Chapter 4: Assessing students and text

No single test can do what?

No single test can identify the needs of all groups who require information about school and student performance.

Percentile scores

describe the relative standing of a student at a particular grade level.

Proponents of high stakes testing believe the test results can help schools do what?

Can help identify areas of weakness and to allocate resources where they are most needed in order to improve their programs and the performance of individual students.

Informal assessment techniques like checklists, interviews and content area reading inventories are different from natural, open ended observation because they often consist of..

Categories or questions that have already been determined; they impose an a priori classification scheme on the observation process.

Predictive validity

Does the test predict future performance

Assessment in content area classrooms means that students and teachers are actively...

Engaged in process of evaluation and self-evaluation

High stake testing also cuts out classes or time for subjects that are not on the tests

For example social studies only had twelve minutes in elementary and only 24 in higher grades. The time for this subject is usually replaced with math or reading.

Informational gained from authentic assessment can be organized how?

Into a rich description or portrait of your content area or classroom or into student portfolios.

Instructional assessment is a process of gathering and using what?

Multiple sources of relevant information about students for instructional purposes.

Validity

Tells teacher whether the test is measuring what it purports measure. Without question is one of the most important characteristics of a test.

Learning process should involve not just be measured by standardized testing but also

assessment of authentic tasks

Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (NCLB)

calls for state accountability systems that "recognize process and growth and reward success rather than only identify failure"

Teachers want to make instructional decisions based on their students'

content literacy skills, concepts, and performance

Concerns with high stake testing include

contention that high stakes tests require a lot of time an d resources that could be directed more effectively toward other ways of increasing reading achievement

Those who decided upon school matters usually are..

delegated by state policy makers to local school districts.

Portfolios encourage the incorporation of

different types of summative and formative assessments, which allows teachers to incorporate intervention and enrichment as needed.

Content validity

does the test reflect the domain or content area being examined

Instructional assessment

is a process of gathering and using multiple sources of relevant information about students for instructional purposes.

Observation

is one of the most useful tools for inquiry into the classroom

Authentic methods of assessment

often include some combination of observations, interviews, anecdotal records, and student selected performances and products.

Grade equivalent scores

provide info about reading test performance as it relates to students at various grade levels. Is a questionable abstraction. It suggest that growth in reading progresses thru out a school year at a constant rate.

Stanine scores

raw scores that have been transformed to a common standard to permit comparison.

reliability

refers to consistency or stability of a students test scores

Reliability

refers to the consistency or stability of a student's test scores. A teacher must raise the question, "Can similar test results be achieved under different conditions?".

norms

represent average scores of a sampling of students selected for testing according to factors such as age, sex, race, grade or socioeconomic status.

Concerns about test takers is that those who are horrible at test are ignored for

those that are called bubble kids, who are almost at a passing grade will have more focus to get their points up to pass the test. Instead of helping all.

Checklist is designed

to reveal categories of information the teacher has preselected. Know which reading and study tasks or attitudes you plan to observe.