The following are my suggestions for the design of effective and fair tests:·Test what you taught. That was what you presented to students as the more important
things to learn. When I was a student we hated teachers who filled tests with obscure
points from the textbook. This practice only increases competition, undermines commu-
nity, feeds student resistance, and encourages marginal students to give up.
·Test what students know. When students fail miserably, teachers have no way to evalu-
ate what they learned and we taught. I take questions and activities directly from class ac-
tivity sheets, homework assignment questions, and class notes.
·I am looking for mastery, not perfection. If the vocabulary and skill level required by eve-
ry question is designed to be very difficult, a student who basically understands the work
will end up performing poorly on the test. If questions have different levels of difficulty, it
makes it easier for teachers to learn what students can actually do.
·Students do better when presented with a variety of learning activities. It makes sense to
use a variety of question formats.
·Evaluating essay answers requires a grading strategy. The three major approaches are
“holistic” grading of entire essays, assigning a specific number of points for each section
of an essay, or using assessment rubrics that give students credit for including different
types of evidence and arguments and for the effectiveness of their writing. I have used all
three strategies, and I do not think there is one correct approach. However, whatever ap-
proach you take, a teacher needs to be as consistent as possible so students know what
to expect when they write essays.
·Discuss test design and grading criteria with students in advance. Involving students in
assessment can, but does not necessarily, mean they participate in deciding their own
grades. It definitely means that students are involved in developing the parameters for
class projects and deciding the criteria for assessing their performance in these activi-
ties. The benefits of this student involvement include: a deeper understanding of re-
search methods, insight into the design and implementation of projects, a greater stake
in the satisfactory completion of assignments, and a sense of empowerment because as-
sessment decisions are based on rules that the classroom community has helped to
shape.
·Students do not do their best when anxious. In order to relax students, Steve Marlow of
the New Teachers Network plays soft music while students take exams. Another alterna-
tive is to allow students who perform poorly an opportunity to take a retest.
·Time pressure should not be a major factor. Everybody should be able to finish the test. If
students need more time, let them come back later in the day, during lunch or a free pe-
riod. This takes some of the pressure off students who score poorly because they get anx-
ious or because of academic difficulties.
·Even when tests are “fair” assessment devices, teachers have to decide how much to
weigh different parts of a test and how to evaluate student answers on essay questions.
Try assigning point values to questions after you see how students perform on a test. If
many students do poorly on one part, assume the problem was either your teaching or
the test itself, and count those questions less. By being flexible, you get a more accurate
measure of what students understand, avoid demoralizing students with low test scores,
and eliminate the practice of having to curve grades.
·Grades should not be rationed. Our goal is for everyone to do well. There is no reason
that every student cannot receive an “A”.208 CHAPTER 8