Language Testing and Assessment

Standards-based Assessment
Prepared by
Fifth Group
Nur Alif Maria W.
Asarotun
Inta Umi Khulsum
Devi

Mid 20th Century

Standardized tests had unchallenged

popularity and growth.
Standardized
tests
brought
convenience,
efficiency,
air
of
empirical science.
Tests were considered to be a way of
making reforms in education
Quickly
and
cheaply
assessing
students became a political issue.

Late 20th Century

* There was possible inequity and
disparity
between the tests in such
tests and the ones they teach in classes.
* The claims in mid-20th century began
to be
questioned/criticised in all
areas.
* Teachers were in the leading position of
those challenges.

The Last 20 Years

* Educators become aware of weaknesses in

standardized testing: They were not

accurate measures of achievement and
success and they were not based on
carefully
framed,
comprehensive
and
validated standards of achievement.
* A movement has started to establish
standards to assess students of all ages and
subject-matter areas.
* There have been efforts on basing the
standardised tests on clearly specified
criteria for each content area being
measured.

Criticism

Some teachers claimed that those tests

were unfair there were dissimilarity
between the content & task of the tests &
what they were teaching in their classes.

Solutions

By becoming aware of these weaknesses,

educators started to establish some
standards on which students of all ages &
subject matter areas might be assessed.

Solutions

most departments of education at all

state level in the US have specified the
appropriate
standards
(criteria,
objectives) for each grade level(preschool to grade 12) and each content
area (math, sciences, arts)
The construction of standards makes
possible
concordance
between
standardized test specification and the
goals and objectives (ESL, ESOL,
ELD,ELLs). LEP has now been discarded
because of the negative connotation of

ELD STANDARDS

The process of designing and conducting

appropriate periodic reviews of ELD
standards involves dozens of curriculum
and assessment specialists, teachers, and
researchers (Fields, 2000; Kuhlman, 2001)
In creating such benchmarks for
accountability (OMalley & Valdez Pierce,
1996), there is a tremendous responsibility
to carry out a comprehensive study of a
number of domains:

ELD STANDARDS

literally thousands of categories of language

ranging from phonology at one end of a
continuum to discourse, pragmatic, functional
and sociolinguistic elements at the other end;

specification of ELD students needs are, at

thirteen different grade levels, for succeeding
in their academic and social development;

a consideration of what is a realistic number

and scope of standards to be included within

ELD STANDARDS
a given curriculum;

a separate set of standards(qualifications,

expertise, training) for teachers to teach ELD
students successfully in their classrooms; and
a thorough analysis of the means available to
assess student attainment of those standards.

Standards-setting is a global challenge. In many

countries, English is now a required subject
starting as early as the first grade in some
countries and by seventh grade in virtually every
country worldwide.

ELD ASSESSMENT
The development of standards obviously
implies the responsibility for correctly
assessing their attainment.
It is found that the standardized tests of
the past decades were not in line with
newly
developed
standards
the
interactive
process
not
only
of
developing standards but also of creating
standards-based assessment started.
Specialists design, revise and validate
many tests.

ELD ASSESSMENT

The
California
English
Language
Development Test (CELDT) is a battery of
instruments
designed
to
assess
attainment of ELD standards across grade
level. (not publicly available)
Language and Literacy Assessment Rubric,
in which multiple forms of evidence of
students work are collected.
Teachers observe students year-round and
record their observations on scannable
forms.

CASAS AND SCANS

CASAS: (Comprehensive Adult Student

Assessment System):
Designed to provide broadly based
assessments of ESL curricula across US.
It includes more than 80 standardized
assessment instruments used to;
* place Ss in programs
* diagnose learners needs
* monitor progress
* certify mastery of functional skills

CASAS AND SCANS

At higher level of education (colleges, adult and language
schools, workplace)
SCANS: (Secretarys Commissions in Achieving Necessary Skills):
outlines competencies necessary for language in the workplace
the competencies are acquired and maintained through training
in basic skills(4 skills);
thinking skills (reasoning & problem solving);

CASAS AND SCANS

personal qualities (self-esteem & sociability)

Resources (allocating time, materials, staff
etc.)
Interpersonal skills, teamwork, customer
service etc.
Information processing, evaluating data,
organising files etc,
Systems,
understanding
social
and
organizational system,
Technology use and application

TEACHER STANDARDS
Kuhlman
(2001)
emphasized
the
importance of teacher standards in three
domains:
1. Linguistic and language development
2. Culture
and interrelationship between
language and culture
3. Planning and managing instructions
Professional teaching standards have also
been the focus of several committees in
the international association of Teachers of
English to Speakers of Other Languages
(TESOL).

4. Make appropriate evaluations of

different kinds of items.

Item facility (IF) % of people who give

the right answer
Item Discrimination (IDis) indicates
the extent to which success on an item
corresponds to success on the whole
test.
Item Difficulty (ID) - finding out the %
of people who get the item right in the
try-out group.

Consequences of standardsbased and standardized testing

Positive
High level of practicality and reliability

Provides insights into academic

performance
Accuracy in placing a number of test
takers on to a norm referenced scale
Ongoing construct validation studies
Negative
They involve a number of test biases

Negative

A small but significant number of test

takers are not assessed fairly nor
they are assessed accurately
Fostering extinct motivation
Multiple
intelligence
are
not
considered
There is danger of test driven
learning and teaching
In general performance is not directly
assessed.

Test Bias

Standardized tests involve many test bias

(language, culture, race, gender, learning
styles)
National Centre for Fair and Open Testing
claims of tests bias from; teachers,
parents, students, and legal consultants.
(reading texts, listening stimulus)
Standardized tests do not promote
logical-mathematical and verbal linguistic
to the virtual exclusions of the other
contextualized, integrative intelligence.

Test Bias
(some learners may need to be
assessed with interviews, portfolios,
samples of work, demonstrations,
observation reports) more formative
assessment rather than summative.

That would solve test bias

problems but it is difficult to control
it in standardized items.

Test-driven learning and

teaching
It is another consequence of standardized

testing. When students know that one single

measure of performance will determine their
lives they are less likely to take positive
attitudes
towards
learning.
Extrinsic
motivation is not intrinsic.
Teacher are also affected from test-driven
policies. They are under pressure to make
sure their Ss excelled in the exam, at the risk
of ignoring
other objectives in the
curriculum. A more serious effect was to
punish schools with lower-socioeconomic
neighbourhood.

ETHICAL ISSUES: CRITICAL LANGUAGE

TESTING

One of
by-products of rapid growing
testing industry is the danger of an abuse
of power.
Shohamy (1997, p.2) further defines the
issue: Tests represent a social technology
deeply
embedded
in
education,
government and business; tests are most
powerful as they are often the single
indicators for determining the future of
individuals.
Teachers can demonstrate standards in
their teaching.

ETHICAL ISSUES: CRITICAL

LANGUAGE TESTING

Teachers can be assessed through their

classroom performance
Performance can be detailed with
indicators: examples of evidence that
the teacher can meet a part of a
standard.
Student learning is at the heart of the
teachers performance.
The issues of critical language testing are
numerous

Conclusion

THANK YOU
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