Assessment
What the questions test
Candidates must distinguish assessment purposes and quality criteria. Know formative (during learning, feedback-oriented) versus summative (end-of-unit accountability); norm-referenced (compares to peers) versus criterion-referenced (compares to a standard); placement, diagnostic, progress, and achievement tests; and proficiency measures such as WIDA ACCESS or ELPAC. Understand validity (does it measure what it claims?), reliability (consistency across raters, occasions, and items), practicality, washback, and authenticity. Know alternative assessment (portfolios, performances, projects, rubrics), the difference between accommodations and modifications, and how bias and linguistic demand can distort results for multilingual learners.
Traps that catch candidates
- Swapping validity and reliability. A consistently miscalibrated scale is reliable but invalid; an inconsistent test cannot be valid.
- Calling a change a modification when it is an accommodation. Accommodations change how the student demonstrates knowledge (extra time, separate setting, bilingual glossary); modifications change what is assessed (shorter assignment, reduced standards).
- Assuming a low score on a language-loaded math word problem reflects weak math.
- Confusing a proficiency test (English language development) with an achievement test (content mastery).
- Believing exit decisions rest on a single score; multiple measures are expected.
Worked example
Two teachers score the same set of essays and disagree by two points on many papers, while each teacher is internally consistent across papers. The problem is inter-rater reliability, not validity. The remedy is a shared analytic rubric, anchor papers, and calibration training - not a new test.
Rule of thumb
Ask two questions in order: Does this instrument measure the intended construct for this student? (validity) Then: Would repeated uses give the same answer? (reliability). Accuracy of decisions for ELLs depends on reducing irrelevant linguistic load while preserving the construct.