ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION - Maria Dantas …dantas-whitney.weebly.com/uploads/7/4/6/9/7469707/... · ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION Maria Dantas-Whitney, Ph.D. Western Oregon University

ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION

Maria Dantas-Whitney, Ph.D. Western Oregon University

Fulbright Scholar 2016-17 (Universidad Latina/Panama Bilingüe) [email protected]

Back to Basics 3 Workshops - Panamá Bilingüe Program January 30-February 3, 2017

Overview of the Week

Mon, Jan 30

Fundamental Concepts; Purposes of Assessment; Guiding Principles; Formative vs. Summative Assessments; Aligning Assessment and Instruction

Tues, Jan 31

Performance/Alternative Assessments; Using and Creating Rubrics

Wed, Feb 1

Observation Checklists, Self- and Peer-assessments, Exit tickets

Thurs, Feb 2

Giving effective feedback; Designing effective summative assessments; Guidelines for test development and adaptation; Guidelines for grading

Fri, Feb 3

Work with GLGF Staff Present a lesson plan with assessment tools (e.g., a rubric and a test)

Plans for Today

¨  Assessment basics ¤ Fundamental concepts ¤ Purposes ¤ Guiding principles

¨  A Multidimensional Approach to Language Assessment ¤ Formative vs. Summative Assessments ¤ Authentic Assessments

¨  Aligning Assessment and Instruction

Your Assessment Autobiography

Reflect on your experiences…. ¨  As a student…

¤  What types of tests/assessments were common in your educational experience?

¤  Which types were your most and least favorite? ¤  How did you prepare for these tests/assessments? ¤  How did you feel about them?

¨  As a teacher… ¤  What types of tests/assessments do you use as a

teacher? ¤  Which tests/assessments do you find useful and

which ones do you find problematic? ¤  How do your students feel about them?

Game: Two facts and a lie ¨  Write three sentences related to your assessment

autobiography on a piece of paper: ¤  two true statements (facts) ¤ one false statement (lie)

¨  In your table groups, one by one introduce yourselves and say your three sentences

¨  The rest of the group has to guess which one is the lie

As a teacher today, most of my assessments are projects and papers (not tests)

As a student, I used to prefer essay questions to multiple choice questions

As a student, my favorite type of test was surprise quizzes

A piece of the puzzle…

¨  Testing ¤  The administration of tests ¤  A test is a single instrument to measure a student’s ability at one

particular time n  Ex: A reading comprehension test of a book read in class

¨  Assessment ¤  The systematic process of planning, collecting, analyzing, reporting,

and using student data from a variety of sources over time (Gottlieb, 2016) n  Ex: Student’s reading ability is assessed through a variety of tests, and

formal and informal assessments throughout the school year (e.g., observations, projects, self-assessments)

¨  Evaluation ¤  Use of assessment data to make a judgment

n  Ex: Giving a grade for a course based on attendance, class participation, projects, papers, homework assignments, and tests

Fundamental Concepts

Evaluation

Assessment

Testing

Fundamental Concepts

Which one?

I always monitor my students’ participation in class, have them to complete projects in groups, and give them homework assignments to check their understanding. This information helps me decide if I need to re-teach certain topics, or if I can move on to the next unit.

I give a short quiz at the end of every unit to my students. As a class, we go over each test item and discuss the correct answers.

At the end of the year, I analyzed my students’ performance on all class tasks, projects, homework, and tests. Unfortunately, one student did so poorly that he could not pass to the next level.

Testing

Assessment

Evaluation

Purposes of Assessment ¨  Identify learning needs ¨  Evaluate teaching and learning ¨  Determine language learning targets ¨  Feedback for teachers

¤ Were my methods successful? What do I need to re-teach?

¨  Feedback for students ¤  Positive washback: useful feedback, student

learns from test ¤ Active role in own learning and increased

confidence (self-assessment)

Types of Assessments a.  Proficiency b.  Diagnostic c.  Placement d.  Achievement

q  Identifies students’ needs in preparation for planning of future teaching activities

q  Measures general language ability and is not tied to the content of a particular course or program

q  Measures specific content covered in a course within a specific time frame

q  Assesses students’ language level before they enrolled in a course (to make sure the course is right for their level)

a

b

c

d

Guiding Principles

Validity

Practicability

Authenticity

Washback

Reliability

¨  The consistency of test in measuring whatever it is that it is measuring

Reliability

Is this a reliable test?

¨  I created different forms of a test for my morning and afternoon classes with slightly different questions in a slightly different order. However, the content and difficulty level were the same and a student should perform comparably on both tests.

¨  The accuracy with which a test measures what it is intended to measure

¨  Validity refers to how test scores are interpreted and used

¨  Example ¤ Teacher wants to measure students’ writing

ability ¤ Teacher gives students a spelling test ¤ Can the results be used to make valid inferences

about the students’ writing ability?

Validity

Is this a valid test for listening skills and vocabulary (telling time)?

Practicability ¨  Easy to

administer ¨  Clear

directions ¨  All

resources are available

¨  Language assessed is appropriate and relevant

¨  Tasks resemble real-world uses of language

¨  Positive washback means that students learn something from the test. Good feedback is provided

Authenticity Washback

Is this a practical assessment?

¨  In a class with 40 students, in order to assess speaking skills, the teacher plans to conduct an individual interview with each student. Each interview will last 15 minutes.

Does this test have positive washback? ¨  A teacher returns a reading/grammar test

to the students with only check marks next to the wrong answers. There is no feedback or discussion.

Place the exercises along the authenticity continuum

Inauthentic Authentic

Exercises Work in pairs

Place the exercises along the authenticity continuum

Inauthentic Authentic

Circle the correct word Complete the chart Work in pairs Write the answers

Work in pairs Write the answers Circle the correct word Complete the chart

Inauthentic vs. Authentic

¨  Decontextualized exercises

¨  Test scores are the only feedback given

¨  Focus on the “right” answer

¨  Addresses knowledge about the language

¨  Contextualized tasks

¨  Interactive feedback (discussion)

¨  Open-ended, creative answers

¨  Addresses use of the language

Inauthentic Tests Authentic Assessments

¨  Performance-based assessments require learners to apply knowledge, skills, and strategies used in learning

¨  Uses activities that reveal what students can do with language

¨  Emphasizes the use of English for meaningful purposes

¨  May involve several language skills ¨  Links instruction to assessment, and provides

useful feedback to students and the teacher

Authentic Assessments

How could you transform this exercise into an authentic task?

A Multidimensional Approach to Assessment of ELs

•  Use a variety of assessment tools. A combination of assessments can capture student learning much more accurately than any single measure can ¤  A single summative assessment that cannot account for student growth over

time •  Assessment needs to be closely linked to instruction

•  Every lesson should have clear objectives. Assessments will determine if those objectives are reached

•  Use assessment results to modify instruction •  Communicate assessment results to students in clear

and meaningful ways •  Offer students opportunities to use multiple modalities

(e.g., graphic organizers, drawings, PowerPoint slides)

(Lenskie et al, 2006)

Provides a summary of what a student knows and can do •  End-of-unit tests •  Final exams Provides information on how a student is doing and what modifications may be needed in instruction. Can also be diagnostic. On-going assessments which help inform what to do next with the students •  Observation forms •  Assessing writing samples with a

rubric •  Performance assessments

Summative vs. Formative

Summative

Formative (Formal and

Informal)

Formative vs. Summative

Formative ¨  Monitors student

progress ¨  Occurs internal to

instruction ¨  Provides ongoing

descriptive feedback ¨  Co-occurs with

learning ¨  Is process oriented ¨  Informs instruction

Summative ¨  Evaluates student

progress ¨  Occurs toward the end

of an instructional cycle ¨  Provides feedback that

may be in the form of grading

¨  Demonstrates learning ¨  Is product or outcome

oriented ¨  Gauges instructional

effectiveness

Assessment for learning

Assessment of learning

Formative or Summative?

Assessment that takes place during the process of learning. Purpose: to provide feedback to help the learning process.

Formal evaluation at the end of a learning period. Purpose: to measure what a student learned.

Lesson Planning Grid

Preparing Learners

Ice breaker Build background knowledge Relate content to students’ lives Introduce vocabulary and concepts in context

Interacting

Teacher-Students: Teacher modeling Direct instruction if needed

Student-Student: Group practice (closely monitored by the teacher)

Extending Understanding

Apply newly gained knowledge to novel situations or use it to problem-solve Connect ideas learned to other ideas in previous lessons or in the real world Independent projects and tasks

Formative Assessment/Check for

Understanding

Formative Assessment/Check for

Understanding Summative Assessment

Objectives (content) Objectives (language)

Key Vocabulary Materials/Resources

Ice Breaker & Building Background Lesson Delivery

Alignment of Instruction and Assessment

Objectives Activities Assessments

Objectives Activities Assessments

Group Practice: Alignment of Instruction and Assessment

Group Practice: Alignment of Instruction and Assessment

Content objective: In groups, students will summarize/retell chronological events in a novel Language objective: Students will use past tense verbs and adverbials of time (e.g., before, after, then, etc.)

What types of activities would you plan for this lesson?

What type of assessments would you plan for this lesson?

Group Presentations & Feedback

Sharing and Discussion

Group Project ¨  In groups, create a lesson plan ¨  Include at least one formative assessment with a

rubric ¨  Include a summative assessment (a test) ¨  You will be work on your group lesson plan on

Mon, Tues, Wed and Thus ¨  On Friday, you will prepare a poster of your

lesson plan/assessments and present it in a gallery walk format

Group Work Time

Get together in groups according to the grade level you choose. Start working on your lesson plan. Decide on your objectives and sequence of activities.