Standards and Assessment Alternatives

Standards-based Assessment Content standards: describe the declarative knowledge or skills to be learned. Performance standards: describe the level of proficiency desired for mastery of learning targets. Virtually all professional associations have developed lists of educational standards.

Review of What to Assess Focus on the assessment-based inferences. A small number of clearly articulated and important learning targets. Consideration of the type of learning outcomes desired (declarative, procedural).

A Variety of Assessment Alternatives Norm-referenced (NRTs) vs Criterion-referenced (CRTs) assessment. Selected- vs Constructed-response assessment schemes. More traditional item types (e.g., M-C, T-F, short answer) vs Performance assessment. We will be addressing item types next week.

NRTs vs CRTs: Advantages and Disadvantages CRTs are appropriate when clearly-defined standards or assessment domains exist, and the intent is to describe performance in terms of what a student knows and is able to do. NRTs are appropriate when a clearly-defined norm group is available and the intent is to describe performance in terms of what is typical or reasonable. An assessment can yield both types of interpretation.

Assessment Frames of Reference: Ability Compare student’s performance to potential performance. Requires a good measure of potential performance. Requires a knowledge of what skills and abilities are prerequisite to those to be learned. Too often, children’s capabilities are prejudged according to class or group membership.

Assessment Frames of Reference: Growth Compares a student’s current performance to his/her earlier performance. Higher scores go to those who evidence the most growth. Requires reliable/valid measures of both earlier and current performance. Requires a low relationship between measures of earlier and current performance.

Assessment Frames of Reference: Norms Compares a student’s performance to that of students in a well-defined norm group. Norm group: another group assessed under the same or similar conditions. Provides information regarding typical performance. Does not provide information regarding what the student knows and is able to do.

Assessment Frames of Reference: Standards Compares student’s performance to well-established instructional standards. Indicates what the student knows and is able to do with respect to the instructional standards (or content domain). Does NOT provide information regarding whether the performance is typical or reasonable.

Assessment Frames of Reference: None Some measurements provide no frame of reference for interpretation. Mortimer attained a score of 63 on his math test. Morticia got 75% correct on the same test. Clem met the passing criteria (on the same test) of 80 items correct.