Okulu. Designing Classroom Language Tests.

1. What could be the purpose of a classroom test? 2. What are test objectives? How can teachers determine objectives of their tests? 3. What can teachers do to ensure that their test will facilitate successful achievement of their test objectives? 4. What considerations should a teacher take in selecting and arranging tasks/items for the test? 5. What is meant by scoring and grading? What considerations should be taken in preparing scoring and grading scheme? Why?

Classroom assessment gives both teachers and students useful feedback on the teachinglearning process. Since it is created, administered, and analyzed by teachers themselves, it aims at to improve teaching (give feedback). It also requires students active participation and increases their motivation. The followings are how a teacher is supposed to develop classroom tests based on Okulu. Before develop a classroom test, a teacher should establish the purposes of a test. Whether it is to evaluate of proficiency (Proficiency Test), to place students into a course (Placement Test), or to measure achievement within a course (Achievement Test). It is crucial because it will lead teacher to the assessment. A teacher will find which type that he/she will use based on the purpose itself. Then, once a teacher has established the major purpose of a test, he/she can decide its objectives. Test objectives are statements that a teacher states to know what he/she wants to get from the test. The objectives involve the specifications that teacher tries to find out and language abilities that are to be assessed. In developing classroom tests, a teacher should ensure that the test will facilitate successful achievement of his/her test objectives by integrating the objectives into a structure, that appropriately weights the various competencies being assessed. In selecting and arranging tasks/items for the test, a teacher should consider a sort of principles of assessment, which are practicality, content validity, reliability, and authenticity. The tasks should be practical, meaning that inexpensive, easy to administer, and easy to construct. They should also achieve content validity by providing tasks that reflect the course being assessed. Moreover, they should be evaluated reliably by the teacher or scorer. They should strive for authenticity and the progression of tasks ought to be biased for best performance. Scoring is a value which reflects the relative weight that a teacher places on each section. And, grading is as same as scoring, but it doesnt mean just giving A for 90-100 or B for 8089. How a teacher assigns letter grades to a test is a product of: * * the country, culture, and context of the English classroom, institutional expectations (most of them unwritten),

* * *

explicit and implicit definitions of grades that you have set forth, the relationship you have established with the class, and students expectations that have been engendered(cause) in previous tests and quizzes in the class.

Assessment in ELT. Selected from Assessment in ELT; Hogan, May 2010 Sample Test Development
1. What is the purpose of the test?

2. What are the objectives of the test? 3. How do the test specifications reflect both the purpose and objectives?

4. How will the test tasks be selected and the separate items arranged?

5. What kind of scoring, grading, and/or feedback is expected?

Hogan presents her project in which she developed a test for students of her ELICOS program. The followings are the explanation of Hogans project details. The purpose of Hogans project is to measure students achievement in a course and to determine students progress to the next level. The characteristics of the test-takers are ELICOS class, mixed L1, mixed country of origin, M/F, aged 18 to 35, pathway to tertiary study, and EAP level 1 or CEFR level B1. Hogan establishes the objectives which are students will participate on ordinary conversations on everyday and common abstract topics and make a brief oral presentation as in an academic speaking context and answer questions on the topic. The test specifications reflect both the purpose and objectives by providing details information about what the school will test, the test format, and how they will rate. It can be said that the test has both the purpose and the objectives. The test tasks and the separate items will be arranged by considering the reliability and the validity. The reliability involves: moderation1 of tasks and scale, calibration of scale to sample performances, rater training and standardization (moderation2), multiple rating, trialing, and analysis of results. While the validity relates to write explicit specifications, prefer direct testing, relate scoring methods to testing goals, and take care with reliability. The scoring and grading, as well as feedback of this project are: a simple letter grade on the students test papers a total score of the test a score for the sub-skills for oral interview : a score for each element being interviewed/explained oral feedback by teacher after the interview session

a whole-class discussion of results of the test peer checking of results with students suggestions in the end of the test