Language Assessment
MPhil English Linguistics Programme
2011-2013
Lahore Leads University
ASSIGNMENT 3
The Role of Validity in Increasing Positive Washback of Assessment Task
Zulfiqar Ahmad
ID # 4025
Submitted to:
Dr. M. Umer Khan
1. Introduction
Washback is the effect of a test on teaching and learning (McNamara, 2000: 73) which can be both positive and negative. Positive washback entails that the test under discussion conforms to the criteria of good and effective assessment practices. So, a test which leaves positive washback is assumingly valid, reliable, useful, practical, authentic, transparent, and secure. Validity is one of the cornerstones of good testing and refers to the quality of a test when it measures what it is supposed to measure (Henning, 1987: 89). In a sense, then, validity is the most important determinant of positive washback since an invalid test that deviates from the aims of a test cannot possess other attributes such as reliability, authenticity, usefulness, etc.
2. Role of validity in increasing washback
Validity assumes the centrality of purpose for which the test is being devised or used (Alderson, Clapham, & Wall, 1995: 170). Validity in all its conceptual and practical forms affects both the incidence and frequency of washback effect. Generally, there is internal, external, and construct validity with further sub-types under each main category.
2.1. Internal validity
Internal validity refers to the anticipated content of the test and its anticipated effect. Internal validity is measured with the help of face validity, content validity, and response validity.
2.1.1. Face validity
It is the degree to which a test seems to subjectively gauge the knowledge and abilities it believes to mea...
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... TBL theory, the higher the construct validity of the test. It is an inclusive term which, according to some testing practitioners, covers all aspects of validity, and is therefore a synonym for 'validity'. If a test is supposed to be testing the construct of listening, it should indeed be testing listening, rather than reading, writing and/or memory. To assess construct validity the test constructor can use a combination of internal and external quantitative and qualitative methods.
3. Conclusion
Testing and assessment seriously engage teachers time and, perhaps partly because of this, there is currently great interest in validity issues, washback and in the ethics of testing. More and more tests now have a pre-testing element built in to their construction and, in addition, there is much research into the construction, marking and validation of 'subjective tests'.
The tests assume that the person has high self-awareness. Gardner's model emphasize that each individual has different level of intrapersonal intelligence to answer test questions accurately.
“One test result is the worth one-thousand expert opinions.” The result of standardized testing can establish many results but do they imply the true capabilities of a student or their ability to study for the test. I will discuss in this paper what the arguments on both sides are for standardized testing.
This is referred to as formative assessment. Second, it is used for certification for progress; and third, as a tool to determine who is granted a privilege such as board certification or graduation and thus serves the role of accountability or quality assurance to stakeholders. The stakeholders involved in the context of undergraduate medical education include patients, general public, healthcare employers, professional and regulatory bodies, training organizations, universities, medical schools, the examinees and individual teachers (Amin et al. 2006). The second and third purposes of assessment are included under summative assessment. Thus, assessment provides us with the opportunity to ‘discover the worth’ and to ‘improve the quality’ of education. The process of achieving these two goals of ‘discovery of worth’ and ‘improvement of quality’ constitute sound assessment practice which must meet the following criteria: validity or coherence, reproducibility or consistency, equivalence, feasibility,
Validity is essentially the degree to which a conception is founded and parallels accurately to the real world. Validity is the tool that measures what the particular research was anticipated to measure (Schmitt & Brown, 2012). There are several different types of validity but the ones that will be discussed in this paper are concurrent and predictive. Concurrent validity is taking an already validated point and testing it with another measurement tool. This means that there was already a hypothesis proven right or wrong and now the researcher will be testing this same hypothesis but will being using another type of tool to see if the result...
The issue of standardized testing has been a highly debated issue in the United States for many years and shows no sign of being resolved any time soon. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 was an effort to standardize and improve our education system, but 13 years later it is still in shambles. While many people agree there is a need for some sort of measure for quality education, there is much disagreement about the effectiveness of standardized tests. Some even say federal programs like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have gone too far in using test scores to evaluate teachers (Gordon 2013). Unfavorable results from these tests seem to generate more punitive consequences for the teachers and schools than help for the students. The words “high-stakes” are used often in numerous sources to describe the current testing system and refer to decisions that will make a significant impact on both students and teachers. These decisions include repeating a grade or not receiving a diploma for the student and possible loss of a job for the teacher. Standardized testing is an ineffective and expensive way to measure student achievement.
However, both characteristics of reliability and validity are important and can be used in many studies, such as the self-rating and other- ratings of daily behavior. Reliability refers to the internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, test-retest, and standardized scoring. In other words reliability means that study scores have to be constant with repeatability of the findings. Validity also refers to convergent validity, discriminant validity, and predictive validity. Validity refers to the reliability or credibility of the research. If the findings in a study, reliability and validity are valid they must be reliable.
8. Validity - Validity is the degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure.
tests were primarily employed as measures of student achievement that could be reported to parents, and as a means of noting state and district trends (Moon 2) . Teachers paid little attention to these tests, which in turn had little impact on curriculum. However, in the continuing quest for better schools and high achieving students, testing has become a central focus of policy and practice. Standardized tests are tests that attempt to present unbiased material under the same, predetermined conditions and with consistent scoring and interpretation so that students have equal opportunities to give correct answers and receive an accurate assessment. The idea is that these similarities allow the highest degree of certainty in comparing result...
The traditional approach correlational methods are used to quantify the association among test score and criterion. The PF model differs from traditional validity assessment not only with respect to how validity is conceptualized but also with respect to empirical emphasis. The PF model switches emphasis of validity theory and research from outcome to process and from correlation to experimentation. A process-driven approach and traditional validity assessment can enhance assessment procedures in the psychology field. This can enhance researchers’ knowledge of test score misuse by enlightening the fundamental intra-an interpersonal dynamics that guide to differential performance (and differential prediction) in different groups (Bornstein,
Likewise, in order to validate construct validity, Malhotra et al. (2012) recommends that in conducting research, researchers should use multi versus single-item scales to validate data from experiments, depending upon the complexity of the experiment. Malhotra et al. (2012) also recommends using a step-by-step approach ...
A key characteristic is that the assessment information used by both teacher and pupils to modify their work in order to make it more effective”. In a similar vein, Tunstall and Gipps (1996) wrote “formative assessment means teachers using their judgments of children knowledge or understanding to feedback into the teaching process and to determine for individual children whether to re-explain the task/concept, to give further practice on it or move on the next stage”. (cited in Harry Torrance and John Pryor, 1998, p389). In addition, Black & Wiliam (1998) adopted a more restrictive definition by limiting the term to assessment conducted while learning was taking place. They defined formative assessment as a concept that teachers use information from activities to determine the next steps in learning and teaching. In their viewpoints, the information from a formative assessment actually is used to adjust instruction ‘to meet students’ needs”. In other words, these adjustments were not only to be made in the instruction but they needed to work. Likewise, Brown (2004) also stated this point in his definition. He defines formative assessment as “evaluating students in the process of ‘forming’ their competencies and skills with the goal of helping them to continue that growth process”, (p
Assessment, in the context of education, was defined by Lambert, D (2000, pag 4) as the processs of gathering, recording and using information about pupils' responses to educational tasks. Despite some can consider that assessment is separated from the learning process, assessment is, in fact, an essential part of the learning proccess. Maguire, M. and Dillon, J. (2007, pag 213) pointed out that assessment is intrincately bound-up in the teaching-learning cycle.
A well created test can measure learning and diagnose a student’s weakness (Merrow, 4). In testing, the idea is for the student to get the correct answer on information they know and incorrect answers on the information they do not. However, a testing error may occur. A testing error is when a student gets an answer correct of information they did not actually know or an answer incorrect, they may have actually known (Gellman, 30)The people who create these tests want straightforward measures. However, test designers do not design these tests to measure what a student can do academically (Fusaro, 1). Large testing companies produce tests and sell them all over the country. This causes the test to be not specialized for the school or county and students do not do as well as they could have if the test was specialized (Popham, 4).three possible ways of testing a student’s knowledge exists: multiple choices, answer in essay form, or they are asked to perform a task and then graded on the performance (Merrow, 5). Some tests are designed to assess an individual’s performance, like an
Through assessment students and teachers are able to determine the level of mastery a student has achieved with standards taught. Both formative and summative assessment should be purposeful and targeted to gain the most accurate data to drive further instruction (Ainsworth, 2010). While this syllabus does a good job of identifying the need for both formal and informal assessments, the way in which this is communicated does not provide enough detail for understanding. Simply listing assessment types does not give any insight into how these assessments fit in the learning process of this course. While some of the assessments mentioned could be common assessments chosen by the school or district to gain insight into the effectiveness of instruction, the inclusion of authentic assessments is most beneficial to students and demonstrates learning in a context closer to that of a work environment (Rovai, 2004). Unfortunately, this particular course, according to this syllabus, relies heavily on quizzes and traditional tests and essays to form the bulk of assessment opportunities. While other activities, such as formative assessments, journaling and discussions are mentioned as possible avenues for scoring, they are given a very low percentage of the overall grade. This shows that they are not valued for their ability to show progression and mastery. If this is indeed the case, this puts the students as a
Students entering college for the first time look forward to the numerous tests that they are required to take least of all. Test taking and college are in tandem for many, but some debate that using testing as a grading system should be discontinued in universities. In theory it sounds like a great idea. It would cut back on stress and, more than likely, class time as well. However, stopping testing as a form of grading in universities would be soon regretted. Grading systems are an essential part of any education. Tests insure that that the student is learning what the teaching is teaching and identify areas that may need improving. The results from grading systems also show future employers or schools a glimpse of the kind of worker that a student will be. The numerous lists of positive effects on not only the students but the teachers, and even the university as a whole, outweigh the cons of using testing as a grading system.