1. Summarizing Student Achievement
Chapter Sixteen
Educational Psychology: Developing Learners
6th edition
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod

2. Summarizing Student Achievement
The three most widely used methods for summarizing student achievement are:
Course grades
Portfolios
Standardized test scores
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

3. Summarizing the Results of a Single Assessment
Teachers use scores to summarize how students perform on individual classroom assessments.
Raw Scores
This score is based solely on the number or point value of correctly answered items.
Advantages
Easy to calculate
Easy to understand (on the surface)
Disadvantage
Difficult to know exactly what raw scores really mean
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

4. Course Grades: Scores Criterion-Referenced Scores
Scores that specifically indicate what a student knows or can do
Determined in relation to student’s achievement on specific objectives or standards
May be an either-or score (pass or fail) or indicate a level of competence
Advantages
Useful for determining what specific objectives students have obtained, what skills have been mastered, and where specific weaknesses lie
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

5. Course Grades: Scores Norm-Referenced Scores
Scores that indicate how a student’s performance on an assessment compares with the average performance of peers
Grade-equivalent scores indicate the grade level of a student to whom his/her performance is most similar.
Age-equivalent scores indicate the age level of a student to whom his/her performance is most similar.
Grade- and age-equivalent scores used frequently because they are fairly easy to use
Do not indicate the typical range of performance for students at a particular grade or age level
Often used inappropriately
May encourage people to believe that all students should be performing at grade level
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

6. Course Grades: Scores Percentile Ranks
Scores that indicate the percentage of peers in the norm group getting a raw score less than or equal to a particular student’s raw score
Good for reporting test results
May distort actual differences between students
A ten point difference between percentile ranks implies a greater difference in achievement than may actually be present
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

7. Characteristics Being Measured
Course Grades: Scores
Standard Scores
Scores that indicate how far a student’s performance is from the mean with respect to standard deviation units
These scores tend to reflect the normal distribution of scores
Many
Some
None
N u m b e r
o f
P e o p l e
Low Moderate High
Characteristics Being Measured
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

8. Course Grades: Scores Standard Scores
The numbers used to derive standard scores are the standard deviation and the mean
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

9. Determining Final Class Grades
Problems with traditional grading techniques include:
Lower reliability and validity of individual assessment instruments may lead to inaccurate grades.
Different teachers use different criteria to assign grades.
In heterogeneous classes, different students might be working toward different goals.
Typical grading practices promote performance goals rather than mastery goals.
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

10. Strategies for Ensuring Accurate Grades
Taking the job of grading seriously
Basing grades on achievement
Basing grades on hard data
Being selective about the assessments used to determine grades
Identifying a reasonable grading system and sticking to it
Accompanying grades with qualitative information
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

11. Considering Improvement
Problems exist with basing final grade solely on improvement including:
Some students come to class already possessing some of the knowledge and skills to be tested, leaving little room for improvement.
Some students may start out with the lowest possible performance in order to “beat the system.”
In order to reward improvement, teachers should:
Assign greater weight to assessments conducted at the end of semester
Consider offering retakes when applicable
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

12. Considering Effort
Most experts recommend against basing grades on effort.
More skilled and knowledgeable students don’t need to exert as much effort and may therefore be penalized.
Effort can only be assessed subjectively and is therefore highly unreliable.
It’s best to encourage and reward effort in informal assessments.
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

13. Considering Extra Credit
Course grades should be based on student’s performance and achievement in relation to the instructional goals and objectives.
If used, extra-credit work should be available to all students and relate to the instructional goals and objectives.
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

14. Using Portfolios
A portfolio is a collection of a student’s work compiled systematically over a lengthy period of time.
In addition to paper-pencil assignments, it may include photos, videos, or student-created objects.
Advantages include:
The ability to capture the complexity of student achievement
Allowing instruction to be intertwined with assessment
Encouraging students to reflect on and evaluate their own accomplishments
Positively influencing the nature of instruction
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

15. Using Portfolios Effectively
Consider the specific purpose for which a portfolio will be used
Involve students in the selection of the contents
Identify the criteria by which products should be selected and evaluated
Ask students to reflect on the products they include in their portfolio
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

16. Types of Standardized Tests
Achievement tests
Assess how much students have learned from the things they have been taught
Enable comparisons of students from many different places
Assist in tracking students’ progress over time
May help identify the onset of learning difficulties
Content validity may be an issue
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

17. Types of Standardized Tests
Scholastic aptitude and intelligence tests
Assess a general capacity to learn and are used to predict future academic achievement
Specific aptitude tests
Predict future ability to succeed in a particular content domain
Not used as frequently as in the past
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

18. Types of Standardized Tests
School readiness tests
Assess cognitive skills important for success in a typical kindergarten or first-grade curriculum
Helpful for looking for specific delays, but scores do not correlate with actual school achievement after enrollment
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

19. Selecting and Using Standardized Tests
Choose a test that has high validity for your particular purpose and high reliability for students similar to your own
Make sure that the test’s norm group is relevant to your population
Take students’ age and development into account
Make sure students are adequately prepared to take the test
When administering the test, follow the directions closely and report any unusual circumstances
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

20. Interpreting Standardized Test Scores
Have a clear and justifiable rationale for establishing cutoffs for acceptable performance
Compare two standardized test scores only when those scores are derived from the same or equivalent norm group(s)
Never use a single test score to make important decisions
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

21. High-Stakes Testing and Accountability
There is considerable pressure on teachers and educational administrators to raise scores on standardized tests.
The No Child Left Behind Act mandates that all states establish challenging academic content standards.
“Adequately yearly progress” in meeting state-determined standards is required.
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

22. Problems with High-Stakes Testing
The tests don’t always reflect important instructional goals.
Teachers spend a great deal of time teaching to the tests.
School personnel have disincentives to follow standardized testing procedures and to assess the progress of low achievers.
Different criteria lead to different conclusions abut which students and schools are performing at high levels.
Too much emphasis is placed on punishing low-performing schools; not enough is placed on helping those schools improve.
Students’ motivation affects their performance on the tests and consistently low performance affects motivation.
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

23. Potential Solutions to the Problems
Identify and assess those things that are most important for students to know and do
Educate the public about what standardized tests can and cannot do
Look at alternatives to traditional objective tests such as authentic assessments
Advocate for the use of multiple measures in any high-stakes decisions
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition

24. Taking Student Diversity into Account
Remember that assessment instruments can be culturally biased.
Items can offend or unfairly penalize some students on the basis of their ethnicity, gender, or SES.
Teachers should continually be on the lookout for unintentional bias.
Language skills and differences affect performance on many kinds of assessments.
The use of portfolios may be more effective at conveying the progress and achievements of students with a variety of disabilities and special needs.
Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey All rights reserved.
Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Educational Psychology: Developing Learners, sixth edition