1. Classroom-based assessment to promote equity
Đặng Ngân Giang
Hanoi University

2. Main contents Definition of classroom-based assessment
Effects of classroom-based assessment on equity
Strategies of effective classroom-based assessment
Implications

3. What is equity?
Equity is a measure of achievement, fairness, and opportunity in education
Equity depends on fairness and inclusion
Equity helps provide learners with what they need
=> Mutual respect

4. What is classroom-based assessment?
Classroom-based assessment (CBA) is …
“any reflection by teachers (and/or learners) on the qualities of a learner’s (or group of learners’) work and the use of that information by teachers (and/or learners) for teaching, learning (feedback), reporting, management or socialization purposes.”
(Hill & McNamara, 2011)

5. What is classroom-based assessment?
In other words … “assessment designed and undertaken during regular class time (place) by the teachers and/or students (subject) in order to make judgments on the students’ performance (object) and decisions regarding teaching and student learning.”

6. Components of CBA

7. What is classroom-based assessment?
Purposes of CBA:
to monitor, provide feedback on learners’ progress and plan teachers’ instruction
to encourage learners to take responsibility for their own learning
to provide information for accountability purposes
(Nunan, 2015)

8. What is classroom-based assessment?
Agents of CBA: two-way process
Teachers: decisive agent
+ design assessments;
+ collect and interpret information of learning;
+ record and report learners’ progress and achievement.
(Rea-Dickins, 2004)
Students: active agents
+ evaluate own learning products/progress;
+ understand learning outcomes.
(Shermis & Vesta, 2011)

9. What is classroom-based assessment?
Methods of CBA:
selected response and short answer: quiz…
extended written response: essay, journal…
performance assessment: observation, porfolio, self-assessment, peer-assessment…
personal communication: dialogue…
(Stiggins, 2004)

10. What effects does CBA have on equity?
Teachers can:
keep better track of learners’ progress to provide timely support;
adjust teaching (reteach the content learners did not understand);
determine which teaching methods are most successful with each group of students;
have more comprehensive judgments of learners’ ability.

11. What effects does CBA have on equity?
Learners can:
have more opportunities to engage in self-initiated enquiry;
feel recognized thanks to improved teaching;
become more motivated because they will be given tasks that they are able to perform;
are more involved in assessment process and their own learning;
increase metacognition and improved ability to monitor their own progress.
(Steadman, 1998; Atim, 2012; Stoynoff, 2012)

12. Challenges to CBA Requires students’ active participation;
Requires large number of roles that the teacher performs (awareness, organizing skills, expertise and finally, human sensitivity);
Limited teaching time and large class size.
(Wach, 2012)

13. How can teachers use CBA effectively?
Employ various assessment methods that respond to students’ different learning styles;
Follow a four-stage procedure of classroom-based assessment to ensure reliability and validity.

14. Four-stage procedure of CBA
Stage 1: Planning
+ identify the purpose for the assessment;
+ choose the assessment activity;
+ design specification of assessment;
+ prepare the learners for the assessment.

15. Four-stage procedure of CBA
Stage 2: Implementing
+ introduce the assessment to students;
+ scaffold during assessment activity;
+ facilitate learner self-peer monitoring;
+ provide immediate feedback to learners.

16. Four-stage procedure of CBA
Stage 3: Monitoring
+ make detailed recordings of evidence of achievement;
+ interpret evidence obtained from an assessment to form judgments about a student’s progress and achievements;
+ revise teaching and learning plan;
+ give feedback to learners.

17. Four-stage procedure of CBA
Stage 4: recording and dissemination
+ share assessment findings with other teachers;
+ report assessment results to relevant stakeholders (make changes to specifications or curriculum).
Planning
Implementing
Monitoring
Recording & dissemination
(Rea-Dickins, 2001)

18. Implications for teachers
Reflect on their CBA beliefs and practices and determine appropriate practices and results to improve student language learning;
Select appropriate assessment procedures based on curricular aims, the assessment purpose, and the learners;
Attain and sustain sufficient expertise in assessment to fulfill their professional responsibilities.

19. Implications for administrators
Provide large-scale assessments that are substantively consistent with CBA:
be guided by the same curriculum standards
engage students in the same kinds of inquiry and demonstrations of proficiency
be evaluated in terms of shared criteria for judging high-quality work

20. Implications for administrators
Establish community of practice
Shared practice: orientation, seminar observations, networking, co-teaching, mini workshops, blackboard modules, action research, conference presentation.
Community of people: teachers, experts, government officials.
Domain of knowledge: practices of assessment
(Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002)

23. References
Atim, H. (2012). How classroom assessments promote equity and students’ learning. (Master), University of Oslo.
Hill, K., & McNamara, T. (2011). Developing a comprehensive, empirically based research framework for classroom-based assessment. Language Testing, 29(3),
Nunan, D. (2015). Teaching English to speakers of other languages: An introduction. NY: Routledge.
Rea-Dickins, P. (2001). Mirror, mirror on the wall: Identifying processes of classroom assessment. Language Testing, 18(4),
Rea-Dickins, P. (2004). Understanding teachers as agents of assessment. Language Testing, 21(3),
Shermis, M. D., & Vesta, F. J. D. (2011). Classroom Assessment in Action. Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield Publisers, Inc.
Steadman, M. (1998). Using classroom assessment to change both teaching and learning. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 75,
Wach, A. (2012). Classroom-based language efficiency assessment: a challenge for EFL teachers. Adam Mickiewicz University Press Poznan.
Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. M. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice: A guide to managing knowledge. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.