ASSESSMENT AS AN

I N T E G R A L PA R T O F
TEACHING

CHAPTER 1
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the Chapter, the student should be able to:
• differentiate among diagnostic, formative and summative assessment;
• cite ways to do traditional and authentic assessment;
• Distinguish between traditional and authentic assessment; norm- referenced and
criterion- referenced assessment, contextualized and decontextualized
assessment;
• Explain marks of quality assessment and
• Discuss current trends in assessment.
 ASSESSMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF
TEACHING- LEARNING
DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT

- form of pre- assessment that allows a teacher to determine individual

student’s prior knowledge including misconceptions before instruction.
- Primarily used to diagnose what students already know and don’t yet know in
order to guide instructions.
- The result of diagnostics also provide a basis for comparison to determine
how much learning has taken place after the learning activity is completed.
 ASSESSMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF
TEACHING- LEARNING
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
- Takes place during instruction (during the formative process) to provide the
teacher with information regarding how well the learning objectives of a given
learning activity are being met.
- -teachers monitor student learning to get ongoing feedback to improve their
teaching and for the students to improve their learning.
- Students are helped to identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas
that need work.
- Teachers are also helped to recognize where students are struggling and so
address problems immediately.
 ASSESSMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF
TEACHING- LEARNING
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
- Evident- based improvement of on- going teaching- learning.
- Is referred to as assessment for learning because it is meant to ensure that
learning takes place.

*In the process of instruction, the teacher checks on students learning. If he/she
discovers that concepts and skills are not yet mastered, right there and then, the
teacher re- teaches to ensure learning.Thus, the phrase “assessment for learning”.
 ASSESSMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF
TEACHING- LEARNING
SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
-used to evaluate student learning at the end of a defined instructional period.
-referred to as assessment of learning.
-it is a picture of how much learning took place and to what extend.
-the results of summative assessments are the bases for grades and report to
parents.
-done through paper- and- pencil tests and non- paper- and- pencil tests.
TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT AND
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT
Traditional assessment
-includes the paper- and- pencil tests.
-Paper- and- pencil tests are either the selected- response type or constructed- response.
TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT
TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT AND
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT
Authentic assessment
• The term authentic assessment was coined by Grant Wiggins (1993) a leading proponent of
reform of testing.
• It is termed authentic because students’ knowledge and skills are assessed in a context that
approximates the real world or real life as closely as possible.
• Requires the student performance that models realistic encounters in life in contrast to
taking a written test or writing an essay.
• -also called performance assessment
• -also known as non- traditional assessment and alternative assessment
• -
TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT AND
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT
Authentic assessment
• -the word alternative implies that there is another way of assessing learning other than the
traditional or paper- pencil test that we have been used to.
- Can be in the form of students’ performance to display skills learned, mastery of a process or
procedure or in the form of a product or concrete output.
- Some examples of performance: a student is able to dance tango, to dribble the ball, to send
an email, to set up an experiment.
- Can be done also by assessing the product of students’ learning such as haiku composed, a
pair of pants sewn, journal entries, writing samples, art work, a research paper written, a
videotapes interview and a capstone project.
NORM AND CRITERION- REFERENCED
ASSESSMENT
CRITERION- REFERENCED ASSESSMENT
- We compare a students’ performance against a criterion of success which is the predetermined
standard.
- Each students’ performance is compared directly to the standard, without considering how other
students performed in the assessment.
- -often use “cut scores” to place students into categories such as “basic”, “proficient”, and
“advanced”.
- Example: The teacher’s intended learning outcome is to “spell at least eighteen out of twenty
words correctly. Student A is able to spell twenty (20 ) words correctly, Student B, eighteen (18)
words and Student C, ten words (10). It is obvious that only Student A and Student B were able
to realize the predetermined standard.
NORM AND CRITERION- REFERENCED
ASSESSMENT
NORM- REFERENCED ASSESSMENT
-we compare a student’s performance with the performance of other students, the norm group, not
against the predetermined standard.
-the composition of the norm group depends on the assessment.
*An example is comparing the performance of the seventh graders in Reading in a particular school
system to the performance of nation- wide group of the seventh graders in Reading.
*Norm- referenced scores are generally reported as a percentile ranking.
 NORM AND CRITERION- REFERENCED
ASSESSMENT
The meaning of a norm- referenced score is derived from a comparison of students’
scores against other students’ scores while the meaning of a criterion- referenced score is
derived from comparing students’ scores with established criterion of success.

The norm- referenced score will not tell you whether a student met, exceed, or fell
short of the standard of proficiency. It is the criterion- referenced score that will tell you
whether or not s student met the established standard of success or proficiency.
CONTEXTUALIZED AND
DECONTEXTUALIZED ASSESSMENT
• CONTEXTUALIZED ASSESSMENT
-The focus is on the students’ construction of functioning knowledge
-it is the students’ performance in their application of knowledge and skills in the real work
context of the discipline area.
-makes use of performance- based tasks which are authentic in nature.
- They reflect “real- life” tasks and require students to utilize higher order thinking skills
(Crotty, 1994; Leon and Elias, 1998) to fulfill on demand duties and tasks.
CONTEXTUALIZED AND
DECONTEXTUALIZED ASSESSMENT
DECONTEXTUALIZED ASSESSMENT
- Includes written exams which are suitable for assessing declarative knowledge,
and do not necessarily have a direct connection to a real life context (Biggs,
2011).
- Focuses on declarative knowledge/ and or procedural knowledge in artificial
situations detached from the real work context.
*Both contextualized and decontextualized learning and assessment have their
role in evaluating learning outcomes.
In practice, Biggs and Tang claim (2011) decontextualized assessment has been
overemphasized compared to the place declarative knowledge has in the
curriculum. Both declarative knowledge and real- life application of that knowledge
must be assessed appropriately.
ESTABLISHING HIGH QUALITY
ASSESSMENTS
• 1. Quality assessments are in accordance with contemporary view of active learning and
motivation.
- This means that learners discover and construct learning, set, plan and work to realize their
goals, associate and link new information with existing knowledge in meaningful ways; think
critically and creatively; develop self- monitoring skills; have positive expectations for learning
and confidence in their skills; are enthusiastically and internally motivated to learn; apply what
they learn to real- world situations; and communicate effectively. (Santock, 209).

- *In short, high quality assessment are contextualized, not decontextualize.

ESTABLISHING HIGH QUALITY
ASSESSMENTS
• 2. Assessment of high quality is valid.
-assessment is valid if measures what it is supposed to measure, i.e., how well the learning
outcomes have been attained. A teacher must be true to his/ her intended learning outcome/s.
ESTABLISHING HIGH QUALITY
ASSESSMENTS
• 3. Assessment of high quality is reliable.
- Assessment is reliable when the test produces consistent scores.
ESTABLISHING HIGH QUALITY
ASSESSMENTS
• 4. Assessment of high quality is fair.
It is fair if it assess what it is supposed to be assessed as stated in the
learning outcome which is expected to have been taught.This is the
principle of constructive alignment in action. Obviously, assessing
learners on something they have not been taught is unfair.
 CURRENT TRENDS IN ASSESSMENT
• 1. Using at least some performance- based assessment
- This means that the use of objective tests such as alternate response, multiple choice
and matching type is no longer adequate. According to Coral Schneider, President of
the Association of American Colleges and Universities, employer say our world “I not a
multiple- choice world…. Don’t send us graduates who only know how to solve
multiple- choice problems. “Instead, Scheneider continues, “employers are asking for
what educators call a modern liberal education, more big- picture thinking, …but with
more real- world applications.
- This does not mean that we have to set aside the use of objective tests in assessment.
Not at all. Objective tests (traditional assessment) complement performance- based
assessment. But the use of objective alone won’t suffice.
 CURRENT TRENDS IN ASSESSMENT
• 2. Examining higher – level cognitive skills and
emphasizing integrated rather than isolated skills.

-These higher- level cognitive skills include problem-solving, critical thinking,

decision- making, drawing of inferences, strategic thinking. That is why, it is
not enough to make use of objective tests that assess simple recall.
 CURRENT TRENDS IN ASSESSMENT
• 3. Using multiple assessment methods
-To assess students, a current trend is to us multiple methods- from multiple
choice tests to essay, an interview, a project, a portfolio to self- evaluation.
Again it is emphasized that we have not to do away with objective tests that
measure simple recall. These tests that require simple recall complement
authentic assessment tools.
 CURRENT TRENDS IN ASSESSMENT
• 2. Examining higher – level cognitive skills and
emphasizing integrated rather than isolated skills.

-These higher- level cognitive skills include problem-solving, critical thinking,

decision- making, drawing of inferences, strategic thinking. That is why, it is
not enough to make use of objective tests that assess simple recall.
 CURRENT TRENDS IN ASSESSMENT
• 4. Having high performance standards including world-
class standards for interpreting assessment results.

- Let us set standards high. Research says “ one’s level of

performance is lower than one’s level of aspiration.” It is
therefore sound to challenge students to meet high performance.
 CURRENT TRENDS IN ASSESSMENT
• 5. Involving students in all aspects of assessment
- It works if the students are involved from the setting of expected
targets to be demonstrated after instruction to checking on their
progress in the course of the teaching- learning process and to finally
determine the extent to which they realize expected targets.
 CURRENT TRENDS IN ASSESSMENT
• 6. Making standards and criteria public rather than
private and secretive.
-Santock (2009) and Mc Tighe (2013) says “the evaluative
criteria (such as rubrics) are presented and explained at the
beginning. Models of excellence, aligned to criteria, are shown to
provide a clear “picture” of desired performance. This may
eliminate students’ fear or unwelcoming attitude towards
assessment.
 CURRENT TRENDS IN ASSESSMENT
• 7. Using computers as part of assessment.
• -With computers, a bank of questions can be created which
makes it possible for each student to be presented with different
questions but are of equivalent standard. With computerized
marking, immediate feedback may be given to students. Recording
of assessment results and their statistical analysis are likewise
facilitated with computers.

Reference:
Assessment in Learning 2: Authentic Assessment by Corpuz, Brenda B.
PhD and Cuartel, Imelda E., DA. Lorimar Publishings. 2021