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##  Basic Assessment Concepts for Teachers and School Administrators.               ERIC/AE Digest.                                                              

While several authors have argued that there are a number of                    essential assessment concepts, principles, techniques, and                      procedures that teachers and administrators need to know (e.g.,                 Calfee & Masuda, 1997; Cizek, 1997), there continues to be                      relatively little emphasis on assessment in the preparation or                  professional development of teachers and administrators (Stiggins,              2000). Nevertheless, guidance is provided through established                   professional standards for assessment skills of teachers (Standards             for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students (1990),            a framework of assessment tasks for administrators(Impara & Plake,              1996), the Code of Professional Responsibilities in Educational                 Measurement (1995), the Code of Fair Testing Practices in                       Education (1988), and the new edition of Standards for Educational              and Psychological Testing (1999). This Digest draws on suggestions              and guidelines from these sources, in light of current assessment               demands and contemporary theories of learning and motivation, to                present eleven basic principles to guide the assessment training and            professional development of teachers and                                        administrators. ASSESSMENT IS INHERENTLY A PROCESS OF PROFESSIONAL            JUDMENT.Professional judgment is the foundation for all                     assessment. The measurement of student performance may                          seem "objective," given such practices as machine scoring and                   multiple--choice test items, but even these approaches are based on             professional assumptions and values. Whether that judgment occurs in            constructing test questions, scoring essays, creating rubrics,                  grading participation, combining scores, or interpreting                        standardized test scores, the essence of the process is making                  professional interpretations and decisions. ASSESSMENT IS BASED ON            SEPARATE BUT RELATED PRINCIPLES OF

MEASUREMENT EVIDENCE AND                  EVALUATION.It is important to understand the difference between             measurement evidence (differentiating degrees of a trait by                     description or by assigning scores) and evaluation (interpreting the            description or scores). Essential measurement evidence skills                   include the ability to understand and interpret the meaning of                  descriptive statistical procedures, including variability,                      correlation, percentiles, standard scores, growth--scale scores,                norming, and principles of combining scores for grading. A                      conceptual understanding of these techniques is needed (not                     necessarily knowing how to compute statistics) for such tasks as                interpreting student strengths and weaknesses, examining reliability            and validity evidence, determining grades, and making admissions                decisions. Schafer (1991) has indicated that these concepts and                 techniques comprise part of an essential language for educators.                They also provide a common basis for communication about results,               interpretation of evidence, and appropriate use of data. This is                increasingly important given the pervasiveness of standards--based,             high--stakes, large-scale assessments. Evaluation concerns merit and            worth of the data as applied to a specific use or context. It                   involves what Shepard (2000) has described as the systematic                    analysis of evidence to interpret evidence effectively and make                 value judgments about the meaning of the results. ASSESSMENT                  DECISION--MAKING IS INFLUENCED BY A SERIES OF TENSIONS.Competing            purposes, uses, and pressures result in tensions for teachers and               administrators as they make assessment--related decisions. For                  example, good teaching incorporates assessments that motivate and               engage students in ways that are consistent with teachers'                      philosophies of teaching and learning and with theories of                      development, learning and motivation. Most teachers want to use                 constructed-response assessments because they believe this kind of              testing is best to ascertain student understanding. On the other                hand, factors external to the classroom, such as mandated                       large--scale testing, promote different assessment strategies, such             as using selected--response tests and providing practice in                     objective test--taking (McMillan & Nash, 2000). Further examples of             tensions include formative (informal and ongoing) vs.                           summative (formal and at the end), criterion--referenced vs.                    norm-referenced, traditional vs. alternative, authentic vs.                     contrived, and standardized tests vs. classroom tests. Decisions                about assessment are best made with a full understanding of how                 different factors influence the nature of the                                   assessment. ASSESSMENT INFLUENCES STUDENT MOTIVATION AND                      LEARNING.The nature of assessment influences what is learned and            the degree of meaningful engagement by students in the learning                 process. While Wiggins (1998) contends that assessments should be               authentic, with feedback and opportunities for revision to improve,             rather than simply audit learning, the more general principle is                understanding how different assessments affect students. Will                   students be more engaged if assessment tasks are problem-based? How             do students study when they know the test consists of                           multiple--choice items? What is the nature of feedback, and when is             it given to students? How does assessment affect student effort?                Recent research summarized by Black & Wiliam (1998), for example,               shows that student self-assessment skills, learned and applied as               part of formative assessment, enhance student                                   achievement. ASSESSMENT CONTAINS ERROR.Teachers and                       administrators need to know not only that there is error in all                 classroom and standardized assessments, but also, more specifically,            how reliability is determined and how much error is likely. With so             much emphasis today on high-stakes testing for promotion,                       graduation, teacher and administrator accountability, and school                accreditation, it is critical that all educators understand such                concepts as standard error of measurement, reliability coefficients,            confidence intervals, and standard setting. Two reliability                     principles deserve special attention: (1) Reliability refers to                 scores, not instruments; (2)Typically, error is                                 underestimated. GOOD ASSESSMENT ENHANCES INSTRUCTION.Just as              assessment affects student learning and motivation, it also                     influences the nature of instruction in the classroom. When                     assessment is integrated with instruction, it informs teachers about            what activities and assignments will be most useful, what level of              teaching is most appropriate, and how summative assessments provide             diagnostic information. During instructional activities, informal,              formative assessment helps teachers know when to move on, when to               ask more questions, when to give more examples, and how to respond              to student questions. Standardized test scores, when used                       appropriately, help teachers understand student strengths and                   weaknesses in order to target further instruction. GOOD ASSESSMENT            IS VALID.As with reliability, validity has certain technical                terms and issues associated with it that are essential in helping               teachers and administrators make reasonable and appropriate                     inferences from assessment results (e.g., types of validity                     evidence, validity generalization, construct underrepresentation,               construct--irrelevant variance, and discriminate and convergent                 evidence). Of critical importance is the concept of evidence based              on consequences, a new major validity category in the recently                  revised Standards. Both intended and unintended consequences of                 assessment need to be examined with appropriate evidence that                   supports particular arguments or points of view. Of equal importance            is getting teachers and administrators to understand their role in              gathering and interpreting validity evidence. GOOD ASSESSMENT IS              FAIR AND ETHICAL.Arguably, the most important change in the                 recently published Standards is an entire new major section                     entitled "Fairness in Testing." The Standards presents four views of            fairness: as absence of bias (e.g., offensiveness and unfair                    penalization), as equitable treatment, as equality in outcomes, and             as opportunity to learn. It includes entire chapters on the rights              and responsibilities of test takers, testing individuals of diverse             linguistic backgrounds, and testing individuals with disabilities or            special needs. Three additional areas are also important: (1)                   Student knowledge of learning targets and the nature of assessments             prior to instruction (e.g., what will be tested, how it will be                 graded, scoring criteria, anchors, exemplars); (2) Student                      prerequisite knowledge and skills, including test-taking skills;                and (3)Avoidance of stereotypes. GOOD ASSESSMENTS USE MULTIPLE                METHODS.Assessment that is fair, leading to valid inferences                with a minimum of error, is a series of measures that show student              understanding through multiple methods. A complete picture of what              students understand and can do is put together in pieces comprised              by different approaches to assessment. While testing experts and                testing companies stress that important decisions should not be made            on the basis of a single test score, some educators at the local                level, and some politicians at the state and national levels, seem              determined to violate this principle. There is a need to understand             the entire range of assessment techniques and methods and their                 limitations. GOOD ASSESSMENT IS EFFICIENT AND                                 FEASIBLE.Teachers and school administrators have limited time               and resources. Consideration must be given to the efficiency of                 different approaches to assessment, balancing needs to implement                methods required to provide a full understanding with the time                  needed to develop and implement the methods and score results.                  Teacher skills and knowledge are important to consider, as are the              levels of support and resources. GOOD ASSESSMENT APPROPRIATELY                INCORPORATES TECHNOLOGY.As technology advances and teachers                 become more proficient in the use of technology, there will be                  increased opportunities for teachers and administrators to use                  computer--based techniques (e.g., item banks, electronic grading,               computer--adapted testing, computer--based simulations),Internet                resources, and more complex, detailed ways of reporting results.                There is, however, a danger that technology will contribute to the              mindless use of new resources, such as using items online developed             by some companies without adequate evidence of reliability,                     validity, and fairness, and crunching numbers with software programs            without sufficient thought about weighting, error, and                          averaging. 
To summarize, what is most essential about assessment              is understanding how general, fundamental assessment principles and             ideas can be used to enhance student learning and teacher                       effectiveness. This will be achieved as teachers and administrators             learn about conceptual and technical assessment concepts, methods,              and procedures, for both large-scale and classroom assessments, and             apply these fundamentals to instruction. NOTE:An earlier                  version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the                American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, April 24,               2000. REFERENCESBlack, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the                black box: Raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta            Kappan, 80(2), 139--148. 
Calfee, R.C., & Masuda, W.V. (1997).                 Classroom assessment as inquiry. In G.D. Phye (Ed.) Handbook of                 classroom assessment: Learning, achievement, and adjustment. NY:                Academic Press. 
Cizek, G. J. (1997). Learning, achievement, and               assessment: Constructs at a crossroads. In G.D. Phye (Ed.) Handbook             of classroom assessment: Learning, achievement, and adjustment. NY:             Academic Press. 
Code of fair testing practices in                             education (1988). Washington, DC: Joint Committee on Testing                    Practices (American Psychological Association). Available:                      http://ericae.net/code.htm 
Code of professional responsibilities              in educational measurement (1995). Washington, DC: National Council             on Measurement in Education.                                                    Available:http://www.unl.edu/buros/article2.html 
Impara, J. C., &             Plake, B. S. (1996). Professional development in student assessment             for educational administrators. Educational Measurement: Issues and             Practice, 15(2), 14--19. 
McMillan, J. H., & Nash, S. (2000).                  Teachers' classroom assessment and grading decision making. Paper               presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Council of                      Measurement in Education, New Orleans. 
Schafer, W. D. (1991).                 Essential assessment skills in professional education of teachers.              Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 10(1),                            3--6. 
Shepard, L. A. (2000). The role of assessment in a learning             culture. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American                  Educational Research Association, New Orleans. Available                        http://www.aera.net/meeting/am2000/wrap/praddr01.htm 
Standards for            educational and psychological testing (1999). Washington, DC:                   American Educational Research Association, American Psychological               Association, National Council on Measurement in                                 Education. 
Standards for teacher competence in educational                    assessment of students. (1990). American Federation of Teachers,                National Council on Measurement in Education, National Education                Association. Available:                                                         http://www.unl.edu/buros/article3.html 
Stiggins, R. J. (2000).                Classroom assessment: A history of neglect, a future of immense                 potential. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American                Educational Research Association, New Orleans. 
Wiggins, G. (1998).            Educative assessment: Designing assessments to inform and improve               student performance. San Francisco: Jossey--Bass. 
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This                publication was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational            Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under                   contract ED99CO0032. The opinions expressed in this report do not               necessarily reflect the positions of policies of OERI or the U.S.               Department of Education. Permission is granted to copy and                      distribute this ERIC/AE digest.                                              **Title:** Basic Assessment Concepts for Teachers and School Administrators.               ERIC/AE Digest.                                                              **Note:** Version of a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American              Educational Research Association (New Orleans, LA, April 24-28,                 2000).                                                                       **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Descriptors:**  Administrators, Educational Assessment,  Educational Testing,                  Elementary Secondary Education,  Student Evaluation,  Teachers, Test            Construction,  Test Use                                                      **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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