Assessment & Feedback Sociology of Assessment Lecturer: Dr Justin Rami School of Education Studies Dublin City University lecturer – Dr Justin Rami

What is the purpose of assessment? Describing / measuring learning Diagnosing Enhancing Learning Evaluating teaching Certification / accreditation Selection Progression

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami Possible Purposes of Assessment Achievement of Learning Outcomes Grade or mark Pass or fail Licence to practice Allow to proceed Predict success Peer benchmarking Learn Feedback to staff Feedback to students Enhance motivation Public relations, respectability and accountability Huntley-Moore/Panter

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami Classroom Assessment Assessment’s purposes. Kellough et al (p ) characterizes seven purposes of assessment: To assist student learning. To identify students’ strengths and weaknesses. To assess the effectiveness of a particular instructional strategy. To assess and improve the effectiveness of curriculum programs. To assess and improve teaching effectiveness. To provide data that assist in decision making To communicate with and involve parents.

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami Assessment in Ireland - summary Part of the learning process where the learner and the teacher can evaluate progress or achievement in the development of a particular skill, or in the understanding of a particular area of knowledge. In the early years, such assessment is generally informal based on observation by a parent/guardian or early learning practitioner. In primary school, this informal observation is supplemented by a range of assessment tools including teacher-designed tests and tasks, project work and portfolios across the curriculum. Standardised tests in reading and mathematics are also widely used in primary schools. In post-primary schools the state examinations - the Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate examinations - are also used to evaluate achievement across the curriculum.

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami Assessment generates important information about how a learner is progressing. This information can be shared with the leaner in the form of feedback which should help the learner to become more aware of their own strengths and weaknesses, and identify next steps and strategies for improvement. The information is also important for teacher planning. Assessment information can help a teacher to choose the right resource materials for a learner or for a class, and to plan and structure the learning to meet the different needs of different learners. Assessment information is also important for parents, and is reported to them as part of all schools’ reporting process Assessment in Ireland - summary

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami Another type of assessment - screening or diagnostic assessment – is also useful, especially in the early years of primary school. If a parent or teacher suspects that a child may have a specific difficulty, or if the child is not progressing as well as their peers, the learning support or class teacher may use a special test or series of tests that provided more detailed information for the teacher and the parents about the child’s learning needs. Assessment in Ireland - summary

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami Formative Assessment Summative Assessment Norm-referenced Criterion-referenced Bell-Curve Assessment Definitions

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami Formative assessment Enhancing Learning & Diagnosing beginning or during a program Classroom assessment is one of the most common formative assessment techniques. student learning and should not be evaluative or involve grading students. This can also lead to curricular modifications when specific courses have not met the student learning outcomes. Classroom assessment important program information It also can improve instructional quality Assessment Definitions

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami Summative assessment Certification / accreditation is a test, usually given at the end of a term, chapter, semester, year Measured against a standard is used, in particular, for purposes of certification. Good summative assessments must be demonstrably reliable, valid, and free of bias Are used mainly in Ireland in Schools (eg: Leaving Cert) is usually unavoidable Assessment Definitions

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami Formative Vs Summative

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami "When the cook tastes the soup, that’s formative assessment; when the customer tastes the soup, that’s summative assessment" Formative Vs Summative

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami These issues bear upon the differences between the following statements judging that he or she; Is fourth in the class in Maths Can add pairs of two digit numbers Has achieved basic competence in Maths Has reached level 4 in Maths Norm-referencing, Criteria & Domains

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami competitive: it is a ranking exercise. Eg: out of any given group, the top 5% get "A"s, the next 10% get "B"s, etc. and the bottom 50% fail. students' performances are rated against each other outcome is a rank order of achievement (usually expressed in a bell-shaped distribution of grades) by and large, all students must undertake identical or near- identical assessment tasks such as an examination or a classroom test. Norm-referencing

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami < Profound learning difficulty Severe learning difficulty Moderate learning difficulty Mild learning difficultyLow normalNormalHigh normal “ Genius ” The Bell-Curve The Bell curve referred to in Herrnstein and Murray's (1995) famous (or notorious) book is simply the normal distribution curve which IQ tests were set up to plot. 68% of the population come within one standard deviation of the mean, and 95% within two standard deviations etcHerrnstein and Murray's (1995)

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami is the term used for assessment against fixed criteria. Theoretically, everyone who undertakes a given assessment may pass it, or no-one might Even norm-referencing requires reference to criteria criterion-referencing ignores the statistical implications of the assessment profile it is thus inherently fairer, as long as the criteria are determined in advance, and they are valid and reliable Criteria-referencing

lecturer – Dr Justin Rami 3 main purposes of assessment are: Formative –to aid learning Summative –for review, transfer & certification Summative – accountability to the public Formative assessment Must be based on curriculum & pedagogical issues Formative & Summative assessment Are two ends of a spectrum rather than isolated functions Summary