By Oliver

Q. State the scope of measurement in education.

Answer:
Measurement means the act or the process of ascertaining the quantity or extent of
something. It is an amount of something which has been counted, measurement or assessed.
For example, it is the height of a person, the age of a person, the income of a person, the
number of marks obtained by him, etc (Sidhu, 2005).
Campbell as cited in Sidhu (2005) defines measurement as the assignment of numerals to
objects or events according to rules.
In the fields of education and psychology, measurement obtained through testing, etc serves
varied functions. In the school, test scores enables us to promote or detain students, to judge
the effectiveness of teaching, to examine the efficacy of curricula, to judge the quality of
administration and management and to justify educational expenditure. All these judgments
may further lead to necessary improvements. Results of measurement can be utilized to see
whether the objectives of education are being fulfilled. Measurement becomes one sound
basis for classification, selection, diagnosis, comparison, prediction, research, etc.
Educational measurement is not a new idea. It has been going on since times immemorial
teachers has always tried to measure the outcomes of their teaching efforts, in order to see the
progress of their pupils towards desired educational goals. There have been efforts to
diagnose the defects in instruction and learning. However, only recently, a reasonable degree
of accuracy has been injected into the methods of measurement and diagnosis. Earlier, the
teacher depended mainly on his personal observation and judgment in order to assess the
progress of his students, judge the effectiveness of his instructional methods and procedures
and diagnose the students difficulties and weaknesses. The measurement present a surprising
accurate picture of course objectives as well as the analysis of underlying skills, knowledge,
concepts, understandings and other outcomes which indicate the accomplishment in various
subject areas. Educational measurement point out the strengths and weaknesses of
instructional and learning procedures.
Educational measurement can contribute to the process of organizing instruction in two ways
first, the development of achievement tests which require an explicit statements of the
elements of organization and the hypotheses are accepted regarding the principles of
organization, and second, providing a means for testing the hypotheses about organization
around which any given instructional programme has been developed.
Educational measurement can make a contribution to administration also. In selecting
personnel, scores on achievement tests represent one index of competence. The quality of
work a teacher does is partly indicated by the measured progress made by his students.
Educational systems are being restructured in many parts of the world. This is often because
governments are seeking to improve the quality of educational outputs to increase

competitiveness in the global economy. A highly educated workforce is seen as a major way
of promoting flexibility in an era of technological change, and developed countries seek to
retain their strong economies by investing heavily in education to prepare workers with basic
and advanced skills. Education is also a priority in developing nations but here the emphasis
is often to ensure that there is a universal system of primary education with some progression
to secondary education and a limited university sectors. The lack of resources to invest in
education serves to widen the divide between the advanced and developing economies.
Reference:
Bush, T. & Bell, L. (2002). The principles and practice of school management. London: Sage
publication.
Sidhu, K. S. (2005). New Approaches to measurement and evaluation. New Delhi: Sterling
Publishers Pvt. Chapter # 1 & 2 , Pg # 1 - 24
http://books.google.com.pk/books?
id=j06p2neao_kC&pg=PA1&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false

Q. Discuss the five steps of evaluation.

Answer:
Following steps are involved in evaluation:
1) Identifying and defining general objective:
The first step in to determine what to evaluate. What kind of abilities and skills should be
developed when a student studies a subject or subjects for one year? The process of
identifying and defining educational objectives is very complex and challenging as there is no
single clear-cut procedure which suits all teachers. Some prefer to begin with the lists of
objectives suggested by curriculum experts, some with the course content and some with
general aims. Whatever be the procedure, the focal point is the product the students
behavior at the end of a course of study. Therefore, general objectives should be stated in
terms of his knowledge, understanding, skill, application, attitudes, interests and appreciation,
etc.
2) Identifying and defining general objective:
Every topic or unit must have specific objectives which would provide direction to teachinglearning process. They will also be useful in planning and organizing appropriate learning
activities and in planning and organizing appraisal procedures too. Specific objectives
determine two things: one, the various types of learning situations to be provided by the class
teacher to the learners; secondly, the method to be employed to evaluate both the objectives
and the learning experiences.

3) Selecting teaching units:

The third step in the process of evaluation is to select teaching points through which the
objectives can be realized. This includes two elements framing the content i.e curriculum,
syllabi and course and content analysis. The first element is decided by the philosophers and
educationists and the second by the teachers. The teacher has to analyze the subject matter
into teaching point.
4) Planning suitable learning activities:
Here the teacher will have to plan the learning activities for pupils so that the objectives may
be substantially, if not completely are obtained. The teacher may employ a variety of methods
and techniques of teaching learning Dalton method, Heuristic method, project method,
demonstration, excursion, field trip, discussion, lecturing etc.
5) Appraisal:
The teacher may plan an oral test or a written one. He may administer essay type test, shortanswer test or an objective type test or he may conduct a practical test. In any case, he will
select a test or tests through which he can best find out the achievement of the students in the
light of objectives set forth.
6) Using the results on feedback:
The results of evaluation will enable the teacher to introspect and to reorganize learning
activities.
Reference: Aggarwal, J. C. (2000). Essentials of examination system: Evaluation, Tests and
Measurement. New Delhi: Vikas publishing house.
Chapter # 10
Pg # 152