assesment

Question 1

evaluation

Answer 1

• judgement about student performance, teaching methods, activities, learning outcomes

Question 2

assessment

Answer 2

• gathering information about performance
• from informal observation to formal standardized testing

Question 3

bias

Answer 3

• does the assessment advantage some students and disadvantage others?
• unfair penalization: disadvantaged due to lack of culturally bound knowledge, access to resources, SES, gender, stereotypes
• offensiveness: content elicits negative emotional reaction (eg, anger, anxiety) that interferes with performance

Question 4

culture free vs culture fair

Answer 4

• initial attempts to teach culture-free, FAILURE/impossible, everything we do is within sociocultural context
• shift to culture fair, being aware of sociocultural context

Question 5

standardized tests
norm references tests

Answer 5

• scores compared to the performance of other test takers (the norm group)
• norm group can be past test takers/data base or students in the same class
• predetermined grade distribution, marks adjusted to fit the distribution, different methods of curving
• competition, fairness, stress, accurate measure?

Question 5

standardized tests
criterion referenced tests

Answer 5

• performance compared to set criterion
• commonly used to test for whether or not a certain skill can be demonstrated
• competence = progression to next level
• not used in all content areas
• criterion can be arbitrary, what is set to be acceptable performance?

Question 6

standardized test results reported as
percentile rank

Answer 6

• percentage of sample whose score is at or below the level they are

Question 7

standardized test results reported as
standard scores

Answer 7

• score transformed to a standard distribution, mean, standard deviation, mode etc

Question 8

standardized test results reported as
grade equivalent score

Answer 8

• normed against comparison sample
• eg what grade level is that score typical of
• least used often misinterpreted by students and their families,
• eg grade 4 reading at grade 6 level, don’t give them grade 6 work, they are reading grade appropriate material in a more advanced way

Question 9

standardized tests
achievement tests

Answer 9

• assess how much students have learned in a content area
• usually criterion referenced, standardized tests

Question 10

educational quality and accountability office (EQAO)

Answer 10

• development, norming, administrating, reporting of standardized (achievement) tests in ontario
• grade 3,6,9 writing and math
• ontario secondary school literacy test (OSSLT), grade 10

Question 11

standardized tests
aptitude tests

Answer 11

• used to predict future performance
• typically norm referenced

Question 12

standardized tests
psychoeducational tests

Answer 12

• diagnostic, testing for exceptionalities (eg giftedness)
• multiple tests/sessions, duration unpredictable, resource-intensive, get progressively more challenging test ends when they get a certain amount wrong
• extensive report

Question 13

issues in standardized testing
accountability

Answer 13

• is public accountability a good enough reason for testing students?

Question 14

issues in standardized testing
discrepancies

Answer 14

• discrepancies between school grade (year long, multiple measurements/whole curriculum) vs standardized test score (single time limited event)
• standardized tests usually only test bloom’s lower level abilities, solitary with no resources and tools, high stakes/performance issues
• which one is a more accurate assessment of achievement?

Question 15

issues in standardized testing
emotional impact on students

Answer 15

• if importance is emphasized, is the additional stress appropriate?
• if importance is minimized, will the results be valid?

Question 16

issues in standardized testing
publication of test results by school and board

Answer 16

• public test results by school and school board/area, if small class results for individual teachers are published
• reputation of school, principal, teacher
• impact on at risk students
• will it/should it impact your future?

Question 17

issues in standardized testing
coaching and test taking skills

Answer 17

• teaching to the test, focus on basic skills instead of critical thinking and problem solving

Question 18

objective tests
multiple choice tests

Answer 18

• well-constructed should be able to test higher-level objective (analyzing)
• good multiple choice questions = clear answer if they know the material, hard if material unknown (equivalent sounding correct answers and distractors), patterns

Question 19

short answer vs essay tests

Answer 19

• phrase up to a paragraph vs multiple paragraphs
• students generate answer
• meets higher-level learning objectives
• more difficult (recall vs recognition)
• importance of clear instructions
• less work to compose than a multiple choice test but longer to mark

Question 20

criticisms of short answer and essay tests

Answer 20

• more difficult to score, what is part of scoring? (neatness, grammar, spelling? etc)
• subjectivity in scoring
• long time to mark
• expectations of teachers/family on students
• fatigue, eg. last one teacher marks
• impact of previous paper marked
• unanticipated answers
• potential inequality, resource availability differs across students

Question 21

avoid subjectivity in short answer and essay tests

Answer 21

• strict marking scheme, all question 1, all question 2 etc
• not marking papers always in the same order, randomized
• unusually good/bad answer = take a break
• aware of halo effect

Question 22

halo effect

Answer 22

• general impression of student influences grade

Question 23

alternative methods of testing
authentic tests

Answer 23

• test skills applied in a complex real-life situation, typically performance in context
• no single correct solution, many options
• often public/audience
• requires preparation
• real situation/simulation, not arbitrary
• usually criterion-referenced

Question 24

agreement needed between

Answer 24

- method of teaching and method of assessment - otherwise expect poor results

Question 25

alternative methods of testing authentic tests: performance

Answer 25

- demonstrate ability in a real world situation - may not be public, may be group or individual - eg. writing a letter to a real/fake person

Question 26

alternative methods of testing authentic tests: portfolio

Answer 26

- collection of student's work assessed for effort, growth, achievement, self-reflection - history of student's work across time

Question 27

alternative methods of testing authentic tests: exhibition

Answer 27

- public demonstration of ability requiring extensive preparation

Question 28

alternative methods of testing authentic tests scoring

Answer 28

- scored using checklists (yes or no if behaviour shown), rating scales/scoring rubrics (eg 1-5 instead of yes no), - well-defined criteria essential, otherwise subjective

Question 29

classroom assessment formative assesment

Answer 29

- before/during instruction - guides teaching

Question 30

classroom assessment curriculum based assessment (CBA)/ data-based instruction

Answer 30

- formative assessment - continuous real time feedback to adjust instruction as needed - frequent, brief, specific - shows current performance

Question 31

classroom assessment summative assessment

Answer 31

- assess achievement at the end of instruction period

Question 32

summative assessment behaviour content matrix

Answer 32

- table that lists behaviours/skills as columns, key curriculum areas as rows - helps plan assessment, ensure validity - evaluate agreement between learning outcomes and assessment

Question 33

tests criticisms

Answer 33

if own test - many formats, no ideal test, different for every student - well designed to match learning outcomes - real world constraints, time, difficulty level, expectations, school policies, resources, exceptional student needs

Question 34

objective tests

Answer 34

- no subjectivity in scoring - difficult to compose - straightforward scoring - multiple analyses

Question 35

objective tests: analyses of test scores difficulty index/rating - 0-1, 0=very hard, 1= very easy

Answer 35

- proportion who answered correctly

Question 36

objective tests: analyses of test scores discrimination index/score

Answer 36

- how well an item discriminates between students who score well or poorly on the test overall - aim high discrimination score: high scoring students got the item right, low scoring students got the item wrong, means the item is functioning correctly - low/negative discrimination score means: high and low scoring students performed the same or low scoring students did better, means question is bad/misleading/needs revision - helps ensure test is valid, knowing the content predicts getting the question right - 0.4 and above = excellent - 0.2-0.3 = acceptable

Question 37

objective tests: analyses of test scores discrimination index

Answer 37

- how well an item separates top scorers from bottom scorers - standard top 27% and top 27 bottom

Question 37

objective tests: analyses of test scores point biserial

Answer 37

- correlation between answering the item correctly and overall test mark - uses all students scores - higher = better

Question 38

objective tests textbook tests

Answer 38

- available for most textbooks, pre made - made for average class level - who were the tests written for? where? textbook quota vs irl quota, has to align