Result s f rom f orm al assessm ent

60 © M ichael Harris, Paul M cCann 1994, M acmillan Publishers Ltd

2.5 Result s f rom f orm al assessm ent

Once st udent s have t aken a f orm al t est and it has been m arked, you w ill have result s. These result s w ill usually give a m ark or score f or each st udent , f or exam ple 68 out of 100. On t he ot her hand, t he result s m ight sim ply t ell you t hat a st udent has passed or f ailed t he t est . But w hat is a pass m ark? W hat is a f ail? One w ay of deciding t his is by norm -ref erencing.This consist s of put t ing t he st udent s in a list or scale depending on t he m ark t hey achieved in t he t est . The st udent w it h t he low est m ark is at t he bot t om of t he list and t he st udent w it h t he highest m ark is at t he t op of t he list . All ot her st udent s are bet w een t he t w o ext rem es. A pass in t he t est m ight be decided as t he t op 60 of st udent s, w it h 40 f ailing, or as t he t op 50 of st udent s w it h 50 f ailing. This is of t en used in public exam inat ions, but it is not suit able f or classroom sit uat ions. For exam ple, it m ight creat e a sit uat ion in w hich a high abilit y candidat e f ails because t he ot her st udent s in t he sam e class are of a higher abilit y. Conversely, it m ight creat e a sit uat ion in w hich a low abilit y candidat e passes because t he ot her candidat es in t he class are of a low er abilit y. The ext rem es m ight be t hat st udent X achieves 90 in t he t est and f ails because all ot her st udent s achieved bet w een 91 and 100 ; or st udent Y achieves 35 in t he t est and passes because all ot her st udent s achieved bet w een 1 and 34 . Crit erion-ref erencing is a m uch m ore suit able w ay of m aking decisions about classroom t est s. This consist s of m aking decisions about w hat is a pass and w hat is a f ail bef ore t he result s are obt ained. It norm ally m eans t hat w e def ine cert ain crit eria t hat candidat es in t he t est m ust conf orm t o, eg if t he candidat e can do X, Y and Z, t hen heshe passes – if heshe cannot do X, Y and Z, t hen heshe f ails t he t est . An exam ple is t he driving t est in t he Unit ed Kingdom : t here is a specif ied list of t hings w hich t he candidat e m ust be able t o do in order t o pass t he t est , eg m ake an em ergency st op, t urn t he car round in t he road in a num ber of m anoeuvres, reverse round a corner et c. It can be a f air w ay of int erpret ing result s because a pass or f ail is decided on each candidat e’s perf orm ance in t he t est irrespect ive of t he rest of t he candidat es w ho t ake t he sam e t est . Also, candidat es know t hat t hey are not in com pet it ion w it h t he rest of t hose w ho t ake t he t est . Finally, w hen w e have int erpret ed t he result s of our t est s and decided w hich st udent s have passed and f ailed, w e need t o go over t est s w it h st udent s. It is im port ant t o go over t he answ ers t o progress t est s w it h t he w hole class, so t hat st udent s realise w here t hey w ent w rong. St udent s can t hen t hink about w hat t hey need t o do t o do t o get bet t er result s t he next t im e. W hen you give back pieces of w rit ing done under t est condit ions you can use correct ion codes in t he w ay suggest ed in t he previous sect ion Inf orm al assessm ent – w rit ing. W hen you give st udent s t heir result s on oral t est s it is also im port ant t o ident if y w hat t heir st rong and w eak point s are. In t his w ay result s f rom f orm al t est s can f eed int o learning and give st udent s as w ell as you t he t eacher vit al inf orm at ion about bot h perf orm ance and progress. © M ichael Harris, Paul M cCann 1994, M acmillan Publishers Ltd 61 Sum m ary In conclusion, t he f ollow ing key point s should be rem em bered w hen adm inist ering f orm al t est s and im plem ent ing a f orm al assessm ent program m e. ◆ There are m any reasons w hy w e should t est our st udent s and f orm al t est s should not be discarded as a w ast e of valuable t im e. On t he cont rary, t hey should be seen as t im e w ell spent in helping t o f orm an accurat e assessm ent of our st udent s’ abilit y. ◆ A f orm al assessm ent program m e needs t o be caref ully planned and should t ie in w it h your educat ional object ives and t he ext ent and t im ing of ot her f orm s of m easuring st udent s’ abilit y such as self and inf orm al assessm ent . ◆ There are m any diff erent t ypes of t est and t est f orm at s. Each one is usef ul in it s ow n cont ext and is less usef ul in ot her cont ext s. M uch w ill depend on w hat you w ant t he t est t o do f or you in your t eaching sit uat ion. ◆ W rit ing, m arking and adm inist ering t est s m ay appear t o be a relat ively sim ple m at t er. How ever, t he ext ent t o w hich t hese are carried out successf ully w ill aff ect t he success of your t est s and ult im at ely t he reliabilit y of t he result s you obt ain. This in t urn w ill direct ly aff ect t he decisions you m ake about your st udent s – our aim m ust be t o m ake decisions w hich are based on accurat e and reliable inf orm at ion. Suggest ed answ ers t o pract ical act ivit ies w here necessary Washback ef f ect s 1 Bad w ashback. St udent s w ill f eel t hat luck w as m ore im port ant t han hard w ork. 2 Bad w ashback. St udent s w ill f eel t hat classw ork has been a w ast e of t im e. 3 Good w ashback. The inf orm at ion w ill help you plan your course t o suit t he needs of your st udent s. 4 Good w ashback. St udent s w ill f eel t hey have been t est ed f airly. Your t est ing a = placem ent b = progress c = diagnost ic d = sum m at ive e = prof iciency Ident if ying t est f ormat s Assessm ent t ask 1: Com bined readingw rit ing Assessm ent t ask 2: Guided w rit ing not es and pict ures Assessm ent t ask 3: 1 Ident if ying t opic m at ching 2 Table com plet ion. 3 Short answ er quest ions. Assessm ent t ask 4: a Truef alse b Short answ er quest ions Assessm ent t ask 5: 1 Inf orm at ion gap real inf orm at ion 2 Pict ure descript ion 3 Roleplay Assessm ent t ask 6: Roleplay Assessm ent t ask 7: a Gap-f ill b Cued quest ions f rom answ ers c Edit ing d Cued vocabulary pict ures 62 © M ichael Harris, Paul M cCann 1994, M acmillan Publishers Ltd Checking t est s 1 Cult ural know ledge t hat ss could not be expect ed t o know. 2 Cont ent know ledge. Also m ore of a vocabulary t est t han a speaking t est w hich it purport s t o be t heref ore low validit y. 3 General know ledge of t he w orld- w hich ss cannot be expect ed t o know part icularly young st udent s. 4 You know t he answ er w it hout list ening. c 5 Doesn’t t est list ening but is a t est of language. 6 Test s st udent s’ im aginat ion m ore t han t heir English. 7 Test s cont ent know ledge of science. 8 Is a language t est rat her t han a t est of w rit ing t o com m unicat e. 9 No answ er is possible here. 10 This is a t est of language not of reading. 11 This anagram act ivit y t est s t he abilit y t o do puzzles not know ledge of vocab. 12 M ore t han one answ er is possible here, eg basket ball = no bat cricket = played out side 13 Not enough cont ext is provided here, eit her is possible. 14 Not enough cont ext is provided. All t hree are possible. 15 The m arking schem e is horribly com plex and w ill w ast e a lot of t im e. Int er-rat er reliabilit y f or w rit t en perf ormance Suggest ed m arks f or let t ers 1 4 The let t er is badly organised. Because of t his and because of t he large num ber of very basic st ruct ural and lexical errors, it is very dif f icult t o read and underst and. Anot her f act or w hich m akes underst anding diff icult is t he handw rit ing and const ant crossing out of w ords. 2 6 In t his let t er t here is som e real com m unicat ion. If t his w ere a real penf riend let t er, t he person get t ing it w ould learn som et hing about M art a. How ever, t here are quit e a f ew m ist akes and crossings out w hich m akes it diff icult t o f ollow in part s. 3 9 This let t er com m unicat es t he inf orm at ion needed reasonably clearly and w it h only a f ew m ist akes of spelling or gram m ar. Finally, t he let t er is ent husiast ic and int erest ing t o read. Act ion point s: f orm al assessm ent 1 As a result of reading t his chapt er are you going t o m ake any changes in t he w ay you t est your st udent s? If so, w hat are t hey? 2 Are you going t o give all your f orm al t est s in one block, or are you going t o spread t hem out over t he t erm ? For exam ple, using short er assessm ent t asks 3 W hat kind of w eight ing are you going t o give t o diff erent skills and language? For exam ple, 30 speaking 20 w rit ing et c 4 W hat kind of t est f orm at s are you going t o use? For exam ple, m ult iple-choice, guided w rit ing et c 5 The next t im e you have t o w rit e t est s are you going t o do it on your ow n or w it h a group of colleagues? 6 How are you going t o adm inist er your t est s? W hat t est condit ions are you going t o int roduce? How are you going t o t ry t o reduce anxiet y am ongst your st udent s? 7 How are you going t o m ark your t est s? W hat m easures are you going t o t ake t o increase t he reliabilit y of your m arking? 8 W hat proport ion of m arks are you going t o get f rom f orm al as opposed t o ot her f orm s of assessm ent ? Self -assessm ent

3.1 Int roduct ion t o self -assessm ent