Running head: DOMAIN B LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Literature Review of Teaching Performance Expectation Domain B. Assessing Student

Learning

Charles Ermer

National University

February 3, 2018

TED 690
DOMAIN B LITERATURE REVIEW 2

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on assessing student learning and its relationship to teaching

standards. I specifically examine the use of multiple measures of assessment and the advantages

of using qualitative assessment techniques in biology education.

DOMAIN B LITERATURE REVIEW 3

Literature Review of Teaching Performance Expectation Domain B. Assessing Student

Learning

Domain B of the California Teaching Performance Expectations involves assessing

student learning. Included in this domain are two Teaching Performance Expectations (TPEs):

TPE 2: Monitoring Student Learning During Instruction

TPE 3: Interpretation and use of Assessments (Commission on Teacher Credentialing

(CTC), 2013)

The standards clearly demonstrate the importance of assessment to teaching and recognize the

significance of using both formative and summative assessments throughout instruction

planning. Sundberg (2002) provides a review of commonly used assessment techniques and their

relationship to instruction in biology.

The assessment techniques described by Sundberg (2002) include the two broad

categories of quantitative and qualitative assessments and are listed in Table 1 below. All these

techniques are advocated for by CTC (2013) which states “[teachers] understand and use a

variety of informal and formal, as well as formative and summative assessments, at varying

levels of cognitive demand to determine students’ progress and plan instruction” (p. 12).

Table 1: Assessment Techniques

Commonly Used Assessment Techniques

(Adapted from Sundberg, 2002, pp. 12-14)
Quantitative Qualitative
• Pretest/Posttest • Observation
• Questionnaires (Likert scale) • Interviews
• Database (i.e. baseline data) • Focus Groups
• Concepts Maps
• Journal Writes, Minute Papers
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Two common threads run throughout the CTC (2013) Domain B TPE standards and

Sundberg (2002) regarding assessment, the importance of using multiple assessment techniques

in the classroom and the usefulness of qualitative assessment in addition to quantitative

techniques. The importance of using multiple assessments is expressed in the TPE standards by

CTC (2013) stating “Candidates use multiple measures for progress monitoring throughout

instruction to determine whether all students…are understanding content…” in regards to TPE 2

(p. 11) and “Candidates purposefully use ongoing multiple and, where appropriate, differentiated

assessment options to collect evidence of individual and whole class learning, including

performance-based real-world applications, questioning strategies, work samples and products”

in their description of TPE 3 (p. 12). Sundberg (2002) sums up the peer-reviewed research on the

topic of assessment by stating “…it is now generally accepted that multiple assessment measures

are required to adequately gauge student learning” (p. 12). No one assessment measure can

capture the achievement of every student or accurately determine when learning has taken place.

All assessment strategies have advantages and disadvantages, so multiple and different

assessments will always be needed to get the most accurate view of what students are achieving

in any classroom.

Sundberg (2002) and the CTC (2013) TPEs also allude to the importance of using

qualitative techniques in any assessment program. Sundberg (2002) states “…good qualitative

assessment is essential to understanding the complexity of student learning in the classroom” (p.

13). Perhaps because most science teachers are trained to use quantitative methods in their

content area, the usefulness of qualitative assessment of student work is often overlooked by

biology teachers. Sundberg (2002) sums up the situation saying “[l]ess natural for many of us is

to accept that qualitative data can be as rich and informative as the statistical analyses we get
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from quantitative results” (p. 15). In his own work, Sundberg (2002) points out that “[t]he

insight provided by the qualitative assessment drew our attention to unintended outcomes

promoted by instructors that otherwise would have gone unnoticed” and use of qualitative

assessment techniques such as “…analysis of student interviews, journal writing, and concept

mapping indicted that there were dramatic shifts in understanding of nearly half the class”

(Sundberg, 2002, p. 13). Qualitative assessment techniques can give teachers a better idea of how

students are thinking about certain concepts and give them a more detailed description of their

overall understanding than a single point test score or class average can.

Multiple assessment techniques are necessary to evaluate any program of instruction. The

detailed information provided by qualitative assessments and the open-ended nature of these

assessments should not be overlooked by high school biology teacher. They can provide insight

into student thinking and misconceptions that would overwise be unknow to the teacher.
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References

Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2013). California Teaching Performance Expectations.

Available from: ctc.ca.gov

Sundberg, M. (2002). Assessing Student Learning. Cell Biology Education, 1(1), 11-15. doi:

10.1187/cbe.02-03-0007