The Challenges of Assessing Young Children AppropriatelyLORRIE SHEPARD is a professor of education at the University of Colorado BoulderShe is past president of the National Council on Measurement in Education past vicepresident of the American Educational Research Association and a member of theNational Academy of Education She wishes to thank Sharon Lynn Kagan M ElizabethGraue and Scott F Marion for their thoughtful suggestions on drafts of this articleProposals to assess young children are likely to be met with outrage or enthusiasmdepending on ones prior experience and ones image of the testing involved Will aninappropriate paper-and pencil test be used to keep some 5-year-olds out of school Orwill the assessment implemented as an ordinary part of good instruction help childrenlearn A governor advocating a test for every preschooler in the nation may have in mindthe charts depicting normal growth in the pediatricians office Why shouldnt parentshave access to similar measures to monitor their childs cognitive and academic progressMiddle-class parents sanguine about the use of test scores to make college-selectiondecisions may be eager to have similar tests determine their childs entrance intopreschool or kindergarten Early childhood experts however are more likely to respondwith alarm because they are more familiar with the complexities of defining andmeasuring development and learning in young children and because they are more awareof the widespread abuses of readiness testing that occurred in the 1980sGiven a history of misuse it is impossible to make positive recommendations about howassessments could be used to monitor the progress of individual children or to evaluatethe quality of educational programs without offering assurances that the abuses will notrecur In what follows I summarize the negative history of standardized testing of youngchildren in order to highlight the transformation needed in both the substance andpurposes of early childhood assessment Then I explain from a measurement perspectivehow the features of an assessment must be tailored to match the purpose of theassessment Finally I describe differences in what assessments might look like when theyare used for purposes of screening for handicapping conditions supporting instruction ormonitoring state and national trendsNote that I use the term test when referring to traditional standardized developmental andpre-academic measures and the term assessment when referring to more developmentallyappropriate procedures for observing and evaluating young children This is a semantictrick that plays on the different connotations of the two terms Technically they mean thesame thing Tests as defined by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testinghave always included systematic observations of behavior but our experience is withtests as more formal one right-answer instruments used to rank and sort individuals Aswe shall see assessments might be standardized involve paper-and-pencil responses andso on but in contrast to traditional testing assessment implies a substantive focus onstudent learning for the purpose of effective intervention While test and assessmentcannot be reliably distinguished technically the difference between these two terms asthey have grown up in common parlance is of symbolic importance Using the termassessment presents an opportunity to step away from past practices and ask why weshould try to measure what young children know and can do If there are legitimatepurposes for gathering such data then we can seek the appropriate content and form ofassessment to align with those purposesNegative History of Testing Young Children

In order to understand the negative history of the standardized testing of young childrenin the past decade we need to understand some larger shifts in curriculum and teachingpractices The distortion of the curriculum of the early grades during the 1980s is now afamiliar and well-documented story Indeed negative effects persist in many schooldistricts todayAlthough rarely the result of conscious policy decisions a variety of indirect pressures -such as older kindergartners extensive preschooling for children from affluent familiesparental demands for the teaching of reading in kindergarten and accountability testingin higher grades - produced a skill-driven kindergarten curriculum Because what oncewere first grade expectations were shoved down to kindergarten these shifts in practicewere referred to as the escalation of curriculum or academic trickle-down The resultof these changes was an aversive learning environment inconsistent with the learningneeds of young children Developmentally inappropriate instructional practicescharacterized by long periods of seatwork high levels of stress and a plethora of fill-inthe-blank worksheets placed many children at risk by setting standards for attentionspan social maturity and academic productivity that could not be met by many normal 5-year-oldsTeachers and school administrators responded to the problem of a kindergartenenvironment that was increasingly hostile to young children with several ill-consideredpolicies raising the entrance age for school instituting readiness screening to hold somechildren out of school for a year increasing retentions in kindergarten and creating twoyearprograms with an extra grade either before or after kindergarten These policies andpractices had a benign intent to protect children from stress and school failure Howeverthey were ill-considered because they were implemented without contemplating thepossibility of negative side effects and without awareness that retaining some childrenand excluding others only exacerbated the problems by creating an older and olderpopulation of kindergartners1 The more reasonable corrective for a skill-drivencurriculum at earlier and earlier ages would have been curriculum reform of the kindexemplified by the recommendations for developmentally appropriate practices issued bythe National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) the nationslargest professional association of early childhood educators2The first response of many schools however was not to fix the problem of inappropriatecurriculum but to exclude those children who could not keep up or who might be harmedReadiness testing was the chief means of implementing policies aimed at removingyoung children from inappropriate instructional programs Thus the use of readinesstesting increased dramatically during the 1980s and continues today in many schooldistricts3Two different kinds of tests are used developmental screening measures originallyintended as the first step in the evaluation of children for potential handicaps and preacademicskills tests intended for use in planning classroom instruction4 The technicaland conceptual problems with these tests are numerous5 Tests are being used forpurposes for which they were never designed or validated Waiting a year or being placedin a two-year program represents a dramatic disruption in a childs life yet not one of the

existing readiness measures has sufficient reliability or predictive validity to warrantmaking such decisionsDevelopmental and pre-academic skills tests are based on outmoded theories of aptitudeand learning that originated in the 1930s The excessive use of these tests and thenegative consequences of being judged unready focused a spotlight on the testssubstantive inadequacies The widely used Gesell Test is made up of items from old IQtests and is indistinguishable statistically from a measure of IQ the same is true fordevelopmental measures that are really short-form IQ tests Assigning children todifferent instructional opportunities on the basis of such tests carries forward nativistassumptions popular in the 1930s and 1940s At that time it was believed that IQ testscould accurately measure innate ability unconfounded by prior learning experiencesBecause these measured capacities were thought to be fixed and unalterable those whoscored poorly were given low-level training consistent with their supposedly limitedpotential Tests of academic content might have the promise of being more instructionallyrelevant than disguised IQ tests but as Anne Stallman and David Pearson have shownthe decomposed and decontextualized prereading skills measured by traditional readinesstests are not compatible with current research on early literacy6Readiness testing also raises serious equity concerns Because all the readiness measuresin use are influenced by past opportunity to learn a disproportionate number of poor andminority children are identified as unready and are excluded from school when they mostneed it Thus children without preschool experience and without extensive literacyexperiences at home are sent back to the very environments that caused them to scorepoorly on readiness measures in the first place Or if poor and minority children who donot pass the readiness tests are admitted to the school but made to spend an extra year inkindergarten they suffer disproportionately the stigma and negative effects of retentionThe last straw in this negative account of testing young children is the evidence thatfallible tests are often followed by ineffective programs A review of controlled studieshas shown no academic benefits from retention in kindergarten or from extra-yearprograms whether developmental kindergartens or transitional first grades When extrayearchildren finally get to first grade they do not do better on average than equallyunready children who go directly on to first grade7 However a majority of childrenplaced in these extra-year programs do experience some short- or long-term trauma asreported by their parents8 Contrary to popular belief that kindergarten children are tooyoung to notice retention most of them know that they are not making normalprogress and many continue to make reference to the decision years later If I hadntspent an extra year in kindergarten I would be in ____ grade now In the face of suchevidence there is little wonder that many early childhood educators ask why we testyoung children at allPrinciples for Assessment and TestingThe NAEYC and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education have played key roles in informing educators about the harmof developmentally inappropriate instructional practices and the misuse of tests In 1991NAEYC published Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment inPrograms Serving Children Ages 3 Through 89 Although the detailed recommendationsare too numerous to be repeated here a guiding principle is that assessments should bring

about benefits for children or data should not be collected at all Specificallyassessments should not be used to recommend that children stay out of a program beretained in grade or be assigned to a segregated group based on ability or developmentalmaturity10 Instead NAEYC acknowledges three legitimate purposes for assessment 1)to plan instruction and communicate with parents 2) to identify children with specialneeds and 3) to evaluate programsAlthough NAEYC used assessment in its Guidelines as I do to avoid associations withinappropriate uses of tests both the general principle and the specific guidelines areequally applicable to formal testing In other words tests should not be used if they donot bring about benefits for children In what follows I summarize some additionalprinciples that can ensure that assessments (and tests) are beneficial and not harmfulThen in later sections I consider each of NAEYCs recommended uses for assessmentincluding national state and local needs for program evaluation and accountability dataI propose a second guiding principle for assessment that is consistent with the NAEYCperspective The content of assessments should reflect and model progress towardimportant learning goals Conceptions of what is important to learn should take intoaccount both physical and socialemotional development as well as cognitive learningFor most assessment purposes in the cognitive domain content should be congruent withsubject matter in emergent literacy and numeracy In the past developmental measureswere made as curriculum free or culture free as possible in an effort to tap biologyand avoid the confounding effects of past opportunity to learn Of course this was animpossible task because a childs ability to draw a triangle or point to the ball on top ofthe table depends on prior experiences as well as on biological readiness However ifthe purpose of assessment is no longer to sort students into programs on the basis of aone-time measure of ability then it is possible to have assessment content mirror what wewant children to learnA third guiding principle can be inferred from several of the NAEYC guidelines Themethods of assessment must be appropriate to the development and experiences of youngchildren This means that - along with written products -- observation oral readings andinter-views should be used for purposes of assessment Even for large-scale purposesassessment should not be an artificial and decontextualized event instead the demandsof data collection should be consistent with childrens prior experiences in classroomsand at home Assessment practices should recognize the diversity of learners and must bein accord with childrens language development - both in English and in the nativelanguages of those whose home language is not EnglishA fourth guiding principle can be drawn from the psychometric literature on test validityAssessments should be tailored to a specific purpose Although not stated explicitly in theNAEYC document this principle is implied by the recommendation of three sets ofguidelines for three separate assessment purposesMatching the Why and How of AssessmentThe reason for any assessment - ie how the assessment information will be used -affects the substance and form of the assessment in several ways First the degree oftechnical accuracy required depends on use For example the identification of childrenfor special education has critical implications for individuals Failure to be identifiedcould mean the denial of needed services but being identified as in need of specialservices may also mean removal from normal classrooms (at least part of the time) and a

potentially stigmatizing label A great deal is at stake in such assessment so themultifaceted evaluation employed must have a high degree of reliability and validityOrdinary classroom assessments also affect individual children but the consequences ofthese decisions are not nearly so great An inaccurate assessment on a given day may leada teacher to make a poor grouping or instructional decision but such an error can becorrected as more information becomes available about what an individual child reallyknowsThe intended use of an assessment will determine the need for normative information orother means to support the interpretation of resultsGroup assessment refers to uses such as program evaluation or school accountability inwhich the focus is on group performance rather than on individual scores Althoughgroup assessments may need to meet very high standards for technical accuracy becauseof the high stakes associated with the results the individual scores that contribute to thegroup information do not have to be so reliable and do not have to be directlycomparable so long as individual results are not reported When only group results aredesired it is possible to use the technical advantages of matrix sampling - a technique inwhich each participant takes only a small portion of the assessment - to provide a rich indepthassessment of the intended content domain without overburdening any of thechildren sampled When the group is very large such as all the fourth-graders in a stateor in the nation then assessing a representative sample will produce essentially the sameresults for the group average as if every student had been assessedPurpose must also determine the content of assessment When trying to diagnosepotential learning handicaps we still rely on aptitude-like measures designed to be ascontent-free as possible We do so in order to avoid confusing lack of opportunity to learnwith inability to learn When the purpose of assessment is to measure actual learningthen content must naturally be tied to learning outcomes However even amongachievement tests there is considerable variability in the degree of alignment to a specificcurriculum Although to the lay person math is math and reading is readingmeasurement specialists are aware that tiny changes in test format can make a largedifference in student performance For example a high proportion of students may beable to add numbers when they are presented in vertical format but many will be unableto do the same problems presented horizontally If manipulatives are used in someelementary classrooms but not in all including the use of manipulatives in a mathematicsassessment will disadvantage some children while excluding their use will disadvantageothersAssessments that are used to guide instruction in a given classroom should be integrallytied to the curriculum of that classroom However for large-scale assessments at the stateand national level the issues of curriculum match and the effect of assessment content onfuture instruction become much more problematic For example in a state with an agreedupon curriculum including geometry assessment in the early grades may be appropriatebut it would be problematic in states with strong local control of curriculum and so withmuch more curricular diversityLarge-scale assessments such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress mustinclude instructionally relevant content but they must do so without conforming tooclosely to any single curriculum In the past this requirement has led to the problem of

achievement tests that are limited to the lowest common denominator Should theinstrument used for program evaluation include only the content that is common to allcurricula Or should it include everything that is in any programs goals Although thecommon core approach can lead to a narrowing of curriculum when assessment resultsare associated with high stakes including everything can be equally troublesome if itleads to superficial teaching in pursuit of too many different goalsFinally the intended use of an assessment will determine the need for normativeinformation or other means to support the interpretation of assessment results Identifyingchildren with special needs requires normative data to distinguish serious physicalemotional or learning problems from the wide range of normal development Whenreporting to parents teachers also need some idea of what constitutes grade-levelperformance but such norms can be in the form of benchmark performances - evidencethat children are working at grade level - rather than statistical percentilesTo prevent the abuses of the past the purposes and substance of early childhoodassessments must be transformed Assessments should be conducted only if they serve abeneficial purpose to gain services for children with special needs to inform instructionby building on what students already know to improve programs or to provide evidencenationally or in the states about programmatic needs The form substance and technical

features of assessment should be appropriate for the use intended for assessment dataMoreover the methods of assessment must be compatible with the developmental leveland experiences of young children Below I consider the implications of these principlesfor three different categories of assessment purposesIdentifying Children with Special NeedsI discuss identification for special education first because this is the type of assessmentthat most resembles past uses of developmental screening measures However there is noneed for wholesale administration of such tests to all incoming kindergartners If we takethe precepts of developmentally appropriate practices seriously then at each age level avery broad range of abilities and performance levels is to be expected and tolerated Ifpotential handicaps are understood to be relatively rare and extreme then it is notnecessary to screen all children for hidden disabilities By definition serious learningproblems should be apparent Although it is possible to miss hearing or vision problems(at least mild ones) without systematic screening referral for evaluation of a possiblelearning handicap should occur only when parents or teachers notice that a child is notprogressing normally in comparison to age-appropriate expectations In-depthassessments should then be conducted to verify the severity of the problem and to ruleout a variety of other explanations for poor performanceFor this type of assessment developmental measures including IQ tests continue to beuseful Clinicians attempt to make normative evaluations using relatively curriculum-freetasks but today they are more likely to acknowledge the fallibility of such efforts For

such difficult assessments clinicians must have specialized training in both diagnosticassessment and child developmentWhen identifying children with special needs evaluators should use two generalstrategies in order to avoid confounding the ability to learn with past opportunity to learnFirst as recommended by the National Academy Panel on Selection and Placement ofStudents in Programs for the Mentally Retarded 11 a childs learning environment shouldbe evaluated to rule out poor instruction as the possible cause of a childs lack of learningAlthough seldom carried out in practice this evaluation should include trying out othermethods to support learning and possibly trying a different teacher before concluding thata child cant learn from ordinary classroom instruction A second important strategy is toobserve a childs functioning in multiple contexts Often children who appear to beimpaired in school function well at home or with peers Observation outside of school iscritical for children from diverse cultural backgrounds and for those whose homelanguage is not English The NAEYC stresses that screening should never be used toidentify second language learners as handicapped solely on the basis of their limitedabilities in English12In-depth developmental assessments are needed to ensure that children with disabilitiesreceive appropriate services However the diagnostic model of special education shouldnot be generalized to a larger population of below-average learners or the result will bethe reinstitution of tracking Elizabeth Graue and I analyzed recent efforts to create atriskkindergartens and found that these practices are especially likely to occur whenresources for extended-day programs are available only for the children most in need13The result of such programs is often to segregate children from low socioeconomicbackgrounds into classrooms where time is spent drilling on low-level prereading skillslike those found on readiness tests The consequences of dumbed-down instruction inkindergarten are just as pernicious as the effects of tracking at higher grade levelsespecially when the at-risk kindergarten group is kept together for first grade If resourcesfor extended-day kindergarten are scarce one alternative would be to group childrenheterogeneously for half the day and then for the other half to provide extra enrichmentactivities for children with limited literacy experiencesClassroom AssessmentsUnlike traditional readiness tests that are intended to predict learning classroomassessments should support instruction by modeling the dimensions of learning Althoughwe must allow considerable latitude for children to construct their own understandingsteachers must nonetheless have knowledge of normal development if they are to supportchildrens extensions and next steps Ordinary classroom tasks can then be used to assessa childs progress in relation to a developmental continuum An example of adevelopmental continuum would be that of emergent writing beginning with scribblesthen moving on to pictures and random letters and then proceeding to some letterwordcorrespondences These continua are not rigid however and several dimensions runningin parallel may be necessary to describe growth in a single content area For example asecond dimension of early writing - a childs ability to invent increasingly elaboratedstories when dictating to an adult s - not dependent on mastery of writing letters just aslistening comprehension making predictions about books and story retellings should bedeveloped in parallel to not after mastery of letter sounds

Although there is a rich research literature documenting patterns of emergent literacy andnumeracy corresponding assessment materials are not so readily available In the nextfew years national interest in developing alternative performance-based measuresshould generate more materials and resources Specifically new Chapter I legislation islikely to support the development of reading assessments that are more authentic andinstructionally relevantFor example classroom-embedded reading assessments were created from ordinaryinstructional materials by a group of third-grade teachers in conjunction with researchersat the Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing14 The teacherselected to focus on fluency and making meaning as reading goals running records andstory summaries were selected as the methods of assessmentBut how should student progress be evaluated In keeping with the idea of representing acontinuum of proficiency third-grade teachers took all the chapter books in theirclassrooms and sorted them into grade-level stacks I -I (first grade first semester) 1-22-1 and so on up to fifth grade Then they identified representative or marker books ineach category to use for assessment Once the books had been sorted by difficulty itbecame possible to document that children were reading increasingly difficult texts withunderstanding Photocopied pages from the marker books also helped parents see whatteachers considered to be grade-level materials and provided them with concrete evidenceof their childs progress Given mandates for student-level reporting under Chapter 1state departments of education or test publishers could help develop similar systems ofthis type with sufficient standardization to ensure comparability across districtsIn the meantime classroom teachers - or preferably teams of teachers - are left to inventtheir own assessments for classroom use In many schools teachers are already workingwith portfolios and developing scoring criteria The best procedure appears to be havinggrade-level teams and then cross-grade teams meet to discuss expectations and evaluationcriteria These conversations will be more productive if for each dimension to beassessed teachers collect student work and use marker papers to illustrate continua ofperformance Several papers might be used at each stage to reflect the tremendous varietyin childrens responses even when following the same general progressionBenchmark papers can also be an effective means of communicating with parents Forexample imagine using sample papers from grades K-3 to illustrate expectationsregarding invented spelling Invented spelling or temporary spelling is the source of agreat deal of parental dissatisfaction with reform curricula Yet most parents who attackinvented spelling have never been given a rationale for its use That is no one hasexplained it in such a way that the explanation builds on the parents own willingness toallow successive approximations in their childs early language development They havenever been shown a connection between writing expectations and grade-level spellinglists or been informed about differences in rules for first drafts and final drafts Samplepapers could be selected to illustrate the increasing mastery of grade-appropriate wordswhile allowing for misspellings of advanced words on first drafts Communicatingcriteria is helpful to parents and as we have seen in the literature on performanceassessment it also helps children to understand what is expected and to become better atassessing their own workMonitoring National and State TrendsIn 1989 when the President and the nations governors announced readiness for school

as the first education goal many early childhood experts feared the creation of a nationaltest for school entry Indeed given the negative history of readiness testing the first thingthe Goal I Technical Planning Subgroup did was to issue caveats about what an earlychildhood assessment must not be It should not be a one-dimensional reductionistmeasure of a childs knowledge and abilities it should not be called a measure ofreadiness as if some children were not ready to learn and it should not be used tolabel stigmatize or classify any individual child or group of children15However with this fearsome idea set aside the Technical Planning Subgroup endorsedthe idea of an early childhood assessment system that would periodically gather data onthe condition of young children as they enter school The purpose of the assessmentwould be to inform public policy and especially to help in charting progress towardachievement of the National Education Goals and for informing the developmentexpansion andor modification of policies and programs that affect young children andtheir families 16 Assuming that certain safeguards are built in such data could be apowerful force in focusing national attention and resources on the needs of youngchildrenBeginning in 1998-99 a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students will beassessed and then followed through grade 5Unlike past testing practices aimed at evaluating individual children in comparison withnormative expectations a large-scale nationally representative assessment would be usedto monitor national trends The purpose of such an assessment would be analogous to theuse of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure major shiftsin achievement patterns For example NAEP results have demonstrated gains in theachievement of black students in the South as a result of desegregation and NAEPachievement measures showed gains during the 1980s in basic skills and declines inhigher-order thinking skills and problem solving Similar data are not now available forpreschoolers or for children in the primary grades If an early childhood assessment wereconducted periodically it would be possible to demonstrate the relationship betweenhealth services and early learning and to evaluate the impact of such programs as HeadStartIn keeping with the precept that methods of assessment should follow from the purposeof assessment the Technical Planning Subgroup recommended that sampling of bothchildren and assessment items be used to collect national data Sampling would allow abroad assessment of a more multifaceted content domain and would preclude the misuseof individual scores to place or stigmatize individual children A national early childhoodassessment should also serve as a model of important content As a means to shape publicunderstanding of the full range of abilities and experiences that influence early learningand development the Technical Planning Subgroup identified five dimensions to beassessed 1) physical well-being and motor development 2) social and emotionaldevelopment 3) approaches toward learning 4) language usage and 5) cognition andgeneral knowledgeResponding to the need for national data to document the condition of children as theyenter school and to measure progress on Goal 1 the US Department of Education hascommissioned the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort Beginningin the 1998-99 school year a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students willbe assessed and then followed through grade 5 The content of the assessments used will

correspond closely to the dimensions recommended by the Technical Planning SubgroupIn addition data will be collected on each childs family community andschoolprogram Large-scale studies of this type serve both program evaluation purposes(How effective are preschool services for children) and research purposes (What is therelationship between childrens kindergarten experiences and their academic successthroughout elementary school)National needs for early childhood data and local needs for program evaluationinformation are similar in some respects and dissimilar in others Both uses require groupdata However a critical distinction that affects the methods of evaluation is whether ornot local programs share a common curriculum If local programs such as all thekindergartens in a school district have agreed on the same curriculum it is possible tobuild program evaluation assessments from an aggregation of the measures used forclassroom purposes Note that the entire state of Kentucky is attempting to develop sucha system by scoring classroom portfolios for state reportingFearing that assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many earlychildhood professionals have asked Why test at allIf programs being evaluated do not have the same specific curricula as is the case with anational assessment and with some state assessments then the assessment measures must``order more easily said than done For this reason the Technical Planning Subgrouprecommended that validity studies be built into the procedures for data collection Forexample pilot studies should verify that what children can do in one-on-one assessmentsettings is consistent with what they can do in their classrooms and assessment methodsshould always allow children more than one way to show what they knowConclusionIn the past decade testing of 4- 5- and 6-year-olds has been excessive and inappropriateUnder a variety of different names leftover IQ tests have been used to track childreninto ineffective programs or to deny them school entry Prereading tests held over fromthe 1930s have encouraged the teaching of decontextualized skills In response fearingthat assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many early childhoodprofessionals have asked Why test at all Indeed given a history of misuse the burdenof proof must rest with assessment advocates to demonstrate the usefulness of assessmentand to ensure that abuses will not recur Key principles that support responsible use ofassessment information followNo testing of young children should occur unless it can be shown to lead to beneficialresultsMethods of assessment especially the language used must be appropriate to thedevelopment and experiences of young childrenFeatures of assessment -- content form evidence of validity and standards forinterpretation -- must be tailored to the specific purpose of an assessmentIdentifying children for special education is a legitimate purpose for assessment and stillrequires the use of curriculum-free aptitude-like measures and normative comparisonsHowever handicapping conditions are rare the diagnostic model used by specialeducation should not be generalized to a larger population of below-average learnersFor both classroom instructional purposes and purposes of public policy making thecontent of assessments should embody the important dimensions of early learning and

development The tasks and skills children are asked to perform should reflect and modelprogress toward important learning goalsIn the past local newspapers have published readiness checklists that suggested thatchildren should stay home from kindergarten if they couldnt cut with scissors In thefuture national and local assessments should demonstrate the richness of what childrendo know and should foster instruction that builds on their strengths Telling a story inconjunction with scribbles is a meaningful stage in literacy development Reading a storyin English and retelling it in Spanish is evidence of reading comprehension Evidence ofimportant learning in beginning mathematics should not be counting to 100 instead of to10 It should be extending patterns solving arithmetic problems with blocks andexplaining how you got your answer constructing graphs to show how many childrencome to school by bus by walking by car and demonstrating understanding of patternsand quantities in a variety of waysIn classrooms we need new forms of assessment so that teachers can support childrensphysical social and cognitive development And at the level of public policy we neednew forms of assessment so that programs will be judged on the basis of worthwhileeducational goals1 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Escalating Academic Demand inKindergarten Counterproductive Policies Elementary School Journal vol 89 1988 pp135-452 Sue Bredekamp ed Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early ChildhoodPrograms Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 exp ed (Washington DCNational Association for the Education of Young Children 1987)3 M Therese Gnezda and Rosemary Bolig A Notional Survey of Public School Testingof Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children (Washington DC National Forum onthe Future of Children and Families National Research Council 1988)4 Samuel J Meisels Uses and Abuses of Developmental Screening and SchoolReadiness Testing Young Children vol 42 1987 pp 4-6 68-735 Lorrie A Shepard and M Elizabeth Graue The Morass of School ReadinessScreening Research on Test Use and Test Validity in Bernard Spodek ed Handbookof Research on the Education of Young Children (New York Macmillan 1993) pp 293-3056 Anne C Stallman and P David Pearson Formal Measures of Early Literacy inLesley Mandel Morrow and Jeffrey K Smith eds Assessment for Instruction in EarlyLiteracy (Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 1990) pp 7-447 Lorrie A Shepard A Review of Research on Kindergarten Retention in Lorrie AShepard and Mary Lee Smith eds Flunking Grades Research and Policies on Retention(London Falmer Press 1989) pp 64-788 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Academic and Emotional Effects ofKindergarten Retention in One School District in idem pp 79- 1079 Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs ServingChildren Ages 3 Through 8 Young Children vol 46 1991 pp 21-3810 Ibid p 3211 Kirby A Heller Wayne H Holtzman and Samuel Messick eds Placing Children inSpecial Education (Washington DC National Academy Press 1982)12 Guidelines p 33

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

In order to understand the negative history of the standardized testing of young childrenin the past decade we need to understand some larger shifts in curriculum and teachingpractices The distortion of the curriculum of the early grades during the 1980s is now afamiliar and well-documented story Indeed negative effects persist in many schooldistricts todayAlthough rarely the result of conscious policy decisions a variety of indirect pressures -such as older kindergartners extensive preschooling for children from affluent familiesparental demands for the teaching of reading in kindergarten and accountability testingin higher grades - produced a skill-driven kindergarten curriculum Because what oncewere first grade expectations were shoved down to kindergarten these shifts in practicewere referred to as the escalation of curriculum or academic trickle-down The resultof these changes was an aversive learning environment inconsistent with the learningneeds of young children Developmentally inappropriate instructional practicescharacterized by long periods of seatwork high levels of stress and a plethora of fill-inthe-blank worksheets placed many children at risk by setting standards for attentionspan social maturity and academic productivity that could not be met by many normal 5-year-oldsTeachers and school administrators responded to the problem of a kindergartenenvironment that was increasingly hostile to young children with several ill-consideredpolicies raising the entrance age for school instituting readiness screening to hold somechildren out of school for a year increasing retentions in kindergarten and creating twoyearprograms with an extra grade either before or after kindergarten These policies andpractices had a benign intent to protect children from stress and school failure Howeverthey were ill-considered because they were implemented without contemplating thepossibility of negative side effects and without awareness that retaining some childrenand excluding others only exacerbated the problems by creating an older and olderpopulation of kindergartners1 The more reasonable corrective for a skill-drivencurriculum at earlier and earlier ages would have been curriculum reform of the kindexemplified by the recommendations for developmentally appropriate practices issued bythe National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) the nationslargest professional association of early childhood educators2The first response of many schools however was not to fix the problem of inappropriatecurriculum but to exclude those children who could not keep up or who might be harmedReadiness testing was the chief means of implementing policies aimed at removingyoung children from inappropriate instructional programs Thus the use of readinesstesting increased dramatically during the 1980s and continues today in many schooldistricts3Two different kinds of tests are used developmental screening measures originallyintended as the first step in the evaluation of children for potential handicaps and preacademicskills tests intended for use in planning classroom instruction4 The technicaland conceptual problems with these tests are numerous5 Tests are being used forpurposes for which they were never designed or validated Waiting a year or being placedin a two-year program represents a dramatic disruption in a childs life yet not one of the

existing readiness measures has sufficient reliability or predictive validity to warrantmaking such decisionsDevelopmental and pre-academic skills tests are based on outmoded theories of aptitudeand learning that originated in the 1930s The excessive use of these tests and thenegative consequences of being judged unready focused a spotlight on the testssubstantive inadequacies The widely used Gesell Test is made up of items from old IQtests and is indistinguishable statistically from a measure of IQ the same is true fordevelopmental measures that are really short-form IQ tests Assigning children todifferent instructional opportunities on the basis of such tests carries forward nativistassumptions popular in the 1930s and 1940s At that time it was believed that IQ testscould accurately measure innate ability unconfounded by prior learning experiencesBecause these measured capacities were thought to be fixed and unalterable those whoscored poorly were given low-level training consistent with their supposedly limitedpotential Tests of academic content might have the promise of being more instructionallyrelevant than disguised IQ tests but as Anne Stallman and David Pearson have shownthe decomposed and decontextualized prereading skills measured by traditional readinesstests are not compatible with current research on early literacy6Readiness testing also raises serious equity concerns Because all the readiness measuresin use are influenced by past opportunity to learn a disproportionate number of poor andminority children are identified as unready and are excluded from school when they mostneed it Thus children without preschool experience and without extensive literacyexperiences at home are sent back to the very environments that caused them to scorepoorly on readiness measures in the first place Or if poor and minority children who donot pass the readiness tests are admitted to the school but made to spend an extra year inkindergarten they suffer disproportionately the stigma and negative effects of retentionThe last straw in this negative account of testing young children is the evidence thatfallible tests are often followed by ineffective programs A review of controlled studieshas shown no academic benefits from retention in kindergarten or from extra-yearprograms whether developmental kindergartens or transitional first grades When extrayearchildren finally get to first grade they do not do better on average than equallyunready children who go directly on to first grade7 However a majority of childrenplaced in these extra-year programs do experience some short- or long-term trauma asreported by their parents8 Contrary to popular belief that kindergarten children are tooyoung to notice retention most of them know that they are not making normalprogress and many continue to make reference to the decision years later If I hadntspent an extra year in kindergarten I would be in ____ grade now In the face of suchevidence there is little wonder that many early childhood educators ask why we testyoung children at allPrinciples for Assessment and TestingThe NAEYC and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education have played key roles in informing educators about the harmof developmentally inappropriate instructional practices and the misuse of tests In 1991NAEYC published Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment inPrograms Serving Children Ages 3 Through 89 Although the detailed recommendationsare too numerous to be repeated here a guiding principle is that assessments should bring

about benefits for children or data should not be collected at all Specificallyassessments should not be used to recommend that children stay out of a program beretained in grade or be assigned to a segregated group based on ability or developmentalmaturity10 Instead NAEYC acknowledges three legitimate purposes for assessment 1)to plan instruction and communicate with parents 2) to identify children with specialneeds and 3) to evaluate programsAlthough NAEYC used assessment in its Guidelines as I do to avoid associations withinappropriate uses of tests both the general principle and the specific guidelines areequally applicable to formal testing In other words tests should not be used if they donot bring about benefits for children In what follows I summarize some additionalprinciples that can ensure that assessments (and tests) are beneficial and not harmfulThen in later sections I consider each of NAEYCs recommended uses for assessmentincluding national state and local needs for program evaluation and accountability dataI propose a second guiding principle for assessment that is consistent with the NAEYCperspective The content of assessments should reflect and model progress towardimportant learning goals Conceptions of what is important to learn should take intoaccount both physical and socialemotional development as well as cognitive learningFor most assessment purposes in the cognitive domain content should be congruent withsubject matter in emergent literacy and numeracy In the past developmental measureswere made as curriculum free or culture free as possible in an effort to tap biologyand avoid the confounding effects of past opportunity to learn Of course this was animpossible task because a childs ability to draw a triangle or point to the ball on top ofthe table depends on prior experiences as well as on biological readiness However ifthe purpose of assessment is no longer to sort students into programs on the basis of aone-time measure of ability then it is possible to have assessment content mirror what wewant children to learnA third guiding principle can be inferred from several of the NAEYC guidelines Themethods of assessment must be appropriate to the development and experiences of youngchildren This means that - along with written products -- observation oral readings andinter-views should be used for purposes of assessment Even for large-scale purposesassessment should not be an artificial and decontextualized event instead the demandsof data collection should be consistent with childrens prior experiences in classroomsand at home Assessment practices should recognize the diversity of learners and must bein accord with childrens language development - both in English and in the nativelanguages of those whose home language is not EnglishA fourth guiding principle can be drawn from the psychometric literature on test validityAssessments should be tailored to a specific purpose Although not stated explicitly in theNAEYC document this principle is implied by the recommendation of three sets ofguidelines for three separate assessment purposesMatching the Why and How of AssessmentThe reason for any assessment - ie how the assessment information will be used -affects the substance and form of the assessment in several ways First the degree oftechnical accuracy required depends on use For example the identification of childrenfor special education has critical implications for individuals Failure to be identifiedcould mean the denial of needed services but being identified as in need of specialservices may also mean removal from normal classrooms (at least part of the time) and a

potentially stigmatizing label A great deal is at stake in such assessment so themultifaceted evaluation employed must have a high degree of reliability and validityOrdinary classroom assessments also affect individual children but the consequences ofthese decisions are not nearly so great An inaccurate assessment on a given day may leada teacher to make a poor grouping or instructional decision but such an error can becorrected as more information becomes available about what an individual child reallyknowsThe intended use of an assessment will determine the need for normative information orother means to support the interpretation of resultsGroup assessment refers to uses such as program evaluation or school accountability inwhich the focus is on group performance rather than on individual scores Althoughgroup assessments may need to meet very high standards for technical accuracy becauseof the high stakes associated with the results the individual scores that contribute to thegroup information do not have to be so reliable and do not have to be directlycomparable so long as individual results are not reported When only group results aredesired it is possible to use the technical advantages of matrix sampling - a technique inwhich each participant takes only a small portion of the assessment - to provide a rich indepthassessment of the intended content domain without overburdening any of thechildren sampled When the group is very large such as all the fourth-graders in a stateor in the nation then assessing a representative sample will produce essentially the sameresults for the group average as if every student had been assessedPurpose must also determine the content of assessment When trying to diagnosepotential learning handicaps we still rely on aptitude-like measures designed to be ascontent-free as possible We do so in order to avoid confusing lack of opportunity to learnwith inability to learn When the purpose of assessment is to measure actual learningthen content must naturally be tied to learning outcomes However even amongachievement tests there is considerable variability in the degree of alignment to a specificcurriculum Although to the lay person math is math and reading is readingmeasurement specialists are aware that tiny changes in test format can make a largedifference in student performance For example a high proportion of students may beable to add numbers when they are presented in vertical format but many will be unableto do the same problems presented horizontally If manipulatives are used in someelementary classrooms but not in all including the use of manipulatives in a mathematicsassessment will disadvantage some children while excluding their use will disadvantageothersAssessments that are used to guide instruction in a given classroom should be integrallytied to the curriculum of that classroom However for large-scale assessments at the stateand national level the issues of curriculum match and the effect of assessment content onfuture instruction become much more problematic For example in a state with an agreedupon curriculum including geometry assessment in the early grades may be appropriatebut it would be problematic in states with strong local control of curriculum and so withmuch more curricular diversityLarge-scale assessments such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress mustinclude instructionally relevant content but they must do so without conforming tooclosely to any single curriculum In the past this requirement has led to the problem of

achievement tests that are limited to the lowest common denominator Should theinstrument used for program evaluation include only the content that is common to allcurricula Or should it include everything that is in any programs goals Although thecommon core approach can lead to a narrowing of curriculum when assessment resultsare associated with high stakes including everything can be equally troublesome if itleads to superficial teaching in pursuit of too many different goalsFinally the intended use of an assessment will determine the need for normativeinformation or other means to support the interpretation of assessment results Identifyingchildren with special needs requires normative data to distinguish serious physicalemotional or learning problems from the wide range of normal development Whenreporting to parents teachers also need some idea of what constitutes grade-levelperformance but such norms can be in the form of benchmark performances - evidencethat children are working at grade level - rather than statistical percentilesTo prevent the abuses of the past the purposes and substance of early childhoodassessments must be transformed Assessments should be conducted only if they serve abeneficial purpose to gain services for children with special needs to inform instructionby building on what students already know to improve programs or to provide evidencenationally or in the states about programmatic needs The form substance and technical

features of assessment should be appropriate for the use intended for assessment dataMoreover the methods of assessment must be compatible with the developmental leveland experiences of young children Below I consider the implications of these principlesfor three different categories of assessment purposesIdentifying Children with Special NeedsI discuss identification for special education first because this is the type of assessmentthat most resembles past uses of developmental screening measures However there is noneed for wholesale administration of such tests to all incoming kindergartners If we takethe precepts of developmentally appropriate practices seriously then at each age level avery broad range of abilities and performance levels is to be expected and tolerated Ifpotential handicaps are understood to be relatively rare and extreme then it is notnecessary to screen all children for hidden disabilities By definition serious learningproblems should be apparent Although it is possible to miss hearing or vision problems(at least mild ones) without systematic screening referral for evaluation of a possiblelearning handicap should occur only when parents or teachers notice that a child is notprogressing normally in comparison to age-appropriate expectations In-depthassessments should then be conducted to verify the severity of the problem and to ruleout a variety of other explanations for poor performanceFor this type of assessment developmental measures including IQ tests continue to beuseful Clinicians attempt to make normative evaluations using relatively curriculum-freetasks but today they are more likely to acknowledge the fallibility of such efforts For

such difficult assessments clinicians must have specialized training in both diagnosticassessment and child developmentWhen identifying children with special needs evaluators should use two generalstrategies in order to avoid confounding the ability to learn with past opportunity to learnFirst as recommended by the National Academy Panel on Selection and Placement ofStudents in Programs for the Mentally Retarded 11 a childs learning environment shouldbe evaluated to rule out poor instruction as the possible cause of a childs lack of learningAlthough seldom carried out in practice this evaluation should include trying out othermethods to support learning and possibly trying a different teacher before concluding thata child cant learn from ordinary classroom instruction A second important strategy is toobserve a childs functioning in multiple contexts Often children who appear to beimpaired in school function well at home or with peers Observation outside of school iscritical for children from diverse cultural backgrounds and for those whose homelanguage is not English The NAEYC stresses that screening should never be used toidentify second language learners as handicapped solely on the basis of their limitedabilities in English12In-depth developmental assessments are needed to ensure that children with disabilitiesreceive appropriate services However the diagnostic model of special education shouldnot be generalized to a larger population of below-average learners or the result will bethe reinstitution of tracking Elizabeth Graue and I analyzed recent efforts to create atriskkindergartens and found that these practices are especially likely to occur whenresources for extended-day programs are available only for the children most in need13The result of such programs is often to segregate children from low socioeconomicbackgrounds into classrooms where time is spent drilling on low-level prereading skillslike those found on readiness tests The consequences of dumbed-down instruction inkindergarten are just as pernicious as the effects of tracking at higher grade levelsespecially when the at-risk kindergarten group is kept together for first grade If resourcesfor extended-day kindergarten are scarce one alternative would be to group childrenheterogeneously for half the day and then for the other half to provide extra enrichmentactivities for children with limited literacy experiencesClassroom AssessmentsUnlike traditional readiness tests that are intended to predict learning classroomassessments should support instruction by modeling the dimensions of learning Althoughwe must allow considerable latitude for children to construct their own understandingsteachers must nonetheless have knowledge of normal development if they are to supportchildrens extensions and next steps Ordinary classroom tasks can then be used to assessa childs progress in relation to a developmental continuum An example of adevelopmental continuum would be that of emergent writing beginning with scribblesthen moving on to pictures and random letters and then proceeding to some letterwordcorrespondences These continua are not rigid however and several dimensions runningin parallel may be necessary to describe growth in a single content area For example asecond dimension of early writing - a childs ability to invent increasingly elaboratedstories when dictating to an adult s - not dependent on mastery of writing letters just aslistening comprehension making predictions about books and story retellings should bedeveloped in parallel to not after mastery of letter sounds

Although there is a rich research literature documenting patterns of emergent literacy andnumeracy corresponding assessment materials are not so readily available In the nextfew years national interest in developing alternative performance-based measuresshould generate more materials and resources Specifically new Chapter I legislation islikely to support the development of reading assessments that are more authentic andinstructionally relevantFor example classroom-embedded reading assessments were created from ordinaryinstructional materials by a group of third-grade teachers in conjunction with researchersat the Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing14 The teacherselected to focus on fluency and making meaning as reading goals running records andstory summaries were selected as the methods of assessmentBut how should student progress be evaluated In keeping with the idea of representing acontinuum of proficiency third-grade teachers took all the chapter books in theirclassrooms and sorted them into grade-level stacks I -I (first grade first semester) 1-22-1 and so on up to fifth grade Then they identified representative or marker books ineach category to use for assessment Once the books had been sorted by difficulty itbecame possible to document that children were reading increasingly difficult texts withunderstanding Photocopied pages from the marker books also helped parents see whatteachers considered to be grade-level materials and provided them with concrete evidenceof their childs progress Given mandates for student-level reporting under Chapter 1state departments of education or test publishers could help develop similar systems ofthis type with sufficient standardization to ensure comparability across districtsIn the meantime classroom teachers - or preferably teams of teachers - are left to inventtheir own assessments for classroom use In many schools teachers are already workingwith portfolios and developing scoring criteria The best procedure appears to be havinggrade-level teams and then cross-grade teams meet to discuss expectations and evaluationcriteria These conversations will be more productive if for each dimension to beassessed teachers collect student work and use marker papers to illustrate continua ofperformance Several papers might be used at each stage to reflect the tremendous varietyin childrens responses even when following the same general progressionBenchmark papers can also be an effective means of communicating with parents Forexample imagine using sample papers from grades K-3 to illustrate expectationsregarding invented spelling Invented spelling or temporary spelling is the source of agreat deal of parental dissatisfaction with reform curricula Yet most parents who attackinvented spelling have never been given a rationale for its use That is no one hasexplained it in such a way that the explanation builds on the parents own willingness toallow successive approximations in their childs early language development They havenever been shown a connection between writing expectations and grade-level spellinglists or been informed about differences in rules for first drafts and final drafts Samplepapers could be selected to illustrate the increasing mastery of grade-appropriate wordswhile allowing for misspellings of advanced words on first drafts Communicatingcriteria is helpful to parents and as we have seen in the literature on performanceassessment it also helps children to understand what is expected and to become better atassessing their own workMonitoring National and State TrendsIn 1989 when the President and the nations governors announced readiness for school

as the first education goal many early childhood experts feared the creation of a nationaltest for school entry Indeed given the negative history of readiness testing the first thingthe Goal I Technical Planning Subgroup did was to issue caveats about what an earlychildhood assessment must not be It should not be a one-dimensional reductionistmeasure of a childs knowledge and abilities it should not be called a measure ofreadiness as if some children were not ready to learn and it should not be used tolabel stigmatize or classify any individual child or group of children15However with this fearsome idea set aside the Technical Planning Subgroup endorsedthe idea of an early childhood assessment system that would periodically gather data onthe condition of young children as they enter school The purpose of the assessmentwould be to inform public policy and especially to help in charting progress towardachievement of the National Education Goals and for informing the developmentexpansion andor modification of policies and programs that affect young children andtheir families 16 Assuming that certain safeguards are built in such data could be apowerful force in focusing national attention and resources on the needs of youngchildrenBeginning in 1998-99 a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students will beassessed and then followed through grade 5Unlike past testing practices aimed at evaluating individual children in comparison withnormative expectations a large-scale nationally representative assessment would be usedto monitor national trends The purpose of such an assessment would be analogous to theuse of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure major shiftsin achievement patterns For example NAEP results have demonstrated gains in theachievement of black students in the South as a result of desegregation and NAEPachievement measures showed gains during the 1980s in basic skills and declines inhigher-order thinking skills and problem solving Similar data are not now available forpreschoolers or for children in the primary grades If an early childhood assessment wereconducted periodically it would be possible to demonstrate the relationship betweenhealth services and early learning and to evaluate the impact of such programs as HeadStartIn keeping with the precept that methods of assessment should follow from the purposeof assessment the Technical Planning Subgroup recommended that sampling of bothchildren and assessment items be used to collect national data Sampling would allow abroad assessment of a more multifaceted content domain and would preclude the misuseof individual scores to place or stigmatize individual children A national early childhoodassessment should also serve as a model of important content As a means to shape publicunderstanding of the full range of abilities and experiences that influence early learningand development the Technical Planning Subgroup identified five dimensions to beassessed 1) physical well-being and motor development 2) social and emotionaldevelopment 3) approaches toward learning 4) language usage and 5) cognition andgeneral knowledgeResponding to the need for national data to document the condition of children as theyenter school and to measure progress on Goal 1 the US Department of Education hascommissioned the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort Beginningin the 1998-99 school year a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students willbe assessed and then followed through grade 5 The content of the assessments used will

correspond closely to the dimensions recommended by the Technical Planning SubgroupIn addition data will be collected on each childs family community andschoolprogram Large-scale studies of this type serve both program evaluation purposes(How effective are preschool services for children) and research purposes (What is therelationship between childrens kindergarten experiences and their academic successthroughout elementary school)National needs for early childhood data and local needs for program evaluationinformation are similar in some respects and dissimilar in others Both uses require groupdata However a critical distinction that affects the methods of evaluation is whether ornot local programs share a common curriculum If local programs such as all thekindergartens in a school district have agreed on the same curriculum it is possible tobuild program evaluation assessments from an aggregation of the measures used forclassroom purposes Note that the entire state of Kentucky is attempting to develop sucha system by scoring classroom portfolios for state reportingFearing that assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many earlychildhood professionals have asked Why test at allIf programs being evaluated do not have the same specific curricula as is the case with anational assessment and with some state assessments then the assessment measures must``order more easily said than done For this reason the Technical Planning Subgrouprecommended that validity studies be built into the procedures for data collection Forexample pilot studies should verify that what children can do in one-on-one assessmentsettings is consistent with what they can do in their classrooms and assessment methodsshould always allow children more than one way to show what they knowConclusionIn the past decade testing of 4- 5- and 6-year-olds has been excessive and inappropriateUnder a variety of different names leftover IQ tests have been used to track childreninto ineffective programs or to deny them school entry Prereading tests held over fromthe 1930s have encouraged the teaching of decontextualized skills In response fearingthat assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many early childhoodprofessionals have asked Why test at all Indeed given a history of misuse the burdenof proof must rest with assessment advocates to demonstrate the usefulness of assessmentand to ensure that abuses will not recur Key principles that support responsible use ofassessment information followNo testing of young children should occur unless it can be shown to lead to beneficialresultsMethods of assessment especially the language used must be appropriate to thedevelopment and experiences of young childrenFeatures of assessment -- content form evidence of validity and standards forinterpretation -- must be tailored to the specific purpose of an assessmentIdentifying children for special education is a legitimate purpose for assessment and stillrequires the use of curriculum-free aptitude-like measures and normative comparisonsHowever handicapping conditions are rare the diagnostic model used by specialeducation should not be generalized to a larger population of below-average learnersFor both classroom instructional purposes and purposes of public policy making thecontent of assessments should embody the important dimensions of early learning and

development The tasks and skills children are asked to perform should reflect and modelprogress toward important learning goalsIn the past local newspapers have published readiness checklists that suggested thatchildren should stay home from kindergarten if they couldnt cut with scissors In thefuture national and local assessments should demonstrate the richness of what childrendo know and should foster instruction that builds on their strengths Telling a story inconjunction with scribbles is a meaningful stage in literacy development Reading a storyin English and retelling it in Spanish is evidence of reading comprehension Evidence ofimportant learning in beginning mathematics should not be counting to 100 instead of to10 It should be extending patterns solving arithmetic problems with blocks andexplaining how you got your answer constructing graphs to show how many childrencome to school by bus by walking by car and demonstrating understanding of patternsand quantities in a variety of waysIn classrooms we need new forms of assessment so that teachers can support childrensphysical social and cognitive development And at the level of public policy we neednew forms of assessment so that programs will be judged on the basis of worthwhileeducational goals1 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Escalating Academic Demand inKindergarten Counterproductive Policies Elementary School Journal vol 89 1988 pp135-452 Sue Bredekamp ed Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early ChildhoodPrograms Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 exp ed (Washington DCNational Association for the Education of Young Children 1987)3 M Therese Gnezda and Rosemary Bolig A Notional Survey of Public School Testingof Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children (Washington DC National Forum onthe Future of Children and Families National Research Council 1988)4 Samuel J Meisels Uses and Abuses of Developmental Screening and SchoolReadiness Testing Young Children vol 42 1987 pp 4-6 68-735 Lorrie A Shepard and M Elizabeth Graue The Morass of School ReadinessScreening Research on Test Use and Test Validity in Bernard Spodek ed Handbookof Research on the Education of Young Children (New York Macmillan 1993) pp 293-3056 Anne C Stallman and P David Pearson Formal Measures of Early Literacy inLesley Mandel Morrow and Jeffrey K Smith eds Assessment for Instruction in EarlyLiteracy (Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 1990) pp 7-447 Lorrie A Shepard A Review of Research on Kindergarten Retention in Lorrie AShepard and Mary Lee Smith eds Flunking Grades Research and Policies on Retention(London Falmer Press 1989) pp 64-788 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Academic and Emotional Effects ofKindergarten Retention in One School District in idem pp 79- 1079 Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs ServingChildren Ages 3 Through 8 Young Children vol 46 1991 pp 21-3810 Ibid p 3211 Kirby A Heller Wayne H Holtzman and Samuel Messick eds Placing Children inSpecial Education (Washington DC National Academy Press 1982)12 Guidelines p 33

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

existing readiness measures has sufficient reliability or predictive validity to warrantmaking such decisionsDevelopmental and pre-academic skills tests are based on outmoded theories of aptitudeand learning that originated in the 1930s The excessive use of these tests and thenegative consequences of being judged unready focused a spotlight on the testssubstantive inadequacies The widely used Gesell Test is made up of items from old IQtests and is indistinguishable statistically from a measure of IQ the same is true fordevelopmental measures that are really short-form IQ tests Assigning children todifferent instructional opportunities on the basis of such tests carries forward nativistassumptions popular in the 1930s and 1940s At that time it was believed that IQ testscould accurately measure innate ability unconfounded by prior learning experiencesBecause these measured capacities were thought to be fixed and unalterable those whoscored poorly were given low-level training consistent with their supposedly limitedpotential Tests of academic content might have the promise of being more instructionallyrelevant than disguised IQ tests but as Anne Stallman and David Pearson have shownthe decomposed and decontextualized prereading skills measured by traditional readinesstests are not compatible with current research on early literacy6Readiness testing also raises serious equity concerns Because all the readiness measuresin use are influenced by past opportunity to learn a disproportionate number of poor andminority children are identified as unready and are excluded from school when they mostneed it Thus children without preschool experience and without extensive literacyexperiences at home are sent back to the very environments that caused them to scorepoorly on readiness measures in the first place Or if poor and minority children who donot pass the readiness tests are admitted to the school but made to spend an extra year inkindergarten they suffer disproportionately the stigma and negative effects of retentionThe last straw in this negative account of testing young children is the evidence thatfallible tests are often followed by ineffective programs A review of controlled studieshas shown no academic benefits from retention in kindergarten or from extra-yearprograms whether developmental kindergartens or transitional first grades When extrayearchildren finally get to first grade they do not do better on average than equallyunready children who go directly on to first grade7 However a majority of childrenplaced in these extra-year programs do experience some short- or long-term trauma asreported by their parents8 Contrary to popular belief that kindergarten children are tooyoung to notice retention most of them know that they are not making normalprogress and many continue to make reference to the decision years later If I hadntspent an extra year in kindergarten I would be in ____ grade now In the face of suchevidence there is little wonder that many early childhood educators ask why we testyoung children at allPrinciples for Assessment and TestingThe NAEYC and the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education have played key roles in informing educators about the harmof developmentally inappropriate instructional practices and the misuse of tests In 1991NAEYC published Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment inPrograms Serving Children Ages 3 Through 89 Although the detailed recommendationsare too numerous to be repeated here a guiding principle is that assessments should bring

about benefits for children or data should not be collected at all Specificallyassessments should not be used to recommend that children stay out of a program beretained in grade or be assigned to a segregated group based on ability or developmentalmaturity10 Instead NAEYC acknowledges three legitimate purposes for assessment 1)to plan instruction and communicate with parents 2) to identify children with specialneeds and 3) to evaluate programsAlthough NAEYC used assessment in its Guidelines as I do to avoid associations withinappropriate uses of tests both the general principle and the specific guidelines areequally applicable to formal testing In other words tests should not be used if they donot bring about benefits for children In what follows I summarize some additionalprinciples that can ensure that assessments (and tests) are beneficial and not harmfulThen in later sections I consider each of NAEYCs recommended uses for assessmentincluding national state and local needs for program evaluation and accountability dataI propose a second guiding principle for assessment that is consistent with the NAEYCperspective The content of assessments should reflect and model progress towardimportant learning goals Conceptions of what is important to learn should take intoaccount both physical and socialemotional development as well as cognitive learningFor most assessment purposes in the cognitive domain content should be congruent withsubject matter in emergent literacy and numeracy In the past developmental measureswere made as curriculum free or culture free as possible in an effort to tap biologyand avoid the confounding effects of past opportunity to learn Of course this was animpossible task because a childs ability to draw a triangle or point to the ball on top ofthe table depends on prior experiences as well as on biological readiness However ifthe purpose of assessment is no longer to sort students into programs on the basis of aone-time measure of ability then it is possible to have assessment content mirror what wewant children to learnA third guiding principle can be inferred from several of the NAEYC guidelines Themethods of assessment must be appropriate to the development and experiences of youngchildren This means that - along with written products -- observation oral readings andinter-views should be used for purposes of assessment Even for large-scale purposesassessment should not be an artificial and decontextualized event instead the demandsof data collection should be consistent with childrens prior experiences in classroomsand at home Assessment practices should recognize the diversity of learners and must bein accord with childrens language development - both in English and in the nativelanguages of those whose home language is not EnglishA fourth guiding principle can be drawn from the psychometric literature on test validityAssessments should be tailored to a specific purpose Although not stated explicitly in theNAEYC document this principle is implied by the recommendation of three sets ofguidelines for three separate assessment purposesMatching the Why and How of AssessmentThe reason for any assessment - ie how the assessment information will be used -affects the substance and form of the assessment in several ways First the degree oftechnical accuracy required depends on use For example the identification of childrenfor special education has critical implications for individuals Failure to be identifiedcould mean the denial of needed services but being identified as in need of specialservices may also mean removal from normal classrooms (at least part of the time) and a

potentially stigmatizing label A great deal is at stake in such assessment so themultifaceted evaluation employed must have a high degree of reliability and validityOrdinary classroom assessments also affect individual children but the consequences ofthese decisions are not nearly so great An inaccurate assessment on a given day may leada teacher to make a poor grouping or instructional decision but such an error can becorrected as more information becomes available about what an individual child reallyknowsThe intended use of an assessment will determine the need for normative information orother means to support the interpretation of resultsGroup assessment refers to uses such as program evaluation or school accountability inwhich the focus is on group performance rather than on individual scores Althoughgroup assessments may need to meet very high standards for technical accuracy becauseof the high stakes associated with the results the individual scores that contribute to thegroup information do not have to be so reliable and do not have to be directlycomparable so long as individual results are not reported When only group results aredesired it is possible to use the technical advantages of matrix sampling - a technique inwhich each participant takes only a small portion of the assessment - to provide a rich indepthassessment of the intended content domain without overburdening any of thechildren sampled When the group is very large such as all the fourth-graders in a stateor in the nation then assessing a representative sample will produce essentially the sameresults for the group average as if every student had been assessedPurpose must also determine the content of assessment When trying to diagnosepotential learning handicaps we still rely on aptitude-like measures designed to be ascontent-free as possible We do so in order to avoid confusing lack of opportunity to learnwith inability to learn When the purpose of assessment is to measure actual learningthen content must naturally be tied to learning outcomes However even amongachievement tests there is considerable variability in the degree of alignment to a specificcurriculum Although to the lay person math is math and reading is readingmeasurement specialists are aware that tiny changes in test format can make a largedifference in student performance For example a high proportion of students may beable to add numbers when they are presented in vertical format but many will be unableto do the same problems presented horizontally If manipulatives are used in someelementary classrooms but not in all including the use of manipulatives in a mathematicsassessment will disadvantage some children while excluding their use will disadvantageothersAssessments that are used to guide instruction in a given classroom should be integrallytied to the curriculum of that classroom However for large-scale assessments at the stateand national level the issues of curriculum match and the effect of assessment content onfuture instruction become much more problematic For example in a state with an agreedupon curriculum including geometry assessment in the early grades may be appropriatebut it would be problematic in states with strong local control of curriculum and so withmuch more curricular diversityLarge-scale assessments such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress mustinclude instructionally relevant content but they must do so without conforming tooclosely to any single curriculum In the past this requirement has led to the problem of

achievement tests that are limited to the lowest common denominator Should theinstrument used for program evaluation include only the content that is common to allcurricula Or should it include everything that is in any programs goals Although thecommon core approach can lead to a narrowing of curriculum when assessment resultsare associated with high stakes including everything can be equally troublesome if itleads to superficial teaching in pursuit of too many different goalsFinally the intended use of an assessment will determine the need for normativeinformation or other means to support the interpretation of assessment results Identifyingchildren with special needs requires normative data to distinguish serious physicalemotional or learning problems from the wide range of normal development Whenreporting to parents teachers also need some idea of what constitutes grade-levelperformance but such norms can be in the form of benchmark performances - evidencethat children are working at grade level - rather than statistical percentilesTo prevent the abuses of the past the purposes and substance of early childhoodassessments must be transformed Assessments should be conducted only if they serve abeneficial purpose to gain services for children with special needs to inform instructionby building on what students already know to improve programs or to provide evidencenationally or in the states about programmatic needs The form substance and technical

features of assessment should be appropriate for the use intended for assessment dataMoreover the methods of assessment must be compatible with the developmental leveland experiences of young children Below I consider the implications of these principlesfor three different categories of assessment purposesIdentifying Children with Special NeedsI discuss identification for special education first because this is the type of assessmentthat most resembles past uses of developmental screening measures However there is noneed for wholesale administration of such tests to all incoming kindergartners If we takethe precepts of developmentally appropriate practices seriously then at each age level avery broad range of abilities and performance levels is to be expected and tolerated Ifpotential handicaps are understood to be relatively rare and extreme then it is notnecessary to screen all children for hidden disabilities By definition serious learningproblems should be apparent Although it is possible to miss hearing or vision problems(at least mild ones) without systematic screening referral for evaluation of a possiblelearning handicap should occur only when parents or teachers notice that a child is notprogressing normally in comparison to age-appropriate expectations In-depthassessments should then be conducted to verify the severity of the problem and to ruleout a variety of other explanations for poor performanceFor this type of assessment developmental measures including IQ tests continue to beuseful Clinicians attempt to make normative evaluations using relatively curriculum-freetasks but today they are more likely to acknowledge the fallibility of such efforts For

such difficult assessments clinicians must have specialized training in both diagnosticassessment and child developmentWhen identifying children with special needs evaluators should use two generalstrategies in order to avoid confounding the ability to learn with past opportunity to learnFirst as recommended by the National Academy Panel on Selection and Placement ofStudents in Programs for the Mentally Retarded 11 a childs learning environment shouldbe evaluated to rule out poor instruction as the possible cause of a childs lack of learningAlthough seldom carried out in practice this evaluation should include trying out othermethods to support learning and possibly trying a different teacher before concluding thata child cant learn from ordinary classroom instruction A second important strategy is toobserve a childs functioning in multiple contexts Often children who appear to beimpaired in school function well at home or with peers Observation outside of school iscritical for children from diverse cultural backgrounds and for those whose homelanguage is not English The NAEYC stresses that screening should never be used toidentify second language learners as handicapped solely on the basis of their limitedabilities in English12In-depth developmental assessments are needed to ensure that children with disabilitiesreceive appropriate services However the diagnostic model of special education shouldnot be generalized to a larger population of below-average learners or the result will bethe reinstitution of tracking Elizabeth Graue and I analyzed recent efforts to create atriskkindergartens and found that these practices are especially likely to occur whenresources for extended-day programs are available only for the children most in need13The result of such programs is often to segregate children from low socioeconomicbackgrounds into classrooms where time is spent drilling on low-level prereading skillslike those found on readiness tests The consequences of dumbed-down instruction inkindergarten are just as pernicious as the effects of tracking at higher grade levelsespecially when the at-risk kindergarten group is kept together for first grade If resourcesfor extended-day kindergarten are scarce one alternative would be to group childrenheterogeneously for half the day and then for the other half to provide extra enrichmentactivities for children with limited literacy experiencesClassroom AssessmentsUnlike traditional readiness tests that are intended to predict learning classroomassessments should support instruction by modeling the dimensions of learning Althoughwe must allow considerable latitude for children to construct their own understandingsteachers must nonetheless have knowledge of normal development if they are to supportchildrens extensions and next steps Ordinary classroom tasks can then be used to assessa childs progress in relation to a developmental continuum An example of adevelopmental continuum would be that of emergent writing beginning with scribblesthen moving on to pictures and random letters and then proceeding to some letterwordcorrespondences These continua are not rigid however and several dimensions runningin parallel may be necessary to describe growth in a single content area For example asecond dimension of early writing - a childs ability to invent increasingly elaboratedstories when dictating to an adult s - not dependent on mastery of writing letters just aslistening comprehension making predictions about books and story retellings should bedeveloped in parallel to not after mastery of letter sounds

Although there is a rich research literature documenting patterns of emergent literacy andnumeracy corresponding assessment materials are not so readily available In the nextfew years national interest in developing alternative performance-based measuresshould generate more materials and resources Specifically new Chapter I legislation islikely to support the development of reading assessments that are more authentic andinstructionally relevantFor example classroom-embedded reading assessments were created from ordinaryinstructional materials by a group of third-grade teachers in conjunction with researchersat the Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing14 The teacherselected to focus on fluency and making meaning as reading goals running records andstory summaries were selected as the methods of assessmentBut how should student progress be evaluated In keeping with the idea of representing acontinuum of proficiency third-grade teachers took all the chapter books in theirclassrooms and sorted them into grade-level stacks I -I (first grade first semester) 1-22-1 and so on up to fifth grade Then they identified representative or marker books ineach category to use for assessment Once the books had been sorted by difficulty itbecame possible to document that children were reading increasingly difficult texts withunderstanding Photocopied pages from the marker books also helped parents see whatteachers considered to be grade-level materials and provided them with concrete evidenceof their childs progress Given mandates for student-level reporting under Chapter 1state departments of education or test publishers could help develop similar systems ofthis type with sufficient standardization to ensure comparability across districtsIn the meantime classroom teachers - or preferably teams of teachers - are left to inventtheir own assessments for classroom use In many schools teachers are already workingwith portfolios and developing scoring criteria The best procedure appears to be havinggrade-level teams and then cross-grade teams meet to discuss expectations and evaluationcriteria These conversations will be more productive if for each dimension to beassessed teachers collect student work and use marker papers to illustrate continua ofperformance Several papers might be used at each stage to reflect the tremendous varietyin childrens responses even when following the same general progressionBenchmark papers can also be an effective means of communicating with parents Forexample imagine using sample papers from grades K-3 to illustrate expectationsregarding invented spelling Invented spelling or temporary spelling is the source of agreat deal of parental dissatisfaction with reform curricula Yet most parents who attackinvented spelling have never been given a rationale for its use That is no one hasexplained it in such a way that the explanation builds on the parents own willingness toallow successive approximations in their childs early language development They havenever been shown a connection between writing expectations and grade-level spellinglists or been informed about differences in rules for first drafts and final drafts Samplepapers could be selected to illustrate the increasing mastery of grade-appropriate wordswhile allowing for misspellings of advanced words on first drafts Communicatingcriteria is helpful to parents and as we have seen in the literature on performanceassessment it also helps children to understand what is expected and to become better atassessing their own workMonitoring National and State TrendsIn 1989 when the President and the nations governors announced readiness for school

as the first education goal many early childhood experts feared the creation of a nationaltest for school entry Indeed given the negative history of readiness testing the first thingthe Goal I Technical Planning Subgroup did was to issue caveats about what an earlychildhood assessment must not be It should not be a one-dimensional reductionistmeasure of a childs knowledge and abilities it should not be called a measure ofreadiness as if some children were not ready to learn and it should not be used tolabel stigmatize or classify any individual child or group of children15However with this fearsome idea set aside the Technical Planning Subgroup endorsedthe idea of an early childhood assessment system that would periodically gather data onthe condition of young children as they enter school The purpose of the assessmentwould be to inform public policy and especially to help in charting progress towardachievement of the National Education Goals and for informing the developmentexpansion andor modification of policies and programs that affect young children andtheir families 16 Assuming that certain safeguards are built in such data could be apowerful force in focusing national attention and resources on the needs of youngchildrenBeginning in 1998-99 a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students will beassessed and then followed through grade 5Unlike past testing practices aimed at evaluating individual children in comparison withnormative expectations a large-scale nationally representative assessment would be usedto monitor national trends The purpose of such an assessment would be analogous to theuse of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure major shiftsin achievement patterns For example NAEP results have demonstrated gains in theachievement of black students in the South as a result of desegregation and NAEPachievement measures showed gains during the 1980s in basic skills and declines inhigher-order thinking skills and problem solving Similar data are not now available forpreschoolers or for children in the primary grades If an early childhood assessment wereconducted periodically it would be possible to demonstrate the relationship betweenhealth services and early learning and to evaluate the impact of such programs as HeadStartIn keeping with the precept that methods of assessment should follow from the purposeof assessment the Technical Planning Subgroup recommended that sampling of bothchildren and assessment items be used to collect national data Sampling would allow abroad assessment of a more multifaceted content domain and would preclude the misuseof individual scores to place or stigmatize individual children A national early childhoodassessment should also serve as a model of important content As a means to shape publicunderstanding of the full range of abilities and experiences that influence early learningand development the Technical Planning Subgroup identified five dimensions to beassessed 1) physical well-being and motor development 2) social and emotionaldevelopment 3) approaches toward learning 4) language usage and 5) cognition andgeneral knowledgeResponding to the need for national data to document the condition of children as theyenter school and to measure progress on Goal 1 the US Department of Education hascommissioned the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort Beginningin the 1998-99 school year a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students willbe assessed and then followed through grade 5 The content of the assessments used will

correspond closely to the dimensions recommended by the Technical Planning SubgroupIn addition data will be collected on each childs family community andschoolprogram Large-scale studies of this type serve both program evaluation purposes(How effective are preschool services for children) and research purposes (What is therelationship between childrens kindergarten experiences and their academic successthroughout elementary school)National needs for early childhood data and local needs for program evaluationinformation are similar in some respects and dissimilar in others Both uses require groupdata However a critical distinction that affects the methods of evaluation is whether ornot local programs share a common curriculum If local programs such as all thekindergartens in a school district have agreed on the same curriculum it is possible tobuild program evaluation assessments from an aggregation of the measures used forclassroom purposes Note that the entire state of Kentucky is attempting to develop sucha system by scoring classroom portfolios for state reportingFearing that assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many earlychildhood professionals have asked Why test at allIf programs being evaluated do not have the same specific curricula as is the case with anational assessment and with some state assessments then the assessment measures must``order more easily said than done For this reason the Technical Planning Subgrouprecommended that validity studies be built into the procedures for data collection Forexample pilot studies should verify that what children can do in one-on-one assessmentsettings is consistent with what they can do in their classrooms and assessment methodsshould always allow children more than one way to show what they knowConclusionIn the past decade testing of 4- 5- and 6-year-olds has been excessive and inappropriateUnder a variety of different names leftover IQ tests have been used to track childreninto ineffective programs or to deny them school entry Prereading tests held over fromthe 1930s have encouraged the teaching of decontextualized skills In response fearingthat assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many early childhoodprofessionals have asked Why test at all Indeed given a history of misuse the burdenof proof must rest with assessment advocates to demonstrate the usefulness of assessmentand to ensure that abuses will not recur Key principles that support responsible use ofassessment information followNo testing of young children should occur unless it can be shown to lead to beneficialresultsMethods of assessment especially the language used must be appropriate to thedevelopment and experiences of young childrenFeatures of assessment -- content form evidence of validity and standards forinterpretation -- must be tailored to the specific purpose of an assessmentIdentifying children for special education is a legitimate purpose for assessment and stillrequires the use of curriculum-free aptitude-like measures and normative comparisonsHowever handicapping conditions are rare the diagnostic model used by specialeducation should not be generalized to a larger population of below-average learnersFor both classroom instructional purposes and purposes of public policy making thecontent of assessments should embody the important dimensions of early learning and

development The tasks and skills children are asked to perform should reflect and modelprogress toward important learning goalsIn the past local newspapers have published readiness checklists that suggested thatchildren should stay home from kindergarten if they couldnt cut with scissors In thefuture national and local assessments should demonstrate the richness of what childrendo know and should foster instruction that builds on their strengths Telling a story inconjunction with scribbles is a meaningful stage in literacy development Reading a storyin English and retelling it in Spanish is evidence of reading comprehension Evidence ofimportant learning in beginning mathematics should not be counting to 100 instead of to10 It should be extending patterns solving arithmetic problems with blocks andexplaining how you got your answer constructing graphs to show how many childrencome to school by bus by walking by car and demonstrating understanding of patternsand quantities in a variety of waysIn classrooms we need new forms of assessment so that teachers can support childrensphysical social and cognitive development And at the level of public policy we neednew forms of assessment so that programs will be judged on the basis of worthwhileeducational goals1 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Escalating Academic Demand inKindergarten Counterproductive Policies Elementary School Journal vol 89 1988 pp135-452 Sue Bredekamp ed Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early ChildhoodPrograms Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 exp ed (Washington DCNational Association for the Education of Young Children 1987)3 M Therese Gnezda and Rosemary Bolig A Notional Survey of Public School Testingof Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children (Washington DC National Forum onthe Future of Children and Families National Research Council 1988)4 Samuel J Meisels Uses and Abuses of Developmental Screening and SchoolReadiness Testing Young Children vol 42 1987 pp 4-6 68-735 Lorrie A Shepard and M Elizabeth Graue The Morass of School ReadinessScreening Research on Test Use and Test Validity in Bernard Spodek ed Handbookof Research on the Education of Young Children (New York Macmillan 1993) pp 293-3056 Anne C Stallman and P David Pearson Formal Measures of Early Literacy inLesley Mandel Morrow and Jeffrey K Smith eds Assessment for Instruction in EarlyLiteracy (Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 1990) pp 7-447 Lorrie A Shepard A Review of Research on Kindergarten Retention in Lorrie AShepard and Mary Lee Smith eds Flunking Grades Research and Policies on Retention(London Falmer Press 1989) pp 64-788 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Academic and Emotional Effects ofKindergarten Retention in One School District in idem pp 79- 1079 Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs ServingChildren Ages 3 Through 8 Young Children vol 46 1991 pp 21-3810 Ibid p 3211 Kirby A Heller Wayne H Holtzman and Samuel Messick eds Placing Children inSpecial Education (Washington DC National Academy Press 1982)12 Guidelines p 33

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

about benefits for children or data should not be collected at all Specificallyassessments should not be used to recommend that children stay out of a program beretained in grade or be assigned to a segregated group based on ability or developmentalmaturity10 Instead NAEYC acknowledges three legitimate purposes for assessment 1)to plan instruction and communicate with parents 2) to identify children with specialneeds and 3) to evaluate programsAlthough NAEYC used assessment in its Guidelines as I do to avoid associations withinappropriate uses of tests both the general principle and the specific guidelines areequally applicable to formal testing In other words tests should not be used if they donot bring about benefits for children In what follows I summarize some additionalprinciples that can ensure that assessments (and tests) are beneficial and not harmfulThen in later sections I consider each of NAEYCs recommended uses for assessmentincluding national state and local needs for program evaluation and accountability dataI propose a second guiding principle for assessment that is consistent with the NAEYCperspective The content of assessments should reflect and model progress towardimportant learning goals Conceptions of what is important to learn should take intoaccount both physical and socialemotional development as well as cognitive learningFor most assessment purposes in the cognitive domain content should be congruent withsubject matter in emergent literacy and numeracy In the past developmental measureswere made as curriculum free or culture free as possible in an effort to tap biologyand avoid the confounding effects of past opportunity to learn Of course this was animpossible task because a childs ability to draw a triangle or point to the ball on top ofthe table depends on prior experiences as well as on biological readiness However ifthe purpose of assessment is no longer to sort students into programs on the basis of aone-time measure of ability then it is possible to have assessment content mirror what wewant children to learnA third guiding principle can be inferred from several of the NAEYC guidelines Themethods of assessment must be appropriate to the development and experiences of youngchildren This means that - along with written products -- observation oral readings andinter-views should be used for purposes of assessment Even for large-scale purposesassessment should not be an artificial and decontextualized event instead the demandsof data collection should be consistent with childrens prior experiences in classroomsand at home Assessment practices should recognize the diversity of learners and must bein accord with childrens language development - both in English and in the nativelanguages of those whose home language is not EnglishA fourth guiding principle can be drawn from the psychometric literature on test validityAssessments should be tailored to a specific purpose Although not stated explicitly in theNAEYC document this principle is implied by the recommendation of three sets ofguidelines for three separate assessment purposesMatching the Why and How of AssessmentThe reason for any assessment - ie how the assessment information will be used -affects the substance and form of the assessment in several ways First the degree oftechnical accuracy required depends on use For example the identification of childrenfor special education has critical implications for individuals Failure to be identifiedcould mean the denial of needed services but being identified as in need of specialservices may also mean removal from normal classrooms (at least part of the time) and a

potentially stigmatizing label A great deal is at stake in such assessment so themultifaceted evaluation employed must have a high degree of reliability and validityOrdinary classroom assessments also affect individual children but the consequences ofthese decisions are not nearly so great An inaccurate assessment on a given day may leada teacher to make a poor grouping or instructional decision but such an error can becorrected as more information becomes available about what an individual child reallyknowsThe intended use of an assessment will determine the need for normative information orother means to support the interpretation of resultsGroup assessment refers to uses such as program evaluation or school accountability inwhich the focus is on group performance rather than on individual scores Althoughgroup assessments may need to meet very high standards for technical accuracy becauseof the high stakes associated with the results the individual scores that contribute to thegroup information do not have to be so reliable and do not have to be directlycomparable so long as individual results are not reported When only group results aredesired it is possible to use the technical advantages of matrix sampling - a technique inwhich each participant takes only a small portion of the assessment - to provide a rich indepthassessment of the intended content domain without overburdening any of thechildren sampled When the group is very large such as all the fourth-graders in a stateor in the nation then assessing a representative sample will produce essentially the sameresults for the group average as if every student had been assessedPurpose must also determine the content of assessment When trying to diagnosepotential learning handicaps we still rely on aptitude-like measures designed to be ascontent-free as possible We do so in order to avoid confusing lack of opportunity to learnwith inability to learn When the purpose of assessment is to measure actual learningthen content must naturally be tied to learning outcomes However even amongachievement tests there is considerable variability in the degree of alignment to a specificcurriculum Although to the lay person math is math and reading is readingmeasurement specialists are aware that tiny changes in test format can make a largedifference in student performance For example a high proportion of students may beable to add numbers when they are presented in vertical format but many will be unableto do the same problems presented horizontally If manipulatives are used in someelementary classrooms but not in all including the use of manipulatives in a mathematicsassessment will disadvantage some children while excluding their use will disadvantageothersAssessments that are used to guide instruction in a given classroom should be integrallytied to the curriculum of that classroom However for large-scale assessments at the stateand national level the issues of curriculum match and the effect of assessment content onfuture instruction become much more problematic For example in a state with an agreedupon curriculum including geometry assessment in the early grades may be appropriatebut it would be problematic in states with strong local control of curriculum and so withmuch more curricular diversityLarge-scale assessments such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress mustinclude instructionally relevant content but they must do so without conforming tooclosely to any single curriculum In the past this requirement has led to the problem of

achievement tests that are limited to the lowest common denominator Should theinstrument used for program evaluation include only the content that is common to allcurricula Or should it include everything that is in any programs goals Although thecommon core approach can lead to a narrowing of curriculum when assessment resultsare associated with high stakes including everything can be equally troublesome if itleads to superficial teaching in pursuit of too many different goalsFinally the intended use of an assessment will determine the need for normativeinformation or other means to support the interpretation of assessment results Identifyingchildren with special needs requires normative data to distinguish serious physicalemotional or learning problems from the wide range of normal development Whenreporting to parents teachers also need some idea of what constitutes grade-levelperformance but such norms can be in the form of benchmark performances - evidencethat children are working at grade level - rather than statistical percentilesTo prevent the abuses of the past the purposes and substance of early childhoodassessments must be transformed Assessments should be conducted only if they serve abeneficial purpose to gain services for children with special needs to inform instructionby building on what students already know to improve programs or to provide evidencenationally or in the states about programmatic needs The form substance and technical

features of assessment should be appropriate for the use intended for assessment dataMoreover the methods of assessment must be compatible with the developmental leveland experiences of young children Below I consider the implications of these principlesfor three different categories of assessment purposesIdentifying Children with Special NeedsI discuss identification for special education first because this is the type of assessmentthat most resembles past uses of developmental screening measures However there is noneed for wholesale administration of such tests to all incoming kindergartners If we takethe precepts of developmentally appropriate practices seriously then at each age level avery broad range of abilities and performance levels is to be expected and tolerated Ifpotential handicaps are understood to be relatively rare and extreme then it is notnecessary to screen all children for hidden disabilities By definition serious learningproblems should be apparent Although it is possible to miss hearing or vision problems(at least mild ones) without systematic screening referral for evaluation of a possiblelearning handicap should occur only when parents or teachers notice that a child is notprogressing normally in comparison to age-appropriate expectations In-depthassessments should then be conducted to verify the severity of the problem and to ruleout a variety of other explanations for poor performanceFor this type of assessment developmental measures including IQ tests continue to beuseful Clinicians attempt to make normative evaluations using relatively curriculum-freetasks but today they are more likely to acknowledge the fallibility of such efforts For

such difficult assessments clinicians must have specialized training in both diagnosticassessment and child developmentWhen identifying children with special needs evaluators should use two generalstrategies in order to avoid confounding the ability to learn with past opportunity to learnFirst as recommended by the National Academy Panel on Selection and Placement ofStudents in Programs for the Mentally Retarded 11 a childs learning environment shouldbe evaluated to rule out poor instruction as the possible cause of a childs lack of learningAlthough seldom carried out in practice this evaluation should include trying out othermethods to support learning and possibly trying a different teacher before concluding thata child cant learn from ordinary classroom instruction A second important strategy is toobserve a childs functioning in multiple contexts Often children who appear to beimpaired in school function well at home or with peers Observation outside of school iscritical for children from diverse cultural backgrounds and for those whose homelanguage is not English The NAEYC stresses that screening should never be used toidentify second language learners as handicapped solely on the basis of their limitedabilities in English12In-depth developmental assessments are needed to ensure that children with disabilitiesreceive appropriate services However the diagnostic model of special education shouldnot be generalized to a larger population of below-average learners or the result will bethe reinstitution of tracking Elizabeth Graue and I analyzed recent efforts to create atriskkindergartens and found that these practices are especially likely to occur whenresources for extended-day programs are available only for the children most in need13The result of such programs is often to segregate children from low socioeconomicbackgrounds into classrooms where time is spent drilling on low-level prereading skillslike those found on readiness tests The consequences of dumbed-down instruction inkindergarten are just as pernicious as the effects of tracking at higher grade levelsespecially when the at-risk kindergarten group is kept together for first grade If resourcesfor extended-day kindergarten are scarce one alternative would be to group childrenheterogeneously for half the day and then for the other half to provide extra enrichmentactivities for children with limited literacy experiencesClassroom AssessmentsUnlike traditional readiness tests that are intended to predict learning classroomassessments should support instruction by modeling the dimensions of learning Althoughwe must allow considerable latitude for children to construct their own understandingsteachers must nonetheless have knowledge of normal development if they are to supportchildrens extensions and next steps Ordinary classroom tasks can then be used to assessa childs progress in relation to a developmental continuum An example of adevelopmental continuum would be that of emergent writing beginning with scribblesthen moving on to pictures and random letters and then proceeding to some letterwordcorrespondences These continua are not rigid however and several dimensions runningin parallel may be necessary to describe growth in a single content area For example asecond dimension of early writing - a childs ability to invent increasingly elaboratedstories when dictating to an adult s - not dependent on mastery of writing letters just aslistening comprehension making predictions about books and story retellings should bedeveloped in parallel to not after mastery of letter sounds

Although there is a rich research literature documenting patterns of emergent literacy andnumeracy corresponding assessment materials are not so readily available In the nextfew years national interest in developing alternative performance-based measuresshould generate more materials and resources Specifically new Chapter I legislation islikely to support the development of reading assessments that are more authentic andinstructionally relevantFor example classroom-embedded reading assessments were created from ordinaryinstructional materials by a group of third-grade teachers in conjunction with researchersat the Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing14 The teacherselected to focus on fluency and making meaning as reading goals running records andstory summaries were selected as the methods of assessmentBut how should student progress be evaluated In keeping with the idea of representing acontinuum of proficiency third-grade teachers took all the chapter books in theirclassrooms and sorted them into grade-level stacks I -I (first grade first semester) 1-22-1 and so on up to fifth grade Then they identified representative or marker books ineach category to use for assessment Once the books had been sorted by difficulty itbecame possible to document that children were reading increasingly difficult texts withunderstanding Photocopied pages from the marker books also helped parents see whatteachers considered to be grade-level materials and provided them with concrete evidenceof their childs progress Given mandates for student-level reporting under Chapter 1state departments of education or test publishers could help develop similar systems ofthis type with sufficient standardization to ensure comparability across districtsIn the meantime classroom teachers - or preferably teams of teachers - are left to inventtheir own assessments for classroom use In many schools teachers are already workingwith portfolios and developing scoring criteria The best procedure appears to be havinggrade-level teams and then cross-grade teams meet to discuss expectations and evaluationcriteria These conversations will be more productive if for each dimension to beassessed teachers collect student work and use marker papers to illustrate continua ofperformance Several papers might be used at each stage to reflect the tremendous varietyin childrens responses even when following the same general progressionBenchmark papers can also be an effective means of communicating with parents Forexample imagine using sample papers from grades K-3 to illustrate expectationsregarding invented spelling Invented spelling or temporary spelling is the source of agreat deal of parental dissatisfaction with reform curricula Yet most parents who attackinvented spelling have never been given a rationale for its use That is no one hasexplained it in such a way that the explanation builds on the parents own willingness toallow successive approximations in their childs early language development They havenever been shown a connection between writing expectations and grade-level spellinglists or been informed about differences in rules for first drafts and final drafts Samplepapers could be selected to illustrate the increasing mastery of grade-appropriate wordswhile allowing for misspellings of advanced words on first drafts Communicatingcriteria is helpful to parents and as we have seen in the literature on performanceassessment it also helps children to understand what is expected and to become better atassessing their own workMonitoring National and State TrendsIn 1989 when the President and the nations governors announced readiness for school

as the first education goal many early childhood experts feared the creation of a nationaltest for school entry Indeed given the negative history of readiness testing the first thingthe Goal I Technical Planning Subgroup did was to issue caveats about what an earlychildhood assessment must not be It should not be a one-dimensional reductionistmeasure of a childs knowledge and abilities it should not be called a measure ofreadiness as if some children were not ready to learn and it should not be used tolabel stigmatize or classify any individual child or group of children15However with this fearsome idea set aside the Technical Planning Subgroup endorsedthe idea of an early childhood assessment system that would periodically gather data onthe condition of young children as they enter school The purpose of the assessmentwould be to inform public policy and especially to help in charting progress towardachievement of the National Education Goals and for informing the developmentexpansion andor modification of policies and programs that affect young children andtheir families 16 Assuming that certain safeguards are built in such data could be apowerful force in focusing national attention and resources on the needs of youngchildrenBeginning in 1998-99 a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students will beassessed and then followed through grade 5Unlike past testing practices aimed at evaluating individual children in comparison withnormative expectations a large-scale nationally representative assessment would be usedto monitor national trends The purpose of such an assessment would be analogous to theuse of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure major shiftsin achievement patterns For example NAEP results have demonstrated gains in theachievement of black students in the South as a result of desegregation and NAEPachievement measures showed gains during the 1980s in basic skills and declines inhigher-order thinking skills and problem solving Similar data are not now available forpreschoolers or for children in the primary grades If an early childhood assessment wereconducted periodically it would be possible to demonstrate the relationship betweenhealth services and early learning and to evaluate the impact of such programs as HeadStartIn keeping with the precept that methods of assessment should follow from the purposeof assessment the Technical Planning Subgroup recommended that sampling of bothchildren and assessment items be used to collect national data Sampling would allow abroad assessment of a more multifaceted content domain and would preclude the misuseof individual scores to place or stigmatize individual children A national early childhoodassessment should also serve as a model of important content As a means to shape publicunderstanding of the full range of abilities and experiences that influence early learningand development the Technical Planning Subgroup identified five dimensions to beassessed 1) physical well-being and motor development 2) social and emotionaldevelopment 3) approaches toward learning 4) language usage and 5) cognition andgeneral knowledgeResponding to the need for national data to document the condition of children as theyenter school and to measure progress on Goal 1 the US Department of Education hascommissioned the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort Beginningin the 1998-99 school year a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students willbe assessed and then followed through grade 5 The content of the assessments used will

correspond closely to the dimensions recommended by the Technical Planning SubgroupIn addition data will be collected on each childs family community andschoolprogram Large-scale studies of this type serve both program evaluation purposes(How effective are preschool services for children) and research purposes (What is therelationship between childrens kindergarten experiences and their academic successthroughout elementary school)National needs for early childhood data and local needs for program evaluationinformation are similar in some respects and dissimilar in others Both uses require groupdata However a critical distinction that affects the methods of evaluation is whether ornot local programs share a common curriculum If local programs such as all thekindergartens in a school district have agreed on the same curriculum it is possible tobuild program evaluation assessments from an aggregation of the measures used forclassroom purposes Note that the entire state of Kentucky is attempting to develop sucha system by scoring classroom portfolios for state reportingFearing that assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many earlychildhood professionals have asked Why test at allIf programs being evaluated do not have the same specific curricula as is the case with anational assessment and with some state assessments then the assessment measures must``order more easily said than done For this reason the Technical Planning Subgrouprecommended that validity studies be built into the procedures for data collection Forexample pilot studies should verify that what children can do in one-on-one assessmentsettings is consistent with what they can do in their classrooms and assessment methodsshould always allow children more than one way to show what they knowConclusionIn the past decade testing of 4- 5- and 6-year-olds has been excessive and inappropriateUnder a variety of different names leftover IQ tests have been used to track childreninto ineffective programs or to deny them school entry Prereading tests held over fromthe 1930s have encouraged the teaching of decontextualized skills In response fearingthat assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many early childhoodprofessionals have asked Why test at all Indeed given a history of misuse the burdenof proof must rest with assessment advocates to demonstrate the usefulness of assessmentand to ensure that abuses will not recur Key principles that support responsible use ofassessment information followNo testing of young children should occur unless it can be shown to lead to beneficialresultsMethods of assessment especially the language used must be appropriate to thedevelopment and experiences of young childrenFeatures of assessment -- content form evidence of validity and standards forinterpretation -- must be tailored to the specific purpose of an assessmentIdentifying children for special education is a legitimate purpose for assessment and stillrequires the use of curriculum-free aptitude-like measures and normative comparisonsHowever handicapping conditions are rare the diagnostic model used by specialeducation should not be generalized to a larger population of below-average learnersFor both classroom instructional purposes and purposes of public policy making thecontent of assessments should embody the important dimensions of early learning and

development The tasks and skills children are asked to perform should reflect and modelprogress toward important learning goalsIn the past local newspapers have published readiness checklists that suggested thatchildren should stay home from kindergarten if they couldnt cut with scissors In thefuture national and local assessments should demonstrate the richness of what childrendo know and should foster instruction that builds on their strengths Telling a story inconjunction with scribbles is a meaningful stage in literacy development Reading a storyin English and retelling it in Spanish is evidence of reading comprehension Evidence ofimportant learning in beginning mathematics should not be counting to 100 instead of to10 It should be extending patterns solving arithmetic problems with blocks andexplaining how you got your answer constructing graphs to show how many childrencome to school by bus by walking by car and demonstrating understanding of patternsand quantities in a variety of waysIn classrooms we need new forms of assessment so that teachers can support childrensphysical social and cognitive development And at the level of public policy we neednew forms of assessment so that programs will be judged on the basis of worthwhileeducational goals1 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Escalating Academic Demand inKindergarten Counterproductive Policies Elementary School Journal vol 89 1988 pp135-452 Sue Bredekamp ed Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early ChildhoodPrograms Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 exp ed (Washington DCNational Association for the Education of Young Children 1987)3 M Therese Gnezda and Rosemary Bolig A Notional Survey of Public School Testingof Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children (Washington DC National Forum onthe Future of Children and Families National Research Council 1988)4 Samuel J Meisels Uses and Abuses of Developmental Screening and SchoolReadiness Testing Young Children vol 42 1987 pp 4-6 68-735 Lorrie A Shepard and M Elizabeth Graue The Morass of School ReadinessScreening Research on Test Use and Test Validity in Bernard Spodek ed Handbookof Research on the Education of Young Children (New York Macmillan 1993) pp 293-3056 Anne C Stallman and P David Pearson Formal Measures of Early Literacy inLesley Mandel Morrow and Jeffrey K Smith eds Assessment for Instruction in EarlyLiteracy (Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 1990) pp 7-447 Lorrie A Shepard A Review of Research on Kindergarten Retention in Lorrie AShepard and Mary Lee Smith eds Flunking Grades Research and Policies on Retention(London Falmer Press 1989) pp 64-788 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Academic and Emotional Effects ofKindergarten Retention in One School District in idem pp 79- 1079 Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs ServingChildren Ages 3 Through 8 Young Children vol 46 1991 pp 21-3810 Ibid p 3211 Kirby A Heller Wayne H Holtzman and Samuel Messick eds Placing Children inSpecial Education (Washington DC National Academy Press 1982)12 Guidelines p 33

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

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Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

potentially stigmatizing label A great deal is at stake in such assessment so themultifaceted evaluation employed must have a high degree of reliability and validityOrdinary classroom assessments also affect individual children but the consequences ofthese decisions are not nearly so great An inaccurate assessment on a given day may leada teacher to make a poor grouping or instructional decision but such an error can becorrected as more information becomes available about what an individual child reallyknowsThe intended use of an assessment will determine the need for normative information orother means to support the interpretation of resultsGroup assessment refers to uses such as program evaluation or school accountability inwhich the focus is on group performance rather than on individual scores Althoughgroup assessments may need to meet very high standards for technical accuracy becauseof the high stakes associated with the results the individual scores that contribute to thegroup information do not have to be so reliable and do not have to be directlycomparable so long as individual results are not reported When only group results aredesired it is possible to use the technical advantages of matrix sampling - a technique inwhich each participant takes only a small portion of the assessment - to provide a rich indepthassessment of the intended content domain without overburdening any of thechildren sampled When the group is very large such as all the fourth-graders in a stateor in the nation then assessing a representative sample will produce essentially the sameresults for the group average as if every student had been assessedPurpose must also determine the content of assessment When trying to diagnosepotential learning handicaps we still rely on aptitude-like measures designed to be ascontent-free as possible We do so in order to avoid confusing lack of opportunity to learnwith inability to learn When the purpose of assessment is to measure actual learningthen content must naturally be tied to learning outcomes However even amongachievement tests there is considerable variability in the degree of alignment to a specificcurriculum Although to the lay person math is math and reading is readingmeasurement specialists are aware that tiny changes in test format can make a largedifference in student performance For example a high proportion of students may beable to add numbers when they are presented in vertical format but many will be unableto do the same problems presented horizontally If manipulatives are used in someelementary classrooms but not in all including the use of manipulatives in a mathematicsassessment will disadvantage some children while excluding their use will disadvantageothersAssessments that are used to guide instruction in a given classroom should be integrallytied to the curriculum of that classroom However for large-scale assessments at the stateand national level the issues of curriculum match and the effect of assessment content onfuture instruction become much more problematic For example in a state with an agreedupon curriculum including geometry assessment in the early grades may be appropriatebut it would be problematic in states with strong local control of curriculum and so withmuch more curricular diversityLarge-scale assessments such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress mustinclude instructionally relevant content but they must do so without conforming tooclosely to any single curriculum In the past this requirement has led to the problem of

achievement tests that are limited to the lowest common denominator Should theinstrument used for program evaluation include only the content that is common to allcurricula Or should it include everything that is in any programs goals Although thecommon core approach can lead to a narrowing of curriculum when assessment resultsare associated with high stakes including everything can be equally troublesome if itleads to superficial teaching in pursuit of too many different goalsFinally the intended use of an assessment will determine the need for normativeinformation or other means to support the interpretation of assessment results Identifyingchildren with special needs requires normative data to distinguish serious physicalemotional or learning problems from the wide range of normal development Whenreporting to parents teachers also need some idea of what constitutes grade-levelperformance but such norms can be in the form of benchmark performances - evidencethat children are working at grade level - rather than statistical percentilesTo prevent the abuses of the past the purposes and substance of early childhoodassessments must be transformed Assessments should be conducted only if they serve abeneficial purpose to gain services for children with special needs to inform instructionby building on what students already know to improve programs or to provide evidencenationally or in the states about programmatic needs The form substance and technical

features of assessment should be appropriate for the use intended for assessment dataMoreover the methods of assessment must be compatible with the developmental leveland experiences of young children Below I consider the implications of these principlesfor three different categories of assessment purposesIdentifying Children with Special NeedsI discuss identification for special education first because this is the type of assessmentthat most resembles past uses of developmental screening measures However there is noneed for wholesale administration of such tests to all incoming kindergartners If we takethe precepts of developmentally appropriate practices seriously then at each age level avery broad range of abilities and performance levels is to be expected and tolerated Ifpotential handicaps are understood to be relatively rare and extreme then it is notnecessary to screen all children for hidden disabilities By definition serious learningproblems should be apparent Although it is possible to miss hearing or vision problems(at least mild ones) without systematic screening referral for evaluation of a possiblelearning handicap should occur only when parents or teachers notice that a child is notprogressing normally in comparison to age-appropriate expectations In-depthassessments should then be conducted to verify the severity of the problem and to ruleout a variety of other explanations for poor performanceFor this type of assessment developmental measures including IQ tests continue to beuseful Clinicians attempt to make normative evaluations using relatively curriculum-freetasks but today they are more likely to acknowledge the fallibility of such efforts For

such difficult assessments clinicians must have specialized training in both diagnosticassessment and child developmentWhen identifying children with special needs evaluators should use two generalstrategies in order to avoid confounding the ability to learn with past opportunity to learnFirst as recommended by the National Academy Panel on Selection and Placement ofStudents in Programs for the Mentally Retarded 11 a childs learning environment shouldbe evaluated to rule out poor instruction as the possible cause of a childs lack of learningAlthough seldom carried out in practice this evaluation should include trying out othermethods to support learning and possibly trying a different teacher before concluding thata child cant learn from ordinary classroom instruction A second important strategy is toobserve a childs functioning in multiple contexts Often children who appear to beimpaired in school function well at home or with peers Observation outside of school iscritical for children from diverse cultural backgrounds and for those whose homelanguage is not English The NAEYC stresses that screening should never be used toidentify second language learners as handicapped solely on the basis of their limitedabilities in English12In-depth developmental assessments are needed to ensure that children with disabilitiesreceive appropriate services However the diagnostic model of special education shouldnot be generalized to a larger population of below-average learners or the result will bethe reinstitution of tracking Elizabeth Graue and I analyzed recent efforts to create atriskkindergartens and found that these practices are especially likely to occur whenresources for extended-day programs are available only for the children most in need13The result of such programs is often to segregate children from low socioeconomicbackgrounds into classrooms where time is spent drilling on low-level prereading skillslike those found on readiness tests The consequences of dumbed-down instruction inkindergarten are just as pernicious as the effects of tracking at higher grade levelsespecially when the at-risk kindergarten group is kept together for first grade If resourcesfor extended-day kindergarten are scarce one alternative would be to group childrenheterogeneously for half the day and then for the other half to provide extra enrichmentactivities for children with limited literacy experiencesClassroom AssessmentsUnlike traditional readiness tests that are intended to predict learning classroomassessments should support instruction by modeling the dimensions of learning Althoughwe must allow considerable latitude for children to construct their own understandingsteachers must nonetheless have knowledge of normal development if they are to supportchildrens extensions and next steps Ordinary classroom tasks can then be used to assessa childs progress in relation to a developmental continuum An example of adevelopmental continuum would be that of emergent writing beginning with scribblesthen moving on to pictures and random letters and then proceeding to some letterwordcorrespondences These continua are not rigid however and several dimensions runningin parallel may be necessary to describe growth in a single content area For example asecond dimension of early writing - a childs ability to invent increasingly elaboratedstories when dictating to an adult s - not dependent on mastery of writing letters just aslistening comprehension making predictions about books and story retellings should bedeveloped in parallel to not after mastery of letter sounds

Although there is a rich research literature documenting patterns of emergent literacy andnumeracy corresponding assessment materials are not so readily available In the nextfew years national interest in developing alternative performance-based measuresshould generate more materials and resources Specifically new Chapter I legislation islikely to support the development of reading assessments that are more authentic andinstructionally relevantFor example classroom-embedded reading assessments were created from ordinaryinstructional materials by a group of third-grade teachers in conjunction with researchersat the Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing14 The teacherselected to focus on fluency and making meaning as reading goals running records andstory summaries were selected as the methods of assessmentBut how should student progress be evaluated In keeping with the idea of representing acontinuum of proficiency third-grade teachers took all the chapter books in theirclassrooms and sorted them into grade-level stacks I -I (first grade first semester) 1-22-1 and so on up to fifth grade Then they identified representative or marker books ineach category to use for assessment Once the books had been sorted by difficulty itbecame possible to document that children were reading increasingly difficult texts withunderstanding Photocopied pages from the marker books also helped parents see whatteachers considered to be grade-level materials and provided them with concrete evidenceof their childs progress Given mandates for student-level reporting under Chapter 1state departments of education or test publishers could help develop similar systems ofthis type with sufficient standardization to ensure comparability across districtsIn the meantime classroom teachers - or preferably teams of teachers - are left to inventtheir own assessments for classroom use In many schools teachers are already workingwith portfolios and developing scoring criteria The best procedure appears to be havinggrade-level teams and then cross-grade teams meet to discuss expectations and evaluationcriteria These conversations will be more productive if for each dimension to beassessed teachers collect student work and use marker papers to illustrate continua ofperformance Several papers might be used at each stage to reflect the tremendous varietyin childrens responses even when following the same general progressionBenchmark papers can also be an effective means of communicating with parents Forexample imagine using sample papers from grades K-3 to illustrate expectationsregarding invented spelling Invented spelling or temporary spelling is the source of agreat deal of parental dissatisfaction with reform curricula Yet most parents who attackinvented spelling have never been given a rationale for its use That is no one hasexplained it in such a way that the explanation builds on the parents own willingness toallow successive approximations in their childs early language development They havenever been shown a connection between writing expectations and grade-level spellinglists or been informed about differences in rules for first drafts and final drafts Samplepapers could be selected to illustrate the increasing mastery of grade-appropriate wordswhile allowing for misspellings of advanced words on first drafts Communicatingcriteria is helpful to parents and as we have seen in the literature on performanceassessment it also helps children to understand what is expected and to become better atassessing their own workMonitoring National and State TrendsIn 1989 when the President and the nations governors announced readiness for school

as the first education goal many early childhood experts feared the creation of a nationaltest for school entry Indeed given the negative history of readiness testing the first thingthe Goal I Technical Planning Subgroup did was to issue caveats about what an earlychildhood assessment must not be It should not be a one-dimensional reductionistmeasure of a childs knowledge and abilities it should not be called a measure ofreadiness as if some children were not ready to learn and it should not be used tolabel stigmatize or classify any individual child or group of children15However with this fearsome idea set aside the Technical Planning Subgroup endorsedthe idea of an early childhood assessment system that would periodically gather data onthe condition of young children as they enter school The purpose of the assessmentwould be to inform public policy and especially to help in charting progress towardachievement of the National Education Goals and for informing the developmentexpansion andor modification of policies and programs that affect young children andtheir families 16 Assuming that certain safeguards are built in such data could be apowerful force in focusing national attention and resources on the needs of youngchildrenBeginning in 1998-99 a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students will beassessed and then followed through grade 5Unlike past testing practices aimed at evaluating individual children in comparison withnormative expectations a large-scale nationally representative assessment would be usedto monitor national trends The purpose of such an assessment would be analogous to theuse of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure major shiftsin achievement patterns For example NAEP results have demonstrated gains in theachievement of black students in the South as a result of desegregation and NAEPachievement measures showed gains during the 1980s in basic skills and declines inhigher-order thinking skills and problem solving Similar data are not now available forpreschoolers or for children in the primary grades If an early childhood assessment wereconducted periodically it would be possible to demonstrate the relationship betweenhealth services and early learning and to evaluate the impact of such programs as HeadStartIn keeping with the precept that methods of assessment should follow from the purposeof assessment the Technical Planning Subgroup recommended that sampling of bothchildren and assessment items be used to collect national data Sampling would allow abroad assessment of a more multifaceted content domain and would preclude the misuseof individual scores to place or stigmatize individual children A national early childhoodassessment should also serve as a model of important content As a means to shape publicunderstanding of the full range of abilities and experiences that influence early learningand development the Technical Planning Subgroup identified five dimensions to beassessed 1) physical well-being and motor development 2) social and emotionaldevelopment 3) approaches toward learning 4) language usage and 5) cognition andgeneral knowledgeResponding to the need for national data to document the condition of children as theyenter school and to measure progress on Goal 1 the US Department of Education hascommissioned the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort Beginningin the 1998-99 school year a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students willbe assessed and then followed through grade 5 The content of the assessments used will

correspond closely to the dimensions recommended by the Technical Planning SubgroupIn addition data will be collected on each childs family community andschoolprogram Large-scale studies of this type serve both program evaluation purposes(How effective are preschool services for children) and research purposes (What is therelationship between childrens kindergarten experiences and their academic successthroughout elementary school)National needs for early childhood data and local needs for program evaluationinformation are similar in some respects and dissimilar in others Both uses require groupdata However a critical distinction that affects the methods of evaluation is whether ornot local programs share a common curriculum If local programs such as all thekindergartens in a school district have agreed on the same curriculum it is possible tobuild program evaluation assessments from an aggregation of the measures used forclassroom purposes Note that the entire state of Kentucky is attempting to develop sucha system by scoring classroom portfolios for state reportingFearing that assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many earlychildhood professionals have asked Why test at allIf programs being evaluated do not have the same specific curricula as is the case with anational assessment and with some state assessments then the assessment measures must``order more easily said than done For this reason the Technical Planning Subgrouprecommended that validity studies be built into the procedures for data collection Forexample pilot studies should verify that what children can do in one-on-one assessmentsettings is consistent with what they can do in their classrooms and assessment methodsshould always allow children more than one way to show what they knowConclusionIn the past decade testing of 4- 5- and 6-year-olds has been excessive and inappropriateUnder a variety of different names leftover IQ tests have been used to track childreninto ineffective programs or to deny them school entry Prereading tests held over fromthe 1930s have encouraged the teaching of decontextualized skills In response fearingthat assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many early childhoodprofessionals have asked Why test at all Indeed given a history of misuse the burdenof proof must rest with assessment advocates to demonstrate the usefulness of assessmentand to ensure that abuses will not recur Key principles that support responsible use ofassessment information followNo testing of young children should occur unless it can be shown to lead to beneficialresultsMethods of assessment especially the language used must be appropriate to thedevelopment and experiences of young childrenFeatures of assessment -- content form evidence of validity and standards forinterpretation -- must be tailored to the specific purpose of an assessmentIdentifying children for special education is a legitimate purpose for assessment and stillrequires the use of curriculum-free aptitude-like measures and normative comparisonsHowever handicapping conditions are rare the diagnostic model used by specialeducation should not be generalized to a larger population of below-average learnersFor both classroom instructional purposes and purposes of public policy making thecontent of assessments should embody the important dimensions of early learning and

development The tasks and skills children are asked to perform should reflect and modelprogress toward important learning goalsIn the past local newspapers have published readiness checklists that suggested thatchildren should stay home from kindergarten if they couldnt cut with scissors In thefuture national and local assessments should demonstrate the richness of what childrendo know and should foster instruction that builds on their strengths Telling a story inconjunction with scribbles is a meaningful stage in literacy development Reading a storyin English and retelling it in Spanish is evidence of reading comprehension Evidence ofimportant learning in beginning mathematics should not be counting to 100 instead of to10 It should be extending patterns solving arithmetic problems with blocks andexplaining how you got your answer constructing graphs to show how many childrencome to school by bus by walking by car and demonstrating understanding of patternsand quantities in a variety of waysIn classrooms we need new forms of assessment so that teachers can support childrensphysical social and cognitive development And at the level of public policy we neednew forms of assessment so that programs will be judged on the basis of worthwhileeducational goals1 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Escalating Academic Demand inKindergarten Counterproductive Policies Elementary School Journal vol 89 1988 pp135-452 Sue Bredekamp ed Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early ChildhoodPrograms Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 exp ed (Washington DCNational Association for the Education of Young Children 1987)3 M Therese Gnezda and Rosemary Bolig A Notional Survey of Public School Testingof Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children (Washington DC National Forum onthe Future of Children and Families National Research Council 1988)4 Samuel J Meisels Uses and Abuses of Developmental Screening and SchoolReadiness Testing Young Children vol 42 1987 pp 4-6 68-735 Lorrie A Shepard and M Elizabeth Graue The Morass of School ReadinessScreening Research on Test Use and Test Validity in Bernard Spodek ed Handbookof Research on the Education of Young Children (New York Macmillan 1993) pp 293-3056 Anne C Stallman and P David Pearson Formal Measures of Early Literacy inLesley Mandel Morrow and Jeffrey K Smith eds Assessment for Instruction in EarlyLiteracy (Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 1990) pp 7-447 Lorrie A Shepard A Review of Research on Kindergarten Retention in Lorrie AShepard and Mary Lee Smith eds Flunking Grades Research and Policies on Retention(London Falmer Press 1989) pp 64-788 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Academic and Emotional Effects ofKindergarten Retention in One School District in idem pp 79- 1079 Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs ServingChildren Ages 3 Through 8 Young Children vol 46 1991 pp 21-3810 Ibid p 3211 Kirby A Heller Wayne H Holtzman and Samuel Messick eds Placing Children inSpecial Education (Washington DC National Academy Press 1982)12 Guidelines p 33

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

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bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

achievement tests that are limited to the lowest common denominator Should theinstrument used for program evaluation include only the content that is common to allcurricula Or should it include everything that is in any programs goals Although thecommon core approach can lead to a narrowing of curriculum when assessment resultsare associated with high stakes including everything can be equally troublesome if itleads to superficial teaching in pursuit of too many different goalsFinally the intended use of an assessment will determine the need for normativeinformation or other means to support the interpretation of assessment results Identifyingchildren with special needs requires normative data to distinguish serious physicalemotional or learning problems from the wide range of normal development Whenreporting to parents teachers also need some idea of what constitutes grade-levelperformance but such norms can be in the form of benchmark performances - evidencethat children are working at grade level - rather than statistical percentilesTo prevent the abuses of the past the purposes and substance of early childhoodassessments must be transformed Assessments should be conducted only if they serve abeneficial purpose to gain services for children with special needs to inform instructionby building on what students already know to improve programs or to provide evidencenationally or in the states about programmatic needs The form substance and technical

features of assessment should be appropriate for the use intended for assessment dataMoreover the methods of assessment must be compatible with the developmental leveland experiences of young children Below I consider the implications of these principlesfor three different categories of assessment purposesIdentifying Children with Special NeedsI discuss identification for special education first because this is the type of assessmentthat most resembles past uses of developmental screening measures However there is noneed for wholesale administration of such tests to all incoming kindergartners If we takethe precepts of developmentally appropriate practices seriously then at each age level avery broad range of abilities and performance levels is to be expected and tolerated Ifpotential handicaps are understood to be relatively rare and extreme then it is notnecessary to screen all children for hidden disabilities By definition serious learningproblems should be apparent Although it is possible to miss hearing or vision problems(at least mild ones) without systematic screening referral for evaluation of a possiblelearning handicap should occur only when parents or teachers notice that a child is notprogressing normally in comparison to age-appropriate expectations In-depthassessments should then be conducted to verify the severity of the problem and to ruleout a variety of other explanations for poor performanceFor this type of assessment developmental measures including IQ tests continue to beuseful Clinicians attempt to make normative evaluations using relatively curriculum-freetasks but today they are more likely to acknowledge the fallibility of such efforts For

such difficult assessments clinicians must have specialized training in both diagnosticassessment and child developmentWhen identifying children with special needs evaluators should use two generalstrategies in order to avoid confounding the ability to learn with past opportunity to learnFirst as recommended by the National Academy Panel on Selection and Placement ofStudents in Programs for the Mentally Retarded 11 a childs learning environment shouldbe evaluated to rule out poor instruction as the possible cause of a childs lack of learningAlthough seldom carried out in practice this evaluation should include trying out othermethods to support learning and possibly trying a different teacher before concluding thata child cant learn from ordinary classroom instruction A second important strategy is toobserve a childs functioning in multiple contexts Often children who appear to beimpaired in school function well at home or with peers Observation outside of school iscritical for children from diverse cultural backgrounds and for those whose homelanguage is not English The NAEYC stresses that screening should never be used toidentify second language learners as handicapped solely on the basis of their limitedabilities in English12In-depth developmental assessments are needed to ensure that children with disabilitiesreceive appropriate services However the diagnostic model of special education shouldnot be generalized to a larger population of below-average learners or the result will bethe reinstitution of tracking Elizabeth Graue and I analyzed recent efforts to create atriskkindergartens and found that these practices are especially likely to occur whenresources for extended-day programs are available only for the children most in need13The result of such programs is often to segregate children from low socioeconomicbackgrounds into classrooms where time is spent drilling on low-level prereading skillslike those found on readiness tests The consequences of dumbed-down instruction inkindergarten are just as pernicious as the effects of tracking at higher grade levelsespecially when the at-risk kindergarten group is kept together for first grade If resourcesfor extended-day kindergarten are scarce one alternative would be to group childrenheterogeneously for half the day and then for the other half to provide extra enrichmentactivities for children with limited literacy experiencesClassroom AssessmentsUnlike traditional readiness tests that are intended to predict learning classroomassessments should support instruction by modeling the dimensions of learning Althoughwe must allow considerable latitude for children to construct their own understandingsteachers must nonetheless have knowledge of normal development if they are to supportchildrens extensions and next steps Ordinary classroom tasks can then be used to assessa childs progress in relation to a developmental continuum An example of adevelopmental continuum would be that of emergent writing beginning with scribblesthen moving on to pictures and random letters and then proceeding to some letterwordcorrespondences These continua are not rigid however and several dimensions runningin parallel may be necessary to describe growth in a single content area For example asecond dimension of early writing - a childs ability to invent increasingly elaboratedstories when dictating to an adult s - not dependent on mastery of writing letters just aslistening comprehension making predictions about books and story retellings should bedeveloped in parallel to not after mastery of letter sounds

Although there is a rich research literature documenting patterns of emergent literacy andnumeracy corresponding assessment materials are not so readily available In the nextfew years national interest in developing alternative performance-based measuresshould generate more materials and resources Specifically new Chapter I legislation islikely to support the development of reading assessments that are more authentic andinstructionally relevantFor example classroom-embedded reading assessments were created from ordinaryinstructional materials by a group of third-grade teachers in conjunction with researchersat the Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing14 The teacherselected to focus on fluency and making meaning as reading goals running records andstory summaries were selected as the methods of assessmentBut how should student progress be evaluated In keeping with the idea of representing acontinuum of proficiency third-grade teachers took all the chapter books in theirclassrooms and sorted them into grade-level stacks I -I (first grade first semester) 1-22-1 and so on up to fifth grade Then they identified representative or marker books ineach category to use for assessment Once the books had been sorted by difficulty itbecame possible to document that children were reading increasingly difficult texts withunderstanding Photocopied pages from the marker books also helped parents see whatteachers considered to be grade-level materials and provided them with concrete evidenceof their childs progress Given mandates for student-level reporting under Chapter 1state departments of education or test publishers could help develop similar systems ofthis type with sufficient standardization to ensure comparability across districtsIn the meantime classroom teachers - or preferably teams of teachers - are left to inventtheir own assessments for classroom use In many schools teachers are already workingwith portfolios and developing scoring criteria The best procedure appears to be havinggrade-level teams and then cross-grade teams meet to discuss expectations and evaluationcriteria These conversations will be more productive if for each dimension to beassessed teachers collect student work and use marker papers to illustrate continua ofperformance Several papers might be used at each stage to reflect the tremendous varietyin childrens responses even when following the same general progressionBenchmark papers can also be an effective means of communicating with parents Forexample imagine using sample papers from grades K-3 to illustrate expectationsregarding invented spelling Invented spelling or temporary spelling is the source of agreat deal of parental dissatisfaction with reform curricula Yet most parents who attackinvented spelling have never been given a rationale for its use That is no one hasexplained it in such a way that the explanation builds on the parents own willingness toallow successive approximations in their childs early language development They havenever been shown a connection between writing expectations and grade-level spellinglists or been informed about differences in rules for first drafts and final drafts Samplepapers could be selected to illustrate the increasing mastery of grade-appropriate wordswhile allowing for misspellings of advanced words on first drafts Communicatingcriteria is helpful to parents and as we have seen in the literature on performanceassessment it also helps children to understand what is expected and to become better atassessing their own workMonitoring National and State TrendsIn 1989 when the President and the nations governors announced readiness for school

as the first education goal many early childhood experts feared the creation of a nationaltest for school entry Indeed given the negative history of readiness testing the first thingthe Goal I Technical Planning Subgroup did was to issue caveats about what an earlychildhood assessment must not be It should not be a one-dimensional reductionistmeasure of a childs knowledge and abilities it should not be called a measure ofreadiness as if some children were not ready to learn and it should not be used tolabel stigmatize or classify any individual child or group of children15However with this fearsome idea set aside the Technical Planning Subgroup endorsedthe idea of an early childhood assessment system that would periodically gather data onthe condition of young children as they enter school The purpose of the assessmentwould be to inform public policy and especially to help in charting progress towardachievement of the National Education Goals and for informing the developmentexpansion andor modification of policies and programs that affect young children andtheir families 16 Assuming that certain safeguards are built in such data could be apowerful force in focusing national attention and resources on the needs of youngchildrenBeginning in 1998-99 a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students will beassessed and then followed through grade 5Unlike past testing practices aimed at evaluating individual children in comparison withnormative expectations a large-scale nationally representative assessment would be usedto monitor national trends The purpose of such an assessment would be analogous to theuse of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure major shiftsin achievement patterns For example NAEP results have demonstrated gains in theachievement of black students in the South as a result of desegregation and NAEPachievement measures showed gains during the 1980s in basic skills and declines inhigher-order thinking skills and problem solving Similar data are not now available forpreschoolers or for children in the primary grades If an early childhood assessment wereconducted periodically it would be possible to demonstrate the relationship betweenhealth services and early learning and to evaluate the impact of such programs as HeadStartIn keeping with the precept that methods of assessment should follow from the purposeof assessment the Technical Planning Subgroup recommended that sampling of bothchildren and assessment items be used to collect national data Sampling would allow abroad assessment of a more multifaceted content domain and would preclude the misuseof individual scores to place or stigmatize individual children A national early childhoodassessment should also serve as a model of important content As a means to shape publicunderstanding of the full range of abilities and experiences that influence early learningand development the Technical Planning Subgroup identified five dimensions to beassessed 1) physical well-being and motor development 2) social and emotionaldevelopment 3) approaches toward learning 4) language usage and 5) cognition andgeneral knowledgeResponding to the need for national data to document the condition of children as theyenter school and to measure progress on Goal 1 the US Department of Education hascommissioned the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort Beginningin the 1998-99 school year a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students willbe assessed and then followed through grade 5 The content of the assessments used will

correspond closely to the dimensions recommended by the Technical Planning SubgroupIn addition data will be collected on each childs family community andschoolprogram Large-scale studies of this type serve both program evaluation purposes(How effective are preschool services for children) and research purposes (What is therelationship between childrens kindergarten experiences and their academic successthroughout elementary school)National needs for early childhood data and local needs for program evaluationinformation are similar in some respects and dissimilar in others Both uses require groupdata However a critical distinction that affects the methods of evaluation is whether ornot local programs share a common curriculum If local programs such as all thekindergartens in a school district have agreed on the same curriculum it is possible tobuild program evaluation assessments from an aggregation of the measures used forclassroom purposes Note that the entire state of Kentucky is attempting to develop sucha system by scoring classroom portfolios for state reportingFearing that assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many earlychildhood professionals have asked Why test at allIf programs being evaluated do not have the same specific curricula as is the case with anational assessment and with some state assessments then the assessment measures must``order more easily said than done For this reason the Technical Planning Subgrouprecommended that validity studies be built into the procedures for data collection Forexample pilot studies should verify that what children can do in one-on-one assessmentsettings is consistent with what they can do in their classrooms and assessment methodsshould always allow children more than one way to show what they knowConclusionIn the past decade testing of 4- 5- and 6-year-olds has been excessive and inappropriateUnder a variety of different names leftover IQ tests have been used to track childreninto ineffective programs or to deny them school entry Prereading tests held over fromthe 1930s have encouraged the teaching of decontextualized skills In response fearingthat assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many early childhoodprofessionals have asked Why test at all Indeed given a history of misuse the burdenof proof must rest with assessment advocates to demonstrate the usefulness of assessmentand to ensure that abuses will not recur Key principles that support responsible use ofassessment information followNo testing of young children should occur unless it can be shown to lead to beneficialresultsMethods of assessment especially the language used must be appropriate to thedevelopment and experiences of young childrenFeatures of assessment -- content form evidence of validity and standards forinterpretation -- must be tailored to the specific purpose of an assessmentIdentifying children for special education is a legitimate purpose for assessment and stillrequires the use of curriculum-free aptitude-like measures and normative comparisonsHowever handicapping conditions are rare the diagnostic model used by specialeducation should not be generalized to a larger population of below-average learnersFor both classroom instructional purposes and purposes of public policy making thecontent of assessments should embody the important dimensions of early learning and

development The tasks and skills children are asked to perform should reflect and modelprogress toward important learning goalsIn the past local newspapers have published readiness checklists that suggested thatchildren should stay home from kindergarten if they couldnt cut with scissors In thefuture national and local assessments should demonstrate the richness of what childrendo know and should foster instruction that builds on their strengths Telling a story inconjunction with scribbles is a meaningful stage in literacy development Reading a storyin English and retelling it in Spanish is evidence of reading comprehension Evidence ofimportant learning in beginning mathematics should not be counting to 100 instead of to10 It should be extending patterns solving arithmetic problems with blocks andexplaining how you got your answer constructing graphs to show how many childrencome to school by bus by walking by car and demonstrating understanding of patternsand quantities in a variety of waysIn classrooms we need new forms of assessment so that teachers can support childrensphysical social and cognitive development And at the level of public policy we neednew forms of assessment so that programs will be judged on the basis of worthwhileeducational goals1 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Escalating Academic Demand inKindergarten Counterproductive Policies Elementary School Journal vol 89 1988 pp135-452 Sue Bredekamp ed Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early ChildhoodPrograms Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 exp ed (Washington DCNational Association for the Education of Young Children 1987)3 M Therese Gnezda and Rosemary Bolig A Notional Survey of Public School Testingof Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children (Washington DC National Forum onthe Future of Children and Families National Research Council 1988)4 Samuel J Meisels Uses and Abuses of Developmental Screening and SchoolReadiness Testing Young Children vol 42 1987 pp 4-6 68-735 Lorrie A Shepard and M Elizabeth Graue The Morass of School ReadinessScreening Research on Test Use and Test Validity in Bernard Spodek ed Handbookof Research on the Education of Young Children (New York Macmillan 1993) pp 293-3056 Anne C Stallman and P David Pearson Formal Measures of Early Literacy inLesley Mandel Morrow and Jeffrey K Smith eds Assessment for Instruction in EarlyLiteracy (Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 1990) pp 7-447 Lorrie A Shepard A Review of Research on Kindergarten Retention in Lorrie AShepard and Mary Lee Smith eds Flunking Grades Research and Policies on Retention(London Falmer Press 1989) pp 64-788 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Academic and Emotional Effects ofKindergarten Retention in One School District in idem pp 79- 1079 Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs ServingChildren Ages 3 Through 8 Young Children vol 46 1991 pp 21-3810 Ibid p 3211 Kirby A Heller Wayne H Holtzman and Samuel Messick eds Placing Children inSpecial Education (Washington DC National Academy Press 1982)12 Guidelines p 33

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

such difficult assessments clinicians must have specialized training in both diagnosticassessment and child developmentWhen identifying children with special needs evaluators should use two generalstrategies in order to avoid confounding the ability to learn with past opportunity to learnFirst as recommended by the National Academy Panel on Selection and Placement ofStudents in Programs for the Mentally Retarded 11 a childs learning environment shouldbe evaluated to rule out poor instruction as the possible cause of a childs lack of learningAlthough seldom carried out in practice this evaluation should include trying out othermethods to support learning and possibly trying a different teacher before concluding thata child cant learn from ordinary classroom instruction A second important strategy is toobserve a childs functioning in multiple contexts Often children who appear to beimpaired in school function well at home or with peers Observation outside of school iscritical for children from diverse cultural backgrounds and for those whose homelanguage is not English The NAEYC stresses that screening should never be used toidentify second language learners as handicapped solely on the basis of their limitedabilities in English12In-depth developmental assessments are needed to ensure that children with disabilitiesreceive appropriate services However the diagnostic model of special education shouldnot be generalized to a larger population of below-average learners or the result will bethe reinstitution of tracking Elizabeth Graue and I analyzed recent efforts to create atriskkindergartens and found that these practices are especially likely to occur whenresources for extended-day programs are available only for the children most in need13The result of such programs is often to segregate children from low socioeconomicbackgrounds into classrooms where time is spent drilling on low-level prereading skillslike those found on readiness tests The consequences of dumbed-down instruction inkindergarten are just as pernicious as the effects of tracking at higher grade levelsespecially when the at-risk kindergarten group is kept together for first grade If resourcesfor extended-day kindergarten are scarce one alternative would be to group childrenheterogeneously for half the day and then for the other half to provide extra enrichmentactivities for children with limited literacy experiencesClassroom AssessmentsUnlike traditional readiness tests that are intended to predict learning classroomassessments should support instruction by modeling the dimensions of learning Althoughwe must allow considerable latitude for children to construct their own understandingsteachers must nonetheless have knowledge of normal development if they are to supportchildrens extensions and next steps Ordinary classroom tasks can then be used to assessa childs progress in relation to a developmental continuum An example of adevelopmental continuum would be that of emergent writing beginning with scribblesthen moving on to pictures and random letters and then proceeding to some letterwordcorrespondences These continua are not rigid however and several dimensions runningin parallel may be necessary to describe growth in a single content area For example asecond dimension of early writing - a childs ability to invent increasingly elaboratedstories when dictating to an adult s - not dependent on mastery of writing letters just aslistening comprehension making predictions about books and story retellings should bedeveloped in parallel to not after mastery of letter sounds

Although there is a rich research literature documenting patterns of emergent literacy andnumeracy corresponding assessment materials are not so readily available In the nextfew years national interest in developing alternative performance-based measuresshould generate more materials and resources Specifically new Chapter I legislation islikely to support the development of reading assessments that are more authentic andinstructionally relevantFor example classroom-embedded reading assessments were created from ordinaryinstructional materials by a group of third-grade teachers in conjunction with researchersat the Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing14 The teacherselected to focus on fluency and making meaning as reading goals running records andstory summaries were selected as the methods of assessmentBut how should student progress be evaluated In keeping with the idea of representing acontinuum of proficiency third-grade teachers took all the chapter books in theirclassrooms and sorted them into grade-level stacks I -I (first grade first semester) 1-22-1 and so on up to fifth grade Then they identified representative or marker books ineach category to use for assessment Once the books had been sorted by difficulty itbecame possible to document that children were reading increasingly difficult texts withunderstanding Photocopied pages from the marker books also helped parents see whatteachers considered to be grade-level materials and provided them with concrete evidenceof their childs progress Given mandates for student-level reporting under Chapter 1state departments of education or test publishers could help develop similar systems ofthis type with sufficient standardization to ensure comparability across districtsIn the meantime classroom teachers - or preferably teams of teachers - are left to inventtheir own assessments for classroom use In many schools teachers are already workingwith portfolios and developing scoring criteria The best procedure appears to be havinggrade-level teams and then cross-grade teams meet to discuss expectations and evaluationcriteria These conversations will be more productive if for each dimension to beassessed teachers collect student work and use marker papers to illustrate continua ofperformance Several papers might be used at each stage to reflect the tremendous varietyin childrens responses even when following the same general progressionBenchmark papers can also be an effective means of communicating with parents Forexample imagine using sample papers from grades K-3 to illustrate expectationsregarding invented spelling Invented spelling or temporary spelling is the source of agreat deal of parental dissatisfaction with reform curricula Yet most parents who attackinvented spelling have never been given a rationale for its use That is no one hasexplained it in such a way that the explanation builds on the parents own willingness toallow successive approximations in their childs early language development They havenever been shown a connection between writing expectations and grade-level spellinglists or been informed about differences in rules for first drafts and final drafts Samplepapers could be selected to illustrate the increasing mastery of grade-appropriate wordswhile allowing for misspellings of advanced words on first drafts Communicatingcriteria is helpful to parents and as we have seen in the literature on performanceassessment it also helps children to understand what is expected and to become better atassessing their own workMonitoring National and State TrendsIn 1989 when the President and the nations governors announced readiness for school

as the first education goal many early childhood experts feared the creation of a nationaltest for school entry Indeed given the negative history of readiness testing the first thingthe Goal I Technical Planning Subgroup did was to issue caveats about what an earlychildhood assessment must not be It should not be a one-dimensional reductionistmeasure of a childs knowledge and abilities it should not be called a measure ofreadiness as if some children were not ready to learn and it should not be used tolabel stigmatize or classify any individual child or group of children15However with this fearsome idea set aside the Technical Planning Subgroup endorsedthe idea of an early childhood assessment system that would periodically gather data onthe condition of young children as they enter school The purpose of the assessmentwould be to inform public policy and especially to help in charting progress towardachievement of the National Education Goals and for informing the developmentexpansion andor modification of policies and programs that affect young children andtheir families 16 Assuming that certain safeguards are built in such data could be apowerful force in focusing national attention and resources on the needs of youngchildrenBeginning in 1998-99 a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students will beassessed and then followed through grade 5Unlike past testing practices aimed at evaluating individual children in comparison withnormative expectations a large-scale nationally representative assessment would be usedto monitor national trends The purpose of such an assessment would be analogous to theuse of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure major shiftsin achievement patterns For example NAEP results have demonstrated gains in theachievement of black students in the South as a result of desegregation and NAEPachievement measures showed gains during the 1980s in basic skills and declines inhigher-order thinking skills and problem solving Similar data are not now available forpreschoolers or for children in the primary grades If an early childhood assessment wereconducted periodically it would be possible to demonstrate the relationship betweenhealth services and early learning and to evaluate the impact of such programs as HeadStartIn keeping with the precept that methods of assessment should follow from the purposeof assessment the Technical Planning Subgroup recommended that sampling of bothchildren and assessment items be used to collect national data Sampling would allow abroad assessment of a more multifaceted content domain and would preclude the misuseof individual scores to place or stigmatize individual children A national early childhoodassessment should also serve as a model of important content As a means to shape publicunderstanding of the full range of abilities and experiences that influence early learningand development the Technical Planning Subgroup identified five dimensions to beassessed 1) physical well-being and motor development 2) social and emotionaldevelopment 3) approaches toward learning 4) language usage and 5) cognition andgeneral knowledgeResponding to the need for national data to document the condition of children as theyenter school and to measure progress on Goal 1 the US Department of Education hascommissioned the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort Beginningin the 1998-99 school year a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students willbe assessed and then followed through grade 5 The content of the assessments used will

correspond closely to the dimensions recommended by the Technical Planning SubgroupIn addition data will be collected on each childs family community andschoolprogram Large-scale studies of this type serve both program evaluation purposes(How effective are preschool services for children) and research purposes (What is therelationship between childrens kindergarten experiences and their academic successthroughout elementary school)National needs for early childhood data and local needs for program evaluationinformation are similar in some respects and dissimilar in others Both uses require groupdata However a critical distinction that affects the methods of evaluation is whether ornot local programs share a common curriculum If local programs such as all thekindergartens in a school district have agreed on the same curriculum it is possible tobuild program evaluation assessments from an aggregation of the measures used forclassroom purposes Note that the entire state of Kentucky is attempting to develop sucha system by scoring classroom portfolios for state reportingFearing that assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many earlychildhood professionals have asked Why test at allIf programs being evaluated do not have the same specific curricula as is the case with anational assessment and with some state assessments then the assessment measures must``order more easily said than done For this reason the Technical Planning Subgrouprecommended that validity studies be built into the procedures for data collection Forexample pilot studies should verify that what children can do in one-on-one assessmentsettings is consistent with what they can do in their classrooms and assessment methodsshould always allow children more than one way to show what they knowConclusionIn the past decade testing of 4- 5- and 6-year-olds has been excessive and inappropriateUnder a variety of different names leftover IQ tests have been used to track childreninto ineffective programs or to deny them school entry Prereading tests held over fromthe 1930s have encouraged the teaching of decontextualized skills In response fearingthat assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many early childhoodprofessionals have asked Why test at all Indeed given a history of misuse the burdenof proof must rest with assessment advocates to demonstrate the usefulness of assessmentand to ensure that abuses will not recur Key principles that support responsible use ofassessment information followNo testing of young children should occur unless it can be shown to lead to beneficialresultsMethods of assessment especially the language used must be appropriate to thedevelopment and experiences of young childrenFeatures of assessment -- content form evidence of validity and standards forinterpretation -- must be tailored to the specific purpose of an assessmentIdentifying children for special education is a legitimate purpose for assessment and stillrequires the use of curriculum-free aptitude-like measures and normative comparisonsHowever handicapping conditions are rare the diagnostic model used by specialeducation should not be generalized to a larger population of below-average learnersFor both classroom instructional purposes and purposes of public policy making thecontent of assessments should embody the important dimensions of early learning and

development The tasks and skills children are asked to perform should reflect and modelprogress toward important learning goalsIn the past local newspapers have published readiness checklists that suggested thatchildren should stay home from kindergarten if they couldnt cut with scissors In thefuture national and local assessments should demonstrate the richness of what childrendo know and should foster instruction that builds on their strengths Telling a story inconjunction with scribbles is a meaningful stage in literacy development Reading a storyin English and retelling it in Spanish is evidence of reading comprehension Evidence ofimportant learning in beginning mathematics should not be counting to 100 instead of to10 It should be extending patterns solving arithmetic problems with blocks andexplaining how you got your answer constructing graphs to show how many childrencome to school by bus by walking by car and demonstrating understanding of patternsand quantities in a variety of waysIn classrooms we need new forms of assessment so that teachers can support childrensphysical social and cognitive development And at the level of public policy we neednew forms of assessment so that programs will be judged on the basis of worthwhileeducational goals1 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Escalating Academic Demand inKindergarten Counterproductive Policies Elementary School Journal vol 89 1988 pp135-452 Sue Bredekamp ed Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early ChildhoodPrograms Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 exp ed (Washington DCNational Association for the Education of Young Children 1987)3 M Therese Gnezda and Rosemary Bolig A Notional Survey of Public School Testingof Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children (Washington DC National Forum onthe Future of Children and Families National Research Council 1988)4 Samuel J Meisels Uses and Abuses of Developmental Screening and SchoolReadiness Testing Young Children vol 42 1987 pp 4-6 68-735 Lorrie A Shepard and M Elizabeth Graue The Morass of School ReadinessScreening Research on Test Use and Test Validity in Bernard Spodek ed Handbookof Research on the Education of Young Children (New York Macmillan 1993) pp 293-3056 Anne C Stallman and P David Pearson Formal Measures of Early Literacy inLesley Mandel Morrow and Jeffrey K Smith eds Assessment for Instruction in EarlyLiteracy (Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 1990) pp 7-447 Lorrie A Shepard A Review of Research on Kindergarten Retention in Lorrie AShepard and Mary Lee Smith eds Flunking Grades Research and Policies on Retention(London Falmer Press 1989) pp 64-788 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Academic and Emotional Effects ofKindergarten Retention in One School District in idem pp 79- 1079 Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs ServingChildren Ages 3 Through 8 Young Children vol 46 1991 pp 21-3810 Ibid p 3211 Kirby A Heller Wayne H Holtzman and Samuel Messick eds Placing Children inSpecial Education (Washington DC National Academy Press 1982)12 Guidelines p 33

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

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What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

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bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

Although there is a rich research literature documenting patterns of emergent literacy andnumeracy corresponding assessment materials are not so readily available In the nextfew years national interest in developing alternative performance-based measuresshould generate more materials and resources Specifically new Chapter I legislation islikely to support the development of reading assessments that are more authentic andinstructionally relevantFor example classroom-embedded reading assessments were created from ordinaryinstructional materials by a group of third-grade teachers in conjunction with researchersat the Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing14 The teacherselected to focus on fluency and making meaning as reading goals running records andstory summaries were selected as the methods of assessmentBut how should student progress be evaluated In keeping with the idea of representing acontinuum of proficiency third-grade teachers took all the chapter books in theirclassrooms and sorted them into grade-level stacks I -I (first grade first semester) 1-22-1 and so on up to fifth grade Then they identified representative or marker books ineach category to use for assessment Once the books had been sorted by difficulty itbecame possible to document that children were reading increasingly difficult texts withunderstanding Photocopied pages from the marker books also helped parents see whatteachers considered to be grade-level materials and provided them with concrete evidenceof their childs progress Given mandates for student-level reporting under Chapter 1state departments of education or test publishers could help develop similar systems ofthis type with sufficient standardization to ensure comparability across districtsIn the meantime classroom teachers - or preferably teams of teachers - are left to inventtheir own assessments for classroom use In many schools teachers are already workingwith portfolios and developing scoring criteria The best procedure appears to be havinggrade-level teams and then cross-grade teams meet to discuss expectations and evaluationcriteria These conversations will be more productive if for each dimension to beassessed teachers collect student work and use marker papers to illustrate continua ofperformance Several papers might be used at each stage to reflect the tremendous varietyin childrens responses even when following the same general progressionBenchmark papers can also be an effective means of communicating with parents Forexample imagine using sample papers from grades K-3 to illustrate expectationsregarding invented spelling Invented spelling or temporary spelling is the source of agreat deal of parental dissatisfaction with reform curricula Yet most parents who attackinvented spelling have never been given a rationale for its use That is no one hasexplained it in such a way that the explanation builds on the parents own willingness toallow successive approximations in their childs early language development They havenever been shown a connection between writing expectations and grade-level spellinglists or been informed about differences in rules for first drafts and final drafts Samplepapers could be selected to illustrate the increasing mastery of grade-appropriate wordswhile allowing for misspellings of advanced words on first drafts Communicatingcriteria is helpful to parents and as we have seen in the literature on performanceassessment it also helps children to understand what is expected and to become better atassessing their own workMonitoring National and State TrendsIn 1989 when the President and the nations governors announced readiness for school

as the first education goal many early childhood experts feared the creation of a nationaltest for school entry Indeed given the negative history of readiness testing the first thingthe Goal I Technical Planning Subgroup did was to issue caveats about what an earlychildhood assessment must not be It should not be a one-dimensional reductionistmeasure of a childs knowledge and abilities it should not be called a measure ofreadiness as if some children were not ready to learn and it should not be used tolabel stigmatize or classify any individual child or group of children15However with this fearsome idea set aside the Technical Planning Subgroup endorsedthe idea of an early childhood assessment system that would periodically gather data onthe condition of young children as they enter school The purpose of the assessmentwould be to inform public policy and especially to help in charting progress towardachievement of the National Education Goals and for informing the developmentexpansion andor modification of policies and programs that affect young children andtheir families 16 Assuming that certain safeguards are built in such data could be apowerful force in focusing national attention and resources on the needs of youngchildrenBeginning in 1998-99 a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students will beassessed and then followed through grade 5Unlike past testing practices aimed at evaluating individual children in comparison withnormative expectations a large-scale nationally representative assessment would be usedto monitor national trends The purpose of such an assessment would be analogous to theuse of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure major shiftsin achievement patterns For example NAEP results have demonstrated gains in theachievement of black students in the South as a result of desegregation and NAEPachievement measures showed gains during the 1980s in basic skills and declines inhigher-order thinking skills and problem solving Similar data are not now available forpreschoolers or for children in the primary grades If an early childhood assessment wereconducted periodically it would be possible to demonstrate the relationship betweenhealth services and early learning and to evaluate the impact of such programs as HeadStartIn keeping with the precept that methods of assessment should follow from the purposeof assessment the Technical Planning Subgroup recommended that sampling of bothchildren and assessment items be used to collect national data Sampling would allow abroad assessment of a more multifaceted content domain and would preclude the misuseof individual scores to place or stigmatize individual children A national early childhoodassessment should also serve as a model of important content As a means to shape publicunderstanding of the full range of abilities and experiences that influence early learningand development the Technical Planning Subgroup identified five dimensions to beassessed 1) physical well-being and motor development 2) social and emotionaldevelopment 3) approaches toward learning 4) language usage and 5) cognition andgeneral knowledgeResponding to the need for national data to document the condition of children as theyenter school and to measure progress on Goal 1 the US Department of Education hascommissioned the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort Beginningin the 1998-99 school year a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students willbe assessed and then followed through grade 5 The content of the assessments used will

correspond closely to the dimensions recommended by the Technical Planning SubgroupIn addition data will be collected on each childs family community andschoolprogram Large-scale studies of this type serve both program evaluation purposes(How effective are preschool services for children) and research purposes (What is therelationship between childrens kindergarten experiences and their academic successthroughout elementary school)National needs for early childhood data and local needs for program evaluationinformation are similar in some respects and dissimilar in others Both uses require groupdata However a critical distinction that affects the methods of evaluation is whether ornot local programs share a common curriculum If local programs such as all thekindergartens in a school district have agreed on the same curriculum it is possible tobuild program evaluation assessments from an aggregation of the measures used forclassroom purposes Note that the entire state of Kentucky is attempting to develop sucha system by scoring classroom portfolios for state reportingFearing that assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many earlychildhood professionals have asked Why test at allIf programs being evaluated do not have the same specific curricula as is the case with anational assessment and with some state assessments then the assessment measures must``order more easily said than done For this reason the Technical Planning Subgrouprecommended that validity studies be built into the procedures for data collection Forexample pilot studies should verify that what children can do in one-on-one assessmentsettings is consistent with what they can do in their classrooms and assessment methodsshould always allow children more than one way to show what they knowConclusionIn the past decade testing of 4- 5- and 6-year-olds has been excessive and inappropriateUnder a variety of different names leftover IQ tests have been used to track childreninto ineffective programs or to deny them school entry Prereading tests held over fromthe 1930s have encouraged the teaching of decontextualized skills In response fearingthat assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many early childhoodprofessionals have asked Why test at all Indeed given a history of misuse the burdenof proof must rest with assessment advocates to demonstrate the usefulness of assessmentand to ensure that abuses will not recur Key principles that support responsible use ofassessment information followNo testing of young children should occur unless it can be shown to lead to beneficialresultsMethods of assessment especially the language used must be appropriate to thedevelopment and experiences of young childrenFeatures of assessment -- content form evidence of validity and standards forinterpretation -- must be tailored to the specific purpose of an assessmentIdentifying children for special education is a legitimate purpose for assessment and stillrequires the use of curriculum-free aptitude-like measures and normative comparisonsHowever handicapping conditions are rare the diagnostic model used by specialeducation should not be generalized to a larger population of below-average learnersFor both classroom instructional purposes and purposes of public policy making thecontent of assessments should embody the important dimensions of early learning and

development The tasks and skills children are asked to perform should reflect and modelprogress toward important learning goalsIn the past local newspapers have published readiness checklists that suggested thatchildren should stay home from kindergarten if they couldnt cut with scissors In thefuture national and local assessments should demonstrate the richness of what childrendo know and should foster instruction that builds on their strengths Telling a story inconjunction with scribbles is a meaningful stage in literacy development Reading a storyin English and retelling it in Spanish is evidence of reading comprehension Evidence ofimportant learning in beginning mathematics should not be counting to 100 instead of to10 It should be extending patterns solving arithmetic problems with blocks andexplaining how you got your answer constructing graphs to show how many childrencome to school by bus by walking by car and demonstrating understanding of patternsand quantities in a variety of waysIn classrooms we need new forms of assessment so that teachers can support childrensphysical social and cognitive development And at the level of public policy we neednew forms of assessment so that programs will be judged on the basis of worthwhileeducational goals1 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Escalating Academic Demand inKindergarten Counterproductive Policies Elementary School Journal vol 89 1988 pp135-452 Sue Bredekamp ed Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early ChildhoodPrograms Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 exp ed (Washington DCNational Association for the Education of Young Children 1987)3 M Therese Gnezda and Rosemary Bolig A Notional Survey of Public School Testingof Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children (Washington DC National Forum onthe Future of Children and Families National Research Council 1988)4 Samuel J Meisels Uses and Abuses of Developmental Screening and SchoolReadiness Testing Young Children vol 42 1987 pp 4-6 68-735 Lorrie A Shepard and M Elizabeth Graue The Morass of School ReadinessScreening Research on Test Use and Test Validity in Bernard Spodek ed Handbookof Research on the Education of Young Children (New York Macmillan 1993) pp 293-3056 Anne C Stallman and P David Pearson Formal Measures of Early Literacy inLesley Mandel Morrow and Jeffrey K Smith eds Assessment for Instruction in EarlyLiteracy (Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 1990) pp 7-447 Lorrie A Shepard A Review of Research on Kindergarten Retention in Lorrie AShepard and Mary Lee Smith eds Flunking Grades Research and Policies on Retention(London Falmer Press 1989) pp 64-788 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Academic and Emotional Effects ofKindergarten Retention in One School District in idem pp 79- 1079 Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs ServingChildren Ages 3 Through 8 Young Children vol 46 1991 pp 21-3810 Ibid p 3211 Kirby A Heller Wayne H Holtzman and Samuel Messick eds Placing Children inSpecial Education (Washington DC National Academy Press 1982)12 Guidelines p 33

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

as the first education goal many early childhood experts feared the creation of a nationaltest for school entry Indeed given the negative history of readiness testing the first thingthe Goal I Technical Planning Subgroup did was to issue caveats about what an earlychildhood assessment must not be It should not be a one-dimensional reductionistmeasure of a childs knowledge and abilities it should not be called a measure ofreadiness as if some children were not ready to learn and it should not be used tolabel stigmatize or classify any individual child or group of children15However with this fearsome idea set aside the Technical Planning Subgroup endorsedthe idea of an early childhood assessment system that would periodically gather data onthe condition of young children as they enter school The purpose of the assessmentwould be to inform public policy and especially to help in charting progress towardachievement of the National Education Goals and for informing the developmentexpansion andor modification of policies and programs that affect young children andtheir families 16 Assuming that certain safeguards are built in such data could be apowerful force in focusing national attention and resources on the needs of youngchildrenBeginning in 1998-99 a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students will beassessed and then followed through grade 5Unlike past testing practices aimed at evaluating individual children in comparison withnormative expectations a large-scale nationally representative assessment would be usedto monitor national trends The purpose of such an assessment would be analogous to theuse of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) to measure major shiftsin achievement patterns For example NAEP results have demonstrated gains in theachievement of black students in the South as a result of desegregation and NAEPachievement measures showed gains during the 1980s in basic skills and declines inhigher-order thinking skills and problem solving Similar data are not now available forpreschoolers or for children in the primary grades If an early childhood assessment wereconducted periodically it would be possible to demonstrate the relationship betweenhealth services and early learning and to evaluate the impact of such programs as HeadStartIn keeping with the precept that methods of assessment should follow from the purposeof assessment the Technical Planning Subgroup recommended that sampling of bothchildren and assessment items be used to collect national data Sampling would allow abroad assessment of a more multifaceted content domain and would preclude the misuseof individual scores to place or stigmatize individual children A national early childhoodassessment should also serve as a model of important content As a means to shape publicunderstanding of the full range of abilities and experiences that influence early learningand development the Technical Planning Subgroup identified five dimensions to beassessed 1) physical well-being and motor development 2) social and emotionaldevelopment 3) approaches toward learning 4) language usage and 5) cognition andgeneral knowledgeResponding to the need for national data to document the condition of children as theyenter school and to measure progress on Goal 1 the US Department of Education hascommissioned the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Cohort Beginningin the 1998-99 school year a representative sample of 23000 kindergarten students willbe assessed and then followed through grade 5 The content of the assessments used will

correspond closely to the dimensions recommended by the Technical Planning SubgroupIn addition data will be collected on each childs family community andschoolprogram Large-scale studies of this type serve both program evaluation purposes(How effective are preschool services for children) and research purposes (What is therelationship between childrens kindergarten experiences and their academic successthroughout elementary school)National needs for early childhood data and local needs for program evaluationinformation are similar in some respects and dissimilar in others Both uses require groupdata However a critical distinction that affects the methods of evaluation is whether ornot local programs share a common curriculum If local programs such as all thekindergartens in a school district have agreed on the same curriculum it is possible tobuild program evaluation assessments from an aggregation of the measures used forclassroom purposes Note that the entire state of Kentucky is attempting to develop sucha system by scoring classroom portfolios for state reportingFearing that assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many earlychildhood professionals have asked Why test at allIf programs being evaluated do not have the same specific curricula as is the case with anational assessment and with some state assessments then the assessment measures must``order more easily said than done For this reason the Technical Planning Subgrouprecommended that validity studies be built into the procedures for data collection Forexample pilot studies should verify that what children can do in one-on-one assessmentsettings is consistent with what they can do in their classrooms and assessment methodsshould always allow children more than one way to show what they knowConclusionIn the past decade testing of 4- 5- and 6-year-olds has been excessive and inappropriateUnder a variety of different names leftover IQ tests have been used to track childreninto ineffective programs or to deny them school entry Prereading tests held over fromthe 1930s have encouraged the teaching of decontextualized skills In response fearingthat assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many early childhoodprofessionals have asked Why test at all Indeed given a history of misuse the burdenof proof must rest with assessment advocates to demonstrate the usefulness of assessmentand to ensure that abuses will not recur Key principles that support responsible use ofassessment information followNo testing of young children should occur unless it can be shown to lead to beneficialresultsMethods of assessment especially the language used must be appropriate to thedevelopment and experiences of young childrenFeatures of assessment -- content form evidence of validity and standards forinterpretation -- must be tailored to the specific purpose of an assessmentIdentifying children for special education is a legitimate purpose for assessment and stillrequires the use of curriculum-free aptitude-like measures and normative comparisonsHowever handicapping conditions are rare the diagnostic model used by specialeducation should not be generalized to a larger population of below-average learnersFor both classroom instructional purposes and purposes of public policy making thecontent of assessments should embody the important dimensions of early learning and

development The tasks and skills children are asked to perform should reflect and modelprogress toward important learning goalsIn the past local newspapers have published readiness checklists that suggested thatchildren should stay home from kindergarten if they couldnt cut with scissors In thefuture national and local assessments should demonstrate the richness of what childrendo know and should foster instruction that builds on their strengths Telling a story inconjunction with scribbles is a meaningful stage in literacy development Reading a storyin English and retelling it in Spanish is evidence of reading comprehension Evidence ofimportant learning in beginning mathematics should not be counting to 100 instead of to10 It should be extending patterns solving arithmetic problems with blocks andexplaining how you got your answer constructing graphs to show how many childrencome to school by bus by walking by car and demonstrating understanding of patternsand quantities in a variety of waysIn classrooms we need new forms of assessment so that teachers can support childrensphysical social and cognitive development And at the level of public policy we neednew forms of assessment so that programs will be judged on the basis of worthwhileeducational goals1 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Escalating Academic Demand inKindergarten Counterproductive Policies Elementary School Journal vol 89 1988 pp135-452 Sue Bredekamp ed Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early ChildhoodPrograms Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 exp ed (Washington DCNational Association for the Education of Young Children 1987)3 M Therese Gnezda and Rosemary Bolig A Notional Survey of Public School Testingof Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children (Washington DC National Forum onthe Future of Children and Families National Research Council 1988)4 Samuel J Meisels Uses and Abuses of Developmental Screening and SchoolReadiness Testing Young Children vol 42 1987 pp 4-6 68-735 Lorrie A Shepard and M Elizabeth Graue The Morass of School ReadinessScreening Research on Test Use and Test Validity in Bernard Spodek ed Handbookof Research on the Education of Young Children (New York Macmillan 1993) pp 293-3056 Anne C Stallman and P David Pearson Formal Measures of Early Literacy inLesley Mandel Morrow and Jeffrey K Smith eds Assessment for Instruction in EarlyLiteracy (Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 1990) pp 7-447 Lorrie A Shepard A Review of Research on Kindergarten Retention in Lorrie AShepard and Mary Lee Smith eds Flunking Grades Research and Policies on Retention(London Falmer Press 1989) pp 64-788 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Academic and Emotional Effects ofKindergarten Retention in One School District in idem pp 79- 1079 Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs ServingChildren Ages 3 Through 8 Young Children vol 46 1991 pp 21-3810 Ibid p 3211 Kirby A Heller Wayne H Holtzman and Samuel Messick eds Placing Children inSpecial Education (Washington DC National Academy Press 1982)12 Guidelines p 33

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

correspond closely to the dimensions recommended by the Technical Planning SubgroupIn addition data will be collected on each childs family community andschoolprogram Large-scale studies of this type serve both program evaluation purposes(How effective are preschool services for children) and research purposes (What is therelationship between childrens kindergarten experiences and their academic successthroughout elementary school)National needs for early childhood data and local needs for program evaluationinformation are similar in some respects and dissimilar in others Both uses require groupdata However a critical distinction that affects the methods of evaluation is whether ornot local programs share a common curriculum If local programs such as all thekindergartens in a school district have agreed on the same curriculum it is possible tobuild program evaluation assessments from an aggregation of the measures used forclassroom purposes Note that the entire state of Kentucky is attempting to develop sucha system by scoring classroom portfolios for state reportingFearing that assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many earlychildhood professionals have asked Why test at allIf programs being evaluated do not have the same specific curricula as is the case with anational assessment and with some state assessments then the assessment measures must``order more easily said than done For this reason the Technical Planning Subgrouprecommended that validity studies be built into the procedures for data collection Forexample pilot studies should verify that what children can do in one-on-one assessmentsettings is consistent with what they can do in their classrooms and assessment methodsshould always allow children more than one way to show what they knowConclusionIn the past decade testing of 4- 5- and 6-year-olds has been excessive and inappropriateUnder a variety of different names leftover IQ tests have been used to track childreninto ineffective programs or to deny them school entry Prereading tests held over fromthe 1930s have encouraged the teaching of decontextualized skills In response fearingthat assessment is just a euphemism for more bad testing many early childhoodprofessionals have asked Why test at all Indeed given a history of misuse the burdenof proof must rest with assessment advocates to demonstrate the usefulness of assessmentand to ensure that abuses will not recur Key principles that support responsible use ofassessment information followNo testing of young children should occur unless it can be shown to lead to beneficialresultsMethods of assessment especially the language used must be appropriate to thedevelopment and experiences of young childrenFeatures of assessment -- content form evidence of validity and standards forinterpretation -- must be tailored to the specific purpose of an assessmentIdentifying children for special education is a legitimate purpose for assessment and stillrequires the use of curriculum-free aptitude-like measures and normative comparisonsHowever handicapping conditions are rare the diagnostic model used by specialeducation should not be generalized to a larger population of below-average learnersFor both classroom instructional purposes and purposes of public policy making thecontent of assessments should embody the important dimensions of early learning and

development The tasks and skills children are asked to perform should reflect and modelprogress toward important learning goalsIn the past local newspapers have published readiness checklists that suggested thatchildren should stay home from kindergarten if they couldnt cut with scissors In thefuture national and local assessments should demonstrate the richness of what childrendo know and should foster instruction that builds on their strengths Telling a story inconjunction with scribbles is a meaningful stage in literacy development Reading a storyin English and retelling it in Spanish is evidence of reading comprehension Evidence ofimportant learning in beginning mathematics should not be counting to 100 instead of to10 It should be extending patterns solving arithmetic problems with blocks andexplaining how you got your answer constructing graphs to show how many childrencome to school by bus by walking by car and demonstrating understanding of patternsand quantities in a variety of waysIn classrooms we need new forms of assessment so that teachers can support childrensphysical social and cognitive development And at the level of public policy we neednew forms of assessment so that programs will be judged on the basis of worthwhileeducational goals1 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Escalating Academic Demand inKindergarten Counterproductive Policies Elementary School Journal vol 89 1988 pp135-452 Sue Bredekamp ed Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early ChildhoodPrograms Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 exp ed (Washington DCNational Association for the Education of Young Children 1987)3 M Therese Gnezda and Rosemary Bolig A Notional Survey of Public School Testingof Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children (Washington DC National Forum onthe Future of Children and Families National Research Council 1988)4 Samuel J Meisels Uses and Abuses of Developmental Screening and SchoolReadiness Testing Young Children vol 42 1987 pp 4-6 68-735 Lorrie A Shepard and M Elizabeth Graue The Morass of School ReadinessScreening Research on Test Use and Test Validity in Bernard Spodek ed Handbookof Research on the Education of Young Children (New York Macmillan 1993) pp 293-3056 Anne C Stallman and P David Pearson Formal Measures of Early Literacy inLesley Mandel Morrow and Jeffrey K Smith eds Assessment for Instruction in EarlyLiteracy (Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 1990) pp 7-447 Lorrie A Shepard A Review of Research on Kindergarten Retention in Lorrie AShepard and Mary Lee Smith eds Flunking Grades Research and Policies on Retention(London Falmer Press 1989) pp 64-788 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Academic and Emotional Effects ofKindergarten Retention in One School District in idem pp 79- 1079 Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs ServingChildren Ages 3 Through 8 Young Children vol 46 1991 pp 21-3810 Ibid p 3211 Kirby A Heller Wayne H Holtzman and Samuel Messick eds Placing Children inSpecial Education (Washington DC National Academy Press 1982)12 Guidelines p 33

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

development The tasks and skills children are asked to perform should reflect and modelprogress toward important learning goalsIn the past local newspapers have published readiness checklists that suggested thatchildren should stay home from kindergarten if they couldnt cut with scissors In thefuture national and local assessments should demonstrate the richness of what childrendo know and should foster instruction that builds on their strengths Telling a story inconjunction with scribbles is a meaningful stage in literacy development Reading a storyin English and retelling it in Spanish is evidence of reading comprehension Evidence ofimportant learning in beginning mathematics should not be counting to 100 instead of to10 It should be extending patterns solving arithmetic problems with blocks andexplaining how you got your answer constructing graphs to show how many childrencome to school by bus by walking by car and demonstrating understanding of patternsand quantities in a variety of waysIn classrooms we need new forms of assessment so that teachers can support childrensphysical social and cognitive development And at the level of public policy we neednew forms of assessment so that programs will be judged on the basis of worthwhileeducational goals1 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Escalating Academic Demand inKindergarten Counterproductive Policies Elementary School Journal vol 89 1988 pp135-452 Sue Bredekamp ed Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early ChildhoodPrograms Serving Children from Birth Through Age 8 exp ed (Washington DCNational Association for the Education of Young Children 1987)3 M Therese Gnezda and Rosemary Bolig A Notional Survey of Public School Testingof Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten Children (Washington DC National Forum onthe Future of Children and Families National Research Council 1988)4 Samuel J Meisels Uses and Abuses of Developmental Screening and SchoolReadiness Testing Young Children vol 42 1987 pp 4-6 68-735 Lorrie A Shepard and M Elizabeth Graue The Morass of School ReadinessScreening Research on Test Use and Test Validity in Bernard Spodek ed Handbookof Research on the Education of Young Children (New York Macmillan 1993) pp 293-3056 Anne C Stallman and P David Pearson Formal Measures of Early Literacy inLesley Mandel Morrow and Jeffrey K Smith eds Assessment for Instruction in EarlyLiteracy (Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice-Hall 1990) pp 7-447 Lorrie A Shepard A Review of Research on Kindergarten Retention in Lorrie AShepard and Mary Lee Smith eds Flunking Grades Research and Policies on Retention(London Falmer Press 1989) pp 64-788 Lorrie A Shepard and Mary Lee Smith Academic and Emotional Effects ofKindergarten Retention in One School District in idem pp 79- 1079 Guidelines for Appropriate Curriculum Content and Assessment in Programs ServingChildren Ages 3 Through 8 Young Children vol 46 1991 pp 21-3810 Ibid p 3211 Kirby A Heller Wayne H Holtzman and Samuel Messick eds Placing Children inSpecial Education (Washington DC National Academy Press 1982)12 Guidelines p 33

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

13 Shepard and Graue op cit14 The Center for Research on Evaluation Standards and Student Testing is located onthe campuses of the University of California Los Angeles and the University ofColorado Boulder15 Goal 1 Technical Planning Subgroup Report on School Readiness (WashingtonDC National Education Goals Panel September 199 1 )16 Ibid p 6CONTACT the Webma

assessment reportAssessing Young ChildrenMarcy Guddemi PhDBetsy J Case Ph DFebruary 2004Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children2

Assessing Young Children(This updated version was originally published as Guddemi M P (2003) The important role of quality assessment inyoung children ages 3ndash8 In Wall J amp Walz G (Eds) (2003) Measuring up Assessment issues for teacherscounselors and administrators Greensboro NC ERIC Counseling and Student Services Clearinghouse)

IntroductionTodayrsquos educational climate of standards and accountability extends even topreschool programs (Bowman Donovan and Burns 2001) The No Child LeftBehind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandates assessment and accountability at all levelsof public school even in early childhoodndashndashdefined as birth through age 8(NAEYC 1987) Additionally the current preschool initiative Good Start GrowSmart requires a demonstration of positive child outcomes and ongoingassessment efforts The initiative dramatically affects accountability measures forHead Start (Horn 2003)In light of this background it is critical to understand how both formal andinformal assessments when developmentally appropriate in design and purposeare beneficial for early childhood This age period is often broken into threegroups for discussion infantstoddlers (ages 0 through 2) preschoolers (ages 3

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

through 5) and primary children (kindergarten through grade 3) This report willfocus on young children aged 3 through 8 years It will examine the perspectivesof various national organizations on the essential role of assessment andaccountability during early childhood and will also describe an appropriateassessment system for this age groupThe Challenge of Early Childhood AssessmentThe assessment of young children is very different from the assessment of olderchildren and adults in several ways The greatest difference is in the way youngchildren learn They construct knowledge in experiential interactive concreteand hands-on ways (Bredekamp and Rosegrant 1992 1995) rather than throughabstract reasoning and paper and pencil activities alone To learn young childrenmust touch and manipulate objects build and create in many media listen and actout stories and everyday roles talk and sing and move and play in various waysand environments Consequently the expression of what young children knowand can do would best be served in ways other than traditional paper and pencilassessmentsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children3Assessment is also challenging during early childhood because a childrsquosdevelopment is rapid uneven episodic and highly influenced by the environment(Shepard Kagan and Wurtz 1998) A developing child exhibits periods of bothrapid growth and frequent rest Children develop in four domainsndashndashphysicalcognitive social and emotionalndashndashand not at the same pace through each No twochildren are the same each child has a unique rate of development In additionno two children have the same family cultural and experiential backgroundsClearly these variables mean that a ldquoone-size-fits-allrdquo assessment will not meetthe needs of most young children (Shepard et al)Another assessment challenge for young children is that it takes time toadminister assessments properly Assessments primarily should be administeredin a one-on-one setting to each child by his or her teacher In addition a childrsquosattention span is often very short and the assessment should therefore beadministered in short segments over a period of a few days or even weeks Whileearly childhood educators demand developmentally appropriate assessments forchildren they often complain about the time it takes to administer them and theresulting loss of instructional time in the classroom However when quality testsmirror quality instruction assessment and teaching become almost seamlesscomplementing and informing one another (Neuman Copple and Bredekamp2000)NAEYC Position Statement on Early Childhood Assessment (1987)In the position statement Standardized Testing of Young Children 3 Through 8Years of Age the National Association for the Education of Young Children

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

(NAEYC) (1987) summarized a number of challenges faced when assessingyoung childrenFirst the NAEYC stressed the importance of quality instruments and emphasizedthat not all assessments are detrimental to young children According to NAEYCquality assessments are those that meet the guidelines for reliability and validityas established by the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing(American Educational Research Association 1999) are appropriate for thechildrsquos age and stage of development and rely heavily on demonstration orexpression of skills and knowledge These assessments also should beindividually administered to elicit the most accurate and useful information forthe teacherThe NAEYC position statement also emphasizes that administrators play animportant role in using the information generated by assessments Wheninterpreting assessment results administrators must be aware and sensitive toeach young childrsquos unique rate of development Decisions about a childrsquosplacement or special needs should never be based on a single test result TheCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children4appropriate use of information from early childhood assessments is to guideinstruction and to determine what the child is ready for next in terms ofknowledge and skills Administrators also use information from assessments andother sources to evaluate strengthen and monitor educational programsNational Education Goals Panel on Early Childhood Assessment (1998)Advice published in Principles and Recommendations for Early ChildhoodAssessments (Shepard et al 1998) by the National Education Goals Panel(NEGP) a government-appointed committee and extension of the Goals 2000education movement still has meaning today According to the NEGPguidelines assessments shouldbull bring about benefits for childrenbull be tailored to a specific purposebull be reliable valid and fairbull bring about and reflect policies that acknowledge that as the age of the childincreases reliability and validity of the assessment increasesbull be age-appropriate in both content and methodologybull be linguistically appropriate because all assessments measure language andbull value parents as an important source of assessment informationIn addition the NEGP very clearly stated that assessments should be used for aspecific purpose and that a single assessment more than likely could not servemultiple purposes The purposes of assessments are to support learning identifyspecial needs evaluate a program monitor trends and serve high stakes

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

accountability requirements The NEGP recommends that standardizedassessments for high stakes purposes not be administered until grade 3 andpreferably not until grade 4 (Shepard et al 1998)IRA NAEYC Position Statement on Reading and Writing (1998)In response to the nationrsquos growing interest and commitment to literacy theInternational Reading Association (IRA) and the NAEYC jointly published theposition statement Overview of Learning to Read and Write DevelopmentallyAppropriate Practices for Young Children (1998) Because these twoorganizations have at times been at odds with each other over what areappropriate instructional techniques for early childhood this document is anespecially significant agreement between the two groups concerning how childrenlearn to read and write The position statement describes for the early childhoodand reading communities that ldquodevelopmentally appropriaterdquo means settingCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children5achievable yet challenging goals Furthermore it emphasizes that (1) thefoundation of reading consists of basic skills which can (and should) be taughtand (2) quality ongoing diagnostic assessment is essential in knowing how to helpyoung children become good readersNational Research Council (1999)The National Research Council (NRC) is a national panel convened by theNational Academy of Sciences to study the issue of literacy development Afteran extensive and exhaustive review of literacy and reading research the NRCpublished a sweeping report Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children(Burns Griffin and Snow 1999) which set forth guidelines andrecommendations for literacy development and the role of assessment for youngchildren The report states that it is absolutely essential for teachers to know howto use ldquoongoing in-class assessmentsrdquo and how to interpret ldquonorm-referenced andindividually referenced assessment outcomes including both formal and informalin-class assessments and progress-monitoring measures used by specialistsrdquo(Burns et al p 123)According to the NRC report high-quality assessments should be child-friendlyinclude developmentally appropriate activities and mirror quality instruction Inaddition they should be individually and orally administered so as to provideimmediate diagnostic information to the teacher The assessment program shouldbe based on benchmarks or standards of achievement Quality assessmentsbenefit the classroom teacher in real ways by providing certainty of each childrsquosinitial and continued literacy levels Quality assessments provide detaileddiagnostic information to guide planning for instruction and monitoring ofindividual student progress over timeNAEYC NAECS SDE Position Statement on Early Childhood (2003)

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

The most recently published position statement is Early Childhood CurriculumAssessment and Program Evaluation (National Association for the Education ofYoung Children and National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in StateDepartments of Education 2003) which draws on all the prior works discussedabove It emphasizes linking assessment information to the family It also pointsout the importance of professional development for teachers and parents inunderstanding and using assessment for ldquo(1) making sound decisions aboutteaching and learning (2) identifying significant concerns that may requirefocused intervention for individual children and (3) helping programs improvetheir educational and developmental interventionsrdquo (p 3) The statementrecommends ldquo[making] ethical appropriate valid and reliable assessment acentral part of all early childhood programsrdquo (p 1)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children6

A Quality Early Childhood Assessment and Accountability SystemAn assessment and accountability system for young children should incorporatethe characteristics of quality discussed above The following are examples ofearly childhood assessment tools one or more of which could be included in aquality assessment system for young children When used together in anassessment system these tools will yield meaningful and useful information toteachers parents and administrators1 Observations and ChecklistsA well-defined checklist with observation training is critical and essential for anassessment system Observations of child behaviors and skills provide the teacherwith a powerful measure of a childrsquos abilities For example a teacher observationof a child retelling what happened last night at home with a big smile andexpressive language is a truer measure of oral language skills than asking thechild to retell a story in an unfamiliar setting2 Anecdotal RecordsAnecdotal records are short factual narrative descriptions of child behaviors andskills over time Anecdotal records should be as objective as possible and only afew sentences long ldquoGina age 410 chose the library center today Shepretended to read Peter Rabbit to two doll babies and Jessica She turned eachpage and recited with expression the memorized words on each page Sheshowed the picture at each page turnrdquo3 Running RecordsRunning records are similar to anecdotal records but are much longer Anobserver objectively writes in a narrative format everything the child did and saidfor a specific time period such as thirty minutes Running records are especiallyhelpful in analyzing social skill development or behavior concerns Runningrecords also can be narrowly focused to a subject area such as a running record

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

that documents the accuracy and miscue strategies of a child reading a specificpassage4 PortfoliosA portfolio is a flexible and adaptable collection over time of various concretework samples showing many dimensions of the childrsquos learning This type ofassessment tool is particularly ideal for use in the primary grades when childrenare developing knowledge and skills in several subject areas at different ratesThis type of assessment also focuses on the childrsquos strengths and demonstrationsof knowledge and skillsCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children75 Home InventoriesParents may see behaviors and skills that children demonstrate in only the homesetting Home inventories collect valuable information through a survey or set ofshort open-ended response items completed by the adult at the childrsquos home6 Developmental ScreeningsDevelopmental screenings are a short (15ndash20 minutes) set of age- and contentappropriateperformance items based on a developmental continuum and linked toages typical for the behavior This type of assessment is helpful in identifyingmajor developmental delays that indicate the need for a more thorough diagnosticassessment Screening assessments should not necessarily screen out a child asldquonot readyrdquo but rather serve as a guide for instruction that reveals the subjectareas for which the child is ready to begin learning This type of assessment canalso provide guidance for the program needs7 Diagnostic AssessmentsA diagnostic assessment identifies a range of strengths and weaknesses in thechild and suggests specific remedial actions Classroom diagnostic assessmentsare not direct measures of academic outcome and should never be used foraccountability purposes alone8 Standardized AssessmentsStandardized assessments are typically administered in groups and providenormative and scalable data that can be aggregated and reported to administratorsand policymakers Standardized assessments are direct measures of childrenrsquosoutcomes and are administered under very stringent protocols Standardizedassessments are also used to monitor trends and for program evaluation andaccountability Typically standardized assessments are paperpencil-based anddesigned to capture only the childrsquos response without administrator bias Qualitystandardized tests are developed in accordance with guidelines in Standards forEducational and Psychological Testing (AERA 1999)For young children standardized tests also should contain authentic content andmirror classroom instruction They should incorporate an inviting use of color

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

and graphics and include manipulatives when appropriate Screening anddiagnostic assessments may also be standardized in the way they areadministered Because standardized assessments are not as accurate valid andreliable for young children as they are for older children they should not be usedsolely to make high stakes decisions until grade 3 and preferably not until grade 4(Shepard et al 1998)Copyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reservedPearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children8

Pearsonrsquos RecommendationsPearson recommends that the following guidelines are followed when testingchildren in preschool and the early grades1048707 Administer tests in a one-on-one setting1048707 The child should know the test administrator (preferably the teacher)1048707 If it is not possible for the child to be tested by a someone familiar the testadministrator should use warm-up activities to build rapport with the child1048707 Keep each testing session short1048707 Reinforce the child throughout the testing sessionConclusionQuality formal and informal assessments are essential parts of a sound earlychildhood program and are mandated in federal programs such as Head Start andReading First Educators administrators and policy makers responsible for theeducation of young schoolchildren should not fear a carefully planned assessmentprogram Quality assessments have the following benefits1048707 They give teachers valuable and individualized information about childrenrsquosdeveloping skills and knowledge1048707 They lead the teacher to select quality early childhood activities andinstruction1048707 They provide information that helps administrators strengthen existingprograms and hold them accountable1048707 Most of all developmentally appropriate assessments benefit young childrenby helping teachers ensure that a young childrsquos educational journey springsfrom a solid foundation of basic skillsReferencesAmerican Educational Research Association American Psychological Association andNational Council on Measurement in Education (1999) Standards for educationaland psychological testing Washington DC AuthorBowman B T Donovan M S amp Burns M S (Eds) (2001) Eager to learnEducating our preschoolers Washington DC National Academy PressBredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1992) Reaching potentials Appropriatecurriculum and assessment for young children (Vol 1) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)

ASSESSMENT REPORTAssessing Young Children9Bredekamp S amp Rosegrant T (Eds) (1995) Reaching potentials Transformingearly childhood curriculum and assessment (Vol 2) Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenBurns S M Griffin P amp Snow C E (1999) Starting out right A guide topromoting childrenrsquos reading success (Abbreviated National Research Councilreport Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children) Washington DCNational Academy PressHarp B amp Brewer A (2000) Assessing reading and writing in the early years InStrickland D and Morrow L (Eds) Beginning reading and writing New YorkTeachers College PressHorn W F (2003) Improving Head Start A common cause Head Start BulletinIssue No 76 Washington DC US Department of Health and Human ServicesInternational Reading Association amp National Association for the Education of YoungChildren (1998) Learning to read and write Developmentally appropriatepractices for young children (Position statement) Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspsread0htmMcAfee O amp Leong D (1997) Assessing and guiding young childrenrsquos developmentand learning Boston Allyn and BaconMeisels S (1989) Developmental screening in early childhood A guideWashington DC NAEYCNational Association for the Education of Young Children (1987) Standardizedtesting of young children 3 through 8 years of age (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspstestinhtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (1990) Guidelinesfor appropriate curriculum content and assessment in programs serving childrenages 3 through 8 (Position statement) Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscurashtmNational Association for the Education of Young Children amp National Association ofEarly Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (2003) Earlychildhood curriculum assessment and program evaluation (Position statement)Washington DC NAEYC Retrieved fromhttpwwwnaeycorgresourcesposition_statementspscapepdf (available from theweb only)Neuman S B Copple C amp Bredekamp S (2000) Learning to read and writeDevelopmentally appropriate practice for children Washington DC NationalAssociation for the Education of Young ChildrenShepard L A Kagan S L amp Wurtz E (Eds) (1998) Principles andrecommendations for early childhood assessments Washington DC NationalGoals PanelAdditional copies of this and related documents are available from Pearson Inc 19500 Bulverde Rd

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

San Antonio TX 78259 1-800-211-8378 1-877-576-1816 (fax) httpwwwpearsonassesscomCopyright copy 2004 by Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s) All rights reserved

Pearson and the Pearson logo are trademarks of Pearson Education Inc or its affiliate(s)ster (webmastercseuclaedu) concerning this

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

Maps | Directory | Site Index | Help Skip linksCSULB Home Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Parents Giving to CSULB Community Home gt AA gt Grad Undergrad gt Senate gt Committees gt Assessment gt DEV gt Info gt What Assessment HomeAssessment PolicyAssessment ResourcesCSU AccountabilityAssessment FAQsAcademic Senate Home Division OfficesAcademic Affairs HomeOffice of the University ProvostAcademic PersonnelAcademic Technology and Facilities PlanningStrategic Planning and EnrollmentGraduate and Undergraduate ProgramsResearch and External SupportNeed HelpTechnology Service DeskInstructional Technology Support ServicesBeachBoard SupportBeachID Account ManagerMyCSULB SupportAA WebmasterAssessment Definitions Assessment Home CSULB Assessment Campus Accountability Committee News Assessment Resources Awards

Upcoming Conferences

What Is Assessment

Assessment is the systematic collection review and use of information about educational programs undertaken for the purpose of improving student learning and development (Palomba amp Banta)

Assessment is an ongoing process aimed at understanding and improving student learning It involves making our expectations explicit and public setting appropriate criteria and high standards for learning quality systematically gathering analyzing and interpreting evidence to determine how well performance matches those expectations and

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

standards and using the resulting information to document explain and improve performance

When we do assessment we essentially ask What do the educational experiences of our students add up to Can our students integrate learning from individual courses into a coherent whole Do our students have the knowledge skills and values a graduate should possess How can student learning be improved

Common Assessment Terminology

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT LEARNING Assessment is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning it answers the question How do we know what students are learning and how well they are learning it As a process it has five steps 1) specify learning objectives 2) select teaching and learning strategies 3) gather data on student learning 4) evaluate the data and 5) make decisions and implement them

ASSESSMENT FORMATIVE Formative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning during an instructional encounter It helps the instructor to identify concepts or skills that students are not learning well and to take steps to improve student learning while the course is still in progress (Also called classroom assessment)

ASSESSMENT SUMMATIVE Summative assessment is the gathering of data on student learning at the conclusion of a course as a basis for judging student knowledge and skills It helps the instructor to plan for the next offering of the course

ASSESSMENT TOOLS Assessment tools are the instruments used to gather data about student learning Tools can be both quantitative and qualitative and refer to both traditional paper-and-pencil tests as well as to alternative forms of assessment such as oral examinations group problem-solving performances and demonstrations portfolios peer observations and others

BENCHMARK A benchmark is an example of student performance at a given level of competence Examples of actual student work are used to illustrate different levels of competence on a performance scale (Also called anchors or exemplars)

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

CAPSTONE PROJECT A capstone is a project planned and carried out by the student during the final semester as the culmination of the educational experience These projects typically require higher-level thinking skills problem-solving creative thinking and integration of learning from various sources

COMPETENCY TEST A test intended to establish that a student has met established minimum standards of skills and knowledge and is thus eligible for an acknowledgment of achievement such as graduation certification etc

CRITERIA Criteria are statements about the dimensions of competency that will be assessed they specify important components of the desired knowledge or skill that the student should learn and be able to demonstrate For example for oral communication one criterion could be maintaining eye contact with the audience

COURSE-EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT Data gathering about learning that occurs as part of the course such as tests papers projects or portfolios as opposed to data gathering that occurs outside the course eg student placement testing

EVALUATION A value judgment about the results of data collected on student learning Evaluation of student learning requires that the instructor compare data collected on student performance to a pre-defined outcome expectation in order to determine what the student has learned and how well

HOLISTIC ASSESSMENT Making a judgment about a students learning by using an overall appraisal of a students entire performance rather than by scoring or analyzing separate dimensions of the performance individually Used in situations where the demonstration of learning is considered to be more than the sum of its parts and so the complete final product or performance is evaluated as a whole The instructor matches his or

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

her overall impressions to pre-defined expectations for learning outcomes and makes a judgment

INDICATOR An indicator is a piece of information about the performance of a student For example a score on a test the number of absences per semester the students GPA in the major etc

ITEM An individual question or exercise in a test

JOURNAL A journal is a written record made by a student on a regular basis for example daily or weekly It may also be called a log notebook diary or progress sheet It may be a collection of facts an account of experiences andor reflective comments on facts or experiences May be kept on paper or by computer

METHODS OF ASSESSMENT Methods of assessment are selected procedures used to gather data on student learning These methods are selected in relation to the specified learning outcome to be assessed the type of evidence of learning available the type of performance to be observed and the agreed-upon scoring procedures Methods may involve paper-and-pencil tests alternative methods are often referred to as performance based authentic or complex-generated

LEARNING OUTCOME A broad educational goal that the student is expected to achieve by the end of the course relative to some knowledge or skill Outcomes may be broken down into smaller and more specific learning objectives

OUTCOME-BASED EDUCATION Teaching and learning strategies are selected which will assist the student to meet the stipulated learning outcomes at an acceptable level Students must demonstrate an acceptable level of mastery of the expected outcomes in order to be awarded educational credit

PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

Evidence of student achievement of the knowledge and skill components of a course is collected from students in the form of a performance or product The process the student uses reveals as much about the students understanding of the knowledge and ability to apply it as the final outcome It is part of the teaching and learning process a continuous interaction between instructor and student It requires clear statements of expected learning outcomes and clearly articulated and communicated criteria and standards

PORTFOLIO A systematic and organized collection of a students work that exhibits to others the direct evidence of a students efforts achievements and progress over a period of time Portfolios may include a variety of demonstrations of learning in the form of papers projects videos web pages CD-ROMs journals etc

RUBRIC A description of the standards that will be used to judge a students work on each of the criteria or important dimensions of learning It is a scoring guide that is used in subjective appraisals of student work It makes explicit statements about the expected qualities of performance at each point on a scale or at each rank in an ordered scoring system for example excellent good fair poor unacceptable

SELF-ASSESSMENT A process in which a student engages in a systematic review of his or her own performance or learning usually for the purpose of improving in the future May involve comparison with a standard or established criteria Students learn to set goals and monitor their own progress toward goals

STANDARDS A description of the expected level of student performance on the important dimensions of the learning objectives specified for the course The instructor develops the standards to describe the proficiency level that must be attained by each student Each students work is compared to the standard rather than to the work of other students

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

STANDARDIZED TEST A standardized test is a measure of student learning (or other ability) that has been widely used with other students Standardized scores (eg mean standard deviation percentiles) have been developed so that a student taking the test can compare his or her score to the historical data These are also sometimes called achievement tests Examples are the SAT GRE GMAT LSAT MCAT etc Division of Academic Affairs CSULB1250 Bellflower Blvd - Long Beach CA 90840 Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Feedback

Download this for printingDownload presentation

bull Five assessment challenges created by large classes

bull Resources on Teaching Large Classes

Assessing large classes

After a decade of rapid expansion in Australian higher education student numbers have grown considerably in many courses and subjects especially at the undergraduate level

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

Larger class sizes pose significant teaching challenges not least in the assessment of student learning Perhaps most troubling large classes may limit the amount of feedback provided to students

In response to the pressures and challenges of assessing larger groups of students academic staff are responding through greater attention to the communication of clear assessment criteria to studentsthe development and use of marking guides to be used by teaching and assessing teams the increasing use of various forms of exemplars to guide student efforts mdash as well as to guide marking and grading mdash including the modelling of discipline-based thinking writing and performance and the continuous refinement and dissemination of assessment policy and practice in relation to large student groups

The issue of workload is central in any decisions about assessment of large classes for it is a serious one for students and staff alike Staff teaching large student groups invariably undertake an informal qualitative weighing-up of the efficiency of assessment tasks vis-agrave-vis their educational effectiveness

There is little doubt that establishing an effective assessment program mdash developing criteria guides exemplars and models discussing and refining them and communicating them to students and other staff mdash will have an initial negative impact on workload for staff with coordinating responsibilities

However this preparatory work is likely to lead to three gains The first is a reduction in the time required for marking due to a higher quality of student submission The second is a resolution of some of the potential issues likely when many staff are involved in marking and grading through a streamlining of marking and grading practices Finally the availability of clear transparent criteria and examples of work will contribute positively to the overall quality of teaching and learning

Five assessment challenges created by large classes

The assessment of large student cohorts presents five distinct though interrelated challengesAvoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning Providing high quality individual feedbackFairly assessing a diverse mix of studentsManaging the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in markingAvoiding plagiarism

In an effort to manage these challenges academic staff have increasingly turned to group and on-line assessment Carefully planned and managed group work does appear to help address many of the assessment challenges listed above (Detailed information about

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

creating effective group work and group assessment is in the section Assessing group activities)

Similarly the use of appropriate on-line assessment can also help address some of the challenges of assessing large classes (for example multiple-choice andor short answer questions which can be automatically marked can provide feedback to students that is otherwise not possible) On-line assessment is also likely to assist to some extent in managing a diverse mix of students and the time required for marking However on-line assessment may not necessarily avoid the problems of low-level learning or plagiarism (A more extended discussion of these issues is in the section On-line assessment)

Ultimately however while group and on-line assessment have much to offer in dealing with the challenges of assessing large classes neither is a panacea for all the issues inherent in assessing large classes1 Avoiding assessment that encourages shallow learning

There is little doubt that growing class sizes encourage academic staff to focus on time-efficient assessment techniques One unwelcome consequence of a focus on efficiency would be any tendency toward assessing learning at the lower levels of intellectual complexity that is assessment tasks that merely reward superficial shallow or reproductive approaches to learning and that fail to direct students into the type of study that leads to the higher-order learning objectives of university education Assessment methods demanding less complex analysis and synthesis than in the past or demanding less rich forms of student response may significantly diminish the quality of learning in higher education

Attempts to assess large numbers of students in time-efficient ways may have resulted in approaches to assessment that might not be educationally desirable For example in some disciplines there appears to be a growing reliance on exam-based assessment with large classes with an increased use of multiple-choice and short-answer or ldquotick-a-boxrdquo questions

Of course well-developed written examinations can provide a high level of validity and reliability in measurement of some types of learning However academic staff need to judge the appropriate proportion of assessment that should be conducted through this method alone The efficiencies of assessing learning through exams particularly if the marking is routine or automated are counterbalanced by the limitations of a single method of assessment particularly one that might not encourage the development of the full range of higher-order cognitive skills Even at their best many students find examinations as a sole assessment method impersonal particularly in first year

Another response to the pressures of larger classes often in disciplines where examinations are less commonly used is to lower the word-length requirements on written assignments One staff member has commented about this tendency that it is ldquoa distinct disadvantage to students especially those going on to write 100 000 word postgraduate thesesrdquo

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

As with many complex issues there are no simple answers to these and other challenges in assessing large classes Awareness of the limitations mdash and possible negative consequences for the quality of student learning mdash of particular approaches to assessment tasks is crucial as this is likely to guide assessment-related decisions toward compromises that reflect both efficiency and educational effectiveness The employment of less frequent and where possible cumulative summative tasks with more formative feedback that guides student efforts on the next task might be useful in some circumstances2 Providing high quality individual feedback that guides student learning

Timely individual feedback is central to guiding learning But to provide such feedback to hundreds of students simultaneously within a timeframe that ensures such feedback can be incorporated into student learning is a daunting prospect

Students appreciate detail in the feedback they receive to identify weaknesses and to understand how they might improve future efforts The structure of the overall assessment regime is therefore critical If feedback is given on an early assessment task but later assessment tasks within the same subject offer little or no opportunity to incorporate learning from this feedback students are likely to feel disadvantaged Timing of feedback is also critical There is little point from a student point of view in receiving feedback at the end of a subject when there may be no opportunity to apply the improved understanding

One approach to providing feedback for large students groups is to use on-line assessment item banks with marking provided either automatically or by a graduate assistant or tutor While this might be a time and resource efficient method and appropriate in some circumstances there is one significant limitation in terms of feedback under such an arrangement teaching staff will receive little if any direct feedback themselves about studentsrsquo levels of understanding In addition students often find automated or anonymous marking impersonal and prefer more personal interaction with their teachers even if this interaction is limited to written communication in the form of comments andor grades

Notwithstanding these issues the following suggestions might provide assistance for staff teaching large groups of students and who are looking for ways to provide formative feedback to themAssess early in the semester mdash this gives time for feedback and possible improvementProvide students with marking criteria prior to their undertaking the assignment to guide progress and help develop independent learning skillsPrepare a list of the most common or typical problems in assignment submissions andor exam responses along with explanationsmodel answerspublish a single sheet containing these on the subject homepageprepare and make available multiple copies of an audiotape detailing theseprovide brief general feedback on these verbally to students as a group in lecturestutorials

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

Use a standardised feedback sheet that incorporates the stated criteriaWhere possible and appropriate use on-line tutorsUse on-line discussion boards with a framework and initial model for discussions so students can assist each other with assignments ndash be clear about how collaboration collusion and copying differUse on-line products that provide hintshelp and feedback on student attempts at problem-solving answering quiz questions and other assignment tasksUse a websitesubject homepage to provide basic information and FAQs and answers related to assessmentAfter using and marking multiple-choice tests provide students with written rationale and explanation for correct or high scoring answers andor resources for further reading

3 Fairly assessing a diverse mix of students

Generally speaking larger classes mean a more diverse and complex student mix Diversity in educational background and ability is particularly significant in larger classes partly because of the critical mass of differences The issue of varying levels of student ability or readiness and that of marking workload in large classes are closely related

Sometimes large classes are used to teach lsquoservicersquo or compulsory subjects to students from a wide range of courses In these situations student diversity in backgrounds pre-requisite knowledge expectations and level of interest in the subject matter can be profound

Some suggestionsRequire first year students to undertake a foundation unit mdash already compulsory in some universities mdash to develop necessary academicstudy skills andor skills to successfully undertake assessment tasksEarly in the semester briefly survey students about their prior knowledge and expectations to identify possible issues that may adversely affect assessment Set an early lsquohurdle taskrsquo where students at risk of failing written assessments are identified and offered assistance from the university learning supportdevelopment centreOrganise the provision of lsquosupportrsquo tutorials ndash supplementary workshops for essay writing or other necessary assessment-related skills from the appropriate university serviceEnsure the provision of English-language assistance from the appropriate university service for students who need such helpWhere possible in assessment tasks (assignments or exams) ask students to consider how concepts relate to their disciplinevocational area (ie accept more than one lsquorightrsquo answer)Assign students to tutorials on the basis of their disciplinecourse rather than randomly mdash the focus of these smaller classes are then more likely to be aligned with their interestsEnsure that tutorials follow lectures (rather than vice versa) and that assessment-related issues are discussed and addressed in detail in these smaller groupsDevelop variations in the assessment tasks that target the discipline background of the different sub-groups of students

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

4 Managing the volume of marking and coordinating the staff involved in marking

The time required for the sheer volume of marking for large student groups can be significant However some steps can be taken to optimise the use of staff time

As discussed in the section on the complex student mix it is useful where possible to develop student skills and understanding related to the assessment requirements prior to their undertaking assessment tasks in order to lessen the marking workload associated with poor quality submissions Other strategies likely to be helpful includeproviding clear marking criteria to studentsmaking past exam papers and model answers readily availableproviding exemplars of various levels of work (lsquoBelow acceptablersquo through to lsquoHigh Distinctionrsquo or equivalent) to illustrate the differences for studentsFor written assessment (assignments or essay-based exams) modelling in for example critical analysis essay writing and use of appropriate style and formatDirecting all students to resources and support for academicstudy skills (including printed and on-line resources workshops and individual tuition) and articulating an expectation that they will be used by students

Other strategies that might be helpful in optimising the task of marking includeOn-line computer-based or web-based exams or tests ndash see On-line assessment Developing joint assessment with another subject in the course ndash this may help to link concepts and develop coherence as well as lessen the load

A common response to larger class sizes is the employment of sessional staff to assist with teaching and assessment While at one level this trend might appear to resolve the issue of marking for academic staff with the overall responsibility for subjects it also brings a new set of issues associated with the coordination training and support of a subject team

There are well-known problems associated with the use of teams of sessional staff especially if they are inexperienced teachers including disparate understandings of assessment requirements differences in the level of experience of marking and a lack of consistency in methods of marking and grading practices Some of these problems can be reduced or eliminated through the following suggestionsProvide paid initial training in assessment for new staffProvide paid professional development in the area of assessment for all staffProvide consistent criteria to all staff involved in markingEnsure the marking criteria are understood by all staffProvide model answers including examples of very good moderate and poor assignmentsexam answersProvide marking guidesAsk all staff to use a standardised feedback sheet incorporating stated criteria Ensure avenues of clear communication between staff are in placeProvide assessment mentoring for inexperienced markers

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC

Hold weekly paid meetings for sessional staff to discuss assessment-related issues Make participation in assessment training professional development andor meetings a condition of employment for sessional staff and pay them for attendanceRequire sessional staff to attend 10-15 minutes of a lecture in which assignment requirements are discussed so everyone hears the same informationUse moderation if necessary5 Avoiding plagiarism

There is a general perception that the likelihood of plagiarism is exacerbated by large classes If this is the case one reason students may deliberately cheat in a large class is because they may feel somewhat anonymous and ldquolost in the crowdrdquo and therefore believe they are less likely to be caught Alternatively if students in large classes plagiarise unintentionally this might be as a result of having limited or no opportunity to check referencing andor collaboration conventions with a lecturer or tutor A lack of clear understanding of assessment requirements is particularly an issue for some first year and many international students for whom higher education referencing and collaboration lsquorulesrsquo are unfamiliar

The key to minimising plagiarism in large classes is in the design of assessment tasks For suggestions see the section Minimising Plagiarism and the 36 strategies that can be considered

Resources on Teaching Large Classes

An Australian Universities Teaching Committee Project lsquoIdentifying and supporting effective methods of enhancing learning ndash teaching large classesrsquo managed by the University of Queensland has developed suggestions help and resources related to the teaching of large classes including assessment issues See wwwtediuqeduaulargeclasses in particular the sections lsquoTeaching and Assessment in Large Classesrsquo and lsquoLarge Classes Across the Disciplinesrsquo Back to Top

This work is copyright It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes subject to the inclusion of the source and no commercial usage or sale Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above require the written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfobull copy Copyright 2002 AUTC