Assessment in Education

1. Assessment in Education Laura Acosta Juan Hernandez Denize Christobal Brenda Southern

2. School Assessment Programs Goals: Provide information to all stake holders & improve every student’s learning Purposes: Identify readiness, determine mastery of skills, placement into educational programs, Id. students with special needs, evaluate curriculum & specific programs of study, aid in educational or vocational decision making, to assess individual ability or aptitude, and to measure effectiveness of courses Planning: Complex process includes students, parents, teachers, administrators, local postsecondary institution representatives Id. goals, information needed, and establish instrument selection criteria, delegation of responsibilities, and the development of dissemination procedures and strategies to monitor the program

3. Instruments Used in School Assessment Programs: Tests for Achievement, Intellectual Ability, Readiness, Aptitude, Admission & Career Assessment Instruments Activities: Refer students out to other professionals when needed, interpret scores, keep abreast of ethical and multicultural issues, use test and non-test data to make decisions, professional development, interpret & communicate information to interested parties, and help teachers to use assessment and assessment information Data Mining Process

4. Needs Assessments & Responsiveness to Intervention Needs Assessment Formal process of gathering data from various sources on the needs of students from different populations To prioritize school counseling programs Serves as justification for implementation of program, to evaluate it and the effectiveness of the interventions To demonstrate immediate, intermediate, or long-range results of how students are different as a result of thecounseling program RTI Approach to identify students with SLDs & provide those at-risk with services and interventions Tier I Whole group instruction Tier II Intervention Tier III Special Education Individualized Education Plan (IEP)

5. Specific learning disability (SLD) A neurological disorder that severely impairs children’s ability to learn or to demonstrate skills in several academic areas. Assessing Specific Learning Disabilities

6. Assessing Specific Learning Disabilities These Academic areas are: Oral Expression Listening Comprehension Written Expression Basic Reading Skill Reading Comprehension Mathematical Calculation Mathematical Reasoning

7. Assessing Specific Learning Disabilities Students with an SLD may have difficulty listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, or doing math problems. They often show intra-individual differences. It is estimated that approximately 6% of students may have an SLD, mostly in the area of reading.

8. Assessing Specific Learning Disabilities The most common method used to identify students with SLDs is the ability-achievement discrepancy model (also called the IQ-achievement discrepancy model). This model identifies students as learning disabled when there is a severe discrepancy between their scores on an ability test and their scores on an achievement test. A discrepancy of 1 to 11/2 standard deviations between the scores generally qualifies as severe.

9. Assessing Giftedness The term giftedness is applied to those students who perform or show potential for performing at exceptionally high levels of accomplishment when compared to others of their age, experience or environment. Three million children, or 5% of the U.S. student population, are considered gifted and talented. The process of assessing students for giftedness usually entails two phases: Screening and identification.

10. Assessing Giftedness In the identification stage of the process, further assessment is conducted focusing on four areas: Cognitive Ability Academic Ability Creative Thinking Ability Visual or Performing Arts Ability Cognitive ability and academic ability are evaluated using standardized ability tests and standardized achievement tests. See table 14.2 on pg.315 for instruments and strategies that may be used to assess cognitive ability and academic ability.

11. Assessing Giftedness Creative thinking ability can be assessed by using intelligence tests, general giftedness screening instruments, or instruments designed specifically to appraise creativity. Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) E. Paul Torrance(1974). Can be used to assess creative thinking ability. Consists of two different tests: Figural TTCT and the Verbal TTCT. Torrance also developed Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement, Thinking Creatively with Sounds and Words and Thinking Creatively with Pictures

12. Assessing Giftedness Visual or performing arts ability is usually demonstrated through a display of work, a performance, or an exhibition. There are also instruments that were developed to assess specific characteristics of giftedness. One example is the Scales for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students, Revised. It is comprised of 14 scales associated with the characteristics of gifted students. Other instruments usedfor identifying gifted and talented students include the Gifted Rating Scales-School Form(GRS-S), Gifted and Talented Evaluation Scale(GATES), and the Screening Assessment for Gifted Elementary and Middle School Students(SAGES-2).

13. Test Preparation and Performance Coaching Test-Wiseness Test Anxiety

14. Coaching Used by administrators, teachers and counselors Provided through public schools, private classes, private tutors, test books, and software programs IE: SAT prep classes Concerns about social, philosophical, and ethical aspects of coaching

15. Test-Wiseness Individuals ability to utilized the characteristics and formats of a test Independent of students knowledge of subject matter being tested Strategies : Time Use, Error Avoidance, Guessing, and Use of Deductive Reasoning, Familiarizing yourself with the Test

16. Test Wiseness Strategy for Multiple Choice Test SPLASH Skim the test Plan you Strategy Leave out Difficult Questions Attack Questions you Know Systematically Guess House Cleaning

17. Test Anxiety Feeling of Uneasiness or Tension that is felt during testing situations  That can cause upset stomach, headache, loss of concentration, fear, irritability, anger and depression

18. Test Anxiety How to relieve test anxiety 1. understand test instructions 2. establish rapport 3. relax and stress free environment 4. provide session on how to take test 5. practice test 6. study guides  Relaxation Exercises

19. Environmental Assessments in the School Environmental Assessment Factors that interact with and predict behavior 1. Physical Space 2. Organizations and Supervision of Space 3. Materials 4. Peer Environment 5. Organization and Scheduling 6. Safety 7. Responsiveness

20. Environmental Factors with School 1. Physical Setting 2. Teacher/Student relationship 3. Curricular and Educational Materials 4. Students Behaviors ex: attendance, social interaction, class interruptions

21. Classroom Environment 1. Physical and Structural dimensions 2. Interactional Dimensions 3. Instructional Dimensions

22. Assessment Instruments CES Classroom Environment Scale 2. ESB Effective School Battery 3. SEPS Environment Preference Survey

23. No Child Left Behind • Emphasizes educational accountability • By measuring individual student achievement • Measure progress towards state achievement standards • All states must test in reading, mathematics and science (grades 3-8) • Students must meet minimum score to pass or graduate

24. High stakes testing • Affects the educational choices a student will make • Judges schools according to student’s test performance • High performing schools can receive financial rewards • School’s are ranked according to students test scores

25. NCLB Criticisms • Excludes subjects • Doesn’t account for student diversity • High stakes testing promotes greed fear and stress • Encourages cheating and dropping out • School counselors time is consumed with testing • Lacks state to state consistency

26. Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills • TAKS- tests begin in 3rd grade-- reading, writing, math, social studies, language arts and science • TAKS (Accommodated) serves students under special education-uses large fonts less questions • TAKS–ALT assesses students who have significant cognitive disabilities and are receiving special education services. • TAKS–M- tests have been changed in format and test design and administered to children who receive special education services • End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments

27. The American Educational Research Association • Makes the following recommendations: • High stakes decisions shouldn’t be made on test scores alone • Adequate resources for all students • Individual certification and student motivation • Policy makers should be made aware of negative consequences • The tests should represent the curriculum • Students should have a meaningful way to remedy failing a test • Language proficiency should be considered to insure proper interpretation of results • Students with disabilities should also be taken into consideration • Reliable tests to support intended interpretation

28. The Future • Changes to NCLB will include • A more rounded education • The goal after graduation is career and college readiness • Promote change and support • Take into consideration diverse students • Hold state and districts accountable who don’t support their principals and teachers • Measure schools based on student growth, graduation rates and student academic achievement • Recruit, place, reward and promote effective teachers and principals