BASIC CNCEPTS IN ASSESSMENT

1. According to Linn and Miller (2005) define assessment as any of a variety of procedures
used to obtain information about student performance.

Assessment refers to the full range of information gathered and synthesized by teachers
about their students and their classrooms (Arends, 1994)

Assessment is a method for analyzing and evaluating student achievement or program

success.

2. Assessment for Learning Is practiced, students are encouraged to be more active in their
learning and associated assessment. The ultimate purpose of assessment for learning is to
create self-regulated learners who can leave school able and confident to continue learning
throughout their lives. Teachers need to know at the outset of a unit of study where their
students are in terms of their learning and then continually check on how they are
progressing through strengthening the feedback they get from their learners.

3. Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment

Measurement as used in education refers to the process of quantifying an individual’s

achievement, personality, and attitudes among others by means of appropriate measuring
instruments.

Educational Measurement

The first step towards elevating a field of study into a science is to take
measurements of the quantities and qualities of interest in the field.

4. As teachers, we are continually faced with the challenge of assessing the progress of our
students as well as our own effectiveness as teachers.

Educational Measurement

The first step towards elevating a field of study into a science is to take
measurements of the quantities and qualities of interest in the field.

Types of Measurement

Objective measurements- are measurements that do not depend on the person or

individual taking the measurements.

Subjective measurements- often differ from one assessor to the next even if the
same quantity or quality is being measured.

5. Evaluation is the process of systematic collection and analysis of both qualitative and
quantitative data for the purpose of making some decision and judgments.

Assessment, Test, and Measurement

Test: An instrument or systematic procedure for measuring a sample of behavior by posing a

set of questions in a uniform manner.
 Measurement: The process of obtaining a numerical description of the degree to which an
individual possesses a particular characteristic.
Measurement answers the question “How much?”

6. Test, Non- test, Examination, Test item and Quiz

A test in the educational setting is a question or a series of question which aims to determine
how well a student learned from a subject or topic taught.

A non- test is a question or activity which determines the interests, attitude and other
student’s characteristics whose answer or answers is/are not judged wrong or incorrect.
Examples: Personality inventory,” What is your favorite sports?”, “Why do you prefer green
vegetables?”

An examination is a long test which may or may be composed of one or more test formats.
Examples: Mid- term examination, Licensure Examination for Teachers, comprehensive
examination.

A test item is any question included in a test or examination. Examples: Who was the
President of the Philippines when World War 2 broke out? Is “Little Red Riding Hood” a short
story?

A quiz is a short test usually given at the beginning or at the end of a discussion period.

7. Various Roles of Assessment Assessment plays a number of roles in making instructional

decisions.

Summative Role- An assessment may be done for summative purposes as in the illustration
given above for grade VI mathematics achievement.

Diagnostic Role- Assessment may be done for diagnostic purposes. In the case, we are
interested in determining the gaps in learning or learning processes, hopefully, to be able to
bridge these gaps.

Formative Assessment- Another purpose of assessment is formative. In this role,

assessment guides the teachers on his/ her day- to- day teaching activity.

Placement- The final role of assessment in curricular decisions concerns placement.

Assessment plays a vital role in determining the appropriate placement of a student both in
terms of achievements and aptitude.

Aptitude- refers to the area or discipline where a student would most likely excel or do well.

8. Evaluation Is the process of gathering and interpreting evidence regarding the problems and
progress of individuals in achieving desirable educational goals.

Chief Purposes of Evaluation

The improvement of the individual learner

Other Purposes of Evaluation

 To maintain standard
  To select students
 To motivate learning
 To guide learning
 To furnish instruction 
To appraise educational instrumentalities

9. Function of Evaluation

 Prediction
 Diagnosis
 Research

Areas of Educational Evaluation

 Achievement
 Aptitude
 Interest
 Personality

A well defined system of evaluation:

 Enable one to clarify goals
 Check upon each phase of development

 Diagnose learning difficulties

 Plan carefully for remediation

10. Principles of Educational Evaluation

• Evaluation must be based on previously accepted educational objectives.
• Evaluation should be continuous comprehensive and cumulative process.
• Evaluation should recognize that the total individual personality is involved in
learning.
• Evaluation should be democratic and cooperative.
• Evaluation should be positive and action-directed
• Evaluation should give opportunity to the pupil to become increasingly independent
in self- appraisal and self- direction.
• Evaluation should include all significant evidence from every possible source.
• Evaluation should take into consideration the limitations of the particular
educational situations.

11. Measurements Is the part of the educational evaluation process whereby some tools or
instruments are use to provide a quantitative description of the progress of students towards
desirable educational goals.

Test or Testing Is a systematic procedure to determine the presence or absence of certain

characteristics of qualities in a learner.

Types of Evaluation • Placement • Formative • Diagnostic • Summative

12. Educational Assessment serves three important functions (Bernardo, 2003):

1. Student selection and certification

-To make decisions, about which students get admitted, retained, promoted, and
certified for graduation.
 2. Instructional monitoring
- To provide information about student learning and teaching performance to help
teachers monitor manage, and make decisions about the instructional system.

3. For - Public accountability and program evaluation

- Making decisions about the different aspects of the educational process
- Helping make GOOD decisions, if they provide accurate, authentic, reliable and
valid information about educational: LEARNING GOALS.

13. Characteristics of Assessment

• Assessment is not a single event but a continue cycle.

• Assessment must be an open process.
• Assessment must promote valid inferences.
• Assessment that matters should always employ multiple measures of performance.
• Assessment should measures what is worth learning, not just what is easy to measure.
• Assessment should support every student’s opportunity to learn important mathematics.

14. Elements of the Assessment Process

-assessment should center on the learner and the learning process.

Huba and Freed (2000) explained the four elements of learner centered assessment.

1. Formulating statements of intended learning outcomes

2. Developing or Selecting Assessment Measures
3. Creating Experiences Leading to Outcomes 4. Discussing and Using Assessment Results
to Improve Learning

Reasons for Assessment

1. Student selection and certification

2. Instructional Monitoring
3. For:  Public accountability and program evaluation  Making decisions about
different aspects of the educational process  Helping make GOOD decisions, if
they provide accurate, authentic, reliable and valid information about educational
LEARNING GOALS

1. To summarize; Educational Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation serve the following

purposes :
 Improvement of Student Learning
 Identification of Students’ Strengths and Weaknesses
 Assessment of the Effectiveness of a Particular Teaching Strategy
 Appraisal of the Effectiveness of the Curriculum
 Assessment and Improvement of Teaching Effectiveness
 Communication with and Involvement of Parents in their children’s learning

2. Principles of Educational Assessment The principles can be summarized into:

1. Educational assessment should be based on goals, objectives or standards which

are clearly stated.
 2. It has to relate to student’s learning with these standards.
3. It has to be continuous
and on-going.
4. It should provide feedback about students’ performance.

3. ASSESSMENT CYCLE

Articulate Learning Goals

Design Strategies
Determine student activities
Select assessment Methods
Gather Assessment data,
Summarize Interpret and Use the Results to Improve performance

4. ROLE OF ASSESSMENT IN CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION

 Enhances learning in the instructional process if the results provide feedback to

both teachers and students
 Used to evaluate the teaching methodologies and strategies of the teacher
 Used to make teaching decisions
 Results are used to diagnose the learning problems of the students

5. ROLE OF ASSESSMENT IN CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION

Teachers make decisions from the beginning up to the end of instruction.

1. Beginning of Instruction

Placement Assessment- determine the pre-requisite skills,

degree of mastery of the course objectives and the best mode of learning
2. During Instruction

a. Formative Assessment-

 used to monitor the learning progress during instruction,

- provide immediate feedback, re: success and failures of learning,
 Identify learning errors,  How to modify instruction
 Improve learning and instruction

b. Diagnostic Assessment

- given at the beginning or during instruction

 identify the strengths and weaknesses of the students,
 determine the level of competence of the students,
 identify students with prior knowledge,
 determine the causes of learning problems not revealed by formative
assessment,
 formulate a plan for remedial action

2. End of Instruction

Summative Assessment
 - given at the end of the course or unit
 Determine the extent of achieving the objectives set
 Certify student mastery and assigning grades
 Provide information for judging appropriateness of instructional objectives
 Determine the effectiveness of instruction

TYPES OF ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES

A. Nature of Assessment

1. Maximum Performance- determine what individuals can do when performing at their

best e.g. Aptitude and achievement tests

2. Typical Performance- determine what individuals will do under natural conditions e.g.
Attitude, interests, personality inventories, observational techniques and peer
appraisal

B. Format of Assessment

1. Fixed-choice Test- measure knowledge and skills effectively and efficiently e.g.
Standard multiple-choice test
2. Complex-performance Assessment- measure the performance of learners in
context and on problems valued in their own rights e.g. Hands-on laboratory
experiments, projects, essays, oral presentation

SOURCES OF EVALUATIVE INFORMATION

To make correct judgment, teachers need to gather accurate information.

 Cumulative Record- permanent records

 Personal Contact- observational information like:

- Can the student read well or not?

- Does the student understand concepts?
- Does the student follow specified instructions?
- Does the student stay on task?
- Does the student participate actively in learning activities?
- Does the student use the material correctly?

SOURCES OF EVALUATIVE INFORMATION

 Analysis- teachers need to file samples of students’ work for discussion during P-T
conference
 Open-ended Themes and Diaries

- questions like the following can be asked:

- What things do you like and dislike about school?
 - What subjects do you find interesting? Uninteresting?
- How do you feel about your classmates
- What personal accomplishments are you so proud of?

SOURCES OF EVALUATIVE INFORMATION

 Conferences with parents and previous teachers

 Testing

METHODS OF INTERPRETING THE RESULTS

1. Norm-referenced Interpretation

 Describes student’s performance or progress in relation to others of the same peer

group, age or ability
 May involve ranking or scaling a pupil to help with streaming classes
 May look at cross-school achievements to compare achievement in particular groups,
subjects and years wit local and national levels of attainment

e.g.  Franco’s score in the periodical exams is below the mean  Sam ranked 5th in the
unit test in Physics  Scion’s percentile rank in the Math achievement test is 88.

2. Criterion-referenced Interpretation

- describes student performance according to a specified domain or clearly defined

learning tasks e.g. divide three-digit whole numbers correctly and accurately,
multiply binomial terms correctly
 Concerned with national examination and other assessment bodies
 Used in the assessment of vocational and academic qualifications
 Results are given on a pass/fail, competent/not competent basis
 Results are conclusive and usually open to review

e.g.  Hannah can construct a pie graph with 75% accuracy  Hyacinth scored 7 out
of 10 in the spelling test  Ophie can encode an article with no more than 5
errors in spelling

SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE
Name ___________________________________
Sex: Boy _____
Girl _____
Age: ________
Socio Economic Status: High _____
Average _____
Low _____
Questionnaire on study Habits: