Classroom Assessment

by Popham, W. James

• ISBN13: 9780205333042
• ISBN10: 0205333044
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon

Summary

Classroom Assessment: What Teachers Need to Knowis a brief, practical guide to assessment issues raised in classrooms. In a friendly, often humorous way, James Popham illustrates the relationship between classroom assessment and the daily instructional decisions a teacher must make. In addition to addressing more traditional issues such as validity and reliability, this book also provides coverage of alternative assessments.

Table of Contents

To the Reader	xi
Why Do Teachers Need to Know about Assessment?	1	(26)
Assessment versus Testing	2	(3)
Why Should Teachers Know about Assessment? Yesteryear's Answers	5	(5)
Why Should Teachers Know about Assessment? Today's Answers	10	(5)
Pressure from ``Higher Ups''	11	(4)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Assessment?	15	(5)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	17	(2)
Parent Talk	19	(1)
A Three-Chapter Preview	20	(2)
Chapter Summary	22	(1)
Self-Check	22	(2)
Pondertime	24	(1)
Self-Check Key	25	(1)
Additional Stuff	25	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	26	(1)
Cyber Stuff	26	(1)
Reliability of Assessment	27	(20)
Stability Reliability	29	(3)
Quibbling over Quizzes	30	(2)
Alternate-Form Reliability	32	(1)
Internal Consistency Reliability	33	(2)
Three Coins in the Reliability Fountain	35	(2)
Parent Talk	36	(1)
The Standard Error of Measurement	37	(3)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	39	(1)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Reliability?	40	(1)
Chapter Summary	41	(1)
Self-Check	42	(2)
Pondertime	44	(1)
Self-Check Key	44	(1)
Endnote	45	(1)
Additional Stuff	45	(1)
Cyber Stuff	46	(1)
Validity	47	(26)
A Quest for Defensible Inferences	47	(3)
Group-Influenced Grading	49	(1)
Validity Evidence	50	(2)
Content-Related Evidence of Validity	52	(7)
Criterion-Related Evidence of Validity	59	(3)
Parent Talk	61	(1)
Construct-Related Evidence of Validity	62	(3)
Sanctioned and Unsanctioned Forms of Validity Evidence	65	(1)
The Relationship between Reliability and Validity	66	(1)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Validity?	66	(2)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	67	(1)
Chapter Summary	68	(1)
Self-Check	68	(3)
Pondertime	71	(1)
Self-Check Key	71	(1)
Additional Stuff	71	(1)
Cyber Stuff	72	(1)
Absence-of-Bias	73	(22)
The Nature of Assessment Bias	73	(4)
Choose Your Language, Children!	76	(1)
Disparate Impact and Assessment Bias	77	(1)
Judgmental Approaches	78	(3)
Empirical Approaches	81	(1)
Bias Detection in the Classroom	81	(3)
Parent Talk	83	(1)
Assessment Accommodations for Students Who Need Them	84	(2)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Absence-of-Bias?	86	(2)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	87	(1)
Chapter Summary	88	(1)
Self-Check	89	(3)
Pondertime	92	(1)
Self-Check Key	92	(1)
Additional Stuff	93	(1)
Cyber Stuff	94	(1)
Deciding What to Assess and How to Assess It	95	(30)
What to Assess	95	(7)
On Demand Assessment	99	(3)
A Different Taxonomic Table	102	(6)
NAEP Frameworks	108	(2)
How to Assess It	110	(7)
Parent Talk	114	(2)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	116	(1)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about What to Assess and How to Assess It?	117	(1)
Chapter Summary	118	(1)
Self-Check	118	(3)
Pondertime	121	(1)
Self-Check Key	121	(1)
Endnote	122	(1)
Additional Stuff	122	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	123	(1)
Cyber Stuff	124	(1)
Selected-Response Tests	125	(26)
Ten (Divided by Two) Item-Writing Commandments	126	(3)
Binary-Choice Items	129	(3)
Multiple Binary-Choice Items	132	(2)
Multiple-Choice Items	134	(6)
Multiple-Guess Test Items?	137	(2)
Parent Talk	139	(1)
Matching Items	140	(3)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Selected-Response Tests?	143	(2)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	144	(1)
Chapter Summary	145	(1)
Self-Check	145	(2)
Pondertime	147	(1)
Self-Check Key	148	(1)
Additional Stuff	149	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	149	(1)
Cyber Stuff	149	(2)
Constructed-Response Tests	151	(22)
Short-Answer Items	152	(3)
Essay Items: Development	155	(5)
Forests or Trees?	156	(4)
Essay Items: Scoring Students' Responses	160	(7)
Parent Talk	165	(2)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	167	(1)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Constructed-Response Tests?	167	(1)
Chapter Summary	168	(1)
Self-Check	168	(3)
Pondertime	171	(1)
Self-Check Key	171	(1)
Additional Stuff	172	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	172	(1)
Cyber Stuff	172	(1)
Performance Assessment	173	(26)
What Is a Performance Test?	173	(3)
Why Performance Assessment?	176	(1)
Identifying Suitable Tasks for Performance Assessment	177	(5)
Grow, Plants, Grow!	178	(4)
Identifying Scoring Criteria	182	(2)
Two Illustrative Performance-Test Tasks and a Scoring System	184	(3)
Ratings and Observations	187	(4)
Sources of Error in Scoring Student Performances	191	(2)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	192	(1)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Performance Assessment?	193	(1)
Parent Talk	194	(1)
Chapter Summary	194	(1)
Self-Check	195	(1)
Pondertime	195	(1)
Self-Check Key	196	(1)
Additional Stuff	196	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	197	(1)
Cyber Stuff	198	(1)
Portfolio Assessment	199	(18)
Classroom Portfolio Assessment versus Large-Scale Portfolio Assessment	199	(4)
Does Self-Evaluation Equal Self-Grading?	202	(1)
Key Ingredients in Classroom Portfolio Assessment	203	(6)
The Pros and Cons of Portfolio Assessment	209	(2)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	209	(2)
Parent Talk	211	(1)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Portfolio Assessment?	211	(1)
Chapter Summary	212	(1)
Self-Check	213	(2)
Pondertime	215	(1)
Self-Check Key	215	(1)
Additional Stuff	216	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	216	(1)
Cyber Stuff	216	(1)
Affective Assessment	217	(20)
Why Assess Affect?	217	(3)
Where Went Wonder?	219	(1)
The Other Side of the Argument	220	(1)
Which Affective Variables Should Be Assessed?	221	(2)
How Should Affect Be Assessed in Classrooms?	223	(1)
Self-Report Assessment	224	(3)
A Set of Modifiable Affective Inventories	227	(3)
Parent Talk	229	(1)
What Kind of Inferences Are at Stake in Affective Assessment?	230	(1)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	231	(1)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Affective Assessment?	231	(1)
Chapter Summary	232	(1)
Self-Check	233	(1)
Pondertime	234	(1)
Self-Check Key	235	(1)
Additional Stuff	235	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	236	(1)
Improving Teacher-Developed Assessments	237	(18)
Judgmentally Based Improvement Procedures	238	(4)
Empirically Based Improvement Procedures	242	(6)
Parent Talk	245	(1)
To Catch a Culprit: Teacher or Test	246	(2)
Item Analysis for Criterion-Referenced Measurement	248	(2)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	249	(1)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Improving Their Assessments?	250	(1)
Chapter Summary	250	(1)
Self-Check	251	(2)
Pondertime	253	(1)
Self-Check Key	253	(1)
Additional Stuff	254	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	254	(1)
Instructionally Oriented Assessment	255	(28)
Instructional Decisions and Assessment Results	256	(6)
Planning Instruction to Achieve Assessment-Exemplified Objectives	262	(16)
At What Cost Boosting?	263	(13)
Parent Talk	276	(2)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Instructionally Oriented Assessment?	278	(1)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	279	(1)
Chapter Summary	279	(1)
Self-Check	280	(1)
Pondertime	280	(1)
Self-Check Key	281	(1)
Additional Stuff	281	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	282	(1)
Cyber Stuff	282	(1)
Making Sense Out of Standardized Test Scores	283	(22)
Standardized Tests	284	(1)
Which Test to Believe	285	(1)
Group-Focused Test Interpretation	285	(2)
Individual Student Test Interpretation	287	(13)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	298	(1)
Parent Talk	299	(1)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Interpreting Standardized Test Scores?	300	(1)
Chapter Summary	300	(1)
Self-Check	301	(1)
Pondertime	302	(1)
Self-Check Key	303	(1)
Additional Stuff	303	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	304	(1)
Cyber Stuff	304	(1)
Appropriate and Inappropriate Test-Preparation Practices	305	(16)
High-Stakes Assessment Arrives	305	(1)
Assessment Results as Inference Illuminators	306	(1)
Was It Really Wrong?	307	(1)
Two Evaluative Guidelines	307	(3)
Five Test-Preparation Practices	310	(1)
Applying the Two Guidelines	311	(2)
Parent Talk	312	(1)
What about ``Teaching to the Test''?	313	(3)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	315	(1)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Test-Preparation Practices?	316	(1)
Chapter Summary	316	(1)
Self-Check	316	(2)
Pondertime	318	(1)
Self-Check Key	319	(1)
Additional Stuff	319	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	320	(1)
Cyber Stuff	320	(1)
Evaluating Teaching and Grading Students	321	(34)
Distinction Drawing	321	(1)
Evaluation of Teaching and the Use of Assessment Data	322	(2)
An Alternative Data-Gathering Design	324	(3)
What's in a Name?	327	(1)
A Standardized Test's Function	328	(1)
Differentiation as a Demigod	328	(2)
Measuring Temperature with a Tablespoon	330	(1)
Testing-Teaching Mismatches	330	(2)
A Tendency to Eliminate Important Test Items	332	(1)
Causality Confusion	332	(5)
What's a Teacher to Do?	337	(1)
Right Task, Wrong Tools	338	(1)
Assessment-Based Grading	338	(6)
Should Level-of-Effort Be Rewarded?	338	(6)
Hodgepodge Grading	344	(1)
Electronic Record Keeping	344	(4)
Parent Talk	345	(3)
But What Does This Have to Do with Teaching?	348	(1)
What Do Classroom Teachers Really Need to Know about Assessment-Based Evaluation of Teaching and Grading of Students?	348	(1)
Chapter Summary	349	(1)
Self-Check	350	(1)
Pondertime	351	(1)
Self-Check Key	352	(1)
Additional Stuff	352	(1)
Nonprint Stuff	353	(1)
Cyber Stuff	354	(1)
Appendix: Four Self-Report Affective Inventories: Description and Use	355	(8)
Glossary	363	(4)
Index	367