Assessment Skills for Teachers

Study Notes

Teachers must be proficient in selecting and developing assessment methods that inform instructional decisions.
Proficiency in administering, scoring, and interpreting both externally-produced and teacher-produced assessments is essential.
Utilizing assessment results is critical for making informed decisions regarding individual students, lesson planning, curriculum development, and school improvement.

Creating valid pupil grading procedures based on assessments is a key responsibility.
Effective communication of assessment results to students, parents, educators, and other stakeholders is necessary for transparency.

Awareness of unethical, illegal, and inappropriate assessment methods and uses of assessment data is crucial for teachers.

NCBTS and PPST highlight the importance of assessment within the teaching framework, emphasizing planning, assessing, and reporting.
Key strands from PPST include designing assessment strategies, monitoring learner progress, providing feedback, and using assessment data to enhance instructional practices.

Learning targets should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bounded (SMART) to ensure clarity in assessment expectations.

Assessments must be tailored to different learning objectives and methods, ensuring they suit the instructional context.

Traditional Assessments: Paper-and-pencil tests; include standardized and teacher-made tests. Pros: objective and easily administered. Cons: time-consuming, prone to guessing.
Performance Assessment: Emphasizes demonstration of skills via practical exams or projects. Pros: authentic evaluation of skills. Cons: subjective, may be time-intensive.
Portfolio Assessment: Involves ongoing collection of student work to showcase progress. Pros: reflects growth. Cons: requires significant time and is subjective.

Validity determines how well an assessment measures its intended purpose, established through several types:
- Face Validity: Initial impressions of the instrument’s relevance.
- Content Validity: Alignment of assessment objectives with curriculum goals.
- Criterion-related Validity: Correlation of assessment scores with external measures.
- Construct Validity: Investigates the underlying traits being assessed.

Reliability measures consistency of assessment outcomes across different administrations or groups.
Types of reliability assessments include test-retest, equivalent forms, and split-half reliability.

Fair assessment practices ensure equal opportunities for all students to demonstrate their learning.

Identifications Tests: Require responses to definitions or illustrations.
Subjective/Essay Tests: Allow freedom of response; categorized as restricted (limited prompts) and extended (more freedom).

Range: Difference between highest and lowest scores; used for quick estimates.
Standard Deviation: Indicates spread around the mean; widely used for its reliability.
Quartile Deviation: Measures spread in terms of data distribution quartiles; useful for skewed data.

Use assessment specifications for item creation and prepare them well in advance.
Ensure clarity in test items, appropriate reading levels, and avoid aiding answers across items.
Evaluate the relevance of test items upon revision to maintain assessment integrity.