Chap 8. Assessment and Evaluation

Conducting Assessment

Assessment Plan

In planning assessment in a cooperative classroom, the teacher has to check the targets to assess, check the procedures to use, and match the targets with the procedures. Three types of assessment can be used: diagnostic assessment that refers to student’s actual level of knowledge and skills, formative assessment that monitors students’ progress toward learning goals, and summative assessment that provides data to judge the final level of students’ learning (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec 1998).

What is assessed	Procedures used to assess
____ Academic learning	____ Goal setting conferences
____ Reasoning process/strategies	____ Standardized tests
____ Skills & competencies	____ Teacher-made tests
____ Attitudes	____ Written compositions
____ Work habits	____ Oral presentations
	____ Projects
	____ Portfolios
	____ Observations
	____ Questionnaires
	____ Interviews
	____ Learning logs & journals
	____ Student management teams

 

Assessment Definitions

Exercise: Alone or with a pa rtner match the definition with the concept it represents. This is an exercise that would enhance the understanding of the following concepts: instruction, learning, rubric, assessment, criteria, and evaluation. 

Concept	Definition
___ 1. Instruction	a. Change within a student that is brought about by instruction.
___ 2. Learning	b. Judging the merit, value, or desirability of a measured performance.
___ 3. Rubric	c. Standards against which the quality and quantity of performances are assessed (what counts or is important).
___ 4. Assessment	d. Structuring of situations in ways that help students change, through learning.
___ 5. Criteria	e. Collecting information about the quality or quantity of a change in a student, group, teacher, or administrator.
___ 6. Evaluation	f. Articulation of gradations of quality and quantity for each criterion, from poor to exemplary.

 (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec 1998)

Assessment Issues

The table below shows the advantages and the disadvantages of different types of assessment.

 

Purpose	Focus	Setting	Stakeholders	Stakes
Diagnostic	Process of learning	Artificial (classroom)	Students-parents	Low
Formative	Process of instruction	Authentic (real-world)	Teachers, administrators	High
Summative	Outcomes of learning		Policy-makers
	Outcomes of instruction		Colleges, employers

 

Meaningful Assessment

Two of the biggest problems educators have to cope with in conducting efficient and responsible assessments are making the assessments meaningful to stakeholders and manageable so they actually get done.

Meaningful assessment is created by:

• Structuring positive interdependence in the classroom (see chapter 4 for more info)

• Involving the students in learning and assessment procedures

• Organizing assessment data in a way that can be used later on for remediation and review.

(Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec 1998) 

MEANINGFUL ASSESSMENT
Positive Interdependence	Involvement	Useful results
Common purpose	Setting goals, planning paths to achieve goals, assessing progress, planning for improvement, implementing plans	Clarity of next steps to improve
Positive relationships	Ownership	Use of results

According to Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec (p.8:6, 1998) “cooperative learning groups provide the setting, context and environment in which assessment becomes part of the instructional process and students learn almost as much from assessing the quality of their own and their classmates’ work as they do from participating in the instructional activities.”

Reference