Formative and Summative Assessment Edu645

Main Title: Formative and Summative Assessment

Stephanie Grant

Ashford University

Learning & Assessment for the 21^st Century

Prof. Darrell Rice

November 15, 2012

 

Main Title: Formative and Summative Assessment

Compare and contrast formative and summative assessment.

While there are two types of assessments use in the classroom they both measures a students learning, and each have a specific tool and is required to ensure that each is done adequately.  Formative assessment has a variety of procedures such as: observation, feedback, and journaling.  To measure effective formative assessment, the use of quality assessment tools and the use of information gained from these assessments to change and improve instruction key.  Formative assessment is interactive and cyclical in nature and can result in significant learning gains but only when the assessment results are used to inform the instructional and learning process.

Summative assessments provide information at the student, classroom and school levels. Defining characteristics of effective summative assessment include a clear alignment between assessment, curriculum, and instruction, as well as the use of assessments that are both valid and reliable.  When objectives are clearly specified and connected to instruction, summative assessment provides information about a student’s achievement of specific learning objectives.  Summative assessments (or more accurately, large-scale, standardized assessments) are frequently criticized for a variety of reasons: 1) they provide information too late about a student’s performance 2) they are disconnected from actual classroom practice meaning that one assessment cannot represent the full content area.  Many educators and parents feel they have a lack of “consequential validity” and therefore the tests results are used in an inappropriate way.  Other concerns are related to state accountability systems because high stakes, such as student retention or teacher performance pay are attached to performance on state assessment systems.

(http://educationaccordingtojenny.blogspot.com/2012/04/compare-and-contrast-summative-and-formative)

Regardless they both serve a purpose and that is to develop a students learning experience in the classroom, and they both must be used throughout the year to measure the effectiveness and understanding of a lesson and the effectiveness of the educator and student.  (http://educationaccordingtojenny.blogspot.com/2012/04/compare-and-contrast-summative-and-formative)

What is the purpose of formative and summative assessment as it relates to learning? 

Summative tests/assessments are intended to provide a measure or gauge of student learning following the completion of a unit of instruction.  They are used to assign grades evaluate curriculum effectiveness; evaluate annual gains in students, school, and district academic improvement (i.e., to meet state and federal accountability requirements), and for a variety of other purposes (Tom Kubiszyn & Gary Borich Educational Testing & Measurement Classroom Application & Practice 9^th edition).  Other purposes of summative learning are to sort students rank in order, maximize student learning through standardized tests. (http://www.slideshare.net/jcheek2008/formative-assessment-vs-summative-assessment)

Formative tests/assessments are brief it minimizes interference with instructional time and to facilitate repeated administration in the classroom.  One type of formative assessment is called curriculum-based measurement (CBM) – which are called probes they are about a minute long and are intended to be utilized on an ongoing, frequent basis as part of the instructional process to monitor student progress (progress monitoring),  (Tom Kubiszyn & Gary Borich Educational Testing & Measurement Classroom Application & Practice 9^th edition).  Other purposes for formative learning are to promote further improvement of student learning during the learning process, and involve students in the ongoing assessment of their own achievement.

With summative assessments, students are evaluated upon completion of the work and the focus is on the final product.  With formative assessments, students are evaluated during the work process and the focus is on improving the process.  For example, a summative assessment would be a state achievement test and a formative assessment would be a teacher’s response to journal entries. (National Council of Teachers of English)

So with that being said formative and summative tests assessment shows the progress of a students learning and what their strengths and weaknesses are.  If the student needs more help intensive and deliver the instructions differently so the student can understand it.  With formative & summative it can inform the teacher and the student and the teacher  would know if the student is getting a clear understanding of the course concept  and allows the teacher to make beneficial changes in instruction for the good of the student.  When making these adjustments it helps to ensure students achieve targeted standard base learning skills. It also helps the students know how well their work or understanding compares to state criteria or other students, and motivate the students to work in order to understand the course material.

How might an educator use each to reflect on his or her teaching strategies? 

They may reteach a concept, use alternative instructional approaches, or offer more opportunities for practice and reinforcement; by doing these activities it can lead to improve students’ success.  An educator can also use a formative test assessment to provide feedback to students about their progress and to guide decisions about the next steps in the learning process, by closing the gap between the learners’ current and desired states.  A planned process in which teachers or students use assessment-based evidence to adjust what they are currently doing (Popham 2008), formative assessment happens throughout the learning.

Feedback – when the educator and the student both give feedback they can identify the current status of a students learning of that course and the next step a student can take to improve on.  By involving students – when you let the student get involved in making decisions about their own learning and in self-assessment it helps the student to build their knowledge and understanding on how to improve.  Learning Progression can be used to reflect on educators teaching strategies.  The teacher uses it to break a learning goal into smaller, more manageable sub goals.  The teacher identifies a students’ location on the learning continuum and works collaboratively with the student to set a series of smaller goals. (e.g., Black & William, 1998 Saddler, 1989) https://teal.ed.gov/tealguide/formativeassessment

The educator will be able to match the students with appropriate materials and learning conditions, on how to group the students, whether students need alternative materials, how much time to allocate to specific learning activities, which concepts need to be re-taught to specify students, and which students are ready to advance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Tom Kubiszyn & Gary Borich Educational Testing & Measurement Classroom Application and Practice 9^th edition

 (Popham 2008)

https://teal.ed.gov/tealguide/formativeassessment

http://www.slideshare.net/jcheek2008/formative-assessment-vs-summative-assessment

(http://educationaccordingtojenny.blogspot.com/2012/04/compare-and-contrast-summative-and-formative)

 

Marks and Marking Systems Reflection

Main Title Marks and Marking Systems Reflection

Stephanie Grant

Ashford University

Learning & Assessment for the 21^st Century

Prof. Darrell Rice

December 7, 2012

 

 

 

Abstract

Grading on a curve, in one form or another, is a common practice in higher education.  The practice is often criticized for ignoring the possibility that an instructor and the class may have together worked to the point where more than half of the students have earned a top grade (Roth, 2000).  Critics also suggest that grading on a curve does not provide the ideal incentives for student motivation (Michaels, 1976) But the practice also has wide spread support.  It is advocated as an antidote to grade inflation.  It is also used in contexts in which institutions feel the obligation to distinguish among performances for the purpose or evaluating students for professional and graduate schools.  While critics tend to argue that goals ought to focus more on teaching and less on evaluation and ranking.  In my journal I will discuss about curve grading and the pros and cons of it and why a teacher grade on a curve and does it motivate the student as well as the teachers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why do you think some teachers like to grade students “on a curve”? 

·       Because some educators who grade on a curve believe that students will be motivated to study if they know that only a limited number of students can receive an “A” grade.

 

·       They are following a high-stakes testing model such as the ACT, GRE, and the STAAR.  These tests are used to determine which students are accepted or rejected by educational institutions; some teachers believe that the only way to prepare students for such norm-referenced tests is to give such tests in their own courses.

 

·       Some who grade on a curve believe it is the only way to guard against grade inflation.

 

·       Most who grade on a curve do it because their discipline has a long-established tradition of such a practice.

 

Sometimes districts or schools encourage grading on the curve by specifying the percentages of students who will be assigned various grades.  The following distribution is an example:

Grade	Percentage of Students
A	10
B	25
C	40
D	20
F	5

 

The main advantage of such a system is that it simplifies marking decisions.  With clear-cut decision-making guidelines, there is no apparent need for teachers to deliberate or agonize over what cutoff scores should determine student grades; the student is either in the top 10% or he or she doesn’t get an A.  However, there are several disadvantages in such a system the marking system fails to consider differences due to the overall ability level of the class.  Regardless of achievement, in such a system some students will always get A’s, while others get F’s.  Another problem involves the percentages ----- why not 5% A’s or 15% A’s?  The percentages are set rather arbitrarily.  Furthermore, what does it mean when a student gets an A?  Has the student mastered all course content?  Or was the student lucky enough to be in a class of low-performing learners?  Such a system says nothing about absolute achievement, which makes comparisons across grades and schools difficult. (Tom Kubiszyn & Gary Borich)

Let us look at some other pros and cons of grading on a curve.

The Benefits:

·       Relative Performance:  The grades are assigned according to the relative performance of other students, so the difficulty of the subject itself is masked.  This gives a sense of confidence to the student to tackle any subject.

 

·       Difficulty in Comparison: The percentile scores are calculated according to highest score achieved in the class.  This may not be very high.  So the comparison with the numerically high scores of other systems becomes impossible, this is leveling the playing field for every student.

 

·       Easier to Go to College:  More often than not, the relative score is generally higher than the actual numerical score.  This way it becomes easy to get into college.

 

The Drawbacks:

·       Grade Margins: Grading on a curve increases the problem of those students who are near to the margin between the two grades.  It may happen that a student is getting grade B in the normal grading system, but is getting grade C in the curve grading system.  This is a big problem.

 

·       Study Groups: Better performance by the study groups may show that the curve grading (the actual curve) is peaking, but individually, this may not be the case.  The student may end up performing below par.

 

·       Dealing with Different Grading System: A student, who is habituated with grading on a curve system in schools, is in for a rude shock when he encounters a different system (this may happen when he enters college or a graduate school).  Typically low performing students who are used to getting better grades may not adjust to the new system quickly.

 

The pros and cons of this system are many.  But it is definitely helpful for the weaker students, and at the same time, acknowledging the strengths of achieving and hard-working student.  This should be the only reason to adopt this system.

 

Do you see merit in the authors’ point about teachers being less motivated to improve when doing this?  Why or why not?  Yes, because no matter how well or poorly the teacher teaches, his or her students always get the same percentage of grades, so why should a teacher try to improve academic learning.  Because a curve is being based on the higher achieving students in order to boost the lower achieving students’ grades and sometimes a teacher would drop the lowest quiz grade as well.  Maybe with this entire high stakes testing the teacher feels it is more added pressure so by curving the grades it will make it a little easier on them and the students have a better chance of passing the class so they can focus more on passing the  high stakes (standardized testing).  “Grading on the curve” means is that your grade or mark depends on how your achievement compares with the achievement of other students in your class. (Tom Kubiszyn & Gary Borich) 

If you sit down and evaluate grading whether it is on a curve or not too many students have been led to believe that getting A’s is the point of going to school, and is the most important thing to do.  Not only does it looks good on your transcript & GPA score but teachers and corporations view that as if the student is smart and understood the concept of what their major is, and it makes them more marketable.

What effect do you think it might have on student motivation?  Explain.  Their interest in learning itself is diminished; they will prefer easier tasks – not because they’re lazy, but because they’re rational.  Think about it if the point is to get an A your odds are better if you avoid taking intellectual risk; students tend to think in a more superficial fashion and to forget what they learned more quickly when grades are involved.  The student will not study or study as hard because they know they will receive a curve in that class so they show no interest.  Covington’s fundamental belief is that the root of all academic motivation is for students to preserve and enhance a sense of “self-worth”.  If students can successfully compete for high grades, they may feel motivated to strive toward that goal, since achieving that will benefit their sense of self-worth.  For those who are less likely to compete for top grades, self-worth can be preserved successfully by not trying, since failure can perceived as a lack of effort rather than a lack of intelligence. 

Remember the game of musical chairs?  It’s the game where children dance around a circle of chairs to music.  When the music stops, kids rush to sit in the chairs.  There are never enough chairs for everyone, and the slowest children are out of the game once the faster children have found seats.  The game is set up so that for one person to win, another must lose.  A similar game is played in classrooms every day, from elementary grades to universities ---- and it’s popular.  Grading on the “Curve” is a method of grading that is based on the belief that letter grades in any given class should be distributed along a bell curve.  Traditionally grading on the curve has been viewed as motivational by teachers because it fosters competition.  Teachers that curve are both feared and admired for their limited offerings of “A’s”, and the pressure of being one of the few to get a high grade is believed to stimulate students to work harder, study longer, and take their class more seriously.

When you evaluate grading on a curve it is useful as well as hurtful to the students.  I remember in high school the teacher graded on a curve I was glad because it boosted my grade.  But when I actually think about receiving that curve it did more harm to me than good. Why?  Because in my other classes they didn’t grade on a curve and it made it much harder for me.  I rather receive a grade that I worked for than a curve because I would appreciate it more and if I did poorly on a test or assignment I would worker harder to do better.  It is always good to know what your weaknesses are so you can improve if you don’t know what they are how you can improve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

http://www.academic.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/v2n2/articles/pdfs/article_Kulick_Wright.pdf  vol.2, No.2 (July 2008) ISSN 1931-4744 @ Georgia Southern University

(Tom Kubiszyn & Gary Borich) Educational Testing & Measurement Classroom Application and Practice 9^th edition

http://ctl.byu.edu/dp/?P=59

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/grading-on-a-curve-pros-and-cons.html

http://www.education.com/magazine/article/grades_any_good/.com

http://www.teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/5658-why-grading-on-the-curve-hurts

 

 

 

Accuracy and Error Edu645

Main Title: Accuracy and Error

Stephanie Grant

Ashford University

Learning and Assessment for the 21^st Century

Prof. Darrell Rice

December 13, 2012

 

Abstract

What is accuracy and error?  Accuracy is the closeness of agreement between a measured value and the true value, the quality or state of being correct or precise the ability to perform a task with precision.  Whereas an error; is a mistake the state or condition of being wrong in conduct or judgment.  An error is also, a variable in a statistical and / or mathematical mode, which is created when the model does not fully represent the actual relationship between the independent variable(s) and the dependent variable.  As a result of this incomplete relationship, the error term is the amount at which the equation may differ during empirical analysis. 

In this journal I will discuss what the aurthors (Kubiszyn & Borich 2010) mean by “all tests and scores are imperfect and subject to error.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The authors of your textbook state that “all tests and scores are imperfect and are subject to error” (Kubiszyn & Borich 2010), what do they mean by this?  According to (Kubiszyn & Borich 2010) test and the scores they yield are fallible.  They come with varying degrees of “goodness,” but no test or score is completely valid or reliable.  In other words, all tests and scores are imperfect and are subject to error.  If most or all test scores were perfectly reliable, we could put a great deal of confidence in a person’s score from a single test.  The notion of error in testing is very similar.  No test measures perfectly, and many tests fail to measure as well as we would like them to, that is, tests make “mistakes.”  They are always associated with some degree of error.  If you think about it if a computer can make an error on a person’s bill so can we as educators when administering a test, which lets you know no machine or person is accurate or perfect we all make mistakes.  If most or all test scores were perfectly reliable, we could put a great deal of confidence in a person’s score from a single test. And if test scores are perfectly reliable a student will always get exactly the same score.   Let’s review the table in chapter 18 which will give you a demonstration of hypothetical true scores and error scores.

Table 18.1 The Relationship among Obtained Scores, Hypothetical True Scores, and Hypothetical Error Scores for a Ninth-Grade Math Test

Student	Obtained Score	True Score ~ a	Error Score ~ a
Donna	91	88	+3
Jack	72	79	-7
Phyllis	68	70	-2
Gary	85	80	+5
Marsha	90	86	+4
Milton	75	78	-3

Hypothetical Values

Why it is important to recognize that there is no “perfect test”?  Knowing this, what can you do to ensure that you obtain the most accurate assessment results as possible?  It is important to recognize this because all tests are subject to various sources of error that impair the reliability of their scores and, consequently their accuracy.  If we understand these sources of error in test scores we should be able to minimize them in constructing tests and thereby improve test score reliability.  All test scores are fallible; they contain a margin of error there are many factors that increase error within a test such as: Trick questions, reading level that is too high, ambiguous questions, items that are too difficult, and poorly written items, to the extent that test items and tests are poorly constructed, test score reliability and accuracy will be impaired. 

What I would do to obtain the most accurate assessment results as possible is Assembling the test: based on chapter 11 (Kubiszyn & Borich 2010):

1.     Have written measurable instructional objectives.

2.     Prepare a test blueprint, specifying the number of items for each content and process area.

 

3.     Written test items that match your instructional objectives.

After I complete these activities I would package the test and reproduce the test.  With packaging the test I would follow the several guidelines they have listed which are:

1.     Grouping together all items of similar format.

2.     Arrange test items from easy to hard.

3.     Space the items for easy reading.

4.     Keep items and options on the same page.

5.     Position illustrations near descriptions.

6.     Check your answer key

7.     Determine how students record answers

8.     Provide space for name and date.

9.     Check test directions

10.  Proofread the test.

Before I reproduce my test I would also use the checklist which is listed in chapter 11 figure 11.1:

Test assembly checklist

Put a check in the blank to the right of each statement after you’ve checked to see that it applies to your test:

 

Put a check in the blank	Yes	No
1.      Are items of similar format grouped together?
2.      Are items arranged from easy-to-hard levels of difficulty?
3.      Are items properly spaced?
4.      Are items and options on the same page?
5.      Are diagrams, maps, and supporting material above designated items and on the same page with items?
6.      Are answers random?
7.      Will an answer sheet be used?
8.      Are blanks for name and date included?
9.      Have the directions been checked for clarity?
10. Has the test been proofread for errors?
11. Do items avoid racial and gender bias?

 

By utilizing all of these tools I have listed for packaging my test, I realize my test can still be subjected to flaws and errors.  Why?  For so many reasons I could have been tired that day and overlooked something, I could have been sick or had personal issues.  It doesn’t mean because a teacher test is flawed and have errors they are not qualified to teach we must realize that human error does occur just like computer errors.