Assessment Standards - Raise the Bar

Mr X would always worry about his students’ results in assessments. The results were inconsistent and unpredictable. Some of his best performing students would be unable to perform on standardised tests; some of the low performing students would ace such tests. Many students failed to demonstrate real-life application of concepts. Upon reflection, Mr X realised that he needed to raise his assessment standards. He studied them in detail and altered the way he planned and conducted assessments and the way he used assessment information to inform teaching and learning.

He raised the bar and changed the end result. Let’s learn what he learnt about Assessment Standards to make the most of assessments.

Assessment Standard 1 - Indirect Assessment of Higher Order Thinking Skills

Quality assessments enable learners to demonstrate the transfer of knowledge to new situations by attempting situation-based or contextual questions or problems. 

How to Raise the Standard

1. Create assessment tasks where 1/3rd of items assess basic skills and procedural knowledge.
2. Create assessment tasks where 2/3rd of items assess critical thinking and application of knowledge to new situations.

Assessment Standard 2 - Authentic and Direct Assessment of Higher Order Thinking Skills

Quality assessments include real-life tasks that enable learners to demonstrate their critical abilities like communication, collaboration, creativity, research and use of technology directly.

How to Raise the Standard

1. Include performance-based tasks like conducting an experiment or roleplaying in assessments.
2. Design project-based assessment tasks that enable the learners to demonstrate their critical abilities directly by solving real-life problems involving the taught concepts.

Assessment Standard 3 - Internationally-benchmarked Assessments 

Quality assessments are created based on the benchmarks set by the countries leading in education. 

How to Raise the Standard

1. Create accurate assessments, presenting tasks and content that meet the benchmarks. 
2. Set performance standards that meet the benchmarks.

Assessment Standard 4 - Value-based Assessments 

Quality assessments do not measure the learners’ test-taking ability but allow them to gain further insight into the taught concepts. 

How to Raise the Standard

1. Create assessments that inform core instruction and intervention. 
2. Construct assessment items that improve student learning in addition to measuring their learning. 

Assessment Standard 5 - Reliable, Valid, Fair and Flexible Assessments

Quality assessments are based on the four principles of assessment– reliability, validity, fairness and flexibility.

How to Raise the Standard

1. Design assessments that measure exactly what they are supposed to measure and provide consistent results.
2. Create assessments that cater for the needs of all the learners and allow the teachers to make adjustments based on individual learner needs. 

Mr X learnt these standards and raised the bar for his assessments. He created assessment activities that allowed his learners to demonstrate their learning in the best possible way.

It would be a good idea to understand these standards and apply them when creating assessments.

If you want to dive deeper into this area of teaching and learning, please feel free to check out our course on Assessment and Evaluation Techniques.