Planning for Assessment Presented by Donna Woods

Objectives Instructional objectives: Identify the role of instructional objectives in the assessment of student achievement. How should they be stated for assessment purposes? What resources aid in developing meaningful objectives? Why is it important to evaluate the instructional objectives? Revised Taxonomies: Illustrate the Knowledge and Cognitive Dimensions and assessment through the four quadrants. Preparing for Assessment: Evaluate the importance of assessment prior to, during, and after formalized instruction. Validity and Reliability: Discover why these are the two most important characteristics in assessment planning.

Essential Questions 1. What do we expect the students/employees to learn/do? Goals 2. What type of student/employee performance are we willing to accept as evidence of learning/achieving? Standards 3. What assessment methods serve as the best evaluative tool in measuring the student/employee performance? Effectiveness – Did we reach our objective or goal? (Gronlund & Waugh, p. 30)

Role of Instructional Objectives Provide a description of the expected learning / performance outcome. Connect instruction, learning, and assessment. Both teacher/mentor and student/employee work towards common goals. State the general goals/objectives. List and state the specific learning/performance expectations. Check for understanding through the process. (Gronlund & Waugh, p. 34)

Sources for Meaningful Objectives State content standards Revised Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Publications of educational organizations Instructor’s guides accompanying student textbooks Employee manuals

Evaluating the Objectives Have all important learning/performance outcomes been included? Are the objectives in harmony with the goals of the curriculum/organization? Are the objectives appropriate for achievement level of the student/employee? Are the objectives appropriate for instructional time, materials, and facilities available? Do the objectives include meaningful learning that is useful in the real world/context? Do the objectives scaffold through the cognitive processes?

Rigor/Relevance Framework ®

Knowledge Categories CDAB Factual Knowledge Procedural Knowledge Conceptual Knowledge Meta- cognitive Knowledge (Gronlund & Waugh, p. 31)

Lower to Higher Cognitive Process RememberUnderstandApply AnalyzeEvaluateCreate

Effective Assessments – Begin with the End in Mind Identify two types of assessments. (Teacher Works*) (Student Works ) (Student Thinks & Works) Justify why the assessment method is valid or reliable within your career field. (Student Thinks) Illustrate an appropriate assessment for your job. Prioritize and rank the five types of assessments in order of importance for your career field.

Is there a need for pretesting or assessing prior knowledge? What type of assessment is needed during instruction? What type of assessment is needed at the end of instruction? (Gronlund & Waugh, p. 38)

Types of Assessment Formative Monitors learning progress Summative Determines performance level Informal observation and feedback during instruction and learning period. Questions and discourse Checklist Graphic organizers KWL Charts Response logs Self/Peer assessments Achievement tests Certification tests Performance assessment Product assessment Portfolio assessment

Validity and Reliability Validity Reliability Refers to the appropriateness and meaningfulness of the assessment results for intended purpose and use. Example: Written vs. performance Each requires specifications and scoring rubrics Did its use contribute to increased student learning? Refers to consistency of assessment results. Structure vs. results Consistency of results Differ for tests and performance assessments. Reliability coefficient or standard error of measurement

Desired Features to Enhance Validity and Reliability 1. Clearly specified set of learning outcomes. 2. Representative sample of a clearly defined domain of learning tasks. 3. Tasks that are relevant to the learning outcomes to be measured. 4. Tasks that are at the proper level of difficulty. 5. Tasks that function effectively in distinguishing between achievers and nonachievers. 6. Sufficient number of tasks to measure achievement, results, and interpretation of results. 7. Procedures that contribute to efficient preparation and use. (Gronlund & Waugh, p. 43)

Assessment planning should be guided by what the students/employees are expected to learn, as specified by the instructional objectives. Instructional objective should align with goals and standards. Assessment planning requires consideration of learning outcomes. Revised taxonomy of cognitive learning quadrants. Consideration and variety for types of assessments. Validity and reliability of assessments. Valid and reliable interpretation of assessment results.