| 1. |
Look over the objectives for material you are currently
teaching. Identify at least one objective that can be effectively
measured by an essay question or essay test. |
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| 2. |
Develop an essay question and a scoring system for the
responses. |
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| 3. |
Ask your mentor teacher, evaluator, or a colleague to
review what you have developed. |
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| As you and your reviewer study your work, try to answer
the following questions: |
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Will all students be able to read and understand the
question? |
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Does the importance of the content justify the time
this question will take? |
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Does the question require more than recalling facts,
making lists from memory, etc.? |
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Is the question clearly focused and does it include
specific directions to elicit the response you are seeking? |
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Do the directions include a time limit or the amount
of time allowed? |
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Are there any restrictions (length, number of arguments,
etc.)? |
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Is the basis for scoring responses provided to the students? |
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If language skills are to be scored, but they are not
the primary purpose of the assessment, is a separate score given for
language skills? |
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Has a model answer been developed? |
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| 4. |
Administer the essay test/question to a group of students.
Score the responses, then ask your mentor teacher or a colleague to
score them using your scoring system. Compare the two sets of scores
to determine whether the scoring directions are sufficiently explicit
to produce reliable scores. |
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| 5. |
Analyze the students' scores to answer the following
questions: |
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Is the overall distribution of scores acceptable? |
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Do a frequency tabulation of the students' scores. Down the left
side of a piece of paper list the possible scores students might earn
(A, B, C, D, F; 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; etc.). Go through the
set of student papers and make a mark beside the score earned for
each paper. Then examine the tabulation you have created. |
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Is the overall distribution of scores acceptable? That is something
only you can decide. If you want to spread out the scores as in norm-referenced
grading, you probably want to see some students earning grades at
each level (some A's, some B's, etc.). |
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When grading on a criterion-referenced basis (trying for mastery
level for all of your students), you would not want to see any students
earning F's, and few D's, and it would not disturb you if a number
of students scored high grades. |
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Are there potential problems with the assessment,
curriculum or instruction? |
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If you are not satisfied with the overall performance of your class,
is it possible that there is a problem with the assessment itself?
Or, is there a problem in curriculum and instruction? Considerable
variations in students' answers may be an indication of ambiguity
in the wording of the question to which students were asked to respond.
Perhaps you did not prepare students for this type of assessment,
and they found it a challenge? For example, they did not have as much
time to produce their answers as they usually do in similar activities.
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Can you identify patterns of weaknesses that indicate
reteaching or further instruction is needed? |
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Use of a checklist, point system or analytic rubric to score the
papers provides an opportunity to record the number of papers receiving
checks (or the number of points received) for the various components
of your grading system. If patterns emerge (for example, a large percentage
of students do not receive credit for a particular component), these
patterns can help you diagnose weaknesses in instruction. For specific
students, the categories receiving few checks or points can help identify
weaknesses and can guide remediation/reteaching. |
Please take a few moments to provide
feedback about the Alabama Professional Development Modules.
