LESSON 1 – Preliminary Concepts/Terminologies,

Principles in Assessment
Specific Learning Outcomes
1. Explain the basic concepts and principles in educational assessment.
2. Discuss the relevance of assessment in making instructional decisions to
improve teaching and learning.
3. Discuss the applications and implications of assessment to teaching and
learning after reflecting on it.

Motivation/Prompting Questions
As a pre-service teacher, has it occurred to you how you were really assessed
in your performance? Can written tests truly tell the real performance of students?
What basic concepts and terminologies that you should understand first in
educational assessment? What is assessment? How can it improve teaching and
learning? How can you use it to improve your learning?

Discussion
Basic Concepts in Assessment

Let us start first familiarizing ourselves with the different concepts in

educational assessment.
As a student, you have taken several kinds or types of test. If you get 18 out of
20 items, what will be recorded is your score of 18. But the score doesn’t mean
anything unless it will be interpreted. You may be 1 meter and 65 cms tall but
what’s your goal of knowing your height? You might have all the data of the number
of wins and losses of your favorite basketball team, but it remains a number. All
these are examples of measurement. The numbers 18, 1 meter and 65 cms, wins
and losses just give us the quantitative description of an object’s characteristics or
attributes. Measurement is involved every day. We count the number of hours we
sleep every day, the number of times we eat and drink, the number of times we
opened our gadgets. Nowadays, we see the importance of knowing our body
temperature. It will surely alarm us if we get high temperature. We might be a
covid-19 candidate. Whatever will be reflected in the thermometer is a measure of
our body temperature.

What is then measurement?

Thorndike and Hagen (1986) define measurement as “the process of
quantifying observations and/or descriptions about a quality or attribute of a thing
or person.”

Examples: Taking body temperature, determining the length of an object, weighing

objects counting the number of people inside a room, enough space
Biehler and Snowman (1997) stated that measurement “is the assignment of
numbers to certain attributes of objects, events or people according to a rule-
governed system.”
Examples: 35.6℃ (body temperature), 25 m. long, 50.6 kgs, 50 students, 17 out of
25 items,
82% correct out of 100

As you can see measurement involves specifically observing or checking an

individual’s behavior or characteristics and giving a numerical score or rank to it to
indicate the degree to which an individual possesses or demonstrates the particular
characteristics or attributes.

As it applies to education, measurement (STU Online,2018) simply means

“determining the attributes or dimensions of an object, skills or knowledge.”

According to Cizek, Agger & Lim (2015), educational measurement is the

“science and practice of obtaining information about the characteristics of students
such as their knowledge, skills, abilities, and interests.” Furthermore, they stated
that measurement in education “includes the development of instruments or
protocols for obtaining information, procedures for analyzing and evaluating the
quality of that information, and strategies for communicating the information to
audiences, such as educators, policymakers, parents, and students.”

One instrument that is used to obtain information about student’s performance

is test, whether it is written or oral. This is administered among students during a
prescribed and agreed period of time to find out how much they know about a
particular topic or subject. The administration of test is called as testing.

Tests can be standardized or high- stakes. A test can be considered standardized

if it is administered, scored and interpreted in the same way for all test-takers
(National Council on Teacher Quality). An example of this is the Otis-Lennon
Aptitude Test that you took during the screening period before you enrolled in first
year.

High-stake test is a test that everyone of us will try to pass because it has so
much significance to us. Example is the Board Licensure Examination for
Professional Teachers (formerly the Licensure Examination for Teachers). If one
cannot pass it, s/he cannot practice the teaching profession.

After determining the summary of the results of tests or measurements, the

teacher may now find out what’s the meaning of the scores of students. What does
18 out of 20 mean? 15 out of 20? What does it mean if your favorite team wins 90%
of the games it participated in? This is where evaluation comes in.

Russel and Airasian (2012) as cited by De Guzman & Adamos (2015) define
evaluation as the “process of judging the quality of performance or courses of
action. It involves determining the value of an accomplished task or outcome.”

In education, evaluation is the “process of using the measurements gathered in

the assessments. “(online.stu.edu, 2018).

Smith (2001,2006) states that evaluation is the “systematic exploration and

judgment of working processes, experiences and outcomes.” It is a sophisticated
research process where gathered information is judged against an identified
criterion.

Evaluation is also a continuing process as it requires identifying which option or

decision to make in determining whether a student has learned or not. In making
such option or decision, the teacher should set the criterion/criteria as basis.

Some examples of evaluation are the following;

adequate facilities acceptable proposal
sufficient supply effective teaching
appropriate method average performance

The relationship among test, measurement and evaluation is illustrated by

Bachman (1990) through a diagram shown below;

Test
1 2 3 4 5

To understand better the relationship among the three, visit the following
and some other links;

www.academia.edu>Fundamental-Considerations-in-Language-Testing
http://www.edprima.com/measurement.htm

Another concept that you need to understand here is assessment. You often
hear this in class or in other areas. You can read various definitions of assessment
by different authors. I consider the following as simple and easy to understand.

According to the Glossary of Education Reform, assessment in educations

refers to the wide variety of methods or tools that educators use to evaluate,
measure, and document the academic readiness, learning progress, skill
acquisition, or educational needs of students.

Rhalmi (2018), considers assessment as the process of collecting information

about students from diverse sources so that educators can form an idea of what
they know and can do with this knowledge. Furthermore, he says that assessment is
concerned with students’ performance while evaluation is concerned with making
judgments about instruction, curriculum, or an educational system.

From the above definition, you can see that assessment includes measurement
and evaluation. Everything that the teacher does to improve students’ learning
constitutes assessment.

To help you understand more these concepts, you may read some articles on the
following and some other links;

www.infed.org/mobi/evaluation-theory-and-practice
online.stu.edu/articles/education/educational-measurement-assessment-
evaluation.aspx

Principles of Assessment

There are certain principles that guide educators how to use assessment to
improve students’ learning as well as their teaching as well.

The National Forum on Assessment (2017) identified the following principles

and indicators for student assessment systems;

1. The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning.

2. Assessment for other purposes supports student learning.
3. Assessment systems are fair to all students.
4. Professional collaboration and development support assessment.
5. The broad community participates in assessment development.
6. Communication about assessment is regular and clear.
7. Assessment systems are regularly reviewed and improved.

You can visit this link to further your understanding of these principles.
http://www.fairtest.org>principles-and-indicators-student-assessment-system

The Board Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (BLEPT, formerly

the Licensure Examination for Teachers), identified 12 principles of high-quality
assessment of learning for teachers.

1. CLARITY & APPROPRIATENESS OF LEARNING TARGETS

Assessment should be clearly stated and specified and centered on what is
truly important.
“Teaching emphasis should parallel testing emphasis.”
Assessment tasks should be congruent to the learning objectives.
Read the number one objective of this lesson. That is our learning target. To
 find out whether this objective is attained, you will be given an assessment
task that will require you to explain the basic concepts and principles in
educational assessment.

LEARNING TARGETS

Knowledge Students’ mastery of the content

Reasoning Students’ ability to use their knowledge
Skills Students’ ability to demonstrate what
they have learned
Products Students’ ability to create
Affects Students’ emotional attainments

2. APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT METHODS

Assessment should utilize assessment methods suitable for a particular

learning target.
ASSESSMENT METHODS LEARNING TARGETS
Knowledge
Objective Supply
Objective Select Knowledge
Essay Reasoning
Performance-based Skills, products
Oral-question Knowledge, reasoning
Observation Knowledge, skills
Self-report Affects

Objective number one of this lesson requires you to explain. In order for you
to explain, then an essay method of assessment is appropriate for this. Had
the objective been enumerate the principles of assessment, then the
method to be used would be objective supply.

3. BALANCE
Assessment methods should be able to assess all domains of learning and
hierarchy objectives.

Domains of Learning: Cognitive, Affective, Psychomotor

HIERARCHY OF OBJECTIVES
Benjamin Bloom (1956) Lorin Anderson (2000)
Evaluation Create
Synthesis Evaluate
Analysis Apply
Application Analyze
Comprehension Understand
 Knowledge Remember

You will not be assessed only on what you know (knowledge

based/cognitive), but also how are you going to demonstrate or produce
(skill based/psychomotor) the product of what you know. Therefore, to do a
skill, you need to have knowledge of the content of it. The third domain in
which students will be assessed is the affective which focuses on the
manner in which one deals with things emotionally, such as feelings,
values, appreciation, enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes (Buendicho,
2010). This also requires discussion. A student can demonstrate his level of
awareness of something by discussing it. You can distinguish the
similarities or differences between or among concepts by discussing it.
Notice that for any learning target in the psychomotor and affective
domain, there is always an element of cognition.

4. VALIDITY

Assessment should be valid. There are several types of validity that are to
be established, namely;
Content validity
Face validity

Concurrent validity
Predictive validity
Discriminant validity
Construct validity

5. RELIABILITY

Assessment should show consistent and stable results. There are methods
which can
be used to measure and establish reliability.

RELIABILITY CAN BE MEASURED USING:

Test-retake or Retest method Giving the same examination after
several minutes to several years.
Split-half This is used to establish internal
consistency
Using Pearson-r formula.
Parallel-form/Equivalence test Giving the same examination within the
day.
Test of Stability Giving the same examination content
but not in the same manner or form
after several minutes to several years.
Measurement of stability & equivalence Giving the same examination content
but not in the same manner or form
within the day.
Kuder-Richardson Establishment of reliability using KR 21
and KR 20 formulas
 Note: Validity and Reliability will be discussed more in another module.

6. FAIRNESS

Assessment should give equal opportunities for every student. There should
be no discrimination of any kind (racial, age, gender, etc.)

7. AUTHENTICITY

Assessment should touch real life situations and should emphasize

practicability.

8. PRACTICALITY AND EFFICIENCY

Assessment should save time, money, etc. It should be resourceful.

9. ASSESSMENT IS A CONTINUOUS PROCESS

Because assessment is an integral part of the teaching-learning process, it

should be continuous.

ASSESSMENT FORMS
Placement Assessment Done before instruction to assess the
needs of the learners to determine their
capacities and capabilities.
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT Done during instruction to monitor
students’ progress and to reinforce
learning
DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT Done to see the problems and learning
difficulties of the students.
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT Done after instruction to assess
students’ achievement and to see the
result of the teaching-learning process.

10.ETHICS IN ASSESSMENT

Assessment should not be used to derogate students. One example of this

is the right to confidentiality.

11.CLEAR COMMUNICATION

Assessment results should be communicated to the learners and the people

involved. Communication should also be established between the teacher
and the learners by way of pre and post-test reviews.

12.POSITIVITY OF CONSEQUENCE
Assessment should have a positive effect. It should motivate students to
learn and do more and should give way to improve the teacher’s
instruction.

Types, Purposes of Assessment

If you read books and other sources, you would notice that
some authors may refer to the following as types, and others as
purposes. In this module, we will use types as reflected in the course
outline.

1. Assessment for Learning (AfLe). This is a type of

assessment which determines what students need to learn,
where are they strong at, how are they progressing in their
learning. This is both diagnostic and formative in purpose.
The information gathered by the teachers will guide them in
their instruction whether the desired learning outcomes are
achieved. Examples of AfLe are pre-tests, daily tests, group
activities requiring students to do brainstorming, round
robin, concept mapping and other cooperative learning
activities, and a lot more. Since it is formative, scores of
students will not be used as basis for grading but still
recorded by the teacher to serve as basis whether to reteach
the topic or not. Take note: The term formative is used to
refer to activities that will check whether the learners are
able to form the desired concepts or not. This is usually used
by teachers.

2. Assessment as Learning (AsaL). This as also a type of

formative assessment. Usually the tasks given are those in
which the students themselves may be able to monitor,
reflect and evaluate their own learning. The use of rubrics
can help students determine where they are in a given task
and so they can work to refine or improve their work.
Students’ involvement in the development of rubrics will
motivate them to be more engaged in their own learning.

3. Assessment of Learning (AsoL). This type of assessment is

summative in purpose. When is this usually given? This is
usually given at the end of the unit, chapter, grading period
or at the end of the year. This is also given after the
completion of a task, process or program. The results of this
assessment will be used for grading, evaluating and
reporting.
 Relevance of Educational Assessment

De Guzman and Adamos (2015) identified the following players in the

education system who are benefited by educational assessment;

Students: Students can make use of the assessment data to improve

their own learning. With increased awareness on how they are performing in
different learning tasks, they become motivated to increase efforts to change
their learning strategies, focus on areas where they are weak and engage
themselves more in learning.

Teachers: Assessment results do not only provide students feedback of

their own performance but also that of the teachers. They can use these as
basis on how are they going to guide students in their learning, determine
the appropriate approach, method, strategy to use, create activities that will
facilitate students’ learning and other decisions relative to instruction.

Parents: Students’ learning is not only the responsibility of the school

but a shared one with the parents. Parents can provide teachers and school
administrators the important information about their children. Whatever
instructional problems that have something to do with the learners can be
addressed by the school. Parents are also informed of the academic progress
of their children and so they can do something to help them if ever they find
difficulties in their learning.

Administrators and Program Staff: Assessment results will be used as

basis for making important instructional decisions like promoting or failing
students. Interventions had been made to help students to cope with
instructional difficulties.

Policymakers: There were a lot of schools and programs that were closed
because of failing the standards set by government agencies tasked to
monitor their performance. There were also low-performing schools that
were identified and sanctions were imposed. The basis of the decisions were
the results of assessment done during the prescribed period of time.

Learning Activities/Exercises
I. After reading and studying the given concepts, let me check how
much you understood about them. Answer the following questions
below.

1. In your area of specialization, give at least three examples of questions

that show measurement;
 ________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________

evaluation;

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________

assessment

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________
2. Based on your experience, how did assessment improve your learning?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

II. A. Tell whether a given activity involves measurement, evaluation or

assessment.
1. Using criteria against a set of standards
2. Determining the exact population of the school.
3. Conducting remedial class among those who fall below the achievement level
target during the District Test.
4. Using information to develop and improve the school program
5. Using rating scales

B. What purpose of assessment is illustrated in each below?

6. Asking motive questions
7. Division Achievement Test
8. Oral recitations
9. Journals
10.National Achievement Test

References/Reading Materials

Books:
Buendicho, F. (2010). Assessment of student learning 1 (1st edition). Manila,
Philippines:
Rex Book Store
 De Guzman, E. & Adamos, J. (2015). Assessment of Learning 1. Manila,
Philippines:
Adriana Publihing Co. Inc.

Online Sources:

Bachman,L. (1990). Fundamental considerations in language testing. Oxford:

Oxford
University Press. Retrieved on October 1,2020 from
www.academia.edu>Fundamental-Considerations-in-Language-Testing

Bieler, R & Snowman, J. (1997). Psychology applied to teaching. Houghton

Mifflin Co.
Retrieved on September 27,2020 from
college.engage.com/education/pbl/tc/assess.html

blept.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-12-principles-of-high-quality.html

Cizek, G., Agger, C. & Lim, S. (2015, modified Aug 26,2020). Measurement in
the United
States. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Retrieved on September
13,2020 from

www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756810/obo-
9780199756810-0060.xml

Dubec, R. (2019). Assessment for, as, and of learning. Retrieved on October

1,2020 from
www.teachingcommons.lakeheadu.ca>assessment-and-learning

Online.stu.edu.2018

Rhalmi, M. (2018). Definition of testing, assessment, and evaluation. Updated

November
26, 2019. Retrieved on September 25, 2020 from
www.myenglishpages.com/blog/definition-of-testing-assessment-and-
evaluation/

Smith,M. (2006). Evaluation for education, learning and change- theory and
practice.
Retrieved from www.infed.org/biblio/b-eval.htm

Thorndike, R.L. and Hagen,E. (1986). Measurement and evaluation in

psychology and
education. MacMillan. Retrieved on September 13,2020 from
books.google.com.ph/books about/Measurement-and-Evaluation-in-
Psychology

http://edprima.com/measurement.htm
 http://www.fairtest.org>principles-and-indicators-student-assessment-system

https://www.nctq.org>dmsView>Attachments-2-standardize

online.stu.edu/articles/education/educational-measurement-assessment-
evaluation.aspx

www.infed.org/mobi/evaluation-theory-and-practice

Lesson 2: High Quality Assessment Components, Recent

Trends and Focus

Specific Learning Outcomes

1. Justify the need to consider the different components of high-quality
assessment when designing and developing assessment tools.
2. State how are our assessment practices affected by latest trends in
assessment.

Motivation/Prompting Questions
Assessment is an important part of the teaching-learning process. Teachers
may ask themselves about what they want to assess about their students and how
are they going to assess them. You, students, might also ask why teachers will
assess you. You might have wondered also if you can assess your own performance
and how are you going to assess it.
In this lesson, we are going to discuss the components of high-quality assessment.
We will also discuss the recent trends and focus in assessment.

Discussion
High Quality Assessment Components

1. Clear Purpose
 What’s the purpose of assessment? What information are needed by
the teachers, administrators, students, parents, and other stakeholders
in order for them to make instructional decisions? These questions will
guide the users of assessment results to clarify their purpose.

2. Clear and Appropriate Targets

Clear targets here mean learning targets that are SMART (Specific,
Measurable, Attainable, Result-oriented, Time-bound) or SMARTER
(Evaluation-Ready). These learning targets involve knowledge, skills,
attitude and products/outputs. Targets are appropriate if they are
specific to the lessons covered in a period of time.

3. Appropriate Methods
These refer to the assessment to be used. If the learning target
requires students to explain, then the assessment task will be an essay.
If it requires students to determine, a multiple-choice type of test
will do.

Note: Components 1-3 will be discussed more in the second module.

4. Adequate Sampling
When assessing a large number of students, it would be better to use
sample adequate enough to provide a clear picture of the performance
of the entire population. A sample is a part representative of the whole
that can give the picture of what is being assessed.

5. Objectivity
For the assessment to be objective, facts should be measured,
observed and examined. Personal feelings and opinions should not
interfere with the assessment process, much more, the results.

Recent Trends and Focus in Assessment

With the constantly changing educational landscape, we are now

gradually moving away from the pen and paper assessment or end-of-
level tests as Trenton Goble (2020) names it where most of us are
good at. There is now a shift from traditional assessment to more
innovative ones. Some of these are given below;

1. Accountability and Fairness

Veloo,et.al.(2020), pointed out that “assessment practices are
expected to be fair, equitable, and unbiased when measuring
students’ performance, which is heavily reliant on the accountability
of assessment administration”.
 There are emerging modes and practices of assessment that
educational institutions tried to adopt to keep pace with the present
trends. Teachers are held accountable of the performance of their
students. It is said that if there is no learning, there is no teaching.
But assessment is not only done inside the classroom. There are
school-based assessments, district achievement tests, regional
tests and even national tests. In administering these tests, those
involved should see to it that during the process of preparation and
administration, it should be made clear who would be held
accountable in keeping it safe, secured, confidential, valid, reliable
and with integrity. There is fairness if no one is being given favor.

2. Standard-based Education
In education, the term standard-based refers to the systems of
instruction, assessment, grading, and academic reporting that are
based on students demonstrating understanding or mastery of the
knowledge and skills they are expected to learn as they progress
through their education(edglossary,2017). In NORSU, our learning
standards are our Institutional Learning Outcomes (based on the
Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers (PPST, CHED Memos
and other laws), cascaded down to Program Learning Outcomes
(PLOs), Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) and Specific Learning
Outcomes (SLOs).
Go over this module. Read the Course Learning Outcomes. To
achieve the CLOs, Specific Learning Outcomes (SLOs) were
formulated. These become our standards in ensuring that you will
acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in spite of the difficulties
we experience at present.

3. Outcomes-Based Education
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) defines Outcomes-
based Education (OBE) as “an approach that focuses and organizes
the educational system around what is essential for all learners to
know, value and do to achieve a desired level of competence at the
time of graduation (CHED Implementation Handbook, 2013 as cited
by De Guzman and Adamos, 2015).

For the BSEd and BEEd Programs, CHED had identified learning
outcomes common to all programs in all types of schools, common
to the discipline (Teacher Education), specific to a sub-discipline and
major, and common to graduates of a horizontal type of institution.
These outcomes become the references of the teachers in preparing
their syllabi and other instructional materials to ensure that the
desired competencies are developed in the students.

4. Item-response Theory
 Glen(2015), defines Item Response Theory (IRT) as a “way to
analyze responses to tests or questionnaires with the goal of
improving measurement’s accuracy and reliability. If a teacher
wants that the test she prepares can actually measure what it
intends to measure, then she can use IRT. With the growing
emergence of technology in the Philippine classrooms, teachers will
find it easier to find out if she really has measured her students’
abilities and knowledge.

Learning Activities/Exercises

Let me check again what you have understood about this lesson. You
can get ideas also from Lesson 1 and from your readings on the suggested
sources and references.

1. Give at least 2 purposes of high-quality assessment.

________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________

2. Give 2 examples of clear and appropriate learning targets of a

particular lesson in your area of specialization.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________

3. What assessment method is appropriate for each learning target that

you gave in # 2?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________

4. Give at least 2 assessment practices that you have observed being

used by your teachers.
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________
 “We don’t develop courage by being happy every
day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and
challenging adversity.” – Barbara De Angelis

References:

De Guzman, E. & Adamos, J. (2015). Assessment of Learning 1. Manila, Philippines:

Adriana Publihing Co. Inc.

CHED Memo # 74 & 75, s.2017

Sampling for the Assessment of Student Learning Outcomes Retrieved on October

10,2020 from www.elcamino.edu>slo>Other-Assessment-Resources

Stephanie Glen. “Item Response Theory>Simple Definition” From

StatisticsHowto.co: Elementary Statistics for the rest of us!
https://www.statisticshowto.com/item-response-theory

https://www.edglossary.org/standards-based/#: ̴ :text=LAST UPDATE%3A 11.09.17,

they progress through their education.

https://oxfordre.com/education/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.001.0001/
acrefore-97800190264093-e-729

https://sites.google.com/site/gradingandreporting/review-of-principles-of-high-
quality-assessment