CHAPTER 1

BASIC CONCEPTS IN ASSESSMENT

Students’ achievement, how much and what pupils learn, is the single most important
concern about educational programs. To many, it presents the most compelling evidence about
teacher quality.

Measurement and evaluation are integral parts of any educational system. Generally,
they are thought of as processes by which students are given examinations and given school
marks or grades on the basis of what they obtain in the examinations.

Measurement is the process of determining the quantity of achievement of learners by

means of appropriate instrument. It answers the questions: How much does the student know
or understand? How much was learned from the lesson? Example: Ana solved 13 out of 15
mathematical problems incorrectly.

Testing is a technique of obtaining information needed for evaluation purposes.

Evaluation is the process of summing up the results of measurement. It determines the

quality or worth of achievement in terms of certain standards. It answers the question: How
good, adequate, how desirable is the change, and using this information to improve instruction.
Example: Ana is poor in solving mathematical problems.

Educational measurement and evaluation generally go together.

Assessment is the process of collecting and interpreting information to aid in the

decision-making process. It answers the question: How much change has occurred? How much
of a given skill the student possesses before and after a particular teaching-learning experience.
Example: Ana must be given regular practice exercises.

Assessment decisions could substantially improve students’ performance, guide the

teachers in enhancing-learning process and assist policy makers in improving the educational
system.

Instrument Used in Measurement

Measuring instrument is a device used for determining the quantity of achievement.

Some examples are the following:

Examination is an appraisal of ability, achievement, or status in any respect. It may also

refer to the instrument in such an appraisal.

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 Test is a measuring instrument whose general characteristic is, it forces responses from
a pupil and such responses are considered to be indicative of the pupil’s skill, knowledge,
attitudes, etc.

Quiz is a relatively short test given periodically to measure achievement in the lesson
recently taught or on any small, newly completed unit of work.

Item is a part of test that elicits a specific response.

Other measuring instruments are term paper, reaction, projects, themes, experiment,
check lists, rating scales, oral recitation, and the like.

Result of Measurement

Score is a number that indicates the quantity of achievement of an individual in a test

which is commonly determined in terms of items correctly answered. If a student answers 15
items in a 20-item test, his score is 15. This is also called raw score.

Achievement is that level or measure of knowledge of proficiency of performance of a

pupil or student in a subject taught in school. Usually, achievement is indicated by a score.

Function of Measurement

1. Instructional functions

1.1 Principal instructional functions are the basic purposes of measurement

a. To determine what knowledge, skills, abilities have been acquired.
b. To determine what progress has been made in the acquisition of the learning
outcome.
c. To determine the strength, weaknesses, difficulties and needs of the students.
1.2 Secondary instructional function- helps make teaching and learning more effective
a. To help in the formation of study habits.
b. To develop the effort- making capacity of the students.
c. To serve as aid for guidance, counselling, and prognosis.

2. Administrative & Supervisory function

2.1 To maintain standard
2.2 To classify or select students for special purposes
2.3 To determine the efficiency of teachers, the effectiveness of this techniques,
strategies, weaknesses, strengths, etc.
2.4 To determine the standard of instruction of a school.
2.5 To serve as basis for curriculum making and development.
2.6 To serve as guide for administration.
2.7 To set up norms of performance.

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Scope of Evaluation

1. Assessment of curricular offerings, school programs, and instructional materials and

facilities. This means that courses offered should be evaluated to determine if they are
still relevant, realistic and responsive to the changing needs and problems of the
society; school programs must be appraised to determine if teachers are not
overloaded, and instructional materials like books, references, visual aids and devices
and many others should be assessed to ascertain if they are adequate and updated; and
instructional facilities like audio-visual equipment such as projectors, televisions,
Betamax, speech laboratory equipment and many others are adequate.

2. Assessment of the mentors. The teachers should be appraised to determine if they

possess the qualities of the acronym- MODERN TEACHER, to determine if the mentors
can deliver the goods and services to the students effectively, efficiently, and
economically, and to evaluate also if teachers are qualified or not qualified.

3. Assessment of the learners. The learners should be evaluated to determine whether

they have reached the goals of the learning tasks.

Functions of Measurement and Evaluation

1. It measures student’s achievement. Student’s achievement can be determined whether

he has reached the goals of the learning task or not through measurement and
evaluation.

2. It evaluates instruction. The effectiveness or ineffectiveness of instruction is

ascertained through measurement and evaluation. For example, take the case of
teacher or supervisor who gives an achievement test to the students. If the result of the
test is high it means instruction is effective; if low, ineffective.

3. It motivates learning. Upon knowing the results of the achievement test, the student’s
interest in aroused especially if he gets a high score: otherwise, if his score is low, he
strives hard to get higher score in the next examination.

4. It predicts success. Success and failure of the student is predicted through

measurement and evaluation. For instance, a student who always gets high scores in all
his subjects may mean that he is sure to pass and passing means success.

5. It diagnoses the nature of difficulties. The weaknesses of the learner can be identified
through measurement and evaluation particularly, diagnostic test.

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Role of Assessment in Making Instructional Decisions

Assessment plays a number of roles in making instructional decisions:

1. Placement Role. In this role, assessment accounts for a student’s entry behaviors or
performance. It determines the knowledge and skills he possesses which are necessary
at the beginning of instruction in a given subject area. For instance, it reveals if a
student who is about to study mathematical operations has mastery of number
concepts. Such evaluation also shows the extent to which the student has already
mastered the objectives of the area to be studied. Placement evaluation likewise points
out to the teacher the pupil’s interest and personality characteristics-formation which
will aid him in using the method of instruction that will benefit the pupil most. Aptitude
tests, inventories and observations are forms of placement evaluation.

2. Formative Role. Formative assessment guides the teacher on his day-to-day teaching
activity. It provides the student with feedback regarding his success or failure in
attaining instructional objective. It identifies the specific learning errors that need to be
corrected, and provides reinforcement for successful performance as we. For the
teacher, formative evaluation provides information for making instruction and remedial
work more effective.

3. Diagnostic Role. Diagnostic assessment is used to detect student’s learning difficulties

which are not revealed by formative tests or checked by remedial instruction and other
instructional adjustment. It also discloses the underlying causes of learning difficulties.
Therefore, it is more comprehensive and detailed.

4. Summative Role. Summative assessment tries to determine the extent to which

objectives of instruction have been achieved, and is used for assigning course grades.
Techniques for obtaining information about student achievement include oral reports,
projects, term papers, themes, and teacher-made achievement tests.

Formative and Summative Evaluation

Formative and summative evaluation characterizes the mastery learning approach.

Formative Evaluation

Formative evaluation is an integral part of the teaching-learning process that is done

frequently to determine who among the students have not attained mastery of the learning
tasks. The indication of mastery in each formative test would not be too high or too low, about
80-85 percent may be accepted.
Symbols are assigned on the results of formative test. For instance, M for mastery or
MWN for More Work Needed, NI for Needs Improvement.

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Uses of Formative Evaluation for Students.

1. Pacing. Pacing is important in learning for it aids the learners in learning the subject
matter and the behavior considering that the rate of learning is individualized.

2. Reinforcement. Results of formative evaluation should inform the learner whether he

has mastered a unit or not. The feedback based on the results of a formative test an
effective reward of reinforcement to learners over a small unit of learning. For instance,
a learner receives always an MWN symbol over a series of short quizzes. This reinforces
his concept that he needs more work. Such a learner may then adjust his efforts at his
own level in order to protect his ego. Thus, formative evaluation merely informs
whether the learner has mastered a unit or not.

3. Diagnostic. The errors made by students in the formative evaluation diagnose the
weaknesses of the students as bases for remedial instruction.

Uses of Formative Evaluation for Teachers

1. Handling Errors. Errors made by majority of the students should be handed by the
teacher. These errors should be reviewed by the class at the next session.

2. Quality Control. If the teacher keeps records of the past performance of the students on
the results of formative evaluation, he can make use of this record as basis for remedial
instruction and improvement over that of the previous students.

3. Forecasting. The results of the summative test can be predicted on the basis of
formative test results.

Summative Evaluation

Summative evaluation aims to assess the learner’s achievement at the end of teaching
learning process, for instance, at the end of the unit. Summative instrument measures the
learner’s attainment of specific objectives at the end of a given period of time.

Uses of Summative Evaluation

1. To assign grades. The results of the summative tests are rated, whether letter of
numerical grade, on the basis of a standard set for mastery. This standard indicates the
specific skills that a student must attain and the behavior he must exhibit.
2. To provide feedbacks to students. The grades assigned on the results of a summative
test give little information to the students. However, if a summative test is constructed
carefully with fairly well dispersed items on the test and if multiple scores are given to
the behavioral categories, then the learners will receive more feedbacks on his
performance especially if sufficient items in each category are reliable.

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3. To compare outcomes of different groups. The outcomes of the different teaching
techniques and strategies, different teaching aids and devices and different types of
students are compared.