University of Scranton

Education Department

Departmental Course Syllabus

Ed 343: Evaluation and Measurement

(CRN 30440)

Spring, 2008

Class Day, Time: Tu, Th 4- 5:15 PM Instructor: Dr. Thomas Hogan

Location: MGH 206 Office & phone: AMH 223 941-4268

Credit Value: 3 cr Office hours: Tu,Th 10-11, W 11-12

E-mail: Thomas.Hogan@Scranton.edu

The PROFESSIONAL EDUCATOR AS SCHOLAR/DECISION-MAKER is a model developed by the Education Department of the University of Scranton to describe their philosophy and practice regarding the preparation of professionals - teachers, counselors, and administrators - to facilitate the education of elementary and secondary students. The programs of the Education Department develop the skills required by the candidate to make appropriate decisions regarding the candidate’s personal and professional life, as well as knowledge in the content areas within the liberal arts traditions of the Jesuit University, resulting in the well-rounded, academic preparation of the candidate. The rigor of the program produces a professional educator able to effectively perform the variety of roles expected by the contemporary school environment.

University of Scranton-Education Department 1993 v

Code of Academic Honesty:

The Education Department honors the Academic Code of Honesty in the University of Scranton’s Policies Governing the University Community. (http://matrix.scranton.edu/student_handbook/policy_academic_code_honesty.html)

Course Prerequisites:

The catalog lists no prerequisites.

Course Description (from catalog):

Educ 343: Evaluation and Measurement

This course acquaints prospective teachers with the various facets of test interpretation and test construction. Standardized achievement, diagnostic, and aptitude tests will be covered, along with teacher-made objective and essay tests. Emphasis will be placed on constructing valid and reliable tests by the teacher. The use and misuse of standardized tests and teacher-made tests will be discussed.

Required Texts/Readings:

Hogan, T. P. (2007). Educational assessment: A practical introduction. New York: Wiley

Course Objectives and Student Assessments:

Ch	Topic	Key Objectives	Ed Unit	PDE	ACEI
1	Intro	§ Describe principal purposes and key questions about educational assessment. § Identify the major trends in current educational assessment, including fairness. § Accurately use terms in current descriptions of educational assessment.	D-1	I-B,II-B II-E,II-F	4
ApA	Information	§ Show familiarity with sources of information about existing assessments including state and national assessments.	D-1	I-B,II-C, II-E,II-F, III-A	4, 5.1
2	Statistics	§ Identify variables at the level of construct and operational definition. § Demonstrate competence in use of simple descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency, variability, z, and correlation. § Show ability to determine latter with software package.	S-3	I-B, II-E	4
3	Reliability	§ Identify the major sources of unreliability in assessments. § Describe the methods for studying reliability. § Use reliability information to interpret assessment information.	S-3	I-B, II-B, II-E	4
4	Validity	§ Identify the major ways of describing test validity. § Show how to align assessment with content standards. § Describe the concept of “fairness” and how it is studied.	E-1, S-3, D-1	I-B, II-B	4
5	Interpreting	§ Define the main methods used for norm-referenced interpretation, including strengths and weaknesses of each. § Define criterion-referenced interpretation and how it is used in standards based systems. § Show competence in using standard reports of NR and CR information. § Outline procedures for self-referenced on repeated measures, especially as used for special populations.	S-3	I-B, II-B	4
6	Planning Assessment	§ Show how objectives are used in assessment planning. § Demonstrate competence in accessing existing content standards, especially at the state level. § Outline major factors in an overall assessment plan. § Plan a particular assessment.	S-1, D-2	I-B, II-B	4
7	Selected-response	§ Evaluate the relative merits of selected-response and constructed-response items. § Demonstrate competence in preparing S-R items, using professional guidelines.	S-3	I-B, II-B	4
8	Constructed-response, performance	§ Describe the two key problems for constructed-response items. § Show competence in preparing C-R items, including essays, performances, and portfolios. § Effectively use appropriate methods for scoring C-R items, including use of rubrics.	S-3	I-B, II-B	4
9	Interests, creativity, non-test	§ Demonstrate methods for assessing interests. § Demonstrate methods for assessing creativity. § Identify useful non-test indicators of achievement.	S-3, D-2	I-B, II-B	4
10	Administra-tion, Analysis	§ Show competence in administering external tests. § Explain basic principles underlying the notion of accommodations. § Demonstrate simple item analysis procedures.	S-3	I-B, II-B, III-B	4
11	Standardized Achievement Tests	§ Describe typical features of each major category of standardized achievement tests. § Compare characteristics of standardized and teacher-made assessments. § Identify appropriate and inappropriate practices for administering standardized tests.	S-3	I-B, II-B	4, 3.2
12	Other Standardized Measures	§ Describe major features and uses of mental ability tests. § Identify criteria used in defining mental retardation. § Identify criteria used in defining learning disabilities. § Show how a behavior rating scale is used by a teacher.	S-3	I-B, II-B	4, 3.2
13	Grading	§ Explain alternative rationales for grading. § Describe the variety of formats used for report cards. § Show competence in using an electronic record system for grading. § Outline suggestions for conducting a parent-teacher conference.	S-3, S-4, D-1, D-4	I-B, II-B, III-D	4, 5.3
14	Legal Issues	§ Accurately describe key terms used in “the law.” § Summarize key provisions in IDEA and NCLB. § Show at least passing acquaintance with ADA and FERPA.	S-3	I-B, II-B, III-B	4
15	Self-evaluation	§ List major methods for self-evaluation of teaching, including strengths and weaknesses of each. § Describe the role of reflection in self-assessment.	S-2, D-4	I-B, II-B	4, 5.2

Assessments Keyed to Objectives

Ch	Topic	Assessment: Knowledge	Assessment: Performance *
1	Intro	Quiz	Assign #1
ApA	Information	Quiz	2 searches
2	Statistics	Quiz	Ex. 2,3,4,5,6
3	Reliability	Quiz	Ex. 1,2,6
4	Validity	Quiz	Ex. 1,3,4
5	Interpreting	Quiz	Ex. 1,3,6,7
6	Planning Assessment	Quiz	Ex. 4,7
7	Selected-response	Quiz	Ex. 1,2,6,7
8	Constructed-response, perform.	Quiz	Ex. 2,4,5
9	Interests, creativity, non-test	Quiz	Ex. 1,3,6
10	Administration, Analysis	Quiz	Ex. 1,6
11	Standardized Ach. Tests	Quiz	Ex. 3,9,11
12	Other Standardized Measures	Quiz	Ex. 1,4,7
13	Grading	Quiz	Ex. 4,5
14	Legal Issues	Quiz	Ex. 2 or 3, 7
15	Self-evaluation	On final

* End-of-chapter Exercises

Dispositions:

Student dispositions are monitored in each course. Students are advised to review the Professional Dispositions Policy outlined in the Education Department Student Handbook (http://academic.scranton.edu/department/education/handbooks.html).

ADA Statement:

It is the student’s responsibility to apply for accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Students with disabilities, either permanent or temporary, or any other special circumstances which might affect their ability to perform in this class, are strongly advised, if they have not already done so, to notify the Office of Equity and Diversity, STT 473, at 941-6645 to facilitate accommodations.

Course Requirements/Expectations:

1. It is doubtful that you can do well in this course without regular attendance in class.

2. You are responsible for knowing all announcements made in class, including those related to any changes in the attached schedule.

3. Classes will begin and end promptly. Suitable attire and civil behavior are expected in class.

4. Note carefully the structure of the course. It breaks into four rather distinct parts. The first part (Chapters 2-5), after the introductory chapter, deals with fundamental principles of assessment. These principles apply to all types of assessment. The second part (Chapters 6-10) deals with teacher-made tests. The third part (Chapters 11-12) deals with standardized tests. The fourth part (Chapters 12-15) deals with a number of other assessment matters. This division has important implications for how the course proceeds and how you need to study.

5. This is not a statistics course. However, the fundamental principles of assessment rely on the use of some techniques from descriptive statistics. Therefore, we provide an introduction to these techniques in Chapter 2.

6. The quizzes will cover material in the assigned chapters, as well as material covered in class. Although there is close correspondence between textbook and class coverage, they are not exactly alike. Specifically, you are responsible for material in the text even if it is not mentioned in class; and you are responsible for material covered in class even if it is not covered in the text.

7. The periodic assignments will help reinforce material we cover in class. Submit on 1 page with name and chapter in upper right corner. Graded 1/0. If late, automatic half-point deduction. If marked “re-do”, automatic half-point deduction. “On time” submission means at beginning of class when it is due. No e-mail submissions. Copying an assignment from another student is considered academic dishonesty for both parties.

8. The syllabus is subject to revision. Changes will be announced in class.

Grading:

There are 14 brief quizzes. Each quiz consists of 10-15 multiple-choice items. Make-up exams will be given only in documented emergency cases; the nature of the make-up exam is at the discretion of the instructor. One quiz may be dropped. A final, cumulative exam consisting of both multiple-choice and essay questions will be given on the day designated for the final exam; score on the final exam may be used to improve the overall grade. See above for grading of assignments. See attachment for assignment due dates.

Final grades will be determined as follows:

Sum of best 13 quizzes 75%

Assignments 25%

Class Schedule: Ed 343 Spring ’08 Schedule

Date	Day	Ch	Q	Topic	Assignment
31 Jan	Th	1		Syllabus, Assignments, Intro’s, Ch 1
5 Feb	Tu	1		Ch 1
7 Feb	Th	AppA	1	Sources of Information
12	Tu	2		Statistics
14	Th	2		“
19	Tu	3	2, A	Reliability
21	Th	3		“
26	Tu	4	3	Validity
28	Th	4		“
4 Mar	Tu	5	4	Interpreting performance
6	Th	5		“
11	Tu	6	5	Planning for assessment
13	Th	7	6	Selected-response items
18	Tu			SPRING BREAK
20	Th			SPRING BREAK
25	Tu	7		SR items (cont.)
27	Th	8	7	Constructed-response items
1 Ap	Tu	8		“
3	Th	9	8	Creativity, Interests, Non-test
8	Tu	9		“
10	Th	10	9	Administering assessments
15	Tu	11	10	Standardized Tests: Achievement
17	Th	11		“
22	Tu	12	11	Standardized Tests: Other
24	Th	12		“
29	Tu	13	12	Grading
1 May	Th	13		“
6	Tu	14	13	Legal Issues
8	Th	14		“
12	Mon			FINALS START (Quiz on 14 + Final)

MyDocs/Spring’08 Class Schedule

Ed 343 Spring ’08 Assignments

Assigned	Due	Ch	Exercise
Jan 31	Feb 5	1	See description of Assignment 1
Feb 7	Feb 12	Ap A	1. Do a search on ETS Test Collection. Print result. 2. Access Buros MMY. 5 things you noted in review.
Feb 13	Feb 15	2	Exercises 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (See separate handout. Check on Excel, SPSS)
Feb 19	Feb 21	3	Exercises 1, 2, 6 (For #6 ProQuestEducation.Use Reliability AND Tests
Feb 26	Feb 28	4	Exercises 1, 3, 4
Mar 4	Mar 6	5	Exercises 1, 3, 7, 8a&b
Mar 11	Mar 13	6	Exercises 4, 6, 7
Mar 13	Mar 20	7	Exercises 1 (m-c, t-f only), 6, 7 (5 mc items)
Mar 27	Apr 1	8	Exercises 2, 4, 5
Apr 3	Apr 8	9	Exercises 1, 3, 6
Ap 15	Ap 17	10	Exercises 1, 6 (write brief description of 2 sites)
Ap 17	Ap 22	11	Exercises 3, 9, 11
Ap 24	Ap 29	12	Exercises 1, 4 (briefly describe), 7
May 1	May 6	13	Exercises 4 (Fig 13.3), 5
May 8	May12	14	Exercise 2 or 3; and 7