1. Developed by Marian Hargreaves for NEAS 2013
AMEP Assessment Task Bank Professional Development Kit General Issues and Principles
Developed by Marian Hargreaves for NEAS 2013
© NEAS Ltd 2014

2. Workshop aims To review the key issues in assessment
The principles of assessment and how they apply in the context of the AMEP
© NEAS Ltd 2014

3. Part 1. Key issues
The stakeholders: who has an interest in this activity of assessment?
The different purposes of assessment: why do we assess anyway?
The stages of assessment: when do we assess?
How do we assess?
The focus of assessment: what do we assess?
© NEAS Ltd 2014

4. The Stakeholders (who?)
Students
Teachers
Management
Administrators
DIAC (sponsors)
Rest of the world (eg employers)
© NEAS Ltd 2014

5. Purposes of Assessment (why?)
Assessment prior to learning
diagnostic or placement
Assessment as learning
progress, formative or continuous
Assessment of learning
summative
Assessment for learning
continuous, inclusive, student-centred
© NEAS Ltd 2014

6. Stages of assessment (when?)
© NEAS Ltd 2014

7. The focus of assessment (what?)
What exactly is it that we are trying to assess?
© NEAS Ltd 2014

8. Styles of assessment (How?)
Self assessment
Formal tests/exams
Informal, in-class and/or observation
Group assessment
Peer assessment
Continuous
© NEAS Ltd 2014

9. calls for more informal, in-class observation with a checklist
Certificate I Module D Learning Outcome 2: Demonstrate understanding of written information text –
requires a formal test
Certificate II Module A Learning Outcome 2: Participate in and contribute to the formal learning environment –
calls for more informal, in-class observation with a checklist
Certificate III Module A Learning Outcome 3: Demonstrate capacity for independent learning –
suggests the need for a portfolio and some self assessment
© NEAS Ltd 2014

10. Part 2. Best practice Identify clear learning outcomes.
Promote active student engagement in learning.
Recognise and value student diversity.
Provide an opportunity for success for all students.
Embody high quality, timely feedback.
Meet expectations and standards.
Require the involvement of leaders and managers.
© NEAS Ltd 2014

11. The three cornerstones
Validity
Reliability
Practicality
© NEAS Ltd 2014

12. Validity Does the assessment task measure what you want it to measure?
© NEAS Ltd 2014

13. Validity
Construct
Cognitive
Context
Face
© NEAS Ltd 2014

14. Reliability
Internal: Is the assessment consistent across tasks and raters and assessors?
External: Are the results of the assessment reliable predictors of performance in the real world?
© NEAS Ltd 2014

15. Ask for the information you need and write it on the lines below.
Learner card 1
You want information about English classes for yourself. You inquire at a local teaching centre.
Ask about the following and write the information in the spaces provided.
Cost _______________________________________________________________________________________
Starting dates_______________________________________________________________________________
Class times _________________________________________________________________________________
Length _____________________________________________________________________________________
Class size __________________________________________________________________________________
Certificate __________________________________________________________________________________
Learner card 2
You want information about English classes for yourself. You enquire at a local teaching centre.
Ask for the information you need and write it on the lines below.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
© NEAS Ltd 2014

16. Scoring a test: Marking and Rating
(receptive skills, reading and listening)
Rating
(productive skills, writing and speaking)
© NEAS Ltd 2014

17. Practicality
How practical is it to develop, administer and mark the tasks?
© NEAS Ltd 2014

18. Impact and Fairness
© NEAS Ltd 2014

19. Task-based language performance assessment (TBLPA)
Using language in an appropriate and effective way
Language ability in general
Language ability for specific tasks
© NEAS Ltd 2014

20. Authenticity
situational
interactional
© NEAS Ltd 2014

21. Questions
Essential part of tasks to assess reading and listening skills
© NEAS Ltd 2014

22. Feedback An essential part of the teaching and learning cycle
For everyone involved in assessment -
“Assessment is only useful if it leads to appropriate action – at the level of the individual student, the class, the school, or the system”
(Westwood, 2008)
© NEAS Ltd 2014

23. and finally … You need to be humble to write assessment tasks!
Always get a new task evaluated by other teachers, and
Piloted by the students themselves.
Modify the task and it’s ready for use.
Send the task to the Assessment Task Bank for further development and use by teachers across Australia.
© NEAS Ltd 2014

24. Microsoft Engineering Excellence
References
Alderson, J. C. (2000). Assessing reading. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 69.
Bachman, L.F. & A. S. Palmer (1996) Language Testing in Practice, Oxford University Press.
Brindley, G.P. (1995) Language Assessment in Action. NCELTR.
Hughes, A. (1989). Testing for language teachers. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 59–140.
Khalifa, H. & C. Weir (2009) General Marking: performance management, in Examining Reading: Research and practice in assessing second language reading(Studies in Language Testing, vol 29, pp
Manual for Language Test Development and Examining (2011) Language Policy division, Council of Europe.
Messick, S (1989) Validity, in Linn, R.L. (Ed) Educational Measurement (3rd Ed.) New York; Macmillan, pp
Mislevey et al. (2001) Design and Analysis in Task-Based Language Assessment. Language Assessment.
Shohamy, E. (1985). A practical handbook in language testing for the second language teacher. Israel: Internal Press.
Weir, C. J. (1997). The testing of reading in a second language. In C.Clapham & D. Corson (Eds) Encyclopedia of Language and Education (pp ). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
© NEAS Ltd 2014
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