Unit 5

Differentiated Assessment Strategies

a) Meaning and purpose of Teacher assessment, Self-

assessment and Peer assessment

b) Criterion Referenced Tests and Norm Referenced

tests (Meaning Characteristics)

c) Records used in Assessment (Meaning, guidelines of

development and uses)
1. Cumulative Records
2. Students Portfolio
3. Learner Profile
4. Reflective Journal
 Teacher Assessment
Meaning:
• Teacher assessment is the process undertaken by the teacher of
systematic collection, review, and use of information about
educational programs for the purpose of improving student
learning and development.
• A process undertaken by the teacher on systematic basis for making
inferences about the learning and development of students. It is the
process of defining, selecting, designing, collecting, analyzing
interpreting, and using information to increase students learning
and development.
Purpose:
To define, select, design, collect, analyze, interpret, and use
information to increase students' learning and development.
 Teacher Assessment by students
Teacher assessment by students may serve different types of purposes:
• one is assessment improvement or formative assessment. For this
purpose, student assessment of teachers may serve:
1. As a mechanism for reminding or sensitizing faculty to their
responsibility in providing quality instruction and
2. As a diagnostic tool to aid in self-improvement of teaching
• The second purpose is summative assessment for promotion, tenure
or merit play consideration while student assessments may aid in
this regard, they cannot be the only basis for:
1. Identifying superior teachers
2. Identifying inferior or unsatisfactory teachers
3. Categorizing teachers for merit pay purposes and
4. Categorizing teachers for promotion and tenure purposes.
Purpose of Teacher Assessment by Students:

• The basic goal for the use of student assessments of teachers is to

contribute to high quality in teaching.
• Student assessment alone will not provide sufficient information
will judge faculty performance in all dimensions of teaching, but
student assessment can provide triggering mechanism for the
identification of superior and or unsatisfactory teachers.
• In this regard student assessment can play only a part in helping to
make useful distinctions among teachers for –
1. Promotion and/or tenure decisions
2. Salary increases and
3. Improvement or removal of unsatisfactory teachers.
 Self-assessment and Peer assessment
• Peer assessment, or self-assessment, is a process whereby students
or their peers grade assignments or tests based on a teacher's
benchmarks. The practice is employed to save teachers time and
improve students understanding of course materials as well as
improve their meta cognitive skills. Rubrics are often used in
conjunction with Self and Peer Assessment.
Self Assessment:
• Self-assessment is defined as students judging the quality of their
work, based on evidence &explicit criteria for the purpose of doing
better work in the future. This is similar to peer evaluation but
students assess their own contribution as well as their peers using
an established set of criteria.
Peer Assessment:
• Peer assessment is a process whereby peers grade assignments or tests
based on a teacher's benchmark.
• Students individually assess each other's contribution/performance
using a predetermined list of criteria. Grading is based on a
predetermined process.
• Students individually assess each other's contribution using a
predetermined list of criteria.
• Grading is based on a predetermined process, but most commonly it is
an average of the marks awarded by members of the group.
Purpose
• To increase student responsibility and autonomy
• To strive for a more advanced and deeper understanding of the subject
matter, skills and processes
• To lift the role and status of the student from passive learner to active
leaner and assessor .
• To involve students in critical reflection
• To develop in students a better understanding of their own subjectivity
and judgment.
 Criterion Referenced Tests
• A criterion-referenced test is a style of test which uses test scores to
generate a statement about the behavior that can be expected of a person
with that score.
• Most tests and quizzes that are written by school teachers can be
considered criterion-referenced tests. In this case, the objective is simply
to see whether the student has learned the material.
• A criterion-referenced test is designed to measure a student’s academic
performance against some standard or criteria. This standard or criteria is
predetermined before students begin the test.
• Schools or districts choose a standard, such as a percent of items
answered correctly or a state test benchmark, as the criteria for the test.
The student’s score then shows the progress they have made toward the
agreed-upon standard–if they fall short, they must continue to work
toward the standard.
• Example: When you take your temperature, the accepted healthy standard
is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. If your temperature is higher, you are not
meeting the standard for health and are likely ill.
 Norm Referenced Tests
• A norm-referenced test (NRT) is a type of test, assessment, or
evaluation which yields an estimate of the position of the tested
individual in a predefined population, with respect to the trait being
measured.
• The estimate is derived from the analysis of test scores and possibly
other relevant data from a sample drawn from the population.
• It is a type of assessment used in education that allows teachers to
compare a student’s results to someone else in their peer group.
• It refers to a method of evaluation that produces results allowing an
educator to see if a student or group of students have performed
better or worse than a controlled, reference group.
• The purpose of norm-referenced tests is to rank individuals in
relation to others of a similar representative group. This reflects an
individual's performance compared to that of others.
• Examples are college entrance (the SAT and ACT) and IQ tests.
 Records used in Assessment:
1. Cumulative Records:
• This is longitudinal record of pupils 'educational history’. The
progress of the development pattern of each student is recorded
cumulatively from period to period in a comprehensive record
designed for the purpose. Such a record is known as a cumulative
record.

• Definition : Cumulative record is defined as 'a permanent record’

of a student which is kept up-to-date by school, it is his
educational history with information about his school
achievement, attendance, health, test scores and similar pertinent
data. (-- Arthur Jones).
Guidelines for Maintaining Cumulative Record Card:
1. The teachers should in-charge of maintaining cumulative records he
should make the entries up-to-date.
2. Required information should be collected from various person like
parents, friends, subject teachers and child himself by different
techniques.
3. Different techniques should be used to collect information about a
child 1.e. psychological tests, observations by teachers, Examination
result etc.
4. The teachers in-charge of maintaining cumulative records should be
given proper orientation and training about how to maintain it.
5. Secret or confidential matters should find a place in it but a separate
file may be made for such entries.
6. The guidance worker of the school should be in overall charge of
maintenances of cumulative records.
7. Cumulative record cards maintenance should be supervised by the
Head master and Inspector of schools.
• Uses of Cumulative Record:
(i) The Cumulative Record is useful for guidance worker and counselor as it
provides a comprehensive, objective picture about the student including
his strength and weaknesses.
(ii) The Cumulative Record is useful for guidance counselor to help pupil in
educational achievement, vocational choice and personal progress so far
adjustment is concerned.
(Iii) The Cumulative Record is useful for headmaster/principal to ascertain the
pupil's performances in different subjects and his limitations.
(iv) The Cumulative Record is useful for parents to provide special privileges
to make up the deficiencies what lie in case of his child.
(V)The Cumulative Record is useful for teachers to know the students and his
progress and weaknesses at a glance.
(vi) The Cumulative Record does not give chance for overlapping ofdata
collected by different teachers about the students.
(vii) The Cumulative Record is useful in making case study about the students.
(viii) The Cumulative Record is useful for the students for the vocational
purposes.
 Records used in Assessment
2. Students Portfolio
• Student Portfolio is the cumulative assessment or collection or
students work, samples, progress and achievement in one or more
area.
• Portfolios are purposeful, organized, systematic collections of
student work that tell the story of a student's efforts, progress, and
achievement in specific areas. The student participates in thee
Selection of portfolio content, the development of guidelines for
selection, and the definition of criteria for judging merit. Portfolio
assessment is a joint process for instructor and student.
• Portfolio assessment emphasizes evaluation of students' progress,
processes, and performance over time.
• Guidelines for developing portfolios:
1. Helping students develop a thorough understanding of the context,
rationale, goals, and the overall components ofportfolios.
2. Helping students to develop an increasing level of student
responsibility and independence.
3. Ensuring that students understand the tasks by providing instruction
on portfolio requirements as needed
4. Helping students identify and work through their problems to
solutions
5. Fostering time management skills
6. Fostering organizational skills
7. Providing students regular feedback on their work and their
portfolio process
8. Serving as a resource of ideas for students
Significance of Student Portfolio:
• Examine a broad range of their student's work collected over time.
• Analyze and assess their student's progress
• Plan and manage student's time to complete the work
• Integrate diverse experiences in and out of the classroom
• Make decisions about future goals based on evidence and criteria.
 Records used in Assessment
3. Learner Profile
• Learner Profiles document the ways a student best learns.
• Learner Profiles typically include a broad range of data such as
demographic data, data about student interests, learning
preferences, descriptions of the learning environment student
prefer, inter- and intra-personal skills, existing Competencies and
those that need to be developed.
• A student's learning profile is the complete picture of his/her
learning preferences, strengths, and challenges and is shaped by
the categories of learning style, intelligence preference, culture, and
gender.
• Learner Profiles help teachers know more about their students. It is
beneficial for both the student and teacher to know the student's
interests and strengths.
Guidelines for development of Learner Profile
• Learner profiles can be created by the student or collaboratively
with parents and teachers. Senior students may prefer to just have
a conversation.
• Before developing a learner profile, discuss with the student and
their parents:
 the purpose of the profile
 the format, which will influence how easily it can be shared and
whether it can be added to over time
 lf they would like the learner profile to be linked to the school's
student management system or from their school e-portfolio.
• Uses of Learner Profile :
 A Learner Profile gives students an opportunity to:
1. Express who they are
2. Address assumptions people may have about them or their disability
3. Express their aspirations and passions
4. Have a say in what goes on for them at school and in their learning.
 A Learner Profile will assist teachers to:
1. build a relationship with students
2. recognize and remove potential barriers to learning at the outset
3. design learning environments and opportunities that build on student
interest and experiences to maximize engagement
4. Select curriculum materials and content that students will be able to
access
5. offer a range of options for demonstrating thinking and learning that
will work well for students
6. Support positive transitions to new environments.
 Records used in Assessment
4. Reflective Journal:
• Reflective journals are notebooks or pieces of paper that students
use when writing about and reflecting on their own thoughts.
• A reflective journal is a personal record of student's learning
experiences.
• It is a space where a learner can record and reflect upon their to
observations and responses to situations., which can then be used
explore and analyses ways of thinking. Journals, although generally
written, can also contain images, drawings and other types of
reference materials.
Guidelines of development of Reflective Journal:

Uses of Reflective Journal:

1. Journal writing can allow students to reflect on new knowledge learned in class,
2. Solidify their learning experience by recording their evolving thought process as
they progress further in the course, learn new material, and form new conclusions.
3. It can also teach them to formulate new opinions and perspectives, and gives
them a risk free venue to explore, think, and practice skills learned in class
4. Students who write regularly in a journal consistently see improvements in their
writing skills, as well as their creative and reflective thinking.
5. When students write journals for class, it not only helps them, but their instructors
as well.