Write down what you learned on what to do to ensure validity of tests.

Did you ever experience taking a test which was very difficult because the items were not at all covered in class? How did it affect you? How will you prevent your future pupils / students from experiencing the same? As a teacher, validity of your test scientifically determines whether you measure what you are supposed to measure. Let us say, you discuss about Techniques in Technical writing, then you cover the lessons well. When you make a test the learning outcomes are clearly measured because of high validity of the items. What I have learned is that a poor validity of the test means that the scores of students are not too high, which indicates exam is not easy nor too low which indicates exam is too difficult. In order to ensure validity, when you analyzed the items the class performance is in the normal curve. Did you ever experience taking a test which was very difficult because the items were not at all covered in class? How did it affect you? Yes it happened to me as a student. And if a teacher doesnt know the importance of assessment as a component of learning; sometimes he will test items which were given lesser emphasis and it really affects the grades or the performance of the students. It creates a domino effect, wrong teaching, wrong assessment equals wrong grades. How will you prevent your future pupils / students from experiencing the same? You have to aim validity as the most important criteria of a test. You have to make sure that your test items reflect the objectives of the curriculum. The following questions will help you determine the validity of your classroom test: 1. What content does my test assess? 2. Are my tests items arrange from simplest to most difficult? 3. Do the test items reflect my instructional priorities and objectives? 4. Do test items allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and mastery of important topics and essential skills? For your first question, a Table of Specification (TOS) is very important in the content for validity of test as it puts the one who gave the test and the candidate on the same footing. This meas that both are thinking of the same question, item, specification and other details. This is very important when giving tests that has tendencies of multiple interpretation. For the second question, a multiple type of question may be a good way to determine to know a person`s quality of learning but may not be very applicable to a set of manipulative skills. The best way to test a person`s manipulative skill is to do an actual demonstration. The same type of demo is required for other manipulative test like getting a driver`s license. In your case,if you want to know a person`s skills on the microscope, have an actual test. Give him or her a microscope with a subject on it, then give him or her instructions and let him or her write what are his observation for every instruction.

What has a Table of Specifications (TOS) to do with the content validity of tests? The content validity of a periodical test was based on the papers, books, documents and the lessons that you took under your curriculum. All of your professors / teachers are the one who does make it and it should be vouch or approved by their immediate supervisor before making it your periodical test.

What do you do or what does the school to ensure the content validity of your periodic test?

The test must be appropriate to the learning objectives you`ve set and it implies a high standard performance.