Classroom Decision Making and Using Assessment

Chapter 1

Educational Assessment of Students

Anthony J. NitkoPresented by Sherie Loika

Teachers’ Classroom Decisions

Decisions Before Beginning Teaching Content? Abilities, cultural backgrounds, interests? Materials? Learning activities? Learning targets? Organizing and arranging

Teachers’ Classroom Decisions

Decisions During TeachingIs the lesson going well?What can be done to improve the lesson?What feedback should I give?Are my students ready to move to the next

activity?

Teachers’ Classroom Decisions

Decisions After a Teaching SegmentAchieving the short and long-term

instructional targets?Reporting strengths and weaknesses?Grade?Effectiveness of teaching?Effectiveness of curriculum and materials?

“you cannot expect to make good decisions …unless you can base these decisions on good-quality information”(Nitko, 2004, p. 5).

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

AssessmentTestMeasurementEvaluation

Distinguish Between…

What is Assessment?

c la s s ifi c a t io n s c he m esu se psych o lo g ica l the o riesto a ss ig n q u a lita tive lab e ls

M e a su rem e nta ss ig n sco res

N um e r ic a l s c a lesu se a p ro ce ss ca lled

T e s tssys te m a tic p ro ced u res fo r de sc rib in g ce rta in

ch a ra c te ris t ic s o f stu d e n ts u sin g e ith e r

N o n te s ts

A s s e s s m e n tsU sed to g a th e r in fo rm a tion ab o u t s tud en ts a n d in clu de

Which assessment procedure do you choose?

Teacher Decision: During a lesson on assessment, test, measurement, and evaluation, the teacher wants to access the students’ ability to distinguish between and explain the relationships among the four new terms.

Assessment and Educational Decisions About Students

Teacher Decision: After a lesson on educational decisions about students, the

teacher wanted to assess the students ability to distinguish between selection, classification, placement, career guidance, diagnostic/remediation, and certification decisions.