Formal Assessment

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Formal Assessment

• Week 6 7

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Formal Assessment

• Formal assessment is typical in the form of
  paper-pencil assessment or computer based. These
  tests are standardized because each student
  receives exactly the same assessment with the
  same instructions. The outcome is graded and the
  answers are standard based on information that
  the student is expected to possess.

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Formal Assessment

• Norm Referenced Tests
• One form of formal assessment is a norm
  referenced test.
• A norm referenced test or normative assessment is
  an evaluation where those being tested are
  compared to a sample group of his or her peers.
  This sample group is called the normative sample.
  Therefore each test taker is compared to the
  ability of his or her peers.

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Formal Assessment

• Norm Referenced Tests (NRTs) are typically
  multiple choice, but they can also be open-ended
  and short answer exams.
• Norm referenced tests are the exams in which the
  students score is shown in as a percentile. Thus
  showing what percentile s/he scored according to
  the normative group. The design of NRTs is to
  rank test takers in comparison to other student
  who also took the test generally that year or at
  a given time.

5
Formal Assessment

• Problems With Norm Referenced Tests
• These types of tests can be biased against
  certain students depending on who the normative
  group was.
• For example a normative group of suburban
  children might have the tendency to be biased
  against inner city students.
• If the normative group were upper middle class
  Christian students, the test might be biased
  against all other possibilities and specifically
  lower socio-economical status, non- Christian
  students.

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Formal Assessment

• Problems with NRTs
• Many mistakes can be made by using this type of
  test to make ultimate decisions on a students
  placement, graduation or retention because they
  only assess a small portion of a students
  educational ability. These assessments focus so
  much of their attention on information that is
  learned through memorization, rote, and routine
  learning.
• NRTs often encourage teachers focusing on facts
  and not higher order thinking skills. It also can
  diminish educational land academic expectations.

7
Formal Assessment

• Restraints
• Norm referenced tests are usually given within
  certain time limits.
• This can be a problem for some students because
  the concept of having 30 minutes for 20 questions
  can cause some anxiety.
• NRTs also typically do not allow student to go
  back over a section once that section has been
  passed. This can be problematic for slower test
  takers who may not have finished one section, but
  finished another section early.

8
Formal Assessment

• Accuracy
• These assessments give a few questions of the
  many possibilities, thus the score is
  representative of how any given student might
  have done given all the questions.
• However, when discussing scores and the accuracy
  of scores we must discuss validity and
  reliability.

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Formal Assessment

• Validity and reliability are extremely important
  in assessment.
• In assessing the bias of an assessment requires
  looking at the validity and reliability.

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Formal Assessment

• Reliability
• Reliability tests the consistency of the
  assessment. The question is each time this
  assessment is given does it assess the same thing
  each time. If you are at the market and you weigh
  your tomatoes and they weigh 2.2 lbs. You would
  expect that when the cashier weighs them they
  will weigh 2.2 lbs. Why? It is assume that the
  scale is reliable and will always weigh the
  tomatoes accurately.

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Formal Assessment

• Types of Reliability
• One type of reliability of an assessment is
  internal consistency. It is measured by comparing
  one part (or half) of the assessment to another
  part (or half).
• Another type of reliability of an assessment is
  alternate form. It is measured by creating two
  forms of the same test. The correlation between
  the two tests scores states the reliability.
• Another type of reliability of an assessment is
  stability. This is measured by giving the
  assessment twice. The correlation of the scores
  from each time that the assessment was taken
  determines the reliability.

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Formal Assessment

• Validity
• Validity refers to the accuracy of an assessment.
  In other words, does the assessment measure what
  it is supposed to measure. Validity is more
  important than reliability.

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Formal Assessment

• Types of Validity
• If you are assessing the validity of the content,
  whether instructional objectives and content of
  the test match. A cumulative exam of a class
  would measure the validity of the overall course
  objectives. An assessment of two or three weeks
  would not measure the validity of the overall
  course objectives.

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Formal Assessment

• Types of Validity
• If you are assessing the validity of the
  criterion of an assessment. This means when the
  validity is concurrent or predictive of external
  criterion. For example, if a 10th grade English
  final correlate highly with a statewide 10th
  grade English assessment, this would show a high
  concurrent validity.

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Formal Assessment

• Types of Validity
• This type of validity shows the extent to which
  assessment corresponds, as predicted by a
  rationale or theory, with other variables.

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Quick Quiz

1. What is reliability?
2. What is validity?
3. What is the difference between reliability and
   validity?
4. Why would validity be more important than
   reliability?

• 5. In your own words tell how reliability and
  validity would be used in norm referenced
  testing.
• 6.Would you use norm referenced tests? Why or why
  not?

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Assignment for Week 6 7

1. Read PowerPoint notes
2. Read Ch. 4 and 5.
3. Masters students read 30-40 additional pages
   and use Reading Report Form.
4. Take Week 6 Quiz.
5. Write up Do you think that norm referenced
   testing should be used in Christian education?
   Explain. How would this assessment help in your
   ministry? (This is Journal 6 7 for online
   students.)
6. Begin working on writing assignment (see Week 9).