Topic 1: Nature of

Educational Assessment
A. Distinction among measurement, assessment,
and evaluation
B. Principles of Assessment
C. Characteristics of Modern Assessment
D. Need and Purpose of Evaluation
Learning Objectives:
• Compare the difference among assessments,
measurement and evaluation
• Discuss the principles of assessment
• Discuss the characteristics of modern educational
assessment
• Explain the purpose of evaluation
Topic 1: Nature of
Educational
Assessment
A. Distinction among measurement,
assessment, and evaluation
B. Principles of Assessment
C. Characteristics of Modern Educational
Assessment
D. Need and Purpose of Evaluation
Assessment and Evaluation in
the Social Science: Purpose
Assessment and evaluation are an important part of
every teaching-learning process. The purpose of
assessment is not only to carry out assessment of
learning but also to focus on assessment for
learning. The primary objective of the assessment is
to ensure that the learning objectives formulated
by the teacher are achieved through appropriate
assessment methods. The purpose of assessment
may be divided into two:
 Assessment for
01 Instructional Purposes
Assessment for Instructional Purposes
• Assessment for instructional purposes essentially means “assessment for learning.”
• The purpose of assessment is not only to certify learners but also to help them
understand learning difficulties and the way to overcome these difficulties.
• The challenge of teacher is to integrate assessment in the teaching-learning process.
• For integrating assessment in the teaching-learning process, there is the need to
implement continuous and comprehensive evaluation during teaching which is
formative in nature.
• In this regard, the teacher needs to carry out formal and informal observation in the
classroom, adopt learner-centered methods and techniques of teaching and
assessment (e.g. meaningful group discussions, inquiry and project-based methods, use
of problem-solving based learning, critical analysis of various themes through debates
and discussions, use of portfolios and carrying out reflections of various issues)
 02
Assessment and
Evaluation for
Certification
Assessment and Evaluation for Certification
• For certifying learners, a type of summative evaluation needs to be carried out
periodically as well as terminally. The usual practice in the teaching-learning process is
to certify learners terminally or annually. Therefore, the term end examination or
semester end examination are conducted to certify the level of terminal behavior the
learners have achieved.
• It is therefore both the continuous and comprehensive evaluation and terminal
evaluation that contribute substantially to the final certification of the learners.
Distinction Among Measurement, Assessment
and Evaluation
● Measurement has French etymological origin. It
came from the word “mesure” which means limit
Measurement
or quantity.
● It is a method of comparing an unknown quantity
to a standard and a process of determining or
describing the attributes of physical objectives in
Assessment terms of quantity or numerical values.
● In education, it is a process of quantifying or
assigning number to the individual’s intelligence,
Evaluation personality, attitude and values, and students’
achievement.
Distinction Among Measurement, Assessment
and Evaluation
● Usually, teachers tend to measure how much students
have learned as compared to a standard (criterion) or in
Measurement reference to other learners’ performance (norm-
referenced). For example, they will measure if students
have learned the set of cooking skills or programming
skills, able to recall facts, able to analyze and solve
Assessment statistical problems among others.
● To do this, the teacher may use different instruments like
tests, oral presentations, written reports, portfolios and
rubrics. Once the numerical value is determined, the
Evaluation teacher evaluates and decide on the performance of the
students.
Distinction Among Measurement, Assessment
and Evaluation
● The term assessment is derived from the Latin assidere which
means “to sit beside” (Wiggins, 1993), it is the process of
Measurement gathering evidence of students’ performance over a period of
time to determine learning and mastery of skills.
● It is regarded as the process or act of collecting information and
interpreting data about the students’ performance (Gabuyo,
Assessment 2014). These include data gathered from journals, written works,
portfolio, essays, report, research presentation, tests, essays,
etc.
● The purpose of assessment is to provide students, and teachers
Evaluation with credible data about the progress of a learner and to give a
clearer picture about the students’ ability.
Distinction Among Measurement, Assessment
and Evaluation
Assessment generally has three purposes summarized in the table below:

Measurement

Assessment

Evaluation
Distinction Among Measurement, Assessment
and Evaluation
• Assessment is conducted in different phases of
teaching-learning process (TLP). Some assessments
Measurement
are conducted before the beginning of TLP; some
assessments are carried out during the teaching-
learning process and other kinds of assessment are
conducted at the end of the instructional process.
Assessment
• According to its role in the TLP, assessment can be
classified into four, namely, placement assessment,
formative assessment, diagnostic assessment and
Evaluation summative assessment.
Distinction Among Measurement, Assessment
and Evaluation
Placement Assessment
Measurement • It is conducted before the organization of the TL
activities to measure the “entry behavior” or the
previous knowledge of the learners. This allows the
teacher to know if the learners is able to acquire the
new learning knowledge that is related to the previous
Assessment
knowledge.
• In the teaching-learning process, before teaching a new
topic, a teacher should know the previous knowledge of
Evaluation students. This helps the teacher to organize the learning
activities according to the previous knowledge of the
learners.
Distinction Among Measurement, Assessment
and Evaluation
Formative Assessment

Measurement • It is conducted during the development or improvement of a

programme or product and it is conducted often more than once,
for in house staff of the programme with the extent to improve
(Scriven, 1991).
• It is conducted to monitor the learning progress of the learner
Assessment and to know whether the learning objectives have been
achieved or not. The key word in formative assessment is the
mastery of learning or learning progress.
• This assessment is carried out from the beginning of instruction
and continues until the end of the course. It provides feedback
Evaluation about the progress of the students in a certain subject.
Distinction Among Measurement, Assessment
and Evaluation
Diagnostic Assessment
Measurement • It is conducted along with formative assessment during
the instructional process. This assessment is specially
conducted to identify the learning difficulties and solve
them. It is carried out based on the data obtained from
formative evaluation.
Assessment
• The keyword is an assessment of learning
difficulties. Diagnostic assessment not only solves
learning difficulties but also identifies and provides
Evaluation remedies for personal and psychological problems.
Distinction Among Measurement, Assessment
and Evaluation
Summative Assessment
Measurement • It is conducted to know the terminal behavior of
learners. The key term here is certification.
• Summative assessment is conducted after the
completion of the whole course. Feedback provided in
Assessment summative evaluation is terminal in nature and cannot
be used for modification of learners’ behavior because it
is conducted at the end of a term/semester. Learners
get a certificate or are promoted to a higher class based
Evaluation on summative assessment.
Distinction Among Measurement, Assessment
and Evaluation
● Evaluation is the process of making a value judgment
about a particular situation.
Measurement
● It pertains to the act of judging the quality of what is
good or desirable, what is acceptable and not
acceptable, and what passes or fails.
Assessment ● In education, it is the process of comparing a set of data
to a set of standard or learning criteria to judge the
worth or quality.
● It allows teachers to determine and evaluate how well or
Evaluation
to what extent the students attained the instructional
outcomes.
What are the differences among evaluation,
assessment and measurement?
1. What type of assessment should be done
to know if the child is fit for admission into
class VII?
2. Which of the following is the purpose of
evaluation?
a. To make a decision
b. To make a prediction
c. To make a judgment
d. To give an opinion
3. This form of assessment determines where
to place the students based on their current
knowledge level.
4. This form of assessment monitors learning
progress of the students.
5. Which of the following is the first step in
measurement?
a. Decision of what to measure
b. How to measure
c. Marking the test
d. Certifying the student
6. In order to identify individual differences
of learners in a class, what assessment can
be used?
7. Naruto is not able to understand certain
concept in a particular subject and is
continuously performing poorly in that
subject, what assessment should be
conducted to know the cause of his
difficulties?
8. A classroom assessment used to measure
the level of achievement on learning targets
and subsequently to determine report card
grades is what form of assessment?
9. Which of the following is considered as
formative assessments?
a. Entrance Exam
b. Ongoing assessments, reviews and
observations
c. Evaluate the effectiveness of instructional
programs
d. Judgement of student competency
10. Which of the following is NOT a type of
formative assessment?
a. Quiz
b. Laboratory Report
c. Essays
d. National Achievement Test
Topic 1: Nature of
Educational
Assessment
A. Distinction among measurement,
assessment, and evaluation
B. Principles of Assessment
C. Characteristics of Modern Educational
Assessment
D. Need and Purpose of Evaluation
 Reliability

Washback Validity
Effect

Principles of
Assessment Basic
Principles of
Assessment
Interpretability
Authenticity

Practicality Objectivity
 Reliability Reliability

According to Brown (2010), a reliable test can be described

as follows:
• Consistent in its conditions across two or more
administrations
• Gives clear directions for scoring / evaluation
• Has uniform rubrics for scoring / evaluation
• Lends itself to consistent application of those rubrics by
the scorer
• Contains item / tasks that are unambiguous to the test-
taker
 Reliability Reliability

• Reliability means the degree to which an assessment tool

produces stable and consistent results.
• Reliability essentially denotes ‘consistency, stability,
dependability, and accuracy of assessment results’
(McMillan, 2001a, p.65 in Brown, G. et al, 2008).
• Since there is tremendous variability from either teacher
or tester to teacher/tester that affects student
performance, thus reliability in planning, implementing,
and scoring student performances gives rise to valid
assessment.
 Reliability Reliability

Test-Retest Reliability
• The same test is re-administered to the same
people.
• It is expected the correlation between the two
scores of the two tests would be high.
• However, the effect of practice as well as
memory may influence the correlation value.
Reliability Reliability

Parallel/ Equivalent Reliability

• Two similar tests are administered to the
same sample of persons.
• Unlike test-retest, this is protected from
the influence of memory as the same
questions are not asked in the second of
the two tests.
Reliability Reliability

Inter-Rater Reliability
• Two or more judges or raters are involved
in grading.
• A score is more reliable and accurate
measure if two or more raters agree on it.
 Reliability Reliability

Intra-Rater Reliability
• Intra-rater reliability is the consistency of grading by a
single rater at the same time.
• When a rater grades tests at different time, he/she may
become inconsistent in grading for various reasons.
• E.g. papers graded during the day may get full and
careful attention while papers graded at the end of the
day may be quickly glossed over.
 Reliability Reliability

Split-Half Reliability
• A test is administered once to a group, is divided into two
equal halves after the students have returned the test,
and the halves are then correlated.
• Halves are often determined based on the number
assigned to each item with one half consisting of odd
numbered items and the other half even numbered
items.
 Reliability Reliability

Split-Half Reliability
• A test is administered once to a group, is divided into two
equal halves after the students have returned the test,
and the halves are then correlated.
• Halves are often determined based on the number
assigned to each item with one half consisting of odd
numbered items and the other half even numbered
items.
 Reliability Reliability

Test Administration Reliability

• This involves the condition in which the test is administered.
• Unreliability occurs due to outside interference like noise,
variations in photocopying, temperature variations, the amount
of light in various parts of the room, and even the condition of
desk and chairs.
• Brown (2010) stated that he once witnessed the administration
of a test of aural comprehension in which an audio player was
used to deliver items for comprehension, but due to street
noise outside the building, test-taker sitting next to open
windows could not hear the stimuli clearly.
 Reliability Reliability

Factors that affect

the reliability of a
test

Teacher & Test

Environment Marking
Test Factor Student Administration
Factor Factor
Factor Factor
Factors that affect reliability Reliability

Test Factor
• In general, longer tests produce higher
reliabilities.
• Due to the dependency on coincidence and
guessing, the scores will be more accurate if
the duration of the test is longer.
• An objective test has higher consistency
because it is not exposed to a variety of
interpretations.
Factors that affect reliability Reliability

Test Factor
A valid test is said to be reliable but a reliable test
is not necessarily valid.
• A consistent score does not necessarily
measure what is intended to measure.
• In addition, the test items are the samples of
the subject being tested and variation in the
samples may be found in two equivalent tests
and there can be one of the causes test
outcomes are unreliable.
 Factors that affect reliability Reliability

Teacher & Student Factor

• In most tests, it is normal for teachers to
construct and administer tests for students.
• Thus, any good teacher-student relationship
would help increase the consistency of the
results.
• Other factors that contribute to positive effects
to the reliability of a test include teacher’s
encouragement, positive mental and physical
condition, familiarity to the test formats, and
perseverance and motivation.
 Factors that affect reliability Reliability

Environment Factor
• An examination environment certainly
influences test-takers and their scores.
• Any favorable environment with
comfortable chairs and desks, good
ventilation, sufficient light, and space will
improve the reliability of the test.
• On the contrary, a non-conducive
environment will affect test-takers’
performance and test reliability.
Factors that affect reliability Reliability

Test Administration Factor

• Because students' grades are dependent on
the way tests are being administered, test
administrators should strive to provide clear
and accurate instructions, sufficient time and
careful monitoring of tests to improve the
reliability of their tests.
• A test-retest technique can be used to
determine test reliability.
Factors that affect reliability Reliability

Marking Factor
• Human judges have many opportunities to
introduce error in scoring essays (Linn & Gronlund,
2000; Weigle, 2002).
• It is also common that different markers award
different marks for the same answer even with a
prepared mark scheme.
• A marker’s assessment may vary from time to time
and with different situations.
• Conversely, it does not happen to the objective
type of tests since the responses are fixed. Thus,
objectivity is a condition for reliability.
 Validity Validity

• Validity refers to the evidence base that can be

provided about the appropriateness of the
inferences, uses, and consequences that come
from assessment (McMillan, 2001a).
• Appropriateness has to do with the soundness,
trustworthiness, or legitimacy of the claims or
inferences that testers would like to make based on
obtained scores.
 Validity Validity

• Validity is “the extent to which inferences

made from assessment results are
appropriate, meaningful, and useful in terms
of the purpose of the assessment”
(Gronlund, 1998).
• Validity refers to whether the test is actually
measuring what it claims to measure
(Arshad, 2004).
Types of Validity Validity

01 Face Validity
● Mousavi (2009) refers to face validity as the degree
to which a test looks right and appears to measure
the knowledge or abilities it claims to measure,
based on the subjective judgment of the examinees
who take it, the administrative personnel who
decide on its use, and other psychometrically
unsophisticated observers.
Types of Validity Validity

02 Content Validity
● Content validity “is concerned with whether or not the content of
the test is sufficiently representative and comprehensive for the
test to be a valid measure of what it is supposed to measure”
(Henning, 1987).
● The most important step in making sure of content validity is to
make sure all content domains are presented in the test.
● Another method to verify validity is through the use of Table of
Test Specification that can give detailed information on each
content, level of skills, status of difficulty, number of items, and
item representation for rating in each content or skill or topic.
Types of Validity Validity

03 Construct Validity
● Construct validity is the most obvious reflection of
whether a test measures what it is supposed to
measure as it directly addresses the issue of what it is
that is being measured.
● In other words, construct validity refers to whether
the underlying theoretical constructs that the test
measures are themselves valid.
Types of Validity Validity

04 Concurrent Validity
● Concurrent validity is the use of another more reputable and recognised test
to validate one’s own test.
● For example, suppose you come up with your own new test and would like
to determine the validity of your test. If you choose to use concurrent
validity, you would look for a reputable test and compare your students’
performance on your test with their performance on the reputable and
acknowledged test.
● In concurrent validity, a correlation coefficient is obtained and used to
generate an actual numerical value.
● A high positive correlation of 0.7 to 1 indicates that the learners’ score is
relatively similar for the two tests or measures.
Types of Validity Validity

05 Predictive Validity
● Predictive validity is closely related to concurrent validity
in that it too generates a numerical value.
● For example, the predictive validity of a university
language placement test can be determined several
semesters later by correlating the scores on the test to
the GPA of the students who took the test.
 Authenticity
Authenticity

• AN AUTHENTIC TEST…
• contains language that is as natural as possible.
• has items that are contextualized rather than
isolated.
• includes meaningful, relevant, interesting topics.
• provides some thematic organization to items,
such as through a storyline or episode.
• offers tasks that replicate real-world tasks.
 Objectivity
Objectivity

• The test is said to have high objectivity when the examiner can give
the same score to similar answers guided by the mark scheme.
• An objective test is a test that has the highest level of objectivity
due to the scoring that is not influenced by the examiner’s skills and
emotions.
• Meanwhile, the subjective test is said to have the lowest objectivity.
• Based on various research, different examiners tend to award
different scores to an essay test.
• It is also possible that the same examiner would give different
scores to the same essay if she is to re-check at different times.
 Practicality
Practicality

• A PRACTICAL TEST…
• stays within budgetary limits.
• can be completed by the test-taker within
appropriate time constraints.
• has clear directions for administration.
• appropriately utilizes available human resources.
• does not exceed available material resources.
• considers the time and effort involved for both
design and scoring.
 Interpretability

Interpretability

• Test interpretation encompasses all the ways that

meaning is assigned to the scores.
• Proper interpretation requires knowledge about the
test, which can be obtained by studying its manual and
other materials along with current research literature
with respect to its use; no one should undertake the
interpretation of scores on any test without such study.
 Washback
Effect
Washback Effect

• It refers to the effect of testing on teaching and learning – e.g. the

extent to which assessment affects a student’s future
development.
• Messick (1996) reminded us that the washback effect may refer to
both the promotion and the inhibition of learning (beneficial
versus harmful/negative) washback.
• Washback enhances a number of basic principles of language
acquisition: intrinsic motivation, autonomy, self-confidence,
language ego, interlanguage, and strategic investment.
 Washback
Effect
Washback Effect

Ways to enhance washback:

• To comment generously and specifically on test performance.
• Through a specification of the numerical scores on the various
subsections of the test.
• Formative versus summative tests:
• Formative tests provide washback in the form of information
to the learner on progress towards goals.
• Summative tests provide washback for learners to initiate
further pursuits, more learning, more goals, and more
challenges to face.
Topic 1: Nature of
Educational
Assessment
A. Distinction among measurement,
assessment, and evaluation
B. Principles of Assessment
C. Characteristics of Modern
Educational Assessment
D. Need and Purpose of Evaluation
Responsive

Visible performance-based work (as a

result of assessment) generates data that
inform curriculum and instruction
Flexible

Assessment needs to be adaptable to

students’ setting. Rather than the
identical approach that works in
traditional assessment, 21st century
approaches are more versatile
Integrated

Assessments are to be incorporated into

day-to-day practice rather than as add-
ons at the end of instructions or during a
single specified week of the school
calendar
Informative

The desired 21st century goals and

objectives are clearly stated and explicitly
taught. Students display their range of
emerging knowledge and skills. Exemplars
routinely guide students toward
achievement of targets
Multiple Methods

An assessment continuum that includes a

spectrum of strategies is the norm.
Communicated

Communication of assessment data is

clear and transparent for all stakeholders
Technically Sound

Adjustments and accommodations are

made in the assessment process to
achieve fairness and meet the students’
needs.
Systemic

21st century assessment is part of a

comprehensive and well-aligned
assessment system that is balanced and
inclusive of all students, constituents,
stakeholders and designed to support
improvement at all levels.
Topic 1: Nature of
Educational
Assessment
A. Distinction among measurement,
assessment, and evaluation
B. Principles of Assessment
C. Characteristics of Modern Educational
Assessment
D. Need and Purpose of
Evaluation
Need and Purposes of Evaluation

• In teaching- learning process the evaluation is the most

mandatory part of this process.
• It helps teachers and learners to improve teaching and
learning.
• It helps in forming the values of judgment, educational
status, or achievement of student.
• There is a close relationship between evaluation and aims
Need and Purposesof Evaluation

• In teaching- learning process the evaluation is the most

mandatory part of this process.
• It helps teachers and learners to improve teaching and
learning.
• It helps in forming the values of judgment, educational
status, or achievement of student.
• There is a close relationship between evaluation and aims
Need and Purpose of Evaluation

• Evaluation validates the teaching-learning process. It

contributes to the formulation of objectives, designing of
learning experiences and assessment of learner
performance. Evaluation is concerned with assessing the
effectiveness of teaching, teaching strategies, curriculum
methods and techniques. It provides feedback to teachers
about their teaching and the learners about their learning
Need and Purpose of Evaluation

• Evaluation tells the teacher up to what extent instructional

objectives have been achieved or if the class is ready to move
on to the next learning goal. Also an important purpose of
evaluation is it diagnose deficiency in learning, it helps the
teacher decide if individual students need help, or tell whether
the instructional material is not quite suitable for the learner.
Evaluation helps teachers to make better evaluative judgements.
The evaluation is instrumental in determining the effectiveness
of a course, program and functioning of a school.
Need and Purpose of Evaluation

• In all the activities inside the classroom and in the process of

learning, we cannot escape making evaluative judgments. An
effective decision-making process involves evaluation.
Decision must be made and action must be taken. The more
accurately we evaluate our students, the more effective we
teachers are in directing their learning. The understanding of
the principles and procedures of evaluation is very much
needed in making more intelligent decisions in directing
students’ progress toward worthy educational goals.