Assessment, done properly, is a continuous process. Checking for learning continuously rather than assuming it has occurred is the essence of several practices that educators call Classroom Assessment. The teacher who is assessing learning uses a diverse array of methods, including tests. It is unlikely that a student enrolled in a class where the teacher understands the process of continuous assessment will sit in a classroom very long without learning.  The emphasis in this course is on interactions between instruction, assessment, and learning. The goal of the course is to persuade students that integrating assessment activities into lesson plans improves learning. During this course, students will practice writing assessment criteria and assessment methods into lesson plans. Students will practice giving constructive feedback, a major component of assessment, to each other throughout the semester. Learning about the steps involved in test construction and practice writing questions for classroom tests will be developed. Throughout the course, students will be encouraged to think about and discuss their own beliefs and judgments about classroom assessment by studying and discussing different types of assessment methods.

Objectives /  Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• Explain and defend the claim that professional judgment is the essence of  classroom assessment
• Explain error in assessment, identify potential sources of error, and describe how teachers can compensate for error in assessment
• Create classroom scenarios that illustrate links between instruction, assessment, and learning.
• Explain the difference between formative and summative assessments
• List the characteristics of constructive written feedback accompanied by an example produced by you on an elementary school student’s achievement test
• Explain why the data obtained from an assessment always has to be interpreted and shared with relevant stakeholders.

Content

1. INTRODUCTION TO CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT: CONCEPTS AND CONTEXT

1. Overview of course and ideas
2. Assessment concepts and underpinnings
3. Cultures of testing and assessment

2. ASSESSMENT IS THE BRIDGE BETWEEN TEACHING AND LEARNING

1. Constructing the Unit upon which the test will be based
2. Principles and rules for writing Selected-Response and Constructed-Response objective test questions
3. Assembling your test
4. Essays - One way to assess complex learning and achievement
5. Making sense of the test items

3. INTEGRATING AND SHARING ASSESSMENT RESULTS

1. Characteristics of effective and ineffective feedback
2. Sharing assessment results with others
3. Practice - Feedback to students and assessment results to parents

4.  THE ARRAY OF AVAILABLE ASSESSMENT TASKS

1. Informal Performance Assessment
2. Restricted and Extended Performance Assessment
3. Portfolios

Recommended Books

1. Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (2010).  Assessment for learning: Putting it into practice.  Berkshire, UK: Open University Press.

2. McMillan, J. H. (2011).  Classroom assessment: Principles and practice for  effective standards-based instruction (5th ed). Boston: Pearson.

Suggested Books

1. Miller, M.D., Linn, R.L., & Gronlund, N.E. (2009). Measurement and assessment in teaching (10th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.