The document provides an extensive overview of assessment in learning, highlighting its fundamental concepts, types, and principles. It distinguishes between assessment, measurement, and evaluation while outlining different assessment types, such as formative, summative, diagnostic, and placement. Additionally, it presents frameworks like Classical Test Theory and Item Response Theory, emphasizing the importance of valid and reliable assessment methods in education.

1. Lesson 1: Basic Concepts and
Principles in Assessing Learning

2. In this lesson, you are expected to:
• Describe assessment in learning and related
concepts and
• Demonstrate understanding of the different
principles in assessing learning through the
preparation of an assessment plan.

3. Assessment in Learning
• The word assessment is rooted in the Latin word assidere,
which means “to sit beside another”.
• Assessment is generally defined as the process of gathering
quantitative and/or qualitative data for the purpose of making
decisions.
• Assessment in learning is vital to the educational process
similar to curriculum and instruction on students or learners
without assessing learning.
•Therefore, it is important that educators have knowledge and
competence in assessing learners.

4. Assessment in Learning
• Assessment in learning can be defined as the systematic
and purpose – oriented collection, analysis and interpretation
of evidence of student learning in order to make informed
decisions relevant to the learners.
• In essence, the aim of assessment is to use evidence on
student learning to further promote and manage learning.
• Assessment in learning can be characterized as (a) a process,
(b) based on specific objectives, and (c) from multiple sources.

5. Measurement and Evaluation
• Measurement can be defined as the process of
quantifying the attributes of an object.
• Evaluation may refer to the process of making value
judgements on the information collected from
measurement based on specified criteria.

6. Measurement and Evaluation
• In context of assessment in learning, measurement refers to the
actual collection of information on student learning through the use of
various strategies and tools.
• While evaluation refers to the actual process of making a decision or
judgement on student learning based on the information collected
from measurement.
• Therefore, assessment can be considered as an umbrella term
consisting a measurement and evaluation.
•However, there are some authors who consider assessment as distinct
and separate from evaluation (e.g., Huba and Freed 2000, Popham
1998).

7. Assessment and Testing
• The most common form of assessment is testing.
• In educational context, testing refers to the use a test
or battery of test to collect information of student
learning over a short period of time.
• A test is a form of assessment but not all assessments
use test or testing

8. Assessment and Testing
• A test can be categorized as either selected response
(e.g., matching - type of test) or constructed response
(e.g., essay test, short answer test).
• A test can make use of objective format (e.g.,
multiple choice, enumeration) or subjective format
(e.g., essay).

9. Assessment and Testing
• The objective format provides for a more bias-free
scoring as the test items have exact correct answers.
• On the other hand, the subjective format allows for
less objective means of scoring, especially if no rubric is
used.
• A table of specification (TOS) – a table that maps out
the essential aspects of a test (e.g., test objectives,
contents, topics covered by the test, item distribution) –
is used in the design and development of a test.

10. Assessment and Testing
• Descriptive statistics are typically used to described and
interpret the results of tests.
• A test is said to be good and effective if it has acceptable
psychometric properties.
•This means that a test should be valid, reliable, has
acceptable level of difficulty, and can discriminate between
learners with higher and lower ability.
•Teachers are expected to be competent in the design and
development of classroom tests.

11. Assessment and Grading
• A related concept to assessment in learning is
grading, which can be defined as the process of
assigning value to the performance or achievement of
a learner based on specified criteria or standards.
• Aside from test, other classroom tasks can serve as
bases for grading learners.
•These may include a learner’s performance in
recitation, seatwork, homework, and project.

12. Assessment and Grading
• The final grade of a learner in a subject or course is
the summation of information from multiple sources
(i.e., several assessment tasks or requirements).
• Grading is a form of evaluation which provides
information on whether a learner passed or failed a
subject or a particular assessment task.
• Teachers are expected to be competent in providing
performance feedback and communicating the results
assessment tasks or activities to relevant stakeholders.

13. What are the different measurement framework
used in assessment?
• The two most common psychometric theories that
serve as frameworks for assessment and
measurement, especially in the determination of the
psychometric characteristics of a measure (e.g., tests,
scale)
•The classical test theory (CCT) and the item
response theory (IRT).

14. Classical Test Theory (CTT)
• The CTT, also known as the true score theory,
explains that variations in the performance of
examinees on a given measure is due to variations in
their abilities.
• The CTT assumes that an examinee’s observed score
in a given measure is the sum of the examinee’s true
score and some degree of error in the measurement
caused by some internal and external conditions.

15. Classical Test Theory (CTT)
• Hence, the CTT also assumes that all measures are
imperfect, and the scores obtained from a measure
could differ from the true score (i.e., true ability) of an
examinee.
• The CTT provides an estimation of the item difficulty
based on the frequency or number of examinees who
correctly answer a particular item; items with fewer
number of examinees with correct answers are
considered more difficult.

16. Classical Test Theory (CTT)
• The CTT also provides an estimation of item
discrimination based on the number of examinees
with higher or lower ability to answer a particular item.
• If an item is able to distinguish between examinees
with higher ability (i.e., higher total test score) and
lower ability (i.e., lower total test score), then an item is
considered to have good discrimination.

17. Classical Test Theory
• Test reliability can also be estimated using
approaches from CTT (e.g., Kunder-Richardson 20,
Cronbach’s alpha).
• Item analysis based on CTT has been the dominant
approach because of the simplicity of calculating the
statistics (e.g., item difficulty index, item discrimination
index, item-total correlation).

18. Item Response Theory (IRT)
• The IRT, on the other hand, analyzes test items by
estimating the probability that an examinee answers
an item correctly or incorrectly.
• One of the central differences of IRT from CTT is that
IRT, it is assumed that the characteristic of an item can
be estimated independently of the character or ability
of the examinee and vice-versa.

19. Item Response Theory (IRT)
• Aside from item difficulty and item discrimination
indices, IRT analysis can provided significantly more
information on items and test, such as fit statistics,
item characteristic curve (ICC), and test
characteristic curve (TCC).
•There are also different IRT models (e.g., one-
parameter model, three-parameter model) which can
provide different item and test information that
cannot be estimated using the CTT.

20. Item Response Theory (IRT)
• In previous years, there have been an increase in the
use of IRT analysis as measurement framework
despite the complexity of the analysis involved due to
the availability of IRT software.

21. What are the different types of assessment in
learning?
• Assessment in learning could be of different types.
• The most common types are formative, summative,
diagnostic, and placement.
• Other experts would describe the types of assessment
as traditional and authentic.

22. Formative Assessment
• The information collected on student learning allows
teachers to make adjustment to their instructional
process and strategies to facilitate learning.
• Through performance reports the teacher feedback,
formative assessment can also inform learners about
their strength and weakness to enable them to take
steps to learn better and improve their performance
as the class progresses.

23. Formative Assessment
• Formative Assessment refers to assessment
activities that provide information to both teachers
and learners on how they can improve the teaching-
learning process.
• This type of assessment is formative because it is
used at the beginning and during instruction for
teachers to assess learner’s understanding.

24. Summative Assessments
• Summative Assessment are assessment activities
that aim to determine learner’s mastery of content or
attainment of learning outcomes.
• They are summative, as they are supposed to provide
information on the quantity or quality of what
students have learned or achieve at the end of
instruction.

25. Summative Assessments
• While data from summative assessment are typically
used for evaluating learners’ performance in class,
there data also provide teachers with information
about the effectiveness of their teaching strategies
and how they improve their instruction in the future.
• Through performance reports the teacher feedback
summative assessment can also inform learners about
what they have done well and what they need to
improve on their future classes or subjects.

26. Diagnostic Assessment
• Diagnostic Assessment aims to detect the learning
problems of difficulties of the learners so that corrective
measures or interventions are done to ensure learning.
• Diagnostic assessment is usually done right after seeing
signs of learning problems in the course of teaching.
• It can also be done at the beginning of the school year
for spirally-designed curriculum so that corrective actions
are applied if pre-requisite knowledge and skills for the
targets of instruction have not been mastered yet.

27. Placement Assessment
• Placement Assessment is usually done at the beginning of
the school year to determine what learners already know or
what are their needs that could inform design of instruction.
• Grouping of learners based on the results of placement
assessment is usually done before instruction to make it
relevant to address the needs or accommodate the entry
performance of the learners.
• The entrance examination given in schools is an example of
a placement assessment.

28. Traditional Assessment
• Traditional Assessment refers to the use of
conventional strategies or tools to provide information
about the learning of students.
•Typically, objective (e.g., multiple choice) and
subjective (e.g., essay) paper-and –pencil test are used.

29. Traditional Assessment
• Traditional assessment are often used as basis for
evaluating and grading learners.
•They are more commonly used in classrooms because
they are easier to design and quicker to be scored.
• In general, traditional assessment are viewed as an
inauthentic type of assessment.

30. Authentic Assessment
• Authentic Assessment refers to the use of
assessment strategies or tools that allow learners to
perform or create a product that are meaningful to the
learners, as they are based on the real- world contexts.
• The authenticity of assessment task is best described
in terms of degree rather that the presence or absence
of authenticity.

31. Authentic Assessment
• Hence, an assessment can be more authentic or less
authentic compared to other assessments.
• The most authentic assessments are those that allow
performances that most closely resemble real-world
task or applications in real-world settings or
environments.

32. The Different Principles in
Assessing Learning

33. 1. Assessment should have a clear purpose
• Assessment starts with a clear purpose.
•The methods used in collecting information should be
based on this purpose.
•The interpretation of data collected should be aligned
with the purpose that has been set.
• This assessment principle is congruent with the
outcome-based education (OBE) principles of clarity of
focus and design down.

34. 2. Assessment is not an end in itself
• Assessment serves as a means to enhance student
learning.
•It is not a simple recording or documentation of what
learners know and do not know.
• Collecting information about student learning,
whether formative or summative, should lead to
decisions that will allow improvement of the learners.

35. 3. Assessment is an ongoing, continuous and a
formative process.
• Assessment consist of a series of tasks and activities
conducted over time.
•It is not a one –shot activity and should be cumulative.
• Continuous feedback is an important element of
assessment.
•This assessment principle is congruent with the OBE
principle of expanded opportunity.

36. 4. Assessment is learner-centered.
• Assessment is not about what the teacher does but
what the learner can do.
• Assessment of learners provides teachers with an
understanding on how they can improve their
teaching, which corresponds to the goal of improving
student learning.

37. 5. Assessment is both process- and product-oriented.
• Assessment gives equal importance to learner
performance or product and the process they engage
in to perform or produce a product.

38. 6. Assessment must be comprehensive and holistic.
• Assessment should be performed using a variety of
strategies and tools designed to assess student
learning in holistic way.
•Assessment should be conducted in multiple periods
to assess learning over time.
• This assessment principle is also congruent with the
OBE principle of expanded opportunity.

39. 7. Assessment requires the use of appropriate
measures.
• For assessment to be valid, the assessment tools or
measures used must have sound psychometric
properties, including , but not limited to, validity and
reliability.
• Appropriate measures also mean that learners must be
provided with challenging but age- and context-
appropriate assessment tasks.
•This assessment principle is consistent with the OBE
principle of high expectations.

40. 8. Assessment should be authentic as possible.
• Assessment tasks or activities should closely, if not
fully, approximate real-life situations or experiences.
• Authenticity of assessment can be thought of as a
continuum from least authentic to most authentic,
with more authentic tasks expected to be more
meaningful for learners.

41. Develop
Let us check what ideas you have acquired about the
basic concepts and principles in assessing learning.
1. What is assessment in learning?
2. How similar or different is assessment from
measurement, evaluation, testing, and grading?

42. 3. What is the main difference between classical test
theory and item-response theory?
4. What are the different types of assessment?
5. Give three core principles in assessing learning.

43. Apply
• Based on the lessons on the basic concepts and
principles in assessment in learning, select five core
principles in assessing learning and explain them in
relation to your experience with a previous or current
teacher in one of your courses/subjects.

44. Transfer
• Prepare a plan on how you will conduct assessment
based on the core principles you have learned. Refer
to K to 12 curriculum in identifying the competencies
targeted by instruction and how you intend to assess
your future students while following the principles in
assessing learning.