ED/PY 462.01
ASSESSMENT & TEST CONSTRUCTION
FALL 2003
Joseph J. Pedulla
TEXTS: REQUIRED: Gronlund, N. E. Assessment of Student Achievement, (7th edition), Allyn and Bacon, 1998.
Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education, 1999.
RECOMMENDED: Airasian, P. W. Classroom Assessment, (4th edition), McGraw Hill, 2001.
OTHERS:
Brandt, R.S. Performance Assessment. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1992.
Ebel, R.L. & Frisbie, D.A. Essentials of Educational Measurement, (5th edition), Prentice Hall, 1991.
Linn, R.L. (ed.) Educational Measurement. (3rd ed.), MacMillan, 1989.
Linn, R.L. & Gronlund, N.E. Measurement and assessment in teaching. (8th ed.) Merrill Education, 2000.
Herman, J.L., Aschbacher, P.R. & Winters, L. A Practical Guide to Alternative Assessment. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1992.
Heubert, J.P. & Hauser, R.M. (Eds.) High Stakes Testing for Tracking, Promotion, and Graduation. National Academy Press, 1999.
Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D. & McTighe, J. Assessing Student Outcomes. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1993.
Mitchell, K.J., Robinson, D.Z., Plake, B.S., & Knowles, K.T. (Eds.) Testing Teacher Candidates: The Role of Licensure Tests in Improving Teacher Quality. National Academy Press, 2001.
OFFICE HOURS: Tuesday 2:30-4:15 PM; Wednesday 2:30-4:15 PM; and by appointment.
OFFICE: Campion 336B; phone: 617-552-0683 (BC extension 20683)
E-mail:
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
A portfolio that includes the following (cf. Description of Assignments handout) (90% of total grade):
Required pieces (65%):
•Achievement Test Construction assignment (20%)
• Performance Test Construction assignment (15%)
• Final Paper/Project (30%)
Elective pieces (25%):
• overall quality of portfolio (15%)
• synthesis of 4 pieces (10%)
Class Participation, including presentations (10%)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course on assessment and test construction explores all aspects of assessment. A broad perspective on what constitutes assessment is taken. In addition to the formal types of assessment that we typically think about, usually paper-and-pencil tests, alternatives to these assessments are discussed (e.g. performance tasks, portfolios), as are more informal types of assessments (e.g. observations, asking questions). Through this course, you should become aware that assessment is a continual process for the teacher, but a discrete process for measurement professionals. You should gain strategies for conducting assessments in a professional manner. The following outline delineates topics to be covered and questions to be addressed.
COURSE OUTLINE
Introduction to Classroom Assessment (Sept. 3)
What is assessment?
How do teachers assess?
How do school districts, states, and other government agencies assess?
Reading: Gronlund text: Chapters 1 & 12; Optional--Airasian text: Chapter 1 and Appendix A
Informal Classroom Assessment--Sizing-Up Assessment (Sept. 3)
What is sizing-up assessment?
Why do sizing-up?
Validity and reliability issues around sizing-up assessment.
Contrast with formal assessment.
Reading: Airasian: Assessment Reform, A Bottom-Up Approach (reserve); Borich: Why Observe? (reserve); Guerin & Maier: What Is Informal Assessment? (reserve); Optional--Airasian text: Chapter 2
Assessment for Planning and Delivering Instruction (Sept. 10)
What is taught?
How is what is taught determined?
Stating educational objectives.
The Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.
The role of textbooks.
Questioning strategies as a means of assessment.
Reading: Optional--Airasian text: Chapters 3 and 4
Formal Assessment (Sept. 17)
What is official assessment?
How does it compare and contrast with sizing-up and instructional assessment?
What are standards? How do they play out in formal assessment? (
What is the purpose of achievement testing?
What is involved in achievement testing?
What are appropriate and inappropriate test preparation strategies?
Reading: Gronlund text: Chapters 2 & 3; Stiggins: High Quality Classroom Assessment: What Does It Really Mean? (reserve); Test Standards, pp.1-36; Optional--Airasian text: Chapter 5.
Paper and Pencil Testing (Sept. 24, Oct. 1 & 8)
What are the advantages and disadvantages of paper and pencil testing?
Assessing higher order skills.
Item writing rules.
Identify flaws in poorly written items.
Issues surrounding test validity and reliability.
Principles for assembling and administering tests.
Interpreting test results (summary statistics, item analysis)
Norm-referenced and criterion-referenced interpretations
Methods for improving the objectivity of scoring essays.
How does all of this relate to grading?
Reading: Gronlund text: Chapters 4 & 5; Test Standards, pp. 37-70; Optional--Airasian text: Chapters 6 and 7.
Performance and Portfolio Assessment (Oct. 15, 22 & 29)
What constitutes alternative assessment?
How are performance, portfolio, and product assessment defined?
What is authentic assessment?
How are these assessments constructed?
Scoring procedures for alternative assessments.
Issues of validity and reliability of alternative assessments.
Reading: Gronlund text: Chapters 6, 7, 8 & 9; Wiggins: True Tests (reserve); Stiggins: Design and Development of Performance Assessments (reserve); Delandshere & Petrosky (reserve); Test Standards, pp.73-108; Optional--Airasian text: Chapters 8 and 9.
Standardized Achievement Tests (Nov. 5 & 12)
What are standardized tests?
What are achievement tests?
How do teacher-made, government-mandated, and commercial standardized, norm- referenced achievement tests differ?
How are commercial standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests constructed?
What is a norm group?
What are appropriate and inappropriate uses of standardized, norm-referenced achievement tests?
Interpreting test score reports.
Factors influencing the validity and reliability of these tests.
The influence of these tests on instruction and school practice.
Reading: Gronlund text Chapter 11; Linn & Dunbar (reserve); Moss (reserve);
Test Standards, pp.111-150; Optional--Airasian text: Chapter 11, Appendix B.
Examples from Current Testing Programs (Nov. 12 & 19; Dec. 3 & 10)
Issues around testing for student accountability (
Issues around testing for teacher accountability
(
Issues around testing for school accountability.
What can be learned from Kentucky? (from KIRIS to CATS)
(
A look at Massachusetts (both MCAS and teacher certification testing) (
Alabama's teacher certification testing
No Child Left Behind Act (
Reading: Reading: Gronlund text: Chapter 10; Koretz, Stecher, Klein & McCaffrey (reserve); Test Standards, pp.151-169; Optional--Airasian text: Chapter 10.
Other websites of interest: