CD Unit 4: Curriculum Maintenance and Continued Development
The nature and purpose of assessment
Curriculum assessment for improvement
Maintaining and updating the curriculum
Paradigm shifts and reconstruction
Function of curriculum assessment (decision about curriculum)
provide a means of obtaining information that can be used to improve a course
provide basis for decisions about curriculum adoption and effective use
formative evaluation (IMPROVE)
summative evaluation (CONTINUE?)
Definition
Assessment and evaluation: a process whereby people gather data in order to make decisions on the quality, effectiveness, or value of a programme, product, project, process, objective, or curriculum
Purpose of curriculum assessment to make decision about individual
diagnostic decisions
instructional feedback decisions
placement decisions
promotion decisions
credentialing decisions
selection decision
require data about strengths and weaknesses and determination of areas that need special instructional attention
help students to monitor their progress and adjust their approaches by getting feedback on teacher-conducted tests and quizzes
provide data about the level of proficiency of the students, particularly skills, in order to place them in groups
decide whether or not to promote students to the next grade level on the data about their proficiency and maturity
include certification, licensure, and attesting to the competence of a programme graduate
those made by college admission offices. Grades are commonly used to predict students' achievement
Measurement and evaluation
Measurement: a process of assigning numerals to objects or events according to rules
Evaluation: assign value and meaning to the measurement
Ornstein and Hunkins (2009) six steps on conducting an evaluation
Focus on the curricular phenomena to be evaluated
collect the information
organize the information
analyze the information
report the information
recycle the information
evaluators need to identify the contexts in which the assessment will be carried out such as the grade level, average students' abilities and available facilities to support the assessment
identify the information that needs to be collected. plan how it should be conducted
information collected needs to be organised in a way that others can understand and make use of
employ appropriate techniques of analysing the information at hand
report the information in ways that can be easily understood by the audiences. make use of any charts and tables to highlight important findings. including suggestions for improvement if suitable
information collected needs to be carefully stored so that it can be referred to in the future. also, decide who can have access to the information and what kind of information can be revealed to whom
Common techniques of assessment
high-stake testing
norm-referenced testing
criterion-referenced assessment
Alternative approaches to assessment
Performance assessments
Authentic assessment
learning portfolio
record keeping
allow 'winners' to receive major benefits such as financial support including scholarships, admission to a prestigious college or university, university graduation and others.
usually in the form of standardised exams such as the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM)
managed by government bodies for instance the Ministry of Education, and/or professional certification agencies like the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
compare and rank a person's performance to that of others who tool the same test or within a certain population
quantitative data is usually used to make comparisons
standardised examinations are examples
it can be multiple-choice tests, open-ended and short-answer questions test the average student's knowledge and reflect the content of nationally used textbooks
measure students' knowledge, skills and performance based on specific criteria or standards
criteria are usually broken down into specific behavioural items such as the ability to draw a map of a country without referring to any source
goal: to determine whether or not the candidate has demonstrated mastery of a certain skill or set of skills
tested criteria and standards are made known to the students to allow them to be prepared
method of teaching and learning that involves both process and product
involve students in constructing various types of products for diverse audiences
involve students in developing the process that leads to the finished product
measure what students can do with what they know, rather than how much they know
based on what is most essential in the curriculum and what is interesting to a student
aim at evaluating students' abilities to function in 'real-world' contexts
students learn how to apply their learned knowledge and skills to authentic tasks and projects
DOES NOT encourage rote learning and passive test-taking
focus on students' analytic skills; ability to integrate what they learn; creativity; ability to work collaboratively; written and oral expression skills
value learning process as much as the finished product
an organised collection of one's works, accomplishments and evidences that support it
can be a valuable tools for assessing a student's capabilities in pre-determined areas
enhance the assessment process by revealing a range o skills and understanding mastered by a student
reflect the change and growth the student is experiencing over a period of time and encourage student's, parents', and teachers' reflections on how have they been helpful to the student in achieving the identified knowledge and skills
the maintenance of a history of one's activities by entering data in ledgers or journals, putting documents in files, and so on
encourage students to keep track of their own works over a period of time
measurement-based assessment
integrated evaluation
characteristics
objectives-driven evaluation
group-administered test
individually administered test
norm-referenced test
criterion-referenced test
standardised test
characteristics of integrated evaluation
growth-oriented
student-controlled
collaborative
dynamic
contextualised
informal
flexible and action-oriented
curriculum evaluation or assessment
the systematic process of collecting, analysing, and interpreting sets of information to determine to what extent the learners are achieving the intended instructional objectives
main assumptions
educational practices are justified by the learning objectives in which the educators seek to achieve
the learning outcomes can be measured
scientifically based evaluation
tests are created by subject matter or content experts which improve the reliability and validity of the tests
this method of evaluation is objective rather than subjective
tests designed based on the intended learning objectives of the lesson
learning instruction is also based on achieving the intended learning objectives
test is conducted to many individuals at the same time
able to administered to a large number of students in a typical classroom within a short period of time
test is conducted for one person at a time
provide better information about the individual learner's performance in comparison to group-administered test
used to describe the performance of an individual in terms of 'relative position held in some known group'
a student's test score will be compared to other students' scores
comparison based on local, state, or national groups
used to provide scores that can be interpreted in reference to specific pre-identified criteria
student is being measured in a specific performance needed for a certain instruction or job
tests are constructed by a number of experts working together, such as test specialists, curriculum experts, and teachers
there are guidelines and standards which need to be followed in regard to scoring
tests are administered and scored under standard and uniform testing conditions so that results from different classes and different schools can be compared
principal directions
summative evaluation purpose, credentialing, selection and some instructional decisions about individuals
formative evaluation purpose, instrucitonal management decisions
standardised, norm-referenced, and group-administered tests
criterion-referenced test, individually administered, sometimes group-administered
focus more on developing students' problem-solving skills and knowledge which can be used in the real world
to promote the student's growth and personal development, thus the tests need to be able to reflect the student's development within a specified time (a semester, year, month)
students should be able to take control of their own learning experiences
give students the responsibility for deciding what to evaluate, and how to evaluate it, students are encouraged to 'own' evaluation and use it as a basis for self-improvement
learning contract is an example in which students list their aims for a course or lesson, they will then be evaluated on how far they have achieved their aims
students and teachers work together in the evaluation process
allow students to evaluate their own performance and progress
aim to seek information on the growth of the students, on a continuous process of development
environment surrounds the students helps or affects the learners' experience in learning
every aspect of the curriculum needs to reflect the real world situations to encourage learners' development
it is informal manner compared to measurement-based evaluation
evaluation process is often conducted 'during or in close proximity to learning activities'
more flexible and action-oriented compared to measurement-based evaluation
lesson objectives are considered to be dynamic and flexible, which mean that they can be changed and revised according to situations and needs
method of applying integrated evaluation in education
collect data where the evaluator acts as the 'participant observer' where he or she will try to fit into the classroom environment and view the world from the perspectives of the class participants
aims to encourage self-evaluation, which is based on the assumption that no personal change is possible without a belief in the need to change
through interviews in order to gain a deeper understanding about the learners' learning process and thoughts
integrated evaluation involved a naturalistic approach in the method of evaluation where 'natural settings are used as opportunities to gather evaluation information' from the students
paradigm shift: a revolution or transformation of an individual's thinking to another perspective
the impact of research on curriculum improvement
school self-evaluation
teachers as researchers
proving a curriculum project
one-sided value premises
justifying an education policy
possible reasons behind the failure of curriculum innovations and reforms
bias
approach
research
evaluation
learners
teachers
various curriculum projects and innovations have been designed and implemented as a means of educational reform
formative improvement
costly when fail and put learners at stake
various education policy reports have surfaced in responsed to allegations of educational programme failures and this calls for the reform of education system
many of the national curriculum reform projects suffered from one-side value premises
action research: aim to seek understanding an acting on the best we know and to grow as professionals in order to develop new insights, skills, and practices
four fundamental processes or moments
PLAN
ACT
OBSERVE
REFLECT
develop a strategic plan of action to improve what is already happening, which must be forward looking
act in order to implement the plan. the act must be deliberate, controlled, take place in real time, and may encounter real constraints
observe the effects of action in the context in which it occurs, and provide the basis for self-reflection
reflect on the effects which would be used for future planning
evaluation process
external
internal
external evaluation is done by examiners which are from the outside of the school context and not involved in the educational plan. it can be evaluation specialists (consultant, expert in the field in question, external body representing local, regional, or central school administration
internal evaluation is conducted by project leader or the team within the organisation itself, which is referred to as school-based assessment
focus is to provide space for teachers and students to interact with each other regarding a current educational plan within the school context
involve the examination of goals, rationale and structure of teachers' curricula, a study of the context in which the interaction with students occurs and an analysis of the interests, motivations and achievements of the students' experiences