Education Chapter 5

For what are diagnostic assessments used?

The results of diagnostic assessment should be used to plan the daily lessons of the unit.

What results from the results of standards-based tests?

The results of standards-based tests are used to make decisions about funding and human resources, which students are promoted or held back, and who graduates and who doesn't. States threaten to close schools, dismiss principals and teachers, and then reopen schools with new staffing and perhaps new programs.

What does it mean when an assessment is criterion referenced?

The student results indicate levels of mastery of a subject and do not depend on how other students score.

How can teachers encourage the benefits of standardized tests for students?

They can model mature and reasoned responses to the assessments, encourage positive attitudes in colleagues and students, and teach students that life is full of challenges we may not like or agree with, but that we must meet head on with our best efforts.

What does it mean to evaluate?

To evaluate is to make judgments about quality and quantity.

What is validity in reference to standardized tests?

Validity means that an assessment measures what it is intended to measure.

What does varying assessment formats ensure?

Varying assessment formats ensures that differing student learning styles and intelligences are accommodated.

Who is accountable for student achievement?

"All of us." The student, teachers, state and federal government through laws, principals, and caretakers. However, accountability falls most heavily on teachers and schools.

What is the mantra you should refer to when implementing classroom assessment?

"Teach what you test; test what you teach."

What are Marzano's seven different forms of assessment?

1. Forced choice; 2. Essay; 3. Short written responses; 4. Oral reports; 5. Teacher observation; 6. Student Self assessment; 7. Performance tasks

What are the four main uses for grades?

1. Instructional uses: clarify learning goals, pinpoint strengths and weaknesses, motivate. 2. Communication uses: Inform students and parents about achievement. 3. Administrative uses: Promotion, graduation, honors, eligibility. 4. Guidance uses: Help students and parents make educational and vocational plans.

What are four purposes of rubrics?

1. Rubrics provide clear expectations for assignments. Therefore, they are instructional tools as well as assessment tools. 2. Rubrics allow teachers to differentiate consistency among performance levels. 3. Rubrics provide guidelines for student improvement. 4. Rubrics make grading more transparent and consistent.

What are the four major purposes of classroom assessment?

1. To monitor student progress, make instructional decisions, evaluate student achievement, and evaluate programs.

How can you prepare your students for standardized tests?

1. You can practice the format of the test, thus reducing the possibility of non-content-related errors and making the assessment a more accurate depiction of knowledge and skills. 2. If the test is in multiple choice format, occasionally provide classroom assessments in multiple-choice formats. 3. If short written response items are anticipated, teach students to compose succinct and logical answers to prompts. 4. Provide extra materials for the test in case students forget them.

When using rubrics, what are the six things that teachers should do?

1. create rubrics for as many tasks as possible. 2. explicitly teach students how to read and use rubrics. 3. Distribute rubrics when the task is explained or assigned. 4. Refer to the rubric when giving directions and answering questions. 5. Provide samples of work (anchors or exemplars) that fit the criteria so that students can see what a product that earns a particular grade looks like. 6. Inform families about the use and benefits of rubrics as assessment tools so they will understand the evaluation criteria and know how to help their students.

What does 21st-century assessment promote?

21st-century assessment promotes balance, includes feedback, uses technology, and encourages portfolio development.

What is a formative assessment?

A formative assessment is a series of assessments in a variety of formats that help monitor student progress toward learning objectives. Formative assessments help teachers make decisions about instruction.

What is a grade? What do people worry about grades?

A grade is a judgment of assessment quality, or an evaluation, with a number attached to it. People worry that grades may be harmful to student self-esteem.

What is a performance assessment?

A performance assessment may be a project, a demonstration, a creation, or anything that requires the application of knowledge and skills.

What is a standardized test?

A standardized test is one that is given to multiple groups of students, designed for specific grade levels, and typically repeated annually. They are administered and scored under controlled conditions, and their exact content is unknown to everyone except the test makers before they are administered.

What is a standards-based test?

A standards-based test is one that is devised according to the content of a specific set of standards. They are the newest category of standardized tests in the United States. Standards-based tests resulted from the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

What is the difference between a formative assessment and a summative assessment?

A summative assessment is typically more formal than a formative assessment and involves judging the success of a process or product. Summative assessments most often occur at the end of a unit of study.

What is an Alternative assessment?

An alternative assessment is an assessment that doesn't fall within Marzano's first three categories.

What is an Authentic assessment?

An authentic assessment means that students show what they know and can do in a real-life setting or situation.

What are the differences between the two basic types of rubrics?

Analytic rubrics give much more information than holistic rubrics. A holistic rubric uses one scale for an entire project, while an analytic rubric specifies separate parts of an assessment task, product, or performance and the characteristics of various levels of success for each.

When are assessments a waste of time?

Assessments are a waste of time and effort if they do not influence the content, the instructional strategies, and the pacing or sequencing of classroom experiences.

What is classroom assessment?

Classroom assessment encompasses all the possible ways teachers determine what students know and can do measured against standards or other learning goals.

What is a diagnostic assessment?

Diagnostic assessments assess student knowledge and skill levels before beginning a unit of study. It is also known as pretesting.

What are the three major kinds of assessment?

Diagnostic, formative, and summative.

What is the difference between evaluation and assessment?

Evaluation makes judgments about, and assigns values to, the results of assessments. Assessment is gathering evidence of student learning. The assessment provides the evidence to evaluate the quality of student learning.

What are high-stakes tests?

High-stakes tests are standardized tests that have far-reaching consequences. They are more isolated snapshots of learning.

Why are standardized tests "norm referenced?"

Norm referencing means that tests are administered to a group of students selected because they represent a cross section of students. The scores of these students become the norm against which all other students are compared.

What assessments provide information on what students know and can do?

Portfolio and performance assessments.

What is the purpose of portfolios?

Portfolios may serve as a compilation of all the work a student does over a period of time. A student may feel a greater sense of accomplishment from reviewing a portfolio than from seeing individual assessments that are quickly discarded. Portfolios can also be display tools to showcase student's best work.

What is reliability in reference to standardized tests?

Reliability means that an assessment yields a pattern of results that is repeated and consistent over time.

What are disadvantages to standards-based tests?

Standards-based test results are not reported in ways that are useful to teachers as they make instructional decisions. Many state tests simply place students in one of four categories: below basic, basic, proficient, and advanced. The results are evaluative and summative, not educative.

Why should summative assessments not be the only method of testing?

Students should be given opportunities to demonstrate what they know and are able to do in a variety of ways, such as completion of a project or performance of an authentic task.

What is the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and what does it do?

The NAEP is the only standardized test systematically administered to a sampling of students across the United States. It allows for the achievement tracking of students at specific grade levels over time, both nationally and by individual states, provides a basis for state-to-state comparisons, and allows for results tracking for a particular subject area and for comparisons among subject areas.