scale assessment results to determine student grades; instead, they appeared to be applying the guidelines while at the same time tweaking students' scores as needed to ensure everyone received a passing grade (i.e., at least 50%) in their course. Further, teachers were drawing from the large-scale assessment instrument to guide their instruction.

2019

In Beyond Testing: 7 Assessments of Students & Schools More Effective Than Standardized Tests (2017), Deborah Meier and Matthew Knoester explore several alternative ways to assess students’ knowledge. The authors make a case that current practices used to assess learning in schools are reduced to a single test score, and argue they should be replaced with more effective methods that gauge what students actually know. Standardized tests are but one way to measure academic success.

In this article, David Conley focuses on how to assess meaningful learning in ways that promote student achievement while simultaneously meeting system accountability needs. The article draws upon research that supports the notion that a major shift in educational assessment is needed in order to encourage and evaluate the kind of learning that enables success in college and careers. Over the next several years, almost every state will either implement the Common Core State Standards or develop an alternative version of their own. The question worth posing is whether educational stakeholders should be satisfied with on- demand tests that measure only a subset of the standards, or will they demand something more like a system of assessments in which multiple measures result in deeper insight into student mastery of complex and cognitive challenging standards? This article presents a vision for a new system of assessments, one designed to support the kinds of ambitious teaching and learning that most parents say they want for their children. The article begins with a brief historical overview, describes where educational assessment appears to be headed in the near term, and then discusses some longer-term possibilities, concluding with a series of recommendations for how policymakers and practitioners can move toward a better model of assessment for teaching and learning.

We are indebted to too many people to list here for enlightening discussions of topics addressed in this paper. We would like to acknowledge Lyle Bachman, Irwin Kirsch, Mary Schedl, and John Norris with regard to issues in language assessment, and, for their comments on an earlier draft, the editor Mark Wilson and two anonymous referees.

Quality Assurance in Education 22(4):303-318, 2014

Purpose – Against a backdrop of high-stakes assessment policies in the USA, this paper explores the challenges, promises and the “state of the art” with regard to designing standardized achievement tests and educational assessment systems that are instructionally useful. Authors deliberate on the consequences of using inappropriately designed tests, and in particular tests that are insensitive to instruction, for teacher and/or school evaluation purposes. Methodology/approach – The method used is a “moderated policy discussion”. The six invited commentaries represent voices of leading education scholars and measurement experts, juxtaposed against views of a prominent leader and nationally recognized teacher from two American education systems. The discussion is moderated with introductory and concluding remarks from the guest editor, and is excerpted from a recent blog published by Education Week. References and author biographies are presented at the end of the article. Findings – In the education assessment profession, there is a promising movement toward more research and development on standardized assessment systems that are instructionally sensitive and useful for classroom teaching. However, the distinctions among different types of tests vis-à-vis their purposes are often unclear to policymakers, educators and other test users, leading to test misuses. The authors underscore issues related to validity, ethics and consequences when inappropriately designed tests are used in high-stakes policy contexts, offering recommendations for the design of instructionally sensitive tests and more comprehensive assessment systems that can serve a broader set of educational evaluation needs. As instructionally informative tests are developed and formalized, their psychometric quality and utility in school and teacher evaluation models must also be evaluated. Originality/value – Featuring perspectives of scholars, measurement experts and educators “on the ground”, this article presents an open and balanced exchange of technical, applied and policy issues surrounding “instructionally sensitive” test design and use, along with other types of assessments needed to create comprehensive educational evaluation systems.

Education Policy Analysis Archives, 2015

In this article, David Conley focuses on how to assess meaningful learning in ways that promote student achievement while simultaneously meeting system accountability needs. The article draws upon research that supports the notion that a major shift in educational assessment is needed in order to encourage and evaluate the kind of learning that enables success in college and careers. Over the next several years, almost every state will either implement the Common Core State Standards or develop an alternative version of their own. The question worth posing is whether educational stakeholders should be satisfied with on- demand tests that measure only a subset of the standards, or will they demand something more like a system of assessments in which multiple measures result in deeper insight into student mastery of complex and cognitive challenging standards? This article presents a vision for a new system of assessments, one designed to support the kinds of ambitious teaching and le...

World Bank, 2011

The purpose of this paper is to help countries understand some of the key principles and characteristics of an effective student assessment system. The focus is on assessment of student learning and achievement at the K-12 level. 1 The paper extracts principles and guidelines from countries' experiences, professional testing standards, and the current research base to provide policy makers, development organization staff, and others with a framework and key indicators for diagnosis, discussion, and consensus-building around how to construct a sound student assessment system that supports improved quality and student learning.