PROPERTIES

OF

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The quality of the assessment instrument and method used in education is very important since the evaluation and the judgement that the teacher gives on the student are based from the information he obtains using these instruments. Accordingly, teachers follow a number of procedures to ensure that the entire assessment is valid and reliable.

VALIDITY:

Validity, in recent years, has been defined as referring to appropriateness, meaningfulness and usefulness of the specific conclusions that a teacher reaches regarding the teaching-learning situation.

Content validity – refers to the content and format of the instrument. The content and format must be consistent with the definition of the variable or factor to be measured. Some criteria for judging content validity are given as follows:1. Do students have adequate experience with the type of task posed by the item?2. Did the teachers cover sufficient material for most students to be able to answer the item

correctly?3. Does the item reflect the degree of emphasis received during instruction?

With these as guide, a content validity table may be constructed in two (2) forms as provided below:

FORM A: Item Validity

CRITERIA ITEM NUMBER1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Material covered sufficiently2. Most students are able to answer item

correctly3. Students have prior experience with the

type of task4. Decision: accept or reject

FOM B: Entire Test

Knowledge/Skills Area Estimated Percent of Instruction

Percentage of Items Covered in Test

1. Knowledge2. Comprehension3. Application4. Analysis5. Synthesis6. Evaluation

Face Validity – refers to the outward appearance of the test Criterion-related validity – the test item is judged against a specific criterion, e.g. relevance to

the topic on conservation. It can also be measured by correlating the test with a known valid test

Construct validity - A technique called factor analysis is required to determine the construct validity of an item.

RELIABILITY:

The reliability of an assessment method refers to its consistency. It is also a term synonymous with dependability or stability.

Stability or internal consistency as reliability measures can be estimated in several ways;

Spearman-Brown prophecy formula:Reliability of test = (2 x rhalf) / (1 + rhalf)

Where: rhalf = reliability of the half of the test

Kuder-Ricahrdson:KR21 = K/ (K-1) [1 – {n (K-M)} / K (Variance)]

Where:K = number of items on the testM= mean of the testVariance = variance of the test scores

Reliability of a test may also mean consistency of test results when the same test is administered at two different time periods. This is the test-retest method estimating reliability. The estimate of test reliability is then given by the correlation of the two test result.

FAIRNESS:

An assessment procedure needs to be fair. This means:

Students need to know exactly what the learning targets are and what method of assessment will be used.

Assessment has to be viewed as an opportunity to learn. Fairness also implies freedom from teacher-stereotyping.

PRACTICALITY AND EFFICIENCY:

An assessment method should be practical in the sense that the teacher should be familiar with it, does not require too much time and is in fact, implementable. A complex assessment procedure tends to be difficult to score and interpret resulting in a lot misdiagnosis or too long a feedback period which may render the test inefficient.

ETHICS IN ASSESSMENT:

Here are some situations in which assessment may not be called for:

Requiring students to answer checklist of their sexual fantasies Asking elementary pupils to answer sensitive questions without the consent of their parents Testing mental abilities of pupils using an instrument whose validity and reliability are unknown.