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Educational Assessment：Four Principles to Consider
by Michael H. Kean, Ph.D.
Vice President of Public and Governmental Affairs
As the nation searches for ways to improve student achievement, educators and policy makers continue to evaluate and reform their education systems. Educational testing, or assessment, is a key component of all education systems. Assessments can be used to monitor educational systems for public accountability; help improve curricula; evaluate the effectiveness of teaching and instructional practices; measure student achievement; and determine a student's mastery of skills. Although educational testing is a complex field, there are several basic principles that provide a foundation for further understanding.
Standards, Then Testing
When states and communities set out to reform their education systems, it is imperative that a logical sequence of events be followed toward setting and achieving goals. First, goals for each education system must be set. Second, standards need to be adopted that outline what children should know and be able to do at certain levels. These standards should be written in a way that will help students meet the stated goals. Following the setting of standards, curricula need to be produced that will help teachers help their students meet the standards. And lastly, assessments should be developed to measure students' progress toward meeting the standards. In other words, assessment should follow, not lead, the movement to reform our schools. As we continue to find ways to improve education, it is important for educators and policy makers to stick with a sequence that starts with goal setting and ends with assessment. Only then can we build and use new tests that accurately measure student achievement.
Tests Measure Educational Progress--They Don't Create It
The purpose of tests is to deliver accurate and reliable information, not to drive educational reform. Some politicians and policy makers have called for new tests, thinking that these alone will create educational achievement. What they are really looking for is better results. It is important for school administrators and policy makers to understand that a new assessment system cannot cure an ailing education system. Tests do not create better students. Good teachers and good schools do.
The problems facing our nation's education system are serious. There is no single cause, and therefore no single cure. There are no shortcuts to improving student achievement and creating a world-class workforce. As we continue our search for ways to improve student achievement, we need to keep our long-term goal in mind and not rush into thinking that a new testing system will create better schools.
No Single Test Does Everything--The Importance of Multiple Measures
No single test can do it all. A diagnostic test to determine a car's emission level will not tell you if the tires need air. A different procedure will provide the mechanic with that information. The same goes for tests in education. No single test can ascertain whether all educational goals are being met. A variety of tests--or, "multiple measures" -- is necessary to provide educators with a well-rounded view of what students know and can do. Just as different tests provide different information, no one kind of test can tell us all we need to know about a student's learning. This "multiple-measures approach" to assessment is the keystone to valid, reliable and fair information about student achievement. Any one type of test--whether it be norm-referenced, multiple-choice or performance assessment--is only one part of a balanced approach to assessment. Some tests, for example, are designed to indicate whether a student needs additional work in specific subjects, while others measure overall group progress toward broadly stated goals. Because curricular emphases differ from state to state, as do the purposes of different testing programs, a multiple-measures approach means that states and local school districts will often use different types of tests to assess students.
The Importance of Valid, Fair and Reliable Assessments
All tests and test types--whether they are standardized, multiple-choice achievement tests or performance assessments--should be held to the same high technical standards for delivering accurate information. No test should be selected and administered to students without first determining how its results will be used and its appropriateness to the subject matter being assessed. Furthermore, no test should be used without reviewing its technical strengths, including fairness, validity and reliability.
All assessments should be designed, piloted, and published using nationally accepted technical standards such as those developed by the American Psychological Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the National Council of Measurement in Education. In recent years, many new assessments and test formats have been developed. These tests, too, must be held to these same high standards. We should not permit unvalidated tests--especially those with high-stakes outcomes--to be administered to students.
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