ASSESSMENT vs EVALUATION

What is evaluation?

• Evaluation is perhaps the most complex and least

understood of the terms. Inherent in the idea of
evaluation is "value." When we evaluate, what we
are doing is engaging in some process that is
designed to provide information that will help us
make a judgment about a given situation.
• Generally, any evaluation process requires
information about the situation in question. A
situation is an umbrella term that takes into
account such ideas as objectives, goals,
standards, procedures, and so on.
• When we evaluate, we are saying that the
process will yield information regarding the
worthiness, appropriateness, goodness,
validity, legality, etc., of something for which a
reliable measurement or assessment has been
made.
• Dr. T Manichander in his book Assessment in
Education tells the following example: I often ask my
students if they wanted to determine the temperature
of the classroom they would need to get a
thermometer and take several readings at different
spots, and perhaps average the readings. That is
simple measuring.
• The average temperature tells us nothing about whether or
not it is appropriate for learning. In order to do that, students
would have to be polled in some reliable and valid way. That
polling process is what evaluation is all about. A classroom
average temperature of 75 degrees is simply information. It is
the context of the temperature for a particular purpose that
provides the criteria for evaluation.
• A temperature of 75 degrees may not be very good for
some students, while for others, it is ideal for learning.
We evaluate every day. Teachers, in particular, are
constantly evaluating students, and such evaluations
are usually done in the context of comparisons
between what was intended (learning, progress,
behavior) and what was obtained.
• To sum up, we measure distance, we assess
learning, and we evaluate results in terms of
some set of criteria. These three terms are
certainly share some common attributes, but
it is useful to think of them as separate but
connected ideas and processes.
 More Definitions
• Evaluation is a process that critically examines
a program. It involves collecting and analyzing
information about a program’s activities,
characteristics, and outcomes. Its purpose is
to make judgments about a program, to
improve its effectiveness, and/or to inform
programming decisions (Patton, 1987).
 Should I evaluate my program?

• Improve program design and implementation.

• It is important to periodically assess and adapt
your activities to ensure they are as effective as
they can be. Evaluation can help you identify
areas for improvement and ultimately help you
realize your goals more efficiently. Additionally,
when you share your results about what was
more and less effective, you help advance
environmental education.
 Demonstrate program impact.

• Evaluation enables you to demonstrate your

program’s success or progress. The
information you collect allows you to better
communicate your program's impact to
others, which is critical for public relations,
staff morale, and attracting and retaining
support from current and potential funders.
 What type of evaluation should I conduct and when?

• Evaluations fall into one of two broad categories:

formative and summative. Formative evaluations
are conducted during program development and
implementation and are useful if you want
direction on how to best achieve your goals or
improve your program. Summative evaluations
should be completed once your programs are
well established and will tell you to what extent
the program is achieving its goals.
 What makes a good evaluation?

• A well-planned and carefully executed

evaluation will reap more benefits for all
stakeholders than an evaluation that is thrown
together hastily and retrospectively. Though
you may feel that you lack the time, resources,
and expertise to carry out an evaluation,
learning about evaluation early-on and
planning carefully will help you navigate the
process.
• Good evaluation is tailored to your program
and builds on existing evaluation knowledge
and resources.
• Good evaluation is inclusive.
• It ensures that diverse viewpoints are taken
into account and that results are as complete
and unbiased as possible.
• Input should be sought from all of those
involved and affected by the evaluation such
as students, parents, teachers, program staff,
or community members. One way to ensure
your evaluation is inclusive is by following the
practice of participatory evaluation
• Good evaluation is honest.
• valuation results are likely to suggest that your
program has strengths as well as limitations.
Your evaluation should not be a simple
declaration of program success or failure.
Evidence that your EE program is not achieving
all of its ambitious objectives can be hard to
swallow, but it can also help you learn where
to best put your limited resources.
• Good evaluation is replicable and its methods are
as rigorous as circumstances allow.
• A good evaluation is one that is likely to be
replicable, meaning that someone else should be
able to conduct the same evaluation and get the
same results. The higher the quality of your
evaluation design, its data collection methods and
its data analysis, the more accurate its conclusions
and the more confident others will be in its findings.
How do I make evaluation an integral part of my program?

• Making evaluation an integral part of your

program means evaluation is a part of
everything you do. You design your program
with evaluation in mind, collect data on an on-
going basis, and use these data to
continuously improve your program.
• Developing and implementing such an evaluation system
has many benefits including helping you to:
• better understand your target audiences' needs and how
to meet these needs
• design objectives that are more achievable and
measurable
• monitor progress toward objectives more effectively and
efficiently
• learn more from evaluation
• increase your program's productivity and effectiveness
 ASSESSMENT
• Assessment is the 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.  (Assessing
Student Learning and Development: A Guide to
the Principles, Goals, and Methods of
Determining College Outcomes by Erwin 1991)
What is Assessment?
• Assessment is an integral part of instruction, as it determines whether

or not the goals of education are being met. Assessment affects

decisions about grades, placement, advancement, instructional needs,

curriculum, and, in some cases, funding. Assessment inspire us to ask

these hard questions: "Are we teaching what we think we are

teaching?" "Are students learning what they are supposed to be

learning?" "Is there a way to teach the subject better, thereby

promoting better learning?"

• Today's students need to know not only the basic reading and arithmetic

skills, but also skills that will allow them to face a world that is

continually changing. They must be able to think critically, to analyze,

and to make inferences. Changes in the skills base and knowledge our

students need require new learning goals; these new learning goals

change the relationship between assessment and instruction. Teachers

need to take an active role in making decisions about the purpose of

assessment and the content that is being assessed.

Assessing Students
• Assessment is a diagnostic tool that provides
feedback to the learner and the teacher about
the suitability of the curriculum and
instructional materials, the effectiveness of
the teaching methods, and the strengths and
weaknesses of the students.
 Importance of Assessment
• Is needed to help teachers and administrators
make decisions about students’ linguistic
abilities, their placement in appropriate levels,
and their achievement.
• Helps in evaluating the suitability and
effectiveness of the curriculum, the teaching
methodology, and the instructional materials.
Classroom Assessment Techniques
• Nonverbal Responses: Children should be
instructed and assessed largely through the
use of physical performance responses and
pictorial products.
 Types of students response
• Preproduction: Silent period
• Early Speech: kinesthetic responses plus one
or two utterances.
• Speech Emergence: two – word utterances,
plus phrases and simple sentences
• Fluency emergence: words, phrases, and
complete sentences.
• Taken by taxonomy of student response – Krashen and Terrel (1983)
 Oral interview
• Using visual cues in oral interviews at the early
stages of acquisition.
 Role play
• Combines oral performance and physical
activity.
 Written Narrative
• Through purposeful, authentic tasks, such as
writing letters to friends, writing letters to
favorite television program characters, and
writing and responding to invitations.
 Presentations
• They can provide a comprehensive record of
students’ abilities in both oral and written
performance.
 Student – Teacher Conferences
• Including structures interviews, can be an
effective informal way of assessing a student’s
progress in language learning.
 Self Assessment
• KWL charts
• Learning logs
 Dialogue Journals
• These journals are interactive in nature; take
the form of an ongoing written dialogue
between teacher and student.
 Peer and Group Assessment
• Students can write evaluative, encouraging
notes for each member of their team
emphasizing their positive contribution to
team work.
• The role of the teacher is to provide guidance,
to explain to the students what they have to
evaluate in one another’s work, and to help
them identify and apply properly the
evaluation criteria.
 Student Portfolios
• The purpose is to demonstrate the extent of a
student’s communicative competence in the
target language through samples of oral and
written work.
• They should be multi – sourced and include a
variety of the written and oral work that
illustrates student’ efforts, progress,
achievements, and even concerns.
 Read the interview to Grant Wiggins on
Assessment
• https://www.edutopia.org/grant-wiggins-asse
ssment#graph1
• After reading answer the following questions:
• Do you agree with Gran Wiggins about
Assessment?
• What do you test? When do you test?
• After reading the interview what adjustments
would you do to your assessment program?
Testing
 Introductory thoughts
 Should we test English language learning?
Why/Why not ?
 Should we deal with English tests as we
do with those of History or Math ?
 The test experience : Personal reflexion .
 How often should we test SS ?
 Should tests be the main source for
assessment?
 What are Classroom tests ?
• Instruments to measure SS success or
achievment in the learning process.
• Instruments through which SS become
aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
• Instruments to consolidate and review
accquired language.
• Instruments through which completion is
marked and SS proceed to next level.
 Types of tests I
Achievment tests: measure how much of the material that
was taught has been learned.
e.g. classroom tests
Proficiency tests: measure the language proficiency of a person
without reference
to material specifically taught.
e.g. certificate exams
 Diagnostic tests: show strengths and weaknesses of a person’s
general language knowledge. e.g. placement tests
 Types of tests II
Subjective tests: the way answers are expressed vary;
therefore the correcting process will be subjective.
Objective tests: answers have one possible form only;
therefore the correcting process will be objective.
Integrative tests: cover a broad command of
language.e.g.cloze test (mixed items),essay writing.
What main characteristics should a test
have ?
VALIDITY : it should test EXACTLY what it is intended
to test.
RELIABILITY : it should produce consistent results
each time it is administered.
FAIRNESS : it should be DO-ABLE with relation to
time, clarity in instructions, grading balance, density,
etc..
FUNCTIONALITY : it should be easy to design, to
correct and handle.
INTEREST: motivating content,tasks,design
 What can we test ?

Lexical items: vocabulary,“chunks”,phrasal-verbs,etc..(notions)

Grammar: tenses,forms,structures,language components,etc..
Language functions: situational language.
Skill abilities: reading comprehension,listening
comprehension(receptive skills general/specific),writing,
speaking (productive skills accuracy/fluency).
Pronunciation: phoneme recognition,stress,
intonation(as part of listening/speaking)
 Test designing:Elicitation techniques(types of
questions)

• Questions and answers (short or long): useful

in testing reading and speaking skills.
• True/false: for statement questions (yes/no
for interrogative questions), useful for
listening and reading.
• Multiple choice:Useful for reading and may
be used for listening if listening pieces are
short and paused.
• Gap filling and completion: Useful for testing
grammar or vocabulary.
• Matching:Useful for vocabulary,grammar
(sentence formation )
• Dictation: Useful for spelling, punctuation and
listening ( ? ).
• Cloze: Tests reading,grammar,vocabulary
(directly) and spelling.
• Transformation/Rewriting: Tests grammatical
transformation of structures.
• Essay/Composition Writing: Tests writing,
grammar,spelling.
 Analysis of elicitation techniques
• How easy,difficult or time consuming is it to :

-design/compose
-correct/grade
-administer
the elicitation techniques previousely seen?
• Questions/answers:Close ended questions are
easy to compose and grade,open ended are
more difficult but more challenging.
• True/false: easy to design, administer, correct.
• Multiple choice: very difficult to design and
administer but easy to correct.
• Gap-filling: tedious to design and difficut to
correct,as there may be more than one option.
• Matching: design is time consuming but easy to
correct.
• Dictation: easy to compose,administer and
correct, but difficult to grade.
• Cloze: relativly easy to compose, but may be
complex to correct due to more than one
posibility.
• Transformation:easy to design, and somewhat
easy to correct.
• Essay/Composition:very difficult and tedious to
correct
 Test administration
• Much before the test: SS must know with
time: date of test and areas to be tested.
• Just before the test: SS need to know what we
expect them to do and need comprehensible
instructions on how to do the test.
• After the test: Tests should be returned as
soon as possible.The teacher should go over
the correct answers with the class.
 Rubrics
• What is a rubric?
• A rubric is a coherent set of criteria for
students' work that includes descriptions of
levels of performance quality on the criteria.
Sounds simple enough, right? It should be
clear from the definition that rubrics have two
major aspects: coherent sets of
criteria and descriptions of levels of
performance for these criteria.
 What is the purpose of rubrics?

• Like any other evaluation tool, rubrics are useful for certain

purposes and not for others. The main purpose of rubrics is to

assess performances. For some performances, you observe the

student in the process of doing something, like using an

electric drill or discussing an issue. For other performances,

you observe the product that is the result of the student's

work, like a finished bookshelf or a written report.

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of different types
of rubrics?

• Rubrics are usually categorized by two different aspects of their

composition. One is whether the rubric treats the criteria one

at a time or together. The other is whether the rubric is general

and could be used with a family of similar tasks or is task-

specific and only applicable to one assessment.

 Watch some videos
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLJafvfotF
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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb609JC3
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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGbQHnL
NpVo
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wePut0c
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 Sources:
• http://www.adprima.com/measurement.htm
• https://www.emaze.com/@AOICFLTR/summa
tive-assessment
• https://www.edutopia.org/
• http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/112
001/chapters/What-Are-Rubrics-and-Why-Are
-They-Important%C2%A2.aspx