Assessment

Multiple measures

After studying in the Assessment course at UTSA, I realize how important it is to create a test that is reliable and valid. According to Popham (2002), reliability is measured by consistency. In other words, if a test is reliable it is consistent. There are three types of reliability evidence to determine if a test is reliable: Stability (Test-Retest), Alternate Form, and Internal Consistency.

Validity refers to the accuracy of inference that can be made about students’ skills and abilities. In other words, a test’s results can be said to be valid if they measure what was actually taught to the students (Popham, 2002). This is called Content-Related evidence. In addition, a test’s results are valid if they accurately predict a future outcome or student ability. This is called Criterion-Related evidence. A test’s results can be considered valid if, through a series of studies, hypotheses are proven accurate. This is called Construct-Related evidence and comes in three forms of hypotheses studies: Intervention Studies, Differential-Population Studies, and Related-Measures Studies.

According to Gottlieb (2006), "If reliable, valid, and fair for our students, assessment can be a bridge to educational equity" (p. 1). One of the key components to Gottlieb's philosophy is multiple measures. Gottlieb says "The reliance on information on more than one measure affords English language learners various opportunities to demonstrate their true competencies" (p. 162).

I see Gottlieb’s (2006) book as the "legs" to the "concepts" shared by many authors we read in this course, such as Valdes and Figueroa (1994). Many articles we read talked about the harm that comes from pinning all decisions on one assessment and using only the English language to measure student abilities. Gottlieb agrees with this philosophy and shows teachers how to perform a multitude of assessments to evaluate students. Gottlieb’s assessment ideas also serve as the learning activities themselves, which provides teachers with a whole new way of thinking about classroom instruction. Gottlieb’s concepts are very much in alignment with Cohen (1994) and Popham (2002) who also take a practical approach to assessment.

Reading Cohens’ (1994) book gave me lots of great ideas about how to approach assessment. Following are the concepts and best practices I gleaned:

It’s good to assess students so they and I know what progress is being made.
It’s important to lower levels of anxiety to achieve optimal results.
Quizzes are a good way to evaluate students on specific skills and also give immediate feedback before it’s too late (to see how they are doing on a test).
Assessments can be both teaching and evaluation tools.
Goals of assessment must reflect the goals of the course.
Tests may help students review new material.
Use flashcards with words on a table to elicit conversation with a native speaker using those words.
Have students work in groups to review tests and to determine why some answers are better than others.
Use quizzes to teach test-taking skills.
Use a variety of assessment tools to determine true progress.
It’s okay to show students what they don’t know so they can learn from it.

Resources

Cohen, A. D. (1994). Assessing language ability in the classroom. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

Gottlieb, M. (2006). Assessing English language learners: Bridges from language proficiency to academic achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc.

Popham, W. J. (2002). Classroom Assessment: What Teachers Need to Know (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon

Valdez, G., & Figueroa, R. A. (1994).Bilingualism and Testing: A Special Case of Bias. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Ablex Publishing.