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What makes our teaching effective?
How do we know that we are effective
teachers?
What do effective teachers do?
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“I’m an eclectic teacher.”
“My class is very communicative.”
“I use task-based teaching.”
“I always support my students.”
“I use authentic activities and materials.”
“My classes are student-centered.”
“I promote autonomous learning.”
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“My activities are very engaging.”
“I never use Filipino in my classroom.”
“My students like my classes.”
“I teach my students learning strategies.”
“My English is very good.”
“I always plan my classes.”
“I studied at University [Insert Name].”
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Are my students learning?
What do my students know?
What can my students do?
What are my students’ strengths and
weaknesses?
What can I do to help my students learn the
language?
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Language assessment is any process used to
gather information about student learning to
improve or facilitate language learning.
Standardized assessment
Classroom assessment
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Assessment plays a key role in the teaching
and learning of a second or foreign language.
It is the only means teachers have to verify
that their students are actually learning.
Through classroom assessment we can:
 Integrate teaching and learning.
 Improve student learning.
 Improve teaching.
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Language assessment is a very useful process
that has the power to inform and the power to
influence
 They provide information.
 They can generate changes.
 They can guide the decision-making
process.
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Language assessment provides valuable
information about different aspects of the
education system:
 Students
 Teaching
 Program
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Language assessment has the potential to
generate changes in individuals’
 perceptions
 behaviors
 attitudes
 values
 motivation
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Language assessment provides guidance on
the decisions teachers need to make in the
classroom
 who passes/fails
 what to do next
 what to reinforce
 when to move on
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Assessments are even more powerful if they
are the only criteria used to make critical
decisions that could have an impact in the
educational system and its stakeholders.
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Tests and testing systems are subject to abuse
because test scores and test interpretations
are put to a host of different uses.
Tests are used unethically for other purposes
than they were originally intended for.
To avoid abuses, the purpose of any test
should be made explicit and public.
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To exercise power and control
 to control attendance
 to control discipline
 to punish
 to threaten
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Assessment of learning
Assessment for learning
Assessment as learning
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Assessment is summative in nature.
It is used for accountability purposes.
It documents how much the students have
learned.
The main goal of assessment is to assign a
grade
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Assessment is formative in nature.
It is used to improve the language learning
process.
It provides information about what students
have to learn, how much they have learned,
and what they need to do to improve.
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Assessment is an integral part of the
teaching-learning process.
Each assessment provides the learners an
opportunity to continue learning.
Assessment provides students with an
opportunity to use the language in “real-life”
tasks.
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Gather information about what students know
and can do.
Use different ways to collect information.
Quantify the information if needed.
Interpret and judge the information.
Make decisions based on these
interpretations.
Repeat process.
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Assessment: to gather information about
students, about student learning
Testing: one way to gather information
Measurement: quantify the information
Evaluation: judge the information
Challenges
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There seems to be a disconnect between
theory and practice when it comes to
assessment.
What teacher believe is not exactly what
teachers practice.
Most language assessment practices are not
appropriate.
There is a lack of teacher education and
teacher training in language assessment.
 There is a lot of emphasis on language
teaching, but not necessarily on language
assessment.
 There is a generalized negative perception
about assessment.
 There is a tendency to simply equate
assessment to grades.
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National Bilingual Program
2008: The year of evaluation
Decree 1290
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Reflect on how you are currently using
language assessment.
Make an effort to train yourself on using
language assessment appropriately.
Make language assessment
General
Recommendations
1.
The assessment process is
democratic
 Democratic assessment is an assessment process in
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which all stakeholders participate actively.
It’s a process that is people-centered.
It’s a way to empower stakeholders.
It’s a process where students have control of their
own learning.
It’s a process that allows students to reflect on their
own learning (i.e. self-assessment and peerassessment) in order to improve.
2.
The assessment process must be
clear
 The purpose of the assessment
 What to assess
 How you assess
 When to assess
 How to score the assessment
 How to interpret the assessment
 How the assessment is used
Give appropriate instructions
3.
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Instructions should be clear.
The language of the instructions should
match the language level of the
students.
All students must have a clear
understanding of what they have to do
to demonstrate their knowledge,
abilities or competence.
Make assessment an ongoing
process
4.
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Teachers assess at the beginning of the teachinglearning process (diagnostic assessment).
Teachers assess during the process (formative
assessment).
Teachers assess at the end of the process
(summative assessment).
5.
Assess using different criteria
 Different assessment instruments.
 Different types of tasks.
 Different ways to interpret
assessments.
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Formal Assessment
Informal Assessment
 Observations
 Questions and answers
 Interactions
 Interviews
 Teacher-student conferences
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Teacher-made tests, self-assessment, peerassessment.
Selected-response tasks, constructedresponse tasks.
Performance-based tasks (portfolios, essays,
presentations, debates, info-gaps, role-plays,
projects, etc.).
6.
Use “authentic” assessments
 It allows teachers to make valid
inferences about your students.
 It will enhance the students ability to
transfer skills.
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A form of assessment in which students are
asked to perform ‘real-world’ tasks or ‘realclassroom’ tasks that demonstrate
meaningful application of essential
knowledge and skills.
Projects
Discussions
Essays
Debates
Interviews
Oral presentations
Problem solving
Demonstrations
Reports
Role plays
Info-gaps
Jig-saws
Conversations
6.
Contextualize assessments
 It gives the assessment task a
purpose.
 It will allow students to make
connections.
 It will allow students to apply their
knowledge.
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Decontextualized: Write three sentences
about Colombia.
Contextualized: The school wants people to
get to know our beautiful country. For this
reason, the principal is asking students to
write sentences to describe Colombia. Write
three sentences about Colombia and post
them in the bulleting board .
Use appropriate tasks
7.
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The level of the tasks should be appropriate
according to the students’ needs and interests.
Tasks should reflect the students’ language
level, age, interests, and cognitive
development.
The tasks should give all students the
opportunity to demonstrate all their language
knowledge and abilities.
Tasks should be engaging and fun for students.
Use integrated assessments
8.
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Do not assess skills (e.g. reading, listening,
writing, speaking, grammar, vocabulary,
pronunciation) in isolation.
 Use tasks that require students to use more
than one skill or sub-skill in order to
complete it.
 It’s more authentic.
Have clear scoring procedures
9.
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Teachers must have a clear systematic scoring
scheme.
These scoring procedures should allow
teachers to consistently score students’
performances.
This scoring scheme should inform teachers
and students where the students should be,
where they are, and what they need to do get
there.
10.
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Align assessments to instruction
Assessment tasks should aligned to instruction.
Tasks should be similar to the tasks that are
done in class.
The cognitive level of the assessment tasks are
similar to the ones on the classroom tasks.
This allows students to transfer what they are
learning in class during the assessment.
11.
Empower your students
 Students are the central part of the
assessment process.
 Students should accept this responsibility
and take control of their learning process.
 Make assessment a democratic process.
 Use self-assessment and peerassessment.
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Provide feedback to your
students (formative assessment)
 immediate
 ongoing
 relevant
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Teachers should provide guide and feedback
that will allow students to enhance the learning
process:
 Feedback is immediate and ongoing.
 Feedback highlights the students’ strengths
and limitations.
 Students should make sense of the feedback.
 Provide qualitative feedback (descriptive).
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Assessment should be fair.
The assessment should provide all students an
equal opportunity to demonstrate what they
have learned.
Assessment items or tasks should be free of any
bias and should not offend anyone.
The items/tasks should not favor any specific
group of language learners (female/male,
old/young, etc.).
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The assessment should provide all students
an equal opportunity to demonstrate what
they have learned.
Assessment items or tasks should be free of
any bias and should not offend anyone.
The items/tasks should not favor any
specific group of language learners
(female/male, old/young, etc.).
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Describe your favorite basketball team.
Write a paragraph describing your last
vacation trip.
Describe what you do with your father on
Sundays.
Write an essay explaining why men are better
than women.
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Make sure that you are trained on how to use
language assessments appropriately.
Contribute changing the negative
perceptions that people have about
assessment.
Start first by making sure you have a positive
perception about assessment.
Use an assessment system that is truly
democratic.