Lecture 6

STANDARDIZED TESTING
STANDARD-BASED ASSESSMENT
PERFORMANCE BASED
ASSESSMENT

Chapter 4 & 5
BROWN, 2004
 LECTURE’S OBJECTIVES

• Students will understand the differences

between:
Standardized testing , Standard-based
assessment, and Performance based assessment

• Students will acknowledge the advantages and

disadvantages of these types.
 WORM UP DISCUSSION

 What is Standardization?

 Standardization means that there are set of criteria or

objectives applied to broad competencies which are not
exclusive to certain curriculum. (Brown, p,67)

Every one of you at some point of your academic life

have been affected by a standardized test. Do you agree?
 1- STANDARDIZED TESTS

 They are Standardized because they specify a set of

competences (standards) for every domain.

A standardized test is one in which a student's performance

is measured in comparison to everyone else who took the
test. In other words, your rating is dependent on everyone
else's performance. (connecting: what type of test is the
standardized test?)

 Standardized tests have uniform procedures for

administration, design, scoring, and reporting. (Brown,
2004)
 EXAMPLES OF STANDARZIED
TESTS
 SAT: scholastic aptitude test
 GMAT : graduate management admission test
 IELTS: international English language testing system
 GRE: graduate record program
 TOEFL: test of English as a foreign language

*How about standardized tests in Saudi Arabia, can you

give examples?

http://www.qiyas.sa/Sites/English/Tests/EducationalTest
s/Pages/default.aspx
EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENTS IN SAUDI
ARABIA
 2- STANDARDS-BASED ASSESSMENT

 Educators found out that standardized tests have disparity between

the content /the tasks and what students’ actually taking in the
classroom. Therefore educators specified the criteria with in each
content area that going to bet tested.

For example, each grade level has its specified standards ( objectives,
criteria); In each subject area: math, language, science..

Example: page 107 (Brown, 2004)

 In Standards-based assessment the criteria and information are

taken directly from content that a student has been taught or is
expected to learn.
 Standards-based assessments are particularly helpful when a school
district or state education department has defined a set of learning
standards that each student needs to learn. The test can then
measure not only student achievement, but teacher effectiveness as
well.
 CONTINUED

 “The classroom teacher presents the set of

standards or objectives for which students will be
responsible.
In this manner, students know exactly what they are
being tested on. They should no longer be able to say
"I didn't know you were going to ask me that.”.

Source: http://childparenting.about.com/od/schoollearning/a/standards-
based-assessments-def.htm
 CONTINUED

 Students will know objectives being assessed, and you

knew the grading criteria. It was your responsibility to be
ready for this test.“
students are measured not against each other, but against
these clearly stated performance objectives. Therefore, it is
possible for ALL students to perform well. Indeed, it is the
goal for all students to do extremely well. When using
standards based teaching and assessment, these questions
can be answered confidently, by pointing to the standards
and objectives, as well as the grading criteria, and showing
that either the students have mastered these standards, or
that the students did not master them”.

Source: http://childparenting.about.com/od/schoollearning/a/standards-
based-assessments-def.htm
 THE DISADVANTAGES OF STANDARDIZED
TESTS AND STANDARD- BASED TESTS

 It is true that standardized tests are high in

practicality and reliability, yet, they have some
issues/ problems:

1. Test bias
2. Authenticity criterion
3. Does not support the multiple intelligences theory
4. Create negative attitude toward learning
5. Teachers teach for the test
pages 110-112
 3- PERFORMANCE BASED TESTS

Performance based test involve learners in actually performing the behavior

that we want to measure. In interactive tasks, test-takers are measured in the
act of speaking, requesting, responding, or in combining listening and speaking,
and in integrating reading and writing.

-Performance-based assessment is an alternative form of assessment that

moves away from traditional paper and pencil tests. Performance-based
assessment involves having the students produce a project, whether it is oral,
written or a group performance*.

-The students are engaged in creating a final project that exhibits their
understanding of a concept they have learned.
-A unique quality of performance-based assessment is that is allows the
students to be assessed based on a process. The teacher is able to see first hand
how the students produce language in real-world situations. In addition,
performance-based assessments tend to have a higher content validity because
a process is being measured. The focus remains on the process, rather than the
product in performance-based assessment”.

Examples: portfolios, journals, presentations, oral reports, letters, stories ,

interviews.
 REFERENCES

 http://www.teachnology.com/currenttrends/alternative_assessment/performan
ce_based/
 Source: http://childparenting.about.com/od/schoollearning/a/standards-based-
assessments-def.htm
 Brown, H. Douglas, 2004. Language Assessment: Principles and classroom
practices. Pearson Education, Inc.
 http://www.slideshare.net/engteacher11/achievement-test-new-english-file-
intermediate-files-2-4
 http://info.piercecollege.edu/offices/assess/slep.pdf
 http://www.emse.fr/~yukna/ENG/lessons/toefl40a.htm
 http://lltf.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/MLAT-E-Sample-Items.pdf
 http://englishenglish.com/englishtest.htm
 www.ets.org
 http://www.qiyas.sa/Sites/English/Tests/EducationalTests/Pages/default.aspx
 www.toefl.org