This document discusses educational testing and assessment, including definitions of tests and assessments, factors that make them appealing to policymakers, the history of test-based educational reform over the past four decades, national and international assessments, technological advances, public concerns, effects on students, and issues of fairness. It covers a wide range of topics related to educational testing at a high level.

1. EDUCATIONAL TESTING &
ASSESSMENT;CONTEXT,ISSUES AND
TRENDS
PRESENTED TO;
DR.MUHAMMAD RAMZAN
PRESENTED BY;
ABDUL MAJID
(M Phil. Education)
RollNo.02

2. EDUCATIONAL TESTING
 Include machine scored ,multiple choice tests,
assessments requiring short or extended answers ,
hands on performance assessment
 Administration of tests or assessment at selected
grades
 Test purchased from publisher
 Assessments developed for district or state
 Monitoring student achievement
 School accountability
 Reporting Parents
 Taking decisions about individuals(Students)

3. IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
Test;
 A procedure intended to establish the quality,
performance, or reliability of something, especially
before it is taken into widespread use.
 Educational Test is that which measures
achievement in subjects of study.
Assessment;
 The action of assessing someone or something.
"the assessment of educational needs“

4. EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT
 Educational assessment is the process of
documenting, usually in measurable terms,
knowledge, skill, attitudes, and beliefs.
 Barometer; Expected to provide information about
current status& progress of student achievement
and quality
 Lever of Reform; Mechanism of educational
practices and motivating focused efforts, holding
educators and students accountable

5. FACTORS THAT MAKE TESTS AND ASSESSMENTS APPEALING TO
EDUCATIONAL POLICY MAKERS
 Tests and assessments are relatively inexpensive
 Testing and assessment can be externally
mandated
 Testing and assessment changes can be rapidly
implemented
 Results are visble

6. FOUR DECADES OF TEST BASED
EDUCATIONAL REFORM
 Written examinations means of accountable for
results(Resnick,1982)
 Administered spelling and arithmetic tests(Joseph rice
1914)
 Achievement Test published during World War –I and II
which accelerated growth
 Federal Support of compensatory Education;
 Minimum Competency Testing;
Percieved skills of high school graduates, focused on
basic skills
 A Nation at Risk;
A) document shortcomings
B) recommended mechanism

7.  Involved expanding use of test
 Conclusion of Inadquate achievement
 Reliance on Tests as a mechanism of reform
A)Certify the students credentials
B )Identify the need for remedial intervention and
C) Identify the opportunity for advanced work
 Standards-Based Reform;
1) adopting ambitious(shape and define level of
confidence
2)Using forms of assessment to fulfil tasks
3)Imposing high stakes accountability mechanisms
4) Including all students

8.  Content and Performance standards
 Content standards( what)
 Performance standards(How well)
 Performance-Based assesment;
New approaches to assessment are
alternative(real world),authentic(Stressing
something other),direct assessment(Doing hands
on experiment)
 High stakes Accountability mechanisms
 Inclusion of All Students
 The Question of Impact

9. NATIONAL EMPHASIS ON ASSESSMENT
 They are imposed by local and state government
 National Assessment of Educational Progress
o Influencing local and state testing
o Nationwide assessment program designed
o Assessments administered in reading,writing,
mathematics, science,citizenship,art,skills etc
o To determine changes in performance over time
o Reporting policy makers

10. INTERNATIONAL ASSESSMENTS
 Increased awareness to compete globally
 Comparisons in educational systems
 Variations in quality of samples obtained
 Agreement on conten
 New National Testing and Assessment Intiatives
 Goals 2000 and IASA
 Voluntary National Test

11. TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN TESTING AND
ASSESSMENT
 GRE(Graduate Record Examination)
 Professional Assessments for Beginng Teachers
 Computer-based tests offered by Educational
Testing Service (ETS)
 Enhancements in Testing by Computerized Testing;
o Assessments better tailored
o Fewer test questions
o Year round testing
o Flexible scheduling

12. o More individualized testing
o Faster score reporting
o Possibility of immediate viewing
o A technological platform for continued assessment
Some illustrative Online and adaptive testing
software's are;
C-Quest, Examiner, Fast Test, Fast Test
Professional, Micro CAT, Question Mark.

13. PUBLIC CONCERN ABOUT TESTING AND
ASSESSMENT
 Taking decisions about selection, administration
and use of educational tests and assessments
 Expansion of testing programs
 External testing programs may cause undesirable
shifts
 Opportunities of individuals and groups
 Social consequences of testing
 Nature and quality of Tests
 Test measure only a narrow segment of skills and
abilities

14. EFFECTS OF TESTING ON STUDENTS
 Criticism 1: Tests Create Anxiety
 Criticism 2: Categorize and label Students
 Criticism 3: Test damage Students Self concepts
 Criticism 4: Tests create self fulfilling Prophecies
 The Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect, is the
phenomenon whereby the greater the expectation
placed upon people, the better they perform.
 The effect is named after the Greek myth
of Pygmalion, a sculptor who fell in love with a
statue he had carved.of tests to minorities

15. FAIRNESS OF TESTS TO MINORITIES
o Providing equal rights and opportunities
o Equally treatment of persons
o Opportunity to learn material that is assessed
o Standards for Educational and Psychological
testing(AERA,APA,NCME)
o Testing skills
o Possible presence of bias in test content and
possible unfair use of test results
o Absence of bias are essential for procedural
fairnessG

16. GENDER FAIRNESS
 PSAT(Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test)
o Responses from males and females is different
o Difference occurs in scores
o Judgments involve questions of social values and
social policy
o Females score low as compare to males in
Mechanical tests.