Principles of High Quality Assessment

Teacher made tests are developed by a classroom teacher to assess the learning
progress of the students within the classroom. It has weaknesses and strengths. The strengths
of the teacher-made test lie on its applicability and relevance in the setting where they are
utilized. The weaknesses are the limited time and resources for the teacher to utilize the test
and also some of the technicalities involved in the development of the assessment tools.
Most literatures considered the most common technical concepts in assessment are the
validity and reliability. For any type of assessment, whether traditional or authentic, it should
be carefully developed so that it may serves whether purpose it is intended for and the test
results must be consistent with the type of assessment that will utilized.
Clarity of the target
The learning outcome must be (SMART) Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and
time-bound.
1. Objective Test- It is a type of test that requires students to select the correct answer
a question or complete a statement. The word objective refers to the scoring, it
indicates that there is only one correct answer.
2. Subjective Test- it is a type of test that permits the student to organize and present
an original answer. This type of test has no specific answer. It is usually scored on
opinion basis.
3. Performance Assessment- is an assessment in which students are asked to perform
real world task that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and
skills. It can appropriately measure learning objectives which focus on the ability of
the students to demonstrate skills or knowledge in a real-life situation.
4. Portfolio Assessment- it is an assessment that is based on the systematic,
longitudinal collection of students work created in response to specific, known
instructional objectives and evaluated in relation to the same criteria. It is a
purposeful collection of student’s works that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress
and achievements in one or more areas over a period of time.
5. Oral Questioning- this method is used to collect assessment data by asking oral
questions. The most commonly used of all forms of assessment in class assuming
that the learners hears and shares the used of common language with the teacher
during instruction. The ability of the students to communicate orally is a very
relevant to this type of assessment. This also form of formative assessment.
6. Observation Technique- another method of collecting assessment data is through
observation. The teacher will observe how students carry out certain activities either
observing the process or product.

There are 2 types of observation techniques:

a. Formal observation – are planned in advance like when the teacher assess
oral report or presentation in class.
 b. Informal observation - is done spontaneously, during instruction like
observing the working behavior of students while performing a laboratory
experiment in biology class and the like.
The behavior of the students involved in his performance during
instruction is systematically monitored, described, classified and
analyzed.
7. Self-report- the response of the students may be used to evaluate both
performance and attitude. Assessment tools could include sentence completion,
likert scales, checklists, or holistic scale.
DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF ASSESSMENT TOOLS
1. VALIDITY -refers to appropriateness of score-based inferences; or decisions made based on
the students test results. The extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure.
2. RELIABILITY-refers to the consistency of measurement; that is, how consistent test results or
other assessment results from one measurement to another. We can say that a test is reliable
when it can be used to predict practically the same scores when test administered twice to the
same group of students and with a reliability index of 0.61 above.
3. FAIRNESS-means the test item should not have any biases. It should not be offensive to any
examinee subgroup. A test can only be good if is fair to all the examinees.
4. OBJECTIVITY-refers to the agreement of two or more raters or test administrators
concerning the score of the students. If the two raters who assess the same students on the
same test cannot agree on the score, the test lacks objectivity and neither of the score from the
judges is valid. Lack of objectivity reduces test validity in the same way that the lack of reliability
influence validity.
5. SCORABILITY-means that the test should be easy to score, direction for scoring should be
clearly stated in the instruction. Provide the students an answer sheet and the answer key for
the one who will check the test.
6. ADEQUACY-means that the test should contain a wide range sampling of items to determine
the educational outcome or abilities so that the resulting scores are representatives of the total
performance in the areas measured.
7. ADMINISTRABILITY-means that the test should be administered uniformly to all students so
that the scores obtained will not vary due to factors other than differences of student's
knowledge and skills. There should be a clear provision for the students; proctors and even the
one who will be check the test or the test scorer.
8. PRACTICALLY AND EFFECIENCY-refers to the teachers familiarity with the methods used,
time required for the assessment, complexity of the administration, ease of scoring, ease of
interpretation of the test results and the materials used must be at lowest cost.

Rafallo, Mark Anthony N.

Reporters: Basabe, Jeffrey T.