Informal v. formal assessment
For tests:
- Warm up (don’t make it instantly hard)
- Let Ss know how they will be assessed
- Let Ss check for comprehension of transactional language of test before beginning
- Make sure you’re assessing your goals, so Ss know what to prepare for
- Don’t use assessment as threat or punishment
- Sometimes not being told that a test was coming up lowered the affective filter for some. Others might disagree.
- Ask Ss what grade they think they deserve at the end of the course (self-assessment and peer assessment, which depends on level of student; needs teacher checkin; you have to be really clear about your criteria unless it’s purely factual)
- Don’t make the test scope too broad
- Use a format that Ss are familiar with
- Assess regularly and in a variety of ways (multiple intelligences)
- Assess what you have taught
- Need to be tested on something objective: not just “this was a nice essay.” You need something concrete to measure it by.
- Could do a portfolio or task-based assessment instead of summative assessment
- Retest (fixing test) is an option, and you can get some partial credit back
The purpose of a test changes how we feel about it: whether it’s for an evaluation or grade or…
Purposes of assessment in language teaching; these are the elements of an assessment plan
- Assessing proficiency (for placement purposes)
- Assessing needs (diagnose ability, find out objective and subjective needs)
- Assessing progress (traditionally this is needs assessment: get info about what has been learned and what still needs to be learned)
- Assessing achievement (find out what has been learned; to assign a grade)
A continuum of assessments (Wiggins & McTighte 2005 p. 1520
- Informal checks for understanding —>
- Observations & dialogues —>
- Tests & quizzes —>
- Academic prompts —>
- Performance tasks
The first two generally aren’t formal or documented.
CCQs: wee comprehension check questions while you teach.
“What do you call those kinds of boards with clips?” — Beverly
- Language function is one thing you can do: express digust
- Language task can involve multiple functions: express disgust, fear and rage.
Selected response: Multiple choice and matching are difficult because you don’t have the chance to say what you know — it’s all or nothing, with a right and wrong answer. Beware in using them.
Constructed response: labeling diagrams, performance, cloze (good for early language learners)