Assessment & Evaluation

1. Assessment & Evaluation Kate Bain English Language Fellow ktbain53@gmail.com www.elfellowkbain.wordpress.com

2. Sources • Brown, H.D. (2004). Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices. WhitePlains, NY: Pearson Education, Inc. • Gottleib, M. H. (2006). Assessing English Language Learners: Bridges from language proficiency to academic achievement. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

4. Objectives: • Analyze theoretical and practical principles of authentic, fair, and appropriate methods of formative and summative assessment. • Appreciate the crucial role that assessment plays in improving instruction and improving educational programs. • Consider how to design and implement assessment tools and analyze results to make recommendations for improved instruction based on results.

5. How do you or students feel about tests?

6. Make a list of all the different types of tests you have taken or given as a student or a teacher.

7. What is a “Test?” • Webster: “a critical examination, observation, or evaluation” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/test • Longman: “a set of questions, exercises, or practical activities to measure someone's skill, ability, or knowledge” http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/test_1 • H. Douglas Brown: “a method of measuring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain.” (Brown, 2004, p. 3)

8. A Closer Look • “a method of measuring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain.” (Brown, 2004, p. 3)

9. Method • a test by nature must have structure and have explicitly correct answers scored in a certain way • multiple choice with a correct answer or answers • a writing prompt with a set and known rubric (Brown, 2004)

10. Measure • In order for a test to truly be a test, it must have a measureable outcome • The test-taker and the test-giver must know what success or failure on the test entail, and the results must be communicated. (Brown, 2004)

11. Performance • The test itself truly assesses a person’s performance of a task on a given day. The results of the test or a series of tests implies the person’s knowledge or competence in a given subject. (Brown, 2004)

12. What is Assessment? Assessment is “an ongoing process that encompasses a much wider domain [than a test]. Whenever a student responds to a question, offers a comment, or tries out a new word or structure, the teacher subconsciously makes an assessment of the student’s performance.” (Brown, 2004, p. 5)

13. How is “assessment” different from “testing”? • Tests are a type of assessment, but they should never be the entire basis for how you determine a student’s level or progress. • Assessments are ongoing, daily, subconscious or conscious observations and records that you make about student progress. These observations should be constant and should drive what you do as a teacher. (Brown, 2004)

14. Informal and Formal Assessment Informal Assessment Formal Assessment • Unplanned observations and general feedback • Good job! • Did you say “can” or “can’t”? •  • Planned classroom activities in which students perform tasks but do not receive final grades on performance • Think-Pair-Share • Dialogues • Essay or Journal Writing • Note-taking • Group or Partner Work • Activities in class that you give to students for which they receive graded feedback • Tests • Rubric-Scored Assignments • Writing portfolio • Presentations • Journal Entries • Notes • Performances • Projects • Posters (Brown, 2004)

15. Formative and Summative Assessment Formative Assessment Summative Assessment • Daily classroom assessment used to plan for, modify, and improve instruction • Feedback that helps the teacher and the student make plans to improve language competence in the future • Informal Assessment should always be formative, aimed at improving a student’s competence and performance • Measures or summarizes what a student has learned over a given period of time • Unit Tests • Midterm Exams • Final exams • Entrance Exams • Professional Language Tests (Brown, 2004)

16. How can you help your students to view summative assessments in formative ways?

17. Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Tests Norm-Referenced Tests Criterion-Referenced Tests • Mean • Median • Standard Deviation • Percentile Rank • SAT/TOEFL • Graded Feedback • Meeting of language or course objectives • Classroom Tests connected to a curriculum (Brown, 2004)

18. Current issues in classroom testing: Traditional and Authentic assessment Traditional Assessment Authentic Assessment • One-shot, Standardized Exams • Timed, multiple-choice format • decontextualized test items • Scores are feedback • Norm-referenced scores • One correct answer • Summative • Oriented to product • Non-interactive • Extrinsic motivation • Continuous long-term assessment • Untimes, free-response • Contextualized communicative tasks • Individualized feedback • Criterion-referenced scores • Formative • Oriented to process • Interactive performance • Intrinsic motivation (Brown, 2004, p. 13)

19. Authentic AssessmentorAlternative Assessment

20. Group Work Exercises! • Do you agree with this depiction? Why or why not? • Where do these fit? • choral drill • pair pronunciation • reading aloud • singing songs • writing a description of the weekend assessment testing teaching (Brown, 2004)

21. Sort Activities into a category • placement tests • diagnostic tests • periodic achievement tests • short pop quizzes • final exams • portfolios • journals • speeches • oral presentations • impromptu student responses • student-written response • drafting and revising • final essays • whole class discussion • observing as students work in groups or pairs (Brown, 2004)

22. Gardner’s Eight Intelligences • Choose one or two • Brainstorm teaching activities for each • Brainstorm assessment activities for each • Share with the group (Brown, 2004)

23. Brainstorm advantages and disadvantages of each and share with the class Traditional Assessment Authentic Assessment • One-shot, Standardized Exams • Timed, multiple-choice format • decontextualized test items • Scores are feedback • Norm-referenced scores • One correct answer • Summative • Oriented to product • Non-interactive • Extrinsic motivation • Continuous long-term assessment • Untimed, free-response • Contextualized communicative tasks • Individualized feedback • Criterion-referenced scores • Formative • Oriented to process • Interactive performance • Intrinsic motivation (Brown, 2004, p. 13)

24. Sources • Brown, H.D. (2004). Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices. WhitePlains, NY: Pearson Education, Inc. • Gottleib, M. H. (2006). Assessing English Language Learners: Bridges from language proficiency to academic achievement. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.