ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION (TOPIC 8)

Grading and Reporting

Functions of Grading and Reporting Systems Improve students’ learning by:

 

1)clarifying instructional objectives for them

 2)showing students’ strengths & weaknesses

 3)providing information on personal-social development

 4)enhancing students’ motivation (e.g., short-term goals)

 5)indicating where teaching might be modified

 Best achieved by:

 1)day-to-day tests and feedback

 2)plus periodic integrated summaries

Types of Grading and Reporting Systems

 Traditional letter-grade system

1)Easy and can average them

 2)But of limited value when used as the sole report, because:

            - they end up being a combination of achievement, effort, work habits, behavior

            - teachers differ in how many high (or low) grades they give

 3)They are therefore hard to interpret they do not indicate patterns of strength and weakness

ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION (TOPIC 7)

Assessment Procedures: Observational Technique, Peer Appraisal, and Self-Report

Anecdotal Records
  1)Determine in advance what to observe but look for a typical or unusual behavior
 2)Analyze observational records for bias
 3)Observe and record enough times to make behavior meaningful 
4)Make a record of incidents
 5)Limit anecdotal descriptions to one incident
 6)Record positive and negative behavior
 7)Collect a number of anecdotes before drawing inferences concerning what might be typical behavior
 8)Practice writing anecdotal records

Self-Report Techniques Interviews Self-reporting interviews can be useful but suffer from some major problems: 1)It is very time consuming to interview students. 2)Self-reporting assumes that the participants are honest and willing to report. Students may have self-perceptions that are not substantiated by 3)their behavior or they may be trying to answer in a way they think the interviewer wants them to. 4)Results gained, while useful for individual students, cannot usually be generalized to groups of students.