Planning classroom test and assessment

Introduction

Classroom test and assessments play a central role in the evaluation of student learning. They provide relevant measures of many important learning outcomes and indirect evidence concerning others.

The purpose of classroom testing and assessment

Classroom test and assessment can be used for a variety of instructional purposes. These can be best described in terms of their location in the instructional process, which closely parallels the types of assessment.

Pre-testing

Test and assessment are may be given at the beginning of an instructional segment (e.g., unit or course) to determine. (1) Whether students have the prerequisite skills needed for the instruction (to determine readiness) or (2) to what extend students have already achieved the objectives of the planned instruction (to determine student’s placement or modification of instruction).

Readiness pretests are typically limited in scope. For example, a pretest in algebra might be confined to arithmetic operations and concepts; pretest physics might consist of basic physical concepts or prerequisite skills in algebra; and a pretest in beginning German might be limited to knowledge of English grammar. In addition to being confined to a limited domain, pretest items tend to have a relatively low level of difficulty

Testing and assessment during instruction Test and assessment during instruction provide the basis

for formative assessment. They are used to monitor learning progress, detect learning errors, and provide feedback to students and teacher. Teachers commonly call these formative tests learning test, practice tests, quizzes, and unit test, and like. These test and assessments typically cover some predefined segment of instruction and thus encompass rather limited sample of learning outcomes. The mix of types of test items and more complex performance assessment tasks needs to be selected with care to ensure that high-priority, but possibly difficult to assess, objectives are adequately represented in the assessment

End-of-instruction test and assessment

At the end of the segment of instruction, our main interest is in measuring the extent to which the intended learning outcomes and performance standards have been achieved. Although these end-of-instruction test or assessments are used primarily for summative assessment, they can also serve other functions. End-of-unit test can be used for giving feedback to students, encouraging students to undertake more challenging advanced work, assigning remedial work, and assessing instruction as well as for grading purpose. In fact, they can serve the function of both formative and summative assessment, and in some cause serve a pretest.

Building a table of specifications

Building a table of specifications involves;

1. 1. Preparing a table of instructional objective

2. 2. Outlining the course content

3. 3. Preparing the two-way chart.

Deciding what to assess and how to assess it

What to assess Far too many teachers simply stumble into n pattern

without giving serious consideration to why they are assessing what they are assessing. Typically, teachers test students in order to dispense grades in manner that somehow resembles the levels of academic performances students have displayed. Students who score well on the teacher’s test are given good grades; low-scoring students get the other kind. Traditionally, the need to dole out grades to students has been the chief factors spurring teachers to assess their students.

Decision-driven assessment

Teacher use tests to get information about their students. Teachers typically make score-based inferences about their student’s states with respect to whatever curricular aims are being represented by the tests. Based on these inferences, teachers then make decisions. Sometimes the decisions are straightforward and sometimes the decisions are more difficult, such as how to modify an instructional unit based on students’ performances on an end-of-unit exam.

How to assess

Let’s assume you are decided what you are going to measure in your classroom assessments. Now the task turns to how you are going to assess it. We will look at several choices to consider when deciding how to answer the how-to-assess it question. More specifically, we will be dealing with the following choices

1 Whether to adopt a norm-referenced or a criterion-referenced assessment approach.

2. Whether to emphasize selected-response or constructed-response assessment schemes.

3 What kind of items type's) to select alternatives as multiple-choice, short-answer, or performance test?

Standards-based classroom assessment

Actually, there are two types of educational standards you need to know about:

• A content standard describes the knowledge or skill that educators want students to learn.

• A performance standard identifies the desired level of proficiency at which educators want a content standard mastered.

It should be apparent that although we might refer both of above as “standards”, they are very different creatures.

What-to-assess considerations

We are looked at several factors that can help classroom teachers in deciding what they should measure in their classroom assessment procedures. From the discussion of those points, seven possible ways of addressing the what-to-assess question can be derived:

1. Focus all class assessment procedures on clearly explicated decision options.

2. A small number of significant curricular aims can provide a useful frame-work for deciding what to assess.

3. An analysis of whether assessments should focus on cognitive, affective, or psychomotor behavior can prove helpful.

4. A review of relevant collections of content standards prepared by national subject-matter organization can help a teacher identify key knowledge and skills to be pursued.

5. A consideration of the assessment frame-work can present a useful view of what curricular aims to assess a number of curriculum fields.

6. Advice from a colleague about what to assess can prove beneficial.

7. A serious analysis of the way your state’s approved content standards are assessed by its exams so you can plan your classroom assessment based on that analysis

Planning an achievement test and assessment Grounlund & Linn (1990) have however discussed them

in a very systematic way and have suggested the following eight basic steps in classroom testing.

1. Determining the purpose of measurement. 2. Developing the test specifications. 3. Selecting appropriate assessment tasks. 4. Preparing relevant test items. 5. Assembling the test. 6. Administering the test. 7. Appraising the test. 8. Using the results.

a) Determining the purpose of Testing

There are five types of tests. Each type has its own focus of measuring, nature of sample, items of sample, items difficulty level, item of administration, type of instrument and use of results.

The five types are: i. Readiness Pre-test ii. Placement Pre-test iii. Formative test iv. Diagnostic test v. Summative testThe first two types as their names shown are given at the

Pre-instructional level, the second two are given during instruction and the last one is given at the end of course.

b) Developing Test Specification

The constructor of the test should prepare a table of specification. It is nothing but a two dimensional grid that allows the constructor to plan how many items should be for each content area and what level of thinking is expected from the examinee. How much this grid will be specified will depend upon the test-constructor. Thus he should prepare:

i. A list of instructional objectives ii. An outline of the course content iii. A two-way chart

Number of Test Items For Each Level of ThinkingContent Knowledge Comprehe

nsionApplication Analysis Total

Topic No.1 8 4 4 4 20

Topic No.2 6 6 3 3 18

Topic No.3 4 5 5 3 18

Topic No.4 4 5 5 2 16

Topic No.5 4 5 5 2 16

Topic No.6 5 6 1 0 12

Total 34 31 21 14 100

c) Selecting Appropriate Types of Test

here are various types of test items which are used in classrooms. They are essay type, short answer type and objective type. Each type has its own merits and limitations. Each type should be used where it is the most appropriate. For example

kind of Item Choice Items Completion Items Short Answer Items Essay Items

d) Preparing Relevant Test items

Even if the evaluator selects the most appropriate type of test items for measuring the intended learning outcomes, it will not serve the purpose unless the evaluator possesses the skill of preparing that type of test items. So the next important step in construction of achievement test is preparing relevant test items.

The preparation of relevant item requires the following actions on the part of the test-constructor.

i. He should match the test items with the intended learning outcome. It is possible through,

a) Analysis of the performance of intended learning outcome.

b) Assigning intended learning outcome to the domains of knowledge, understanding, application etc.

c) Construction of a test items requiring to test their performance.

He should select those items which can be the best representative. It is possible through,

a) Developing test items which can measure all possible situations.

b) Selecting some of them as a sample since we cannot select all of them due to the limitation of testing hours.

c) Not loading the test with a particular type of test only.

d) Not falling back upon those items which can be easily constructed.

e) Deciding the test length in accordance with the age level of the examinees and the nature of subject matter.

iii. He should prepare the test which is of proper difficulty level. It is possible through,

a) Deciding whether the item is meant for criterion-referenced test of norm-referenced test.

b) Selecting easy items if the learning task is easy and difficult items if the learning task is difficult in criterion-referenced test.

c) Selected average and difficult items in Norm-referenced test because the evaluator is interested in determining ranking of the examinees

    He should avoid all possible barriers in test items which prevent examinees from responding. It is possible through,

a)  Avoiding ambiguity in statementsb)  Eliminating unnecessary wordings c)  Making use of communicative vocabularyd)  Discouraging complex stricter of sentencese)  Providing clear cut instructions to examinees f)   Eliminating any type of bias

a)      He should not provide any clues to answer which may help examines to answer correctly even if they lack the necessary achievement. It is possible through,

a)      Avoiding grammatical inconsistencies in the form of vowel and consonant.

b)      Avoiding verbal association in stem and responses.

c)      Lengthening or shortening the correct responses.

d)     Not select exact words from the text book.

e) Assembling the Tes 

After preparing relevant test items for a test, the constructor of the test has to assemble them together. In assembling the test the following process are to be performed,

i.        He should write each item on a separate card. The card should contain the following information:

a)      Test itemb)      Instructional objective c)      Specific learning outcomed)     Subjective matter tested by the item Key.

     ii.    He should review the test items himself after some item. Besides this he should get it reviewed by another teacher of the test. In reviewing he and his colleague should check the following:

a)      The item match with the learning outcomeb)      The point of the item is clear c)      The item is free from excess wordsd)     The item is appropriately difficulte)      The experts agree on the answer of the item

f)       The item is free from technical errorsg)      The item does not provide cluesh)      The item does not suffer from any bias.

iii.   Test should arrange the items in the test properly. iv.   He should provide proper instructions to the 

examinees. If all the examinees are in the same room, oral instructions may be given otherwise they should be in writing. The instructions should be related to the following:

a)      What is the purpose of the test? b)      How much time is allowed for answering the test? c)      How much time should be given for each item? d)     What should be the mode of response by the 

examinees? e)      What is the result of guessing? f)       Is there any provision of negative marking?

f).    Administering the test 

If the test constructor himself is administering the test and all the examinees are in the same room, there are no problems because all the examinees will get the same treatment. This is much more necessary if the test is competitive one for admission, scholarship or prize etc.

If the test is being conducted at different places, the task of administering the test becomes more meaningful. However all the examinees must be given all the opportunities to do justice with the test. The following suggestions are made:

  i.     The administrators of the test should not make any long announcement before or during the test.

  ii.     If any instruction is to be given, it is better if it is in writing, so that all the examinees get the same opportunities.

  iii.  The test administrator should not respond to the individual problems of the examinees otherwise any hint on their part may give unfair chance to some examinees.

  iv. All the steps are taken to prevent cheating by the examinees.   

h). Appraising the Test 

The test scoring is to be manually, if the test essay type of short answer type. After scoring the test should be appraised for the effectiveness of each item of the test. It is technically known as item-analysis. The norm-referenced tests and criterion-referenced tests are for different purposes, so the procedure of item analysis is also different for them. There are various procedures but Gronlung (1991) has given the following procedure for Norm-referenced test. 

      i.  Arrange all test paper in descending order group.

      ii.  Select 1/3 papers from the top. It is called upper group.

    iii.  Select 1/3 papers from the bottom. It is called lower group.

    iv.  Set aside the middle group test papers.      v.   Prepare the following table for each item for selecting the alternative in the two groups.

It is the last step of planning an achievement test. There are two important uses of test result. They are:

    I.  Awarding marks to the students for making decisions about the promotion of students to the next higher class.

    II.   Bringing improvement in teaching: the test results not only report about the performance of individual students in each subject but they also report about the effectiveness of teaching of individual teachers. If student do very well in the test results of all the subjects except one or two, it reflects the effectiveness of teaching the subject. In such a situation, the teacher concerned should rethink about this method of thinking, increase his competence in the knowledge of subject matter, provide sufficient practice to the student and continuously monitor their progress. He should also review his procedure of making. It may be that there is no co-ordination between his instructional objectives, teaching strategies and evaluation procedure and techniques.

Preparing students for classroom assessment  To obtain the best information, students should be 

prepared for each formal assessment that is an assessment consisting of a set of assessment tasks. A set of guidelines that can help the teachers prepare students for formal assessments are:

1.         Announce the assessment in advance and inform students of the purpose, structure, format and content of the assessment instrument or procedure.

2.         Approach the assessment positively, yet honestly.

3.         Remind students to pay careful attention to the directions and follow the directions exactly.

4.         Tell students to pace themselves so they complete the entire assessment.

5.         Tell student to skip over items if they do not know the answer and come back to them later, time permitting. If they do get back to those items, tell them to make educated guesses for as many items as possible in the time remaining.

6.         For essay test, tall students to plan and organize their essays before writing them.

7.         Tell students to be in good physical and mental condition for the assessment (e.g., to get a good night’s sleep, to eat a good breakfast).   If it is high-stakes assessment, send a note home remanding parents/guardians about the upcoming assessment.

Characteristics Grounlund & Linn (1990) have identified the following

characteristic of a carefully constructed standardized test.

i. Their tests items are qualitatively very good. They are tried out and selected on the basis of their difficulty level and discrimination power.

ii. Their instruction in regard to administrating and scoring the test are so unambiguous that they become standardized one for different users.

iii. They are accompanied with Norms which are developed at various levels and on various groups.

iv. They provide equivalent and comparable forms of the test.

v. They carry with them a test manual, guides for administering and scoring the test.

importance of acquiring test Development skills

To help a teacher clarify the behavior that He/she feels important for students to Learn.

• Skills and knowledge acquired; firstly, can be Applied to other aspects such as curriculum Planning and development

• Secondly, may evaluate the quality of Commercial testing materials.

Well constructed classroom tests can lead to more objective and fairer procedures for Judging and evaluating student.

The test development Process

1.Classroom testing should be part to the Teaching/learning process to provide information to you and students.

i) What a student is prepared to learn next ii) how a student’s study of a given topic might

best be carried out. 2.-Whether a student has mastered a specific

Instructional objective. 3.-whether review of past learning or an

integration of such learning is needed.

Making a blue print or table of test specifications.

This advanced planning allows a teacher to view the test as a whole.

Describing the content and the behavior expected of the students.

Numbers of questions on the test; correspond to the amount of time devoted to the objectives in class.

The test needs not to be too easy not too hard for the students

Evaluation Program

Basis for Planning: 1. Planning instruction-Course outline,

Specification of units and objectives 2. Guiding instruction- Identification of possible

instructional alternatives Specification of mastery criteria for objectives -Evaluating results of

instruction -Specification of essential content and skills

Check list to analyze the quality of test items Is the item format appropriate for the learning outcomes

being measured? Does the knowledge, understanding, or thinking skills

called forth by the item match the specific learning outcomes and subject-matter content being measured?

Is the point of the item clear? Is the item free from excessive verbiage? Is the item of appropriate difficulty? Does the item have an answer that would be agree

upon by experts? Is the item free from technical errors and irrelevant

clues? Is the item free from racial, ethnic, and sexual bias?

Reviewing and Revising Test Items

Matching the learning outcomes. Clarifying the point of the items and the

desired response. Removing excessive verbiage from multi-

choice alternatives. Removing excessive verbiage from multi-

choice stem. Keeping the reading level low. Removing verbal clues.

Arranging Items in Tes

There are various methods of grouping items in a test, and the method will vary somewhat with the use to be made of the result. For the most classroom purpose, the items can be arrange by a systematic consideration of

The types of the items used. The learning outcomes measured. The difficulty of items. The subject matter measured.

When two or more items types are included in a test, there are also some advantages in keeping the simpler item types together and placing the more complex ones in the test, as follows:

1. True-false or alternative-response. 2. Matching items. 3. Short-answer items. 4. Multiple –choice items. 5. Interpretive exercise. 6. Essay questions.

Steps to prevent cheating

Take special precaution to keep the test secure-during preparation, storage, and administration.§ Have pupils clear off the tops of their desk (for adequate work space and to prevent use of notes).§ If scratch paper is used (e. g for math problems), have it turned in with the test.

Proctor the testing session carefully (e. g walk around the room periodically and observe how the pupils are doing).§ Use special seating arrangements, if possible (e. g leave an empty row of seats between pupils).§ Use two forms of the test and give a different form to each row of pupils (for this purpose, use the same test but simply rearrange the order of the items for the second form).§ Prepare tests that pupils will view as relevant, fair and useful.§ Create and maintain a positive attitude concerning the value of tests for improving learning.