Measurement Assessment Underlying Theory

AN ANALYSIS... Hastuti Handayani Mater’s Program in Linguistics, Diponegoro University ©2009, UNDIP Institutional Repository Another example of a testing program designed to asses group rather than individuals is the National Assessment of educational progress Tylor et.al in Nitko,1983:6. Besides test, there are some terms which are similar in use such as Measurement, Evaluation, Assessment, and Examination.

2. Measurement

Measurement is a procedure for assigning numbers usually called scores to a specified attribute or characteristic of persons in such a manner as to maintain the real world relationship among the persons with regard to the attribute being measured. For example, if you are a better speller than I, a spelling test design to measure our spelling ability should result in your score i.e., your measurement being higher than mine. For many of the characteristics measured in education and psychology the “procedure” is to count the number of correct answers or number of points earned on a test. Lord et.al in Nitko,1983:5 While Tuckman 1975:12 states that measurement is a broad term that refers to the systematic determination of outcomes or characteristics by means of some sort of assessment device. Testing is a less specific term that has typically been taken to mean educational measurement. More specifically a test can be considered to be a kind or class of measurement device typically used to find out something about person. A test is sometimes taken to mean an instrument that is used to obtain data on which a person is “judged”, in the most individious sense of term. AN ANALYSIS... Hastuti Handayani Mater’s Program in Linguistics, Diponegoro University ©2009, UNDIP Institutional Repository

3. Assessment

Brown 2004:4 states that tests are prepared administrative procedures that occur at identifiable times in curriculum when learner master all their faculties to offer peak performance, knowing that their responses are being measured and evaluated. Assessment, on the other hand, is an ongoing process that encompasses a much wider domain. Tests are a subset of assessment; they are certainly not the only form of assessment that a teacher can make. Tests can be useful devices, but they are only one among many procedures and tasks that teacher can ultimately use to assess students According to Brown 2004:5 there are 2 kinds of assessments : Formal and Informal Assessment. Informal assessment can take a number of forms, starting with incidental, unplanned comments and responsive, along with coaching and other impromptu feedback to the students. Informal assessment does not stop there, on the other hand, formal assessment are exercises or procedures specifically designed to tap into a storehouse of skills and knowledge. Is formal assessment the same as a test? We can say that all tests are formal assessment but not all formal assessment are testing. Two functions are commonly identified in the literature formative and summative assessment. For all practical purposes, virtually all kinds of informal assessments are or should be formative. Formative Assessment is evaluating students in the process of “forming” their competence and skills with the goal of helping them to continue that growth process. The key to such formation is the delivery by teacher and internalization by the student of a appropriate AN ANALYSIS... Hastuti Handayani Mater’s Program in Linguistics, Diponegoro University ©2009, UNDIP Institutional Repository feedback on performance, with an eye toward the future continuation or formation of learning. Summative Assessment aims to measure, or summarize, what a student has grasped, and typically occurs at the end of a course or unit of instruction. A summation of what a student has learned implies looking back and taking stock of how well that student has accomplished objectives, but does not necessarily point the way to future progress. Final exams in a course and general proficiency exams are examples of summative test

4. Evaluation