Tests' Effectiveness
This entry is about Brown's Language
Assessment Principles and Classroom Practices, chapter 2.
Do we teachers pay attention to the
effectiveness of the exams we apply? In some cases, teachers -especially
those who teach at English institutes- must create or design the tests. We
probably do not even give a second look to the test we just designed for our
students before handing it in because we might think our test is good. But it
is not only important to take care of the exam. Also, external factors, or even
students’ personal issues play a role in the development of a good or a bad
exam. Brown (2000) proposes five criteria
for "testing a test". They are: practicality, reliability, validity,
authenticity, and washback. In this entry, I'm going to focus on
reliability.
One of the factors that can make a test
unreliable is Student-Related Reliability. Sometimes we do not take into account
the fact that one student is sick, or is having family issues, or
is just too nervous when it comes to taking an exam. The deal is that
sometimes we do not even notice it. These factors can affect prominently a
student's performance in an exam. What can we do in those cases? I remember
this was one of the matters we were discussing in the previous assessment
class. One of my classmates proposed a good alternative. It was to apply the
test again, in another time and when the student's condition was better. But
then, will we evaluate that student with the same criteria? Will the rest
of the students accept this? How can we know if the student was really
sick or not? How can we be really fair with all of the students?
The test reliability is another important
factor. The exam should be as clear as possible and here, the appropriate
instruction plays and important role. If the test's instructions are not understandable enough it would be difficult to our students to do the right things. Time
also counts. There are many students -I have to say that sometimes it was
my case- that freak out when they know how much time they have for the test and
then, when time is running out they start writing whatever comes to their
minds, even nonsense. This applies mostly for writing tests. Thus, giving the
students clear instructions of the test might also avoid this problem of time
to happen.
When the students are in the middle of an
exam, there are factors that will not let them concentrate, such as music or
people chatting around the classroom. In my own experience, I am a person
who needs total silence when taking a test. I think this may cause a
student not to have a good performance in an exam. But how do we teachers deal
with that? How do we teachers take that into account?
I think a teacher should not be biased. A
way to avoid this is to make the evaluation criteria clear to the students,
thus they know what exactly they must focus on and how they are going to be
evaluated. I do not think judging a student by their class behavior is fair.
We can evaluate the student’s performance in classes, but the test is something
apart.
There are other factors that should be
taken into account when evaluating how effective a test is. Of course there
will never be the excellent conditions, or there will always be students who
are feeling bad, or the devices might not work for all the students –in a
listening test, for instance-. This is why we teachers should be prepared for
those things, and learning from our mistakes is a positive result of experience.
If you want to answer some
of the questions in this post, feel free to do it. It would be enriching for my
current and future teaching experience.
