1. Improving the Quality of Examinations: Using the Table of Specifications
Workshop For External Examiners
Joint Board of Teacher Education
Medallion Hall Hotel, Kingston
November 19, 2009
Professor Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI.

2. Importance of a Good Course Outline
Effective course assessment requires and depends on the design of a good syllabus or course outline that 
provides a comprehensive statement to the student, teacher and other stakeholders about the nature and scope of the course
Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI

3. provides students and teachers with a clear statement of the expected outcomes of taking the course 
provides a clear understanding of what students who successfully complete the course should know and be able to do
What students should know and be able to do should guide both instruction and assessment
Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UEI

4. Development of Valid and Fair Assessments
Validity and fairness of assessment may be facilitated by approaches that make use of
domain referenced assessment
table of specifications
tasks that are appropriate for the intended purpose
Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI

5. Domain Referenced Assessment
Domain referenced assessment is similar to criterion-referenced assessment, but focuses on a specified content domain
It is designed to provide information on the extent to which students have mastered a specific content domain
Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI

6. The score on a domain referenced assessment is the proportion of items sampled from the domain which the student gets correct
This score is extrapolated to the full domain thus allowing inferences about extent of mastery of the full domain
Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI

7. Table of Specifications
An important way of assuring validity of the test as a measure of the domain of inference is to use a subject matter by behaviour grid called a specifications table or a table of specifications
The specifications table helps to define the weighting to be given to various subject matter and behaviours (or objectives or skills)
Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI

8. It provides a breakdown of the requirements of the test that is helpful in developing tests that are comparable and interchangeable
It is a useful mechanism for developing items and questions that may be banked for use in future test construction
Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI

9. Example of a Table of Specifications
Cont Obj Kn Co Ap An
Tot
Classif of animals 2 4 - 10
Plants of the earth
Pop and Evol 3
Var and Selec 1 5
Origin of Sol Sys
Chan in Land Fea 6
Total 16 17 11 60

10. Tasks That Are Appropriate
Remember, it is important that the assessment instruments reflect the relative weighting attached to particular content and skills in the course outline
In writing test tasks two critical indicators should be considered:
the facility (or difficulty) index and
the discrimination index
Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI

11. not part of the course or
In developing an assessment instrument, it is important to avoid including anything that was
not part of the course or
not taught - in the case of institutional assessment
Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI

12. This helps to improve the validity of the assessment of a course
Steps should be taken to optimise the benefits of coursework
Coursework provides an opportunity to asses critical skills that should be developed during a course of study, but which cannot be easily measured by a written examination
This helps to improve the validity of the assessment of a course
Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI

13. Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI
Coursework facilitates authentic assessment
Authentic assessment focuses on the application of knowledge to real-life situations
Authentic assessment requires the student to perform, or create or produce, something based on the curriculum
END
Prof. Stafford Griffith, IOE, UWI