1. EDU 330: Educational Psychology Daniel Moos, PhD
Classroom Assessment
EDU 330: Educational Psychology
Daniel Moos, PhD

2. What do you see? Please do not say it out loud…

3. Why Should We Assess Student Learning?
Summative evaluation
 To provide a summary judgment of student performance over time and different tasks
Formative evaluation
To monitor student progress for remedial or supplementary instruction
Research recommends frequent short tests are better than infrequent long ones.
Do you agree? Why or why not? 3

4. How Should We Assess Student Learning?
Differentiate between reliability and validity
Evaluate lesson plan based on validity and reliability
Scaffolding (direct instruction, group application, individual appplication)
How do we ensure alignment between “desired results”, “acceptable evidence” and “learning experiences? 3

5. How Should We Assess Student Learning? continued
Reliability: Consistency of measurement
Example #1 with a scale
I weigh a bag of potatoes on a scale in the morning and the scale indicates that the bag weighs 5 pounds. If I were to weigh the same bag of potatoes later in the day, a reliable scale would indicate that the bag weighs how many pounds?
Example #2 with a classroom (reliability = holding students to the same assessment criteria
I design an essay for one of my tests. How can I ensure reliability when evaluating my students’ responses to this essay? 3

6. How Should We Assess Student Learning? continued
Validity: Accuracy of assessment
Example #1 with a scale
I weigh a bag of potatoes on a scale in the morning and the scale indicates that the bag weighs 5 pounds. I weigh the bag on the same scale later in the day and the scale again registers that the bag weighs 5 pounds.
The scale is reliable because it provide consistent measurement
But, is it valid???? In other words, does the bag actually weigh 5 pounds? 3

7. Classroom Assessment: Validity & reliability

8. Application #1: 4 Corners Discussion
Topic #1: Effort should be assessed and used to evaluate students
Commit to a position: A (strongly agree), B (agree), C (disagree), D (strongly disagree)
Discuss:
Reliability, Validity, Growth/Fixed mindset, Controllable/Uncontrollable attributions
Does content and/or developmental factors matter?
Topic #2: Class participation should be assessed and used to evaluate students
Commit to a position: A (strongly agree), B (agree), C (disagree), D (strongly disagree)
Discuss:
Reliability, validity, content, developmental factors?

9. Application #2: Evaluate lesson plan (backwards design)
1. Evaluate the “desired outcome” (what is it?)
2. Evaluate the assessment (reliable? valid?)
3. Evaluate learning activities (to what extent do they align with outcomes and assessment?) 3