Chapter 3: Formal and Informal Assessment

Projective Test

A psychological test in which words, images, or situations are presented to a person and the responses analyzed for the unconscious expression of elements of personality that they reveal.

Examples of Performance Assessments

Ability to take public transportation from home to a workplace, use one hand or two to bounce a ball, balance a checkbook.

Formal Assessment Design

Administered to a group of students as a screening tool while others are administered to an individual student.

Curriculum-based Measurement (CBM)

An assessment method in which teachers regularly evaluate student performance on a particular skill (reading comprehension, spelling, and math); used formatively because data is collected so frequently.

Rating Scales

An instrument that requires an observer to evaluate a student's behavior using an ordinal scale (never, sometimes, always); structured and may be standardized.

Portfolio Assessments

Are collections of a student's work systematically collected over an extended time period. Includes many kinds of items, such as writing samples, projects, photographs, audiotapes, or videotapes; not timed, less pressure.

Informal Assessment Strategies

Asking students direct questions, curriculum-based assessment to measure progress, observe during play, observe for proper performance skills, safety procedures, or staying on task, conducting a task analysis, direct conversation with students, direct interaction to create portfolio and document the student's progress over time.

Baseline

Assessments are given before instruction to establish proficiency; the difference in scores is attributed to learning.

Criterion-Referenced Assessments

Assessments designed to provide information about whether students have mastered particular educational objectives. Each student is scored against criterion or how much of the content or how many of the goals has the student met.

Response Patterns

Associated with a variety of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; such as using only the middle three points of a five-point scale.

Performance Assessments

Best used for assessment of procedural knowledge (skills); well suited for evaluating motor skills and adaptive skills

Strategies for Reducing Bias

Consider each student's needs and background individually to ensure that assessment measures are appropriate (home language, socioeconomic status, etc..); Follow guidelines in the IEP without introducing other accommodations that are not specified, using a rubric to score responses, recording oral responses for later review by another rater, establishing rapport with the student while maintaining a professional role.

Selecting Assessment Methods

Depends on the situation; should align with the learning objectives.

Achievement and Aptitude Tests

Designed to measure academic progress and designed to predict academic success; most commonly standardized.

Norm-Referenced Assessments

Determined by comparing a student's performance with the performance of others.

Most Important in Testing Students with Disabilities

Ensuring that test results reflect students' knowledge and skills, not their disabilities.

Rapport

Especially important when conducting one-on-one assessments such interviews or oral tests.

Problems with Rating Scales

Evaluations are based raters' subjective observations (personal biases) where different raters do not always interpret the scales or rate behaviors in the same way. For example, one rater might score a behavior as often and another sometimes. Difficult to interpret meaningfully between "basic" and "proficient" for parents or even teachers.

Common Test Accommodations

Extended time, having a person or the computer read aloud, using a calculator, test on a computer

Examples of Summative Assessment

Final exams, high-stakes achievement tests

Advantage of Informal Assessment

Flexible, tailored to individual students, integrated into lesson plans, provide quick feedback, adjust instruction, assessments that directly link to curriculum and instruction.

Advantages of Portfolio Assessments

Gives students who need extra time or who are easily distracted an opportunity to perform

Structured Rubric Scoring

Helps keep performance assessments unbiased in their evaluations and comparable across students.

Formal Assessments

Highly structured and provide specific guidelines and procedures for administering scores, and interpreting their results.

Functional Behavior Assessments (FBA(

Identify the target behavior and define it in terms that are specific, observable, and measurable, identify factors that may contribute to the behavior, develop a method for collecting data regarding the behavior and/or the contributing factors, collect and review data, form a hypothesis about the reason for the behavior (its function for the student), develop an intervention plan, administer the intervention and collect data on student data

Significant Modifications to Assessments

In some cases, teachers may need to change the format of test items to ensure they are understood or provide parallel test forms at lower difficulty levels (simplified language); grading criteria may need to be changed to use alternatives to letter and number grades (pass or fail).

Standardized procedures

Include giving all students the same amount of time, having students take the test in the same room, and giving the students the same instructions before beginning.

Examples of Formal Assessments

Include standardized tests in achievement, aptitude, and intelligence; standardized adaptive behavior scales, and standardized checklists.

Advantages of Formal Assessment

Includes: associated data regarding their reliability and validity, one assessment measure to gather the same information from all students, screen large number of students at one time

Strategies for Establishing and Maintaining Rapport

Introduce oneself, explain to the student the goal/purpose of the assessment, explaining what the assessment involves, encourage students to ask questions, introduce or model technology or assistive technology, pay careful attention to nonverbal signals (student posture, attention, fatigue, and adjusting to testing procedure).

Informal Assessments

Less structured, nonstandardized methods of evaluating a student's progress, such as teacher-made quizzes and test, observations and interviews.

Limitations of Portfolio Assessments

Low inter-rater reliability (not evaluated the same way by different raters), difficulty comparing performance across students.

When to Use Norm-Referenced Tests

Measuring general ability (strengths and weaknesses) in certain areas, such as English, algebra, science, or social studies; assessing the range of abilities in a large group; Selecting top candidates when only a few openings are available.

Reason for Formative Assessment

Monitor students' progress in order to adjust instruction and interventions as needed.

Informal Observations

Notes by a teacher, parent/guardian, or other member of a student's IEP team.

Common Assessment Methods

Observations, achievement and aptitude tests, rating scales, portfolio assessments, performance assessments, curriculum-based measureent

Limitations of Observations

Observers make subjective and sometimes biased assessment, high level of inter-rater reliability can be difficult to achieve.

Observations of Behavior

Often used to identify students as having certain disabilities or to refer them to emotional impairments are identified based on specific behavior patterns.

Standardization

Refers to uniformity in the content and administration of an assessment measure; helps to reduce bias in testing and scoring.

Examples of Portfolio Assessments

Student's own evaluations and descriptions of their work and their feelings about their achievement, capture a broad picture of student's interests, achievements, and abilities, summarizes student performance on complex tasks.

Communication Disorders

Students benefit from extended time to complete an assessment, access to a computer for writing, verbal or visual supports, a testing format that requires students to select a response rather than write freely, or use of assistive technology.

Visual Impairments

Students benefit from extended time to complete an assessment, especially if it is written in Braille or requires visual scanning, having a persona read instructions or items that do not assess reading ability directly, having a person to record responses, access to a computer for writing, frequent breaks during testing, and an environment with few distractions.

Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Students benefit from extended time to complete an assessment, having a person interpret the directions, and having an opportunity to learn about and practice the test format in advance.

Health Impairments or Physical Disabilities

Students benefit from extended time to complete an assessment, having the test presented via computer, frequent breaks during testing, and having a scribe to record responses.

Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

Students benefit from extended time to complete an assessment, taking the test individually, and taking breaks during testing.

ADHD

Students benefit from taking breaks during testing and a testing environment with few distractions.

Severe and Multiple Disabilities

Students benefit from the use of alternative assessments such as performance and portfolio-based assessments.

Intellectual Disabilities

Students will benefit from extended time to complete an assessment, hearing test items read aloud instead of reading them, providing oral responses rather than written ones, and having the opportunity to ask for clarification on particular items.

Limits to Informal Assessments

Subject to bias, limited comparative data, take time to prepare.

Limitations of Formal Assessment

Take instructional time to administer, may not be appropriate for sped students without adaptions, must be administered by trained staff

Goal of Assessment

Teachers need to consider the benefits and disadvantages of each type when deciding which one to use for a particular situation to match the assessment with the purpose of assessing the student.

Uses of CBM

Tested weekly on a small selection of data, formative, easily adjust instruction based on student needs, helps to create and modify IEP goals.

Reliable Observations

The more structure the observational protocol the more dependable it will be across observers, although important information may be missed if the protocol is too strict.

Educational Assessment

The process of systematically gathering evidence that documents student knowledge, skills, and behaviors and using this evidence to determine if a student's performance matches expectations and standards; it also involves using the information to make instructional and diagnostic decisions in order to improve student and teaching performance.

Observations

Typically records of behaviors but also involve assessment of the environment; can be highly structured and require training to a level of high inter-reliability, or informal.

Formative Assessments

Used to answer: "What are students learning?" What do the students know or what skills are they demonstrating right now? Examples: class discussions, homework, monitor student progress, curriculum-based assessment

Summative Assessment

When teachers want an overall summary of what students have learned, such as at the end of an instructional unit. Measures should adhere closely to the learning objectives.

Characteristics Teachers Consider in Selecting Assessment

Whether the assessment was designed for and/or normed for use with similar students, whether the instrument is reliable and valid, the length of time the assessment requires, whether the special training is needed for administration, whether the test can be translated into a language other than English.

Criterion-Referenced Tests

Work best when measuring mastery of basic skills, Determining if students have prerequisites to start a new unit, assessing effective a psychomotor objectives, providing evidence that students have met learning standards, grouping students for instruction.