What Teachers Need to Know about Assessment

Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 1998

The techniques of constructing tests is the central focus of this book. Conventional assessment items such as multiple choice (Chapter 4), short answer and essay format questions (Chapter 5) are compared and contrasted. Extensive examples are included throughout the text to indicate how to implement the various test items. The advantages and disadvantages of each item type is examined. This book is designed to be a practical guide to test planning and construction and the interpretation of test results. It also provides educators with important fundamental information about assessment and measurement. While in one chapter (Chapter 2) it gives clear and precise advice on the technical aspects of measurement, including descriptive statistics, standard scores, reliability and validity, other chapters consider test planning (Chapter 3), grading techniques (Chapter 7), standardized testing (Chapter 8), and the ethics of student assessment (Chapter 9).

1984

/11(4, This document has been reproduced as receivnd from the person or organization ongenating it Minor changes havn been made to improve wermfumononatity Points of view or opinions stated in %is document do not necsserity represent official NIE pos.t.un 0. pill. V Table of Contents /2.192.

It's not a stretch to say that assessment is a hot button issue in education; however, you'd be hard pressed to find an educator who doesn't see the value in measuring student progress.

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.

1989

The questicn of whether tests can be both curriculum-neutral and effectivt means of monitoring and motivating educational practice is discussed. Educational reform and testing are intimately linked, as tests are wAely viewed as a means of educational improvement. Tests/assessments influence educator behavirx" by stimulating them to assure that their students perform well. Tests/assessments used for public accountability or program evaluation purposes affect the curriculum. A new vision of education-a thinking-oriented curriculum (TC) for all students-is considered, in which edu:ation focuses on higher-order abilities, problem solving and thinking, and the ability to go beyond the routine and exercise personal judgment. Current tests that are inimical to a TC are discussed. To assess the extent to which decomposition and decontextualization-two key assumptions underlying standardized testing-permeate today's achievement tests, reading comprehension, language, and mathematics test batteries that are widely used in educational assessment are analyzed. Standardized tests fare badly when judged against the criterion of assessing and promoting a TC, They embody a view of education that defines knowledge and skill as a collection of bits of information and they demand fast non-reflective replies. Alternative performance assessments for a TC, including open-ended writing examinations (essays) and portfolio assessments, help release educators from the pressure toward fractionated low-levP1 forms of learning that are rewarded by most current tests, and they also set positive standards for an educational system that strives to cultivate thinking. Tied to curriculum and designed to be taught to, performance assessments can be essential tools for raising authentic educational achievement. A 25-item list of references is included. (RLC)

2004

Testing and particularly standardized tests are increasingly identified as sources of a host of ills that afflict contemporary education. The ills have been widely catalogued and discussed (Kohn, 2000; Sacks, 1999). Testing and standardization are not, however, in themselves, the causes of these ills; to think so would be an error and a distraction, because the real problem is far deeper and more widespread. It lies in the noneducational uses of tests, an almost universal, unhealthy practice.

1983

The Center for the Study of Evaluation, of the Graduate School of Education at the University' of California at Los Angeles (CSE) hosted a two day conference on "Paths to Excellence: Testing and Technology" on July 14-15, 1983. Attended by over 100 =educational researchers, \practitioners, and-policymakers, the first day of the conference focused on issues in educational testing; day. two explored the status and future of technology in schools. This docuMent presents the collected papers from the first day of the conference. Presentations focused on CSE's study of teachers' and principals' use of achievement testing in the nation's schools. The study provided ba.sic data about'the nature and frequency of classroom testing, the purposes:for which test results are used-, principals' and teachers' attitudes toward testing, and local contexts supporting the use fof tests (e.g., amount cf staff development, testing resources, leadership support). The findings were presented ate he c,Onference, and presenters were asked to provide thein interpretations of the data and their perspectives on their implications for national, state, and/or local testing policies. One speaker, William Coffman,' was asked to provide context for the conference"by considering the study in the light of the history of research on educational testing. (PN)

1979

The general topic of training needs related to achievementitesting is.addressed. Questions are raised about training as a means for educational improvement; needs specific to the achievement testing area are discussed; and a specific list of questions to be considered in planning training efforts is presented. It is concluded that,using a thematic orientation, perhaps of communication, instruction and testing practices might be reworked so that what happens to students in classrooms occurs as a natural process rather than a series of abrupt and disjoint enterprises. Similarly, it is recommended that training audiences be integrated,' so that all participants can understand the roles of one another and can formulate reasonable expectations for team performance. Such integrating of practices would mitigate against isolated "workshop" type experiences for insular audiences. The challenge is to develop or to share already existing successful training tactics, and to fuse them into a sensible and continuing program for improving the effectiveness of schools. (Author/GK).

International Journal of Research Studies in Education, 2020

This article presents key considerations while constructing, scoring and analyzing test items that serve one of the major requirements of teaching both at the school and university levels. In specific, this article provides major issues to be considered in a full cycle of testing, starting from the preparation of test objectives and specification tables to the step of analyzing the effectiveness of each item, the process commonly called item analysis. Two methodological approaches have been used to prepare this guideline-drawing summary steps of testing by reviewing the literature and contextualizing the process and examples for teacher education programs through a teachers' workshop. The analytical framework for reviewing the testing literature constitutes three components-formal curriculum, classroom testing, and content validity. Considering the testing requirements of learning in a formal educational setting, this article helps faculties and students in all teacher education programs for constructing, administrating and analyzing test items and writing a report in a scientific format.