Designing the Classroom Curriculum Designing the Classroom Curriculum | Page 117

Lynch, Smith, Howarth
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Criterion related evidence - the relationship between an assessment and another measure of the
same trait
Construct related evidence - the extent to which the assessment is a meaningful measure of an
observable trait or characteristic (Brady and Kennedy, 2009, pp. 33-37).
Reliability: Reliability is determined by estimating the influence of various sources of error. For
example, if several teachers use the same criteria and come up with different outcomes, the criteria are
not reliable. If there is little error the reliability is high and vice versa. Like validity reliability is based on
using one or more sources of evidence to justify score interpretation:
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Stability - the scores of two assessment administrations to the same group of individuals with a
time interval between.
Equivalence - two forms of the same assessment given about the same time.
Internal consistency - a single administration of assessment
Scorer consistency - agreement between two or more scorers (or raters) on the same
performances (Brady and Kennedy, 2009, pp. 33-37)
Decision consistency - percentage of decisions that are the same.
Authenticity: An authentic assessment regime includes a variety of appropriate assessment tasks that
together provide an accurate picture of student performance (Marsh, 2009, pp. 83-84).
Fairness: There are five key components of fairness in assessment:
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Student knowledge of learning targets and assessments
Opportunity to learn
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Avoiding teacher stereotypes
Avoiding bias in assessment tasks and procedures (Brady and Kennedy, 2009, p. 36, 91 to 93).
Positive Consequences: Assessment has a consequence in the classroom context. The focus should
be positive. Questions such as: How will assessments affect student motivation? How will the assessment
affect how and what students study? How will assessment contribute to the individual student’s learning
progress? Focus the teacher in considering the consequences of their assessment strategies (Mehrens,
1998).
3. Efficiencies for assessment to work in the classroom context
Time is a limited commodity for teachers. High quality assessments are practical and efficient (Brady and
Kennedy, 2009).
4. Moderation
In addition to these three key assessment issues is the process of moderation. While more common in
secondary schools and tertiary teaching environments, “moderation, is concerned with the consistency,
comparability and fairness of professional judgments about the (performance) levels demonstrated by
students” (Maxwell 2002). Most moderation processes occur in the context of end of term ‘teacher meetings’
where teachers present work samples, discuss the assessment decisions made and then reappraise their
assessment results accordingly. A key reference in moderating student work is the syllabus and examples of
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