PART 3: Good

or bad

assessment?

Anxiety



Good assessment is as far as possible, non-
threatening to teachers and students. External
examinations, and sometimes internal school
examinations are often felt by the teachers
themselves to be a threat to their reputation.



Assessment which is felt by the pupil’s as
threatening often leads to lowered
achievement. This can happen in two ways :
Firstly, the actual test results may not give an
accurate reflection of what the pupil could
have done, because of the pupil’s anxiety.
Secondly, a few experiences of this kind
quickly reduce the pupil’s motivation for
further learning .

Look for ways of reducing the anxiety
associated with assessment:



In a good class with a fairy narrow ability range
there is no point in publishing information about
rank order and little point in even keeping such
information. Give students specific feedback on
the strong and week points of their work.



For more frequent ‘progress’ testing, the standard
demanded should be such as most students who
have made responsible effords can satisfy.



Formal assessment should not be too frequent.



When an examination is coming , do not spend too
long revising in preparation for it.



When you give any formal test or examination,
include at least a few easy items that everyone
can do.



Place these at the begining of the test to build up
confidence.

Validity



A test cannot be a good one unless it
is valid. The essence of validity is that
the test measures what it claims to
measure.



Many things can prevent measurement
from being valid. As far as the
classroom teacher is concerned, the
first requirement for validity is that
you should have a clear idea of exactly
what it is about the students’ English
you are trying to assess.



The best way of getting a clear idea is to make
a brief written statement. This is worth while,
even if the test or other assessment you are
about to make concerns only your class and
you. If possible- it usually is- state operational
terms what you want to measure; that is, ‘the
students’ ability to…’.

For example:

a)

The ability to use dictionary to check spelling

b)

the ability to write a very short account (about
6 sentences) of a simple industrial process,
given the necessary information

c)

the ability to ask questions and understand
answers needed to find one’s way in a strage
town.

Having started as clearly
as possible what you
want to measure, you
are in a better position
to judge any test item or
means of assessment for
its fitness to carry out
this measurement.

Reliability



The essence of the matter is consistency
of measurement. If two teachers mark
the same test or if one teacher marks it
late at night and again early the next
morning, or if the same teacher marks it
again after a three- month interval, how
closely do the results tally? If it is a
Yes/No reading comprehension test of ten
items, with no doubtful items, agreement
should be 100% except for accidents and
cases where a student has indicated his
choice ambiguously.

Backwash



It is the influence that a test has on the way students
are taught.



It has unfortunately been often assumed by teachers
and students that the best way to prepare for such
test is to do as many items of this type as possible in
class. Numerous horrible collections of multiple-
choice items have come on the market in various
parts of the world as teaching books. But this is
terrible teaching materials. The vocabulary or other
language material is presented in isolated sentences
lacking context. Surely this is the worst way of trying
to improve your vocabulary, and it is useless as a way
of trying to improve your general English proficiency.



Tests of this kind, carelessly used, have had a
dangerous backwash effect and likely to lead to
lowering of standards of teaching and learning.

Backwash should not be seen only in terms of bad effects, but
also in terms of possible good effects. That is, if we want to
encourage particular types of work and practice in classes, we
have to include very similar types of task in examinations.

Part 4: Fun

with

figures.

Many teachers are afraid of the

statistical side of assessment. The

knowledge required by the ordinary

class teacher, as distinct from the

testing ‘ expert’, is not difficult to

acquire. This section deals with a few

basic operations.

Range



the range between highest and lowest
numbers