Tools to Assess Curriculum

Reported by:

Mary Grace Dizon

Lorena Mendoza

Marra Eugenio

Joy delos Reyes

Syndie Jose

Klasika Espiritu

What are Assessment Strategies?

                Assessment strategies are the structures through which student knowledge and skills are assessed. These are:

1.     Paper -and- Pencil testing

2.     Performance based strategy

3.     Observational

4.     Personal communication

5.     Oral

6.     Reflective

7.     Combination of strategies

PAPER-AND-PENCIL STRATEGY

·         Essay

a.     Definition

The essay:

-       Writing used to assess student understanding and/or how well students can analyze and synthesize information;

-       Paper-and-pencil assessment where a student constructs a response to a question, topic, or brief statement;

-       Provides the student with opportunity to communicate his/her reasoning in a a written response.

b.     Purpose

The essay is used to:

-       Assess the student’s ability to communicate ideas in writing;

-       Measure understanding and mastery of complex information.

c.     Characteristics

The essay:

-       Measure student’s ability (e.g., in making comparisons, applying principles to new situations, organizing application, drawing inferences, being persuasive, integrating knowledge and applications, summarizing information);

-       Assess knowledge, reasoning, organization and communication skills;

-       Directly measures the performance specified by the expectations;

-       Includes a scoring which specifies attributes for a quality answers (e.g. conciseness, factual knowledge, connection between argument and supporting facts) and indicates the value associated with each of the attributes;

-       Affords the student a chance to construct his/her own answers, demonstrating creativity and/or originality.

d.     Teacher’s Role

The teacher:

-       Uses professional judgment to develop the problem, question, or statement and scoring of the final product.

e.     Consideration

The essay:

-       Issued to assess separately the student’s ability to communicate ideas, write proficiently and comprehend context;

-       Less time-consuming to construct compared to objective item testing, but can require considerable time to evaluate;

-       is not an effective means of assessing a student’s entire domain of content knowledge, or assessing more than one or two reasoning skills at one time.

·         Select Response

a.     Definition

The select response:

-       is a paper-and-pencil assessment in which the students is to identify the one correct answer;

-       is commonly used procedure for gathering formal evidence about student learning, specifically in memory, recall and comprehension.

b.     Purpose

The select response is to:

-       Test student learning of student/content knowledge (facts, concepts, principles or generalizations, procedures);

-       Assess prerequisite knowledge (e.g. when communicating in a second language, students can be assessed on vocabulary prior to a conversation in that language).

c.     Characteristics

The select response:

-       Can be administered to large numbers of students at the same time;

-       Can be scored very quickly;

-       is stated in clear, simple language.

d.     Teacher’s Role

The teacher:

-       Identifies the format (e.g. multiple choice, true/false);

-       Selects the content to be covered;

-       Designs the question.

e.     Consideration

The select response:

-       is always influenced by the student’s ability to read and understand the items:

-       can utilize computer and optical scanning technology to save time development, item storage and retrieval, test printing and optical scan scoring;

-       Can make it more difficult to determine how the students arrived at an answer with true/false and multiple choices.

THE PERFORMANCE-BASED STRATEGY

The Performance Task

A.     Definition

The performance task:

·         Is an assessment which requires students to demonstrate a skill or proficiency by asking them to create, produce, or perform;

·         May be an observation of the student or group of students performing specific task to demonstrate skills and/or knowledge through open-ended, “hands-on” activities.

B.     Purpose

The performance task is used to:

·         Provide an efficient means of assessment where the skills cannot be demonstrated with a pencil-and-paper test;

·         Enable learners to demonstrate abilities, skills, attitudes, and behaviors;

·         Provide information about a learner’s ability to organize, draw on prior knowledge and experience, improvise, choose from a range of strategies, represent learning, and make decisions to complete a task;

·         Test skills in affective, cognition, psychomotor,  and perceptual domains.

C.    Characteristics

The performance task:

·         Can be diagnostic, formative of summative assessment;

·         Uses ongoing feedback;

·         Allows most learners to participate successfully in varying degrees;

·         Provide opportunities for learners to work individually, as well as in small groups;

·         Focuses on the process as well as the product;

·         Provides contexts that have relevance to the students (MY ENHANCE MOTIVATION S students work on “real tasks; tasks are meaningful, “real world” applications);

·         Provides the most realistic assessment of job-related competencies;

·         Includes tasks such as painting, speeches, musical presentations, research papers, investigations, athletic performance, projects, exhibitions, and other product that require students to construct a unique response to  task.

D.    Teacher’s Role

The teacher:

·         Observes the student or group of students performing a specific task;

·         Shares with the student the responsibility of developing and organizing the performance task, and setting assessment criteria;

·         Assign a level of proficiency based on performance.

E.     Consideration

The performance task:

·         Provides an excellent  way to assess reasoning skills

·         Must have clearly defined criteria for assessment

The Exhibition / Demonstration

A.     Definition

The exhibition/demonstration:

·         Is a performance in which a student demonstrate individual achievement through application of specific skills and knowledge;

·         Is used to access progress in tasks that require students to be actively engaged in n activity (e.g. performing n experiment)

B.     Purpose
The exhibition/demonstration is used to:

·         Allow students to show achievement of a skill or knowledge by requiring the student to demonstrate that skill or knowledge in use.

C.    Characteristics

The exhibition/demonstration:

·         Is either an actual situation or a simulation (emphasis in a simulation is upon mastery of the fundamentals of the knowledge/skill);

·         Is often used in Arts;

·         Is accompanied by a list performance attributes as well as the assessment criteria, which should be determine prior to the demonstration ;

·         Is frequently organized in assessment stations where the stations are used toy test a variety of skills (e.g., basketball circuit-jump shot, set shot, dribble round pylons).

D.    Teacher’s Roles
The teachers:

·         Assesses how well a student’s performs a practice, behavior or skill.

F.     Considerations

The exhibition /Demonstration:

·         May be interdisciplinary;

·         May require students initiative and creativity;

·         May be a competition between individual students or groups;

·         May be collaborative project  that students work on over time;

·         Should be constructed and administered in a manner which is equivalent for all students (e.g., all candidates in a music demonstration play the same piano).

(Source: Teacher Companions curriculum Unit Planner April 16, 2001.)

THE OBSERVATIONAL STRATEGY

A.     Definition
Observation:

Is a process of systematically viewing and recording students behavior for the purpose of making programming decisions;

Permeates the entire teaching process by assisting the teacher in making the decisions required in effective teaching

B.     Purpose
Observation :

·         Provides systematic, ongoing information about students in relationship to areas of strengths and weakness, preferred learning styles, uniqueinterests, learningneeds, skills, attitudes, behavior, and performances related expectations.

C.    Characteristics
Observation:

·         can be used every day to assess students of different ages, across subject  areas, and in different settings (alone, in partners, small groups or whole class);

·         is stricter with a clear purpose and focus;

·         Includes a written record which should be as close to the time of the event as possible. The record should be objective.

D. Teacher’s Roles
the Teachers:

·         watches students respond to questions, study, complete assigned tasks:

·         listens to students as they speak and discuss with others ;

·         observes nonverbal forms of communication (e.g., attentiveness to lessons, signs of frustration);

·         Outlines the purposed of the observation by using the following questions as guidelines:
Who will make the observations?
Who and what is observed?

Why will the observation takes place?

When will the observation takes place?
When will the observation occur?

How will the observation be recorded (notes, audio/videotapes)?

·         Observes the students in a variety of situations/settings;

·         Draws inferences on the basis of  the observation gathered;

·         Observes the student’s performances, and then records observations on recording devices (checklist, rating scale, anecdotal record) which outline the framework and criteria for observation.

D.    Considerations
Observations:

·         Are made using a checklist, a set of questions, and/or a journal as a guide to ensure focused systematic observation.

·         Are often the only assessment tool used for demonstration (e.g., oral speaking, drawing, playing musical instruments. Applying motor skills in the physical education program, using equipment in design and Technology);

·         Can be collected by audio tape or videotape(allows  the teacher more detailed assessment of the performances after the fact);

·         Can limit students ability to act naturally if audio tape or videotape is used ;

·         Can be influence by bias in the interpretation of an observation;

·         Can be considered subjective, where the meaning of the observation is derived only by the professional judgment of what is observed;

·         Should not interfere with the natural learning environment.
(Source : Teachers Companions Curriculum Unit Planner April 16,2001)

PERSONAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

A.           The Conference

·         Is a formal or informal meeting between the teacher and student and parents?

·         Has a clear focus on learning for discussion.

B. Purpose of Conference

·         Exchange information or share ideas between among individuals at the conference.

·         Explore the student's thinking and to suggest next steps.

·         Assess the student's level of understanding of a particular concept or procedure.

·         Enable a student to move ahead more successfully on a particular piece of work.

·         Review, clarify and extend what the student has all ready completed.

·         Help students internalize criteria for good work.

C. Characteristic of Conference

·         Provides a clear focus for discussion.

·         Require that responsibility for the success of conference is shared by all participants.

·         May take place as the learner is exploring a new concept or topic or be a goal setting session or a report on progress.

·         Is brief, informal and occurs routinely.

·         Can be effective for both diagnostic and formative assessment.

D.  Teacher's Role in Conference

·         Comes to the conference prepared with specific questions to be answer.

·         Gives individual feedback and clarifies misconceptions.

·         Puts students at ease and support students progress. In the case of writing conference.

·         Focus on the process of reasoning followed by the student.

·         Records information during or immediately following the communication.

E. Consideration in Conference

·         Can be part of collaborative planning and decision making.

·         Is assisted by prepared questions.

·         Can be an extremely useful formative assessment strategy for students involve in major projects or individual studies.

THE INTERVIEW

A.   Definition

·         Is a form of conversation in which all parties increase their knowledge and understanding?

B. Purpose of Interview

·         Focus on inquiry where the purpose of the meeting is based on investigation.

·         Explore the students thinking.

·         Assess the student’s level of understanding of a particular concept or procedure.

·         Gather information, obtain clarification, determine position and probe for motivations.

·         Help determine student's understanding of qualities of good work.

C. Characteristic of Interview

·         Tends to be a meeting which involves inquiry.

·         Can be adopted to probe any problem or any consideration.

·         Occurs routinely.

·         Is usually guided by planned questions.

D. Teacher's Role in Interview

·         Is responsible for the initial questions that guide the conversation, as well as the flow and movement of the exchange.

·         Generates information during the interview which may lead to decisions, agreement and solutions.

·         Allow student to take the lead in the interview when appropriate.

E. Consideration in Interview

·         Needs time to build in conversations especially when the purpose is an honest and thoughtful exchange.

ORAL STARATEGY

THE QUESTION AND ANSWER

Question

·         Are posed by the teacher to determine if the students understand what is being presented or to extend thinking, generate ideas or problem solve.

Answer

·         Provide opportunities for oral assessment when the student responds to a question by speaking rather than by writing.

Purpose of Question and Answer

·         Provide a mechanism which monitor student’s understanding while assessing student’s progress.

·         Gather information about a student’s learning needs.

Characteristics of Question and Answer

·         Help teachers and students clarify their purpose for learning and link previous information with new understanding.

Teachers Role in Question and Answer

·         Notes how student answer questions during instruction to know if the students understand what is being presented or are able to perform skills.

·         Should ensure that all students participate, not just those individual who typically respond with answers.

Considerations in Question and Answer

·         Can help to ensure that all students are involved if tracking is done to ensure that all students participate.

·         Is used with consideration that some individuals are not comfortable or fluent expressing themselves orally.

THE CLASSROOM PRESENTATION

·         is an assessment requires student to verbalize their knowledge, select and present sample of finished work or organize thoughts, in order to present a summary of learning about a topic.

Purpose of Classroom Presentation

·         Provide summative assessment upon completion of a project or an essay.

·         Assess students when it is inappropriate or difficult to test a student's understanding or knowledge with pencil and paper test.

Characteristic of Classroom Presentation

·         Can provide students with an opportunity to use concrete materials express their ideas and talents.

·         May be a teaching tool if the presentation is designed to further the learning of the audience.

Teacher's Role in Classroom Presentation

·         With the student or alone, sets the idea for the assessment of the presentation.

·         Monitors student progress are selected stages during students preparation.

·         Provides oral or written feedback after the presentation.

Consideration in Classroom Presentation

·         Is a natural form of assessment for speeches, debates and subjects such as the study of languages?

·         Holds the potential to increase peer comparisons which may be harmful to some students because of the oral and visual aspects of presentations.

·         Is a critical skill to be taught, practice assessed and evaluate.

The reflective strategy

Self-assessment

A.     Definition

Self- assessment

·         Is the process of gathering information and reflecting on one’s own learning;

·         Is the student’s own assessment of personal progress in knowledge, skills, process, or attitudes;

·         Leads a student to a greater awareness and understanding of himself or herself as a learner.

B.     Purpose

Self- assessment is used to:

·         Assist students to take more responsibility and ownership of their learning;

·         Provide insights and information that enable students to make decisions about their learning and to set personal learning goals;

·         Use assessment as a means of learning;

·         Focus on both the process and products of learning;

·         Help students critique their own work;

·         Help students internalize the characteristics/ criteria of quality student’s work.

C.    Characteristics

Self- assessment:

·         Promotes the development of metacognitive ability ( the ability to reflect critically on one’s own reasoning);

·         May involve an introspective observation, a product assessment or a test;

·         May include attitude surveys, interest inventories, and personal journals;

·         Involves questions such as “how do I learn best?”, “what are my areas for growth?”, “where do I need to improve?”;

·         Is used to determine if a student’s beliefs about his/ her performance correspond to the actual performance observed by the teacher.

D.    Teacher’s role

The Teacher:

·         Guides students by helping students understand how to reflect on learning;

·         Provides time and opportunities for self- assessment;

·         Designs the questions or selects the self- assessment tool.

·         Can use student self-assessment to determine change or growth in the student’s attitudes, understanding, and achievement;

·         Completes the assessment based on personal reflection about achievement or performance.

E.     Considerations

Self- assessment

·         Is used to compare whether the student and the teacher have similar views of expected performance and criteria for evaluation;

·         Develops gradually as students begin to use the process in daily activities;

·         Can help students to witness personal growth through comparison with their own previous work, regardless of ability.

The response Journal:

A.     Definition

The response journal:

·         Provides frequent written reflective responses to a material that a student is reading, viewing, listening to, or discussing.

B.     Purpose

The response journal is used to:

·         Record personal reflections, observations, and interpretations.

C.    Characteristics

The response journal:

·         Allows time for students to formulate well- considered responses;

·         Includes both factual information and the student’s personal reflections;

·         Is provided within a climate which is non- threatening and open, and which encourages risk- taking;

·         Can provide the focus for a student- teacher conference;

·         Is a vehicle for communication with teachers, peers, parents;

·         Can include visual representations (e.g., artwork, sketches);

·         Can be used in all subject areas.

D.    Teachers role

The teacher:

·         Writes comments in the spirit of a dialogue (by asking questions and sharing thoughts).

E.     Considerations

The response journal:

·         Focuses on the process of reflective thinking;

·         Includes depth of thought and connection with understandings and experience as appropriate criteria for assessment;

·         Respects the personal nature of a journal and the learner’s desire for privacy;

·         Does not emphasize the formal aspects of writing style or correctness.

COMBINATION OF STRATEGIES

The Portfolio

A.       Definition

The Portfolio

·         Demonstrate the range and depth of a student’s achievement, knowledge, and skills over time and across a variety of contexts

·         Has student involvement in selection of portfolio materials as part of the process

·         Is a visual presentation of a student’s accomplishments, capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, and progress over a specified time

B.     Purpose

The portfolio is used to:

·         Document typical student work and progress

·         Provide a comprehensive view of the student’s progress, efforts and achievement

·         Reflect growth and progress but may serve different purposes during the year

·         Provide a focus for student reflection on their own learning

·         Build a student’s sense of responsibility for his/her own learning

·         Build a student’s confidence in her/his abilities as a learner

·         Promote an ongoing process where students demonstrate, assess and revise in order to improve and produce quality work.

C.    Characteristics

The Portfolio:

·         Tracks students progress on a variety of assessments over period of time;

·         Promotes the skills of the student self-assessment and goal setting;

·         Has a stated purpose and intended audience which are important to the entire process;

·         May include entries that the student and teacher consider as important representations of learning;

·         Can provide a focus for a conference or an interview involving the student, the teacher and parents;

·         Provides the opportunity for students to practice, assess, and select their own work.

D.    Teacher’s Role

The teacher:

·         Makes regular formative assessments during the portfolio process to determine individual needs and progress toward specified learning expectation in order to provide further instruction;

·         Provides regular feedback to students regarding their performance related to pre-stated criteria in order to help the students to improve.

·           Determines or negotiates with the students the purpose for the portfolio, the criteria for selection ( e.g., number of items , categories) and the time frame for use;

·         Reads the reflections and comments on the student’s assessment of personal learning.

E.     Consideration

The portfolio:

·         Is developed collaboratively by teachers and students, including shared development of the  purpose of the portfolio and criteria for selecting samples for inclusion;

·         Requires standardization regarding what is included if the portfolio is used for evaluate purposes;

Recording Devices/ Tools

       Recording devices provide various means of organizing the recording of information about student achievement. Teachers can choose or develop recording devices which suit the teacher’s style, the students and the activity or learning being assessed. These are:

1.     anecdotal record

2.     checklist

3.     rating scale

4.     rubric

5.     learning log

The Anecdotal Record

A.     Definition

The anecdotal record:

·         Is a short narrative describing both a behavior and the context in which the which the behavior  occurred;

·         Should objectively report specific and  observed behavior;

·         Describes student’s performance in detail and in writing

B.     Purpose

The anecdotal record is used to:

·         Provide an ongoing record of written observations of student progress;

·         To record objectively, significant observations that are not part of a formal assessment which might otherwise be forgotten or remembered incorrectly;

·         Record observation of unanticipated performances, behavior, incidents, or events

C.    Characteristics

The anecdotal record:

·         Provides rich portraits of an individual student’s  achievement;

·         Record observation which have special significance and cannot  be obtained from other classroom assessment strategies;

·         May appear unstructured since this tool is used to record spontaneous, unexpected demonstrations and/or behaviors, statements;

·         Record information on a form which  specifies the learner, the date of observation, and a factual description of the event or behavior;

·         Shows information collected over time and carefully analyzed in order to make accurate judgments about students achievements;

·         Provides a mechanism to recognize patterns of students growth over time ;

·         Is often used to document a student’s behavior for later reference

D.    Teacher’s Role

The teacher:

·         Determines which observation are to be considered significant and important;

·         Pre-plans the general format of the form with labels (e.g., name of students ,date, time, setting, description)

·           States in clear , concise language exactly what is observed;

·         Should record information while the event or behavior is fresh in the teacher’s mind;

·         Records incidents with a purpose

·         Establishes a synthetic procedure for collecting on all students, ensuring that no individual is overlooked.

E. Considerations 

The anecdotal record:

·         Is time consuming to read , write, and interpret;

·         Is often used in conjunction with other assessment strategies;

·         Records interpretation or recommendations separately from the description of the student’s performance;

The Checklist

A.     Definition

The checklist:

·         Is a list of actions or descriptions that a rater (teacher) checks off as the particular behavior or expectation is observed;

·         Is a written list of performance criteria which is used to assess student performance through observation, or may be used to assess written work;

·         Is a list of skills, concepts , behavior , process, and/or attitudes that might , or should, occur in a given situation.

B.     Purpose

The checklist is used to:

·         Record whether a specific skill or behavior was “evident” or “ not  evident”.

·         Record the presence or absence of specific behavior in given situations.

·         Record a performance that can and should be shown to students to help them see where improvement is needed.

C.    Characteristics

 The checklist:

·         Is used when the process or product can be broken into components that are judged to be present or absent: adequate or inadequate;

·         Provides a list of key attributes of good performance that are checked as either present or absent;

·         Is quick and useful with large number of criteria;

·         Can be used in a variety of settings to establish the presence or absence of a series of conditions

·         Enables the teacher to record whether a specific skill or behavior was “ evident” or “ not evident”, or more specifically, whether the behavior was observed or not at the time checklist was used:

·         Includes specific concepts, skills, processes, and/ or attitudes which are to be assessed;

·         Is diagnostic, reusable and capable of charting students progress;

·         Is an efficient way to obtain information about a student’s improvement over time by using the same checklist more than once;

·         Is useful for diagnosing an individual student’s strengths and weaknesses;

·         Consist of a list of statements which are expected to be exhibited;

·         Usually uses a check mark, or other indicator which is placed in the appropriate space on the checklist form to indicate that it has occurred;

·         Is useful for students in self and assessment

D.    Teacher’s Role

  The teacher:

·         Observes, judges, and determines if a student’s performance meets the criteria outlined on the checklist

·         Records the occurrence of the skill, behavior, concept, process, and/ or attitude on the checklist

·         Does not evaluate the quality of the work or contribution but indicates that it occurred or was completed

·         Should make a sufficient number of observations about a student before an evaluate judgment is applied.

Traditional Assessment

To not completely ignore the merits of a traditional paper-and-pencil test, traditional assessment is included in this discussion of alternative assessments. A major outcome of mathematics instruction should be the ability to compute and use algorithms of arithmetic and algebra to solve problems. These rote skills are important and are easily and quickly assessed through traditional assessment methods. Another important outcome of assessment is for teachers to gain feedback about their instruction. Again, the results a traditional paper-and-pencil test can often speak volumes about how well a teacher is teaching, or at least how well his or her students are understanding the instruction.

Do proponents of alternative assessment methods mean to eliminate traditional methods of assessment? Of course they do not. They do, however, advocate the diversification of assessment. They recognize that no one method of assessment is going to meet all of the varied needs of all of our varied students. In the name of equity, we must offer students more than one way to show what they have learned. They also point to some of the inadequacies of traditional assessment. For example, if a student leaves an exam question unfinished, what have we learned about his or her understanding of that problem? Was it left incomplete because the student did not even know how to begin, or because insightful, but ultimately fruitless attempts were made? Often even if a student does answer the question, right or wrong, we are able to glean just as much about their understanding. (Kuhs 1994)

Some authors do believe that the traditional pencil-and-paper test could be modified to be an effective assessment. (Hopkins 1997; (Manon 1995) Simply replacing the usual limited response questions with open ended questions that require insight and higher order thinking is a quick way to get at student understanding without too drastic of a change in pedagogy. For example, the question "Find the average of the following numbers: 5, 12, 49, 10, and 9" could be replaced with "Give an example of a list of five numbers whose average is 20. Explain." In the latter students do not necessarily need the algorithm that they needed in the former, but they do need to have a deeper understanding of the concept of average. By including the word "explain" in the question, the teacher has asked the students to share their thinking, and in so doing they give the teacher an opportunity to assess not just their dexterity of computation, but their conceptual understanding.

The Achieve expectations seem solely concerned with raising the bar of mathematics education in the middle schools. Little is spoken of conceptual understanding or application of mathematical ideas. The Achieve document reads more like a checklist of skills than a curriculum. As such, traditional testing methods are perfectly suited for assessing students in the Achieve program. For demonstrating facility with computational algorithms, or mastery of basic skills and topics, traditional assessment is still the quickest and easiest.

Conclusion

Many different methods of assessment exist, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, each serving different populations of students differently. Assessment is such an integral part of mathematics education (and education in general) that the predominant group of mathematics educators felt compelled to write an entire book urging the nation to evaluate their assessment methods and consider adopting their Standards. In the years since NCTM wrote the Assessment Standards for School Mathematics assessment has become no less important, nor has it become any less difficult.

If the vision is for mathematics assessments that will "help teachers better understand what students know and make meaningful instructional decisions" ((NCTM 1989) then teachers will have to move towards assessment methods that integrate written, oral, and performance formats, and incorporate calculators, computers and manipulatives into the process. (Cain & Kenney 1992) But what assessment method incorporates all of those things? None of them do, that is why we will have to do what the NCTM has been calling for all along which is to use multiple sources of assessment information. (NCTM 1995) While its true that traditional assessment does not give the complete picture of a student's mastery of mathematics, neither do any of the alternative assessment methods mentioned here when used in isolation. Teachers must work to find an appropriate balance of assessment methods to suit their needs. This balance will likely change from class to class, and student to student, but through experimentation teachers should be able to achieve an appropriate harmony of traditional and alternative, written and oral, formative and summative, assessments to fit any situation.

Forms of Assessment

Traditional Assessment

Traditional assessments are the conventional methods of testing which usually produce a written document, such as a quiz, exam, or paper.  Standardized tests, most state achievement tests, and high school graduation examinations are also examples of traditional assessments. 

·         Traditional assessments usually produce a written document, such as a paper, test, or quiz.

·         Traditional assessments usually take place at the end of a chapter, unit, or course of study.

·         Traditional assessments often use the following types of questions – true/false, multiple choices, matching, short-answer, fill-in-the-blank, and essay.

·         Students are usually tested individually.

·         Students receive a numerical score or grade which often contributes to a student’s final grade.

·         Subject areas are usually tested in isolation.

·               Also known as standardized assessment or summative assessment.

Traditional Forms of Assessment

Paper and Pencil Tests

Paper and pencil tests are mainly a summative form of testing. This means their main and often sole purpose is to evaluate what students have learned over a given period. This in itself is not a bad thing. Yet, in order for testing to be of more universal value, it must also be formative i.e. a method by which teachers and students can assess and develop their teaching and learning strategies respectively.

In education generally, there is a lot of academic snobbery in relation to which tests/qualifications are deemed acceptable and which are not. An example of this is the ongoing struggle of online course providers to be accepted as equal partners alongside their classroom counterparts. This snobbery leads to the misguided belief that only paper and pencil tests are of true academic value. Consequently, in the pursuit of perfection, this type of testing often leads, whether directly or indirectly, to undue parental pressure to be the best. Even without parental pressure, this method of testing can be extremely stressful and possibly lead to a loss of love for language learning. Some students, on the other hand, relish this type of challenge. For them, paper and pencil tests can be motivating and success gives them a strong sense of accomplishment.

Another major issue with paper and pencil tests is that they eat up valuable language learning and production time. Teachers often find themselves in the position where they are forced to teach the exam rather than the language itself. Furthermore, if a student knows that something is not pertinent to the exam, he/she will immediately switch off as that point or activity no longer has any relevance. The point being made here is that traditional paper and pencil tests are not negative per se. Rather, that if they are used as the sole means of testing they can have very negative effects on all concerned. Thus, in order to have a more balanced system of assessment, we must incorporate alternative forms of assessment which are less obvious and less stressful.

Types of Paper-Pencil Test

All of them are discussed under the same headings, borrowed from those used in the notes you get with medicines nowadays—for some odd reason, they seemed appropriate:

§  Description: a brief description of the method

§  Indications: when to use it

§  Contra-indications: when not to use it

§  Special precautions: things to be aware of

§  Notes: anything else which has not been mentioned under another heading.

Multiple-Choice Tests

Multiple-choice questions (MCQs) are sometimes referred to as “objective” tests, although the only thing which is more objective about them than other forms of assessment is the standardisation of the marking scheme.

They consist of a "stem", which usually takes the form of a question. The student then has to choose from a number of "items", which are alternative answers. In most forms, one of these is the correct answer (although there are variants which allow for a number of correct answers), and the others are "distractors".

Indications

§  Useful for easy administration to large numbers of students, especially where marking is to be done by assistants rather than the test-setter. Computer marking and web-administered tests are well-established.        

§  Effective for testing sheer knowledge and memory, and for problem-solving in convergent subject areas.

Contra-Indications

§  Any area in which there may be legitimate dispute about the "correct" answer.

Special precautions

§  Good MCQs are much harder to design than you think.     

§  Knowledge that a topic is to be assessed by MCQs may well encourage students to revise by memorising discrete items of information, rather than developing an overall understanding of the topic.

Notes

§  The probability of choosing the correct answer on a random basis is not particularly high, if there are sufficient distractors ("True or false" questions are rarely a good idea), and a sufficient number of questions.

§  The "trick" is to ensure that the distractors are plausible. If they are chosen on the basis of representing common errors in understanding the topic, patterns of wrong choices can have useful diagnostic value.

Essays

An essay is a traditional form of assessment in relatively academic and some professional areas. It takes the form of a piece of writing specially composed by the student to address a question or topic set by the teacher, usually within a set word-limit. It is extremely flexible and easy to set: unfortunately this also leads to a great deal of sloppiness in its use.

Indications

§  Any topic which requires the ability to construct and sustain a written argument.

Contra-Indications

§  Any circumstances where the ability to construct and sustain a written argument is not a major criterion of the assessment.

Special precautions

§  Equal opportunities: essays demand a wide variety of skills, some of which may be totally irrelevant to what you need to assess. Lack of any of these skills can severely disadvantage a student who is otherwise competent in the substantive area of study.           

§  It is easy to be seduced by those same irrelevant qualities: a well-presented and beautifully-expressed essay often attracts disproportionately higher marks than its content would warrant.         

§  Essays undertaken out of class are particularly insecure in the sense of being vulnerable to plagiarism.         

§  Setting an essay early in a module, so that it will be complete by the end, can mean that surface learners focus their reading and efforts solely on the set topic, to the exclusion of the rest of the module content.        

§  Students frequently put a lot of effort into their essays: they are entitled to similar effort put into the feedback. Unfortunately, the method is heavily back-loaded: essays are easy to set but very time-consuming to mark properly.       

§  Moreover, essays assess so many things at once, that it is important for validity and reliability that the proportion of marks allocated to each marking criterion should be clarified in advance.

§  If essays are submitted for summative assessment at the end of a module, the considerable opportunities they afford for formative assessment are often lost. Having completed the module, students may only look at the grade and ignore the comments, even when you have put a lot of effort into generating them.       

§  Where the bulk of module assessment rests on a single essay, it may engender high degrees of anxiety, which may quite severely impair a student's ability to give of her best.

Notes

§  See also Projects           

§  Consider several short assignments as an alternative to the "big" essay.          

§  Determine the marking scheme before you start marking. Share it with the students — better still, get them involved in drawing it up!

§  Advantages

§  • Allows for student individuality 

§  • Allows for demonstration of understanding of topic area

§  • Assess writing style, a useful transferable skill 

§  Disadvantages

• Can cause lack of equality as some students may never have been shown how to write essays well

• Time consuming for staff to mark

• Staff also fined that the 'halo effect' is greater

• Time consuming for the student

• Subjective marking high 

To overcome the disadvantages listed above, it is suggested that students are given essay writing help by exhibiting examples of good and bad practice. Be transparent in the marking criteria for the students so that they know what is expected of them, show what marks are allocated where if the question has several parts and give word limits. This helps to avoid the quantity versus quality issue! Finally, offer relevant feedback and think about writing a statement of common mistakes - this can minimize the time spent writing similar comments on different student essays.

Seen or Open-book Examinations

The seen (as opposed of course to "unseen") examination allows students to read case-study material or prescribed texts for a defined period (probably about a week) before the date of the examination. They can discuss it and research background material, but they do not know the actual questions to be asked until they enter the examination room.

The open-book examination allows students to consult required texts (legal statutes, for example, or various tables) during the examination. The texts have to be clean, i.e. without any form of annotation.

Indications

§  If examinations are required, both of these are useful devices for getting around the memorisation requirement, thereby freeing the student to concentrate on higher-level issues in revision. They retain, however, most of the security advantages of the standard examination.

§  The seen paper makes it possible to present substantial amounts of information in advance, and to test the students' skills in working with it.

Contra-Indications

§  Seen examinations are only slightly less anxiety-inducing than conventional ones.           

§  There is always the possibility of some students managing to derive an unfair advantage during the preparatory period: on the other hand, is that so different from the case of any student who revises efficiently and uses whatever resources are available?

Special precautions

§  The preparatory material needs to be prepared with great care.           

§  Even more than unseen examinations, students will concentrate their revision on what they expect to find in the paper, potentially to the neglect of the rest of the module content.

Advantages

• Time-efficient 

• Cost-effective

• Relatively easy to achieve equality of opportunity

• Less plagiarism

• Staff is familiar with exams

• Encourages students to learn certain subject matter 

Disadvantages

• Does not increase students' desire to learn

• Students play the game of guessing the agenda, so that learning can be unfocused

• For social work students in particular, experience of learning in situations is limited

• Traditionally feedback is low

• Does not help the theory/practice gap

• Scripts are usually marked in a rush

• Handwriting, neatness and presentation are also assessed and there is emphasis on exam technique rather than content

• Staff marking the scripts becomes bored!

• Difficult to be reliable when marked by different staff members 

• Encourages surface learning if exams questions are badly written

• Does not measure teamwork, leadership, creativity and even lateral thinking 

To get around some of the disadvantages listed above, it is suggested that exam questions are written in teams so that there is no ambiguity of language, and validity and reliability can be taken into account. Also, consider the module or unit's learning outcomes and remember to ensure all the outcomes are represented in the exam. Use short sentences and ensure the question layout is easy to follow. Write out an answer criteria for other markers and ensure that a timescale is agreed upon for script return. Finally, proof read your questions!

Criteria – are a set of standards to be followed in assessment.

- It determines the different levels of competencies or proficiency of acceptable task performance.

Goals and Objectives – are statements of curricular expectations.

Purposes of Goals and Instructional Objectives

Ø  To have focus on curriculum instruction which give direction to where students need to go.

Ø  To meet the requirements specified in the policies and standards of curriculum and instruction.

Ø  To provide the students the best possible education and describe the students level of performance.

Ø  To monitor the progress of the students based on the goals set.

Ø  To motivate the students to learn and the teachers to be able to feel a sense of competence when goals are attained.

For goals and objectives to be formulated, criteria on certain elements should be included according to Howell and Nolet (2000)

·         Content

·         Behavior

·         Criterion

·         Condition

Criteria for Effective Goals and Objectives

v  Syntactic Correctness

v  Compliance with Legal Requirements

v  The “Stranger Test”

v  Both Knowledge and Behavior are addressed

v  The “So-What Test”

v  Individualization

v  Common sense

Seven Questions Used for Judging the Objectives and Goals

§  Do the goals and/or objectives represent an important learning outcome that is a priority for this student?

§  Is there a goal written for each area of need stated in the present level of performance?

§  Are the goals realistic in the sense that they can be accomplished in one year?

§  Are the goals and objectives easily measured?

§  Are there multiple objectives representing intermediate steps to each goal?

§  Are the goals and instructional objectives appropriately calibrated?

§  Are the goals and instructional objectives useful for planning and evaluating instructional programs?

Criteria for Assessment of Instruction

        Supplantive Approach – this is referred to as “direct” instruction

        Generative approach – this is referred to as “constructivist” or “developmental”

Curriculum Criteria - are guidelines on standard for curriculum decision making.

Criteria in the Form of Questions

·         Have the goals of curriculum or teaching plan been clearly stated; and are they used by the teachers and students in choosing content, materials and activities for learning?

·         Have teacher and students engaged in student-teacher planning in defining the goals and in determining how they will be implemented?

·         Do some of the planned goals relate to the society or the community in which the curriculum will be implemented or the teaching will be done?

·         Do some of the planned goals relate to the individual learner and his or her needs, purposes, interest and abilities?

·         Are the planned goals used as criteria in selecting and developing learning materials for instruction?

·         Are the planned goals used as criteria in evaluating learning achievement and in the further planning of learning sub goals and activities?

Criteria in the Form of Questions (According to Hass and Parkay (1993))

·         Does the curriculum or teaching plan include alternative approaches and alternative activities for learning?

·         Have the different learning theories been considered in planning alternative learning approaches and activities?

·         Has the significance of rewarded responses, transfer, generalization, advance organizers, self-concept, meaningfulness of the whole, personal meaning, imitation, identification and socialization been considered in planning?

Characteristics of a Good Curriculum

v  The curriculum is continuously evolving.

v  The curriculum is based on the needs of the people.

v  The curriculum is democratically conceived.

v  The curriculum is the result of a long-term effort.

v  The curriculum is a complex of details.

v  The curriculum provides for the logical sequence of subject matter.

v  The curriculum complements and cooperates with other programs of the community.

v  The curriculum has educational quality.

v  The curriculum has administrative flexibility.

Marks of a Good Curriculum

Ø  A good curriculum is systematically planned and evaluated.

Ø  A good curriculum reflects adequately the aims of the school.

Ø  A good curriculum maintains balance among all aims of the school.

Ø  A good curriculum promotes continuity of experience.

Ø  A good curriculum arranges learning opportunities flexibly for adaptation to particular situations and individuals.

Ø  A good curriculum utilizes the most effective learning experiences and resources available.

Ø  A good curriculum makes maximum provision for the development of each learner.

EVALUATION – is the process of determining the value of something or the extent to which goals are being achieved.

-is the process of using information that is collected through assessment.

-entails a reasoning process that is based on influence.

-is a thoughtful process and the judgement we make about the assessments of student learning based on established criteria.

INFERENCE – is the process of arriving at a logical conclusion from a body of evidence.

Evaluation provides information:

a.     Directly to the learner for guidance

b.     Directly to the teacher for orientation of the next instruction activities

c.     Directly to external agencies for their assessment of schools functioning in the light of national purpose.

CURRICULUM EVALUATION – is the process of obtaining information for judging the worth of an educational program, product, procedure, educational objectives or the potential utility of alternative approaches designed to attain specified objectives. (Glass and Worthem, 1997)

                In evaluating a curriculum, the following key questions are asked:

1.     Are the objectives being addressed?

2.     Are the contents presented in the recommended sequence?

3.     Are the students being involved in the suggested instructional experiences?

4.     Are students reacting to the contents?

SUMMATIVE EVALUATION – is evaluation that takes place at the end of a unit or section of the instruction.

-takes place at the end of the lesson or project and tells the evaluator what has happened.

-“sums up” the learning

-it is after-the-fact, like end-of-the-year testing

FORMATIVE EVALUATION –takes place during the lesson or project and tells the evaluator what is happening.

-is on-going and yields information that can be used to modify the program prior to termination.

Table 3. A Comparison of Teaching Approaches

ATTITUDE	GENERATIVE APPROACH	SUPPLANTIVE APPROACH
Buzz words used by    proponent	·         Constructivist ·         Developmental ·         Top Down ·         Holistic ·         Authentic ·         Meaning-Based	·         Direct Instruction ·         Teacher-directed ·         Mastery Learning ·         Task analytic ·         Competency based ·         Effective teaching
What proponents call the other	·         Romantics ·         Fuzzy ·         Postmodemist ·         Unrealistic	·         Reductionist ·         Drill-and-kill ·         Dogmatic ·         Unauthentic
Underlying beliefs about what is taught	·         Students construct their own understanding ·         When learning is contextualized, students will identify what they are ready to learn	·         The skills that students needed to learn can be derived from an analysis of the social demands placed on them.
Underlying beliefs about how learning occurs	·         Learning is a “socially constructed”, students link new information to prior knowledge when provided opportunities to observe or experience	·         Learning can be induced through instruction that builds explicit links between new information and prior knowledge
Underlying beliefs about how to teach	·         Learning is developmental and occurs much the way early language is acquired ·         Teachers take a “hands off” approach and seek to provide a meaningful context in which learning will occur naturally	·         When learning does not occur, it can be facilitated by building it from the “bottom up” through teaching of prerequisite sub skills ·         Teacher take a “hands on” approach by structuring lessons and providing explicit direction
Common error made by proponents	·         Creating interesting classroom activities but failure to link these activities to learning outcomes ·         Too much emphasis on larger ideas, not enough emphasis on the components	·         By focusing on specific learning outcomes, they may fail to attend to other equally important interests and topics ·         Too much emphasis on the components, not enough emphasis on the larger ideas

Table 4. Guidelines for Selecting an Instructional Approach

	Select the Generative Approach When:	Select the Supplantive  Approach When:
The Student	·         Has considerable prior knowledge ·         Has adaptive motivational patterns ·         Experiences consistent successes on the task	·         Has little prior knowledge of the task ·         Has non-adaptive motivational patterns ·         Experiences repeated failure on the task
The Task	·         Is simple for the student ·         Is well defined ·         Can be computed using a general problem-solving strategy ·         Is to understand, but not necessarilyapply what is learned	·         Is complex ·         Is ill defined ·         Has missing information ·         Requires the use of a task-specific strategy ·         Is pivotal to the learning of subsequent tasks ·         Must be used with a high level of proficiency
The Setting	·         Allows plenty of time to accomplish outcomes ·         Places priority on experiences and activities	·         Time allowed to accomplish outcomes is limited ·         Places priority on task mastery

ASSESSING THE CURRICULUM

Intended vs. Implemented vs. Achieved Curriculum

Purpose of Curriculum Assessment

Curriculum Assessment is the process of collecting information for use in evaluation. It is an important part of the systems approach to curriculum development. Any information, data collected or obtained through various processes will be analyzed for important decision making processes.

Curriculum assessment may achieve the following purposes:

1.     Highlight curriculum expectations

2.     Gather information about what students know and can do

3.     Motivate students to learn better

4.     Motivate and encourage teachers to meet the identified needs of the students

5.     Provide evidence to tell how well the students have learned

6.     Obtain feedback that helps teachers, students and parents make good decisions to guide instructions

The parameters of assessment in this lesson will include the intended curriculum, the implemented curriculum and the obtained curriculum.

Intended Curriculum – refers to a set of objectives set at the beginning of any particular plan. It establishes the goal, the specific purposes, and the immediate objectives to be accomplished. The intended curriculum answers what the curriculum makers want to do. There are certain indicators to measure intended curriculum. Among the indicators are being stated questions which can be answered. Examples of the questions are the following:

1.     Are the objectives achievable within the learners’ developmental levels?

2.     Can the objectives be accomplished within the time frame?

3.     Are the resources adequate to accomplish the objectives?

4.     Are the objectives specific and clear?

5.     Are there ways of measuring the outcomes of the objectives?

6.     Are the objectives observable?

7.     Are the objectives doable?

8.     Are the objectives relevant?

9.     Overall, are the objectives SMART?

Implemented Curriculum- refers to the various learning activities or experiences of the students in order to achieve the intended curricular outcomes.  Many times in our curriculum, lots of activities are done but these do not accomplish the stated objectives. To assess the implemented curriculum the following questions can be addressed:

1.     Are the learning activities congruent with the stated objectives?

2.     Are the materials and methods appropriate for the objective set?

3.     Does the teacher have the skill to implement the activities or use the strategy?

4.     Does the teacher utilize the various ways of doing to complement the learning styles of the students?

5.     Are there alternative activities for the learners to do to accomplish the same objectives?

6.     Are there activities provided to address individual differences?

7.     Do the activities provide maximum learning experiences?

8.     Do the activities motivate the learners to do more and harness their potentials?

9.     Do the activities utilize multiple sensory abilities of the learners?

10.   Do the activities address multiple intelligences of the learners?

Achieved Curriculum- refers to the curriculum outcomes based on the first two types of curriculum, the intended and the implemented. The achieved curriculum is now considered the product. It can be the learning outcomes, or a material product itself, like a book module or instructional material. Any achieved curriculum must fit with the objectives and the activities that were conducted. Achieved curriculum indicates the performance vis a vis the objectives and the various activities. Achieved curriculum is usually described by test scores or other performance indicators measured by evaluation tools. To measure achieved curriculum the following questions should be addressed:

1.     Do the learning outcomes achieved by the learners approximate the level of performance set at the beginning of the curriculum?

2.     Are the learning outcomes achieved higher or lower than the objectives set?

3.     Do the achieved learning outcomes reflect the knowledge, skills, attitudes and skills intended to be developed?

4.     How many percent of the learners in the same class perform higher than the level set at the beginning?

5.     Do the curricular outcomes reflect the goals and the aspirations of the community where the curriculum was implemented?

Each type of curriculum can be assessed independently and independently and in comparison with the other three components.

Achieved

                The figure below summarizes the relations among the three kinds of the curriculum.

Intended

Implement

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Figure 5 – The Relationship of the three Types of Curriculum

                Each type of curriculum should be linked to one another. Any gap along the line will make the connection weak and will lead to obstacles in the accomplishment of the overall purpose of the curriculum.

The Basic Education curriculum (BEC) and the Three Types of Curriculum: Intended, Implemented and Achieved.

                Let us analyze the BEC in the light of the three types of curriculum.

                Question 1- what does the BEC aim to accomplish? (Intended Curriculum)

                From the DepEd BEC primer, the following are the goals of the basic education curriculum.

1.     To raise the quality of Filipino learners and graduates who will become lifelong learners.

2.     To decongest the curriculum in order that the teachers and learners will be able to contextualize it.

3.     To use innovative, interdisciplinary and integrative modes of instructional delivery whenever possible and appropriate

4.     To make values development integral to all learning areas in high school.

5.     To increase time for tasks in order gain mastery of competencies of the basic tools subjects.

The curriculum objectives are expressed in terms of competencies: knowledge, skills, values and attitude which the learners will develop or acquire. These objectives or competencies determine the content which focuses on learning how to learn.

Question 2- How was the BEC implemented to accomplish the goals? (Implement Curriculum)

        To accomplish the goals, the following activities or actions were done or are being implemented in the different basic education school of the country.

1.     The BEC decongested the overcrowded the old curriculum into five learning areas, namely, English, Mathematics, science, Filipino and Makabayan. The first three subject areas will develop internationalism, while the last two learning areas will develop Filipinism.

2.     The teachers in basic education were trained to use innovations, interdisciplinary, thematic, and integrative modes of instructional delivery. Teachers of different disciplines plan and teach together in tandem or teams in all subject areas as possible.

3.     Teaching-learning processes are interactive to enhance learning. There is open communication between teachers and learners and among learners themselves. Instructional materials and multimedia are fully utilized to support interaction thus teaching and learning become more interesting. Teachers consider the learner as an active partner rather than a passive receiver of knowledge.

4.     English, Science, Mathematics and Filipino are the basic tool subjects, while Makabayan develops healthy personal and national self-identity.

5.     Makabayan entails the use of integrated units of learning areas composed of several subjects in the elementary and in the secondary levels.

For the elementary level, Makabayan is composed of:

a.     Araling Panlipunan or Social Science (Sibika at Kultura for Grade 1 and 2 and Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika (HeKaSi) for Grade 4, 5. and 6)

b.     Edukasyong Pantahanan at Pangkabuhayan (EPP) for Grades 5 and 6

c.     Musika, Sining at Edukasyon Pangkatawan (MSEP) for Grade 4 to 6 while for Grade 1-3, MSEP is integrated Sibika and Kultura.

d.     Good Manners and Right Conduct (GMRC) is integrated in all learning areas.

For the High School, the components of Makabayan learning areas are as follows:

a.     Araling Panlupunan (AP) or Social Studies is composed of Philippine History and Government 1^st Year; Asian Studies, 2^nd year; World History, 3^rd year and Economics, 4^th year.

b.     Technology and Home Economics

c.     Physical Education, Health, Music and Arts (PEHMA)

d.     Edukasyin sa Pagpapahalaga (EP) or Values Education

6.     The _{­­­­­­­­­}school year 2002-2003 was declared as the pilot year in the public schools. Private basic education schools were encouraged to join in the implementation of the BEC in the later years.

Question 3 – What has the BEC achieved? (Achieved Curriculum)

                From its pilot implementation, several monitoring and evaluations processes were made. The National Educational Testing and Research Center (NETRC), the bureau of Elementary Education (BEE) and the Bureau of Secondary Education (BSE) were tasked to do the evaluation of the BEC. A continuous monitoring was done by the school principals and supervisors in the schools, district and divisions. This is referred to as a school-based monitoring, to allow curriculum managers to make immediate adjustments and provide feedback to the national offices.

                Although, no formal report has been perused, among the initial achievements of the BEC as expressed by teachers, parents and students informally are the following:

1.     Increased interest and motivation of students to go to school

2.     Increased level of performance in the tool subject areas

3.     Change in teachers paradigm from a dispenser of knowledge to facilitators of learning

4.     Increased instructional materials support for teaching and learning

5.     Increase in the in-service training of teachers

6.     More opportunities of learners to learn on their own

7.     Use of varied teaching strategies to complement the learning styles of the students

8.     More involvement of other stakeholders in the education of the children.

9.     More involvement of the school principals in decision making than relate to curriculum implementation.

10.   Empowered teachers and school officials.

From the initial results, it can be gleaned that in the BEC, there is a match between the intended, implemented and the achieved curricula. Perhaps at this point in time action research and program evaluation should be done to provide empirical evidence to determine the value and worth of the curriculum.

Written Report in Curriculum Development and Instructional Planning

(Assessing the Curriculum

Intended Vs. Implemented Vs. Achieved Curriculum)

Maileen Cruz

Maureen Diaz

Shaina Mae Hoper

Marielle Lyn Jose

Clarita Laderas

Mary Jelhene Rivera

Pilot Testing, Monitoring and Evaluating the Implementation of the Curriculum

Submitted by: Ana Clarisse M. Bantog

                       John Raven A. Fidelino

                       Jessica M. Gonzales

                       Coleen M. Laurente

                        Andrea P. Mateo

                        Anna Rose U. Refran

Pilot Testing or Field Try–Out

Whenever a curriculum is written as in books, course manuals, modules or the whole curricular program, there is a need to have a try-out or field testing. This process will gather empirical data to support whether the material or the curriculum is useful, relevant, reliable and valid.

                Most of the field testing or try out follow some form of research designs. Usually it follows an experimental method; however an initial process can be done without any comparison group. In this case only one group of students will be used as try out for the curriculum.

                For example, a group of curriculum specialists was commissioned to prepare instructional materials on mangroves. The materials are educational modules for the elementary children in the public schools who live along the coastal areas. The curricular materials were written to better understand and advocate the preservation of the mangroves in the country.

Using the principles of curriculum writing and backed up by the content specialization of the writers and consultants, the modules were written. The printed modules were reviewed by the consultants and peers, however, there was a need to try out or pilot test the activities and field practicals by the users who are the students themselves.

The first try-out involved a small group of grade five students. They did the various activities according to the procedure in the module and under the guidance of the module writers. The students were asked regarding the clarity of instruction, the sufficiency of time to accomplish the activity, and their understanding of the lessons learned from the activity. Two days were spent for the first try out. The result of the first try out guided the curriculum specialists to further continue writing the other parts of the curriculum materials. These complete sets of lessons were ready for the next try out.

                The second try-out was done by the students, using complete set of written materials from the advanced readings to the field work. Each group again worked on the materials with the guide of the module writers. Longer time was spent for the second try–out because the students had to work on the whole lesson not merely on the practical. The module writers had to determine the level of understanding of the words, instructions, technical terms and the concepts being developed. Likewise, the time needed to complete the task was also determined and the level of difficulty established. The try-out provided information for the final revision of the materials. The revised module from the second try out was finally used by the whole class. The final try-out validated the result of the first and the second try-outs thus after the third try-out the materials were ready for the printing and distribution.

                The try-out or pilot testing assures the teachers and the schools that indeed the curriculum materials are ready for use.

                You will notice that in the example only one group of students was utilized. This is what we call a one group no control groups design. On the other hand, a try-out can be done with two groups – one group being the experimental group and the other, the control group. The group using the module is labeled as the experimental and the other using any other kind of teaching methods except the modules becomes the control group. At the end of the try-out, the result of their performance will be compared. This design can be used in the third try-out of the example given above.

The Department of Education implemented the Basic Education Curriculum (BEC), the original name of the curriculum to the whole nationwide system in 2002. After one year of implementation, it was renamed Revised Basic Education Curriculum (RBEC) due to some modifications, revisions and enhancement from the original form that were made.

                Modification and revisions are inherent characteristics of a curriculum. Pilot testing is a developmental process that gives signal as to whether the particular curriculum can already made with confidence.

                However, as the curriculum is being implemented, there is a need to continuously monitor the process.

·         Curriculum Monitoring

                Monitoring is important to determine if the curriculum is still relevant and effective. It is a periodic assessment and adjustment during the try out period. It is like a formative evaluation. It becomes as a basis of decision on what aspects have to be retained, improved or modified and if the program would be end or terminate.

·         Curriculum Evaluation

                It refers to a systematic judging the value, effectiveness and adequacy of a curriculum: it’s a process, product and setting which will lead to informed decision. It should be useful and systematic.

                In practice, two ways of curriculum evaluation will be presented here. These are School-Based Evaluation (SBE) and Accreditation.

1.   School-Based Evaluation is an approach to curriculum evaluation which places the content, design, operation, and maintenance of evaluation procedure in the hands of the school personnel. The school personnel participate in the planning and conduct of school evaluation activities. It is a participative evaluation where the control and management of the process rest on the school personnel themselves.

                The localized nature of the SBE ensures evaluation which is relevant, meaningful and useful at the school level. It is important for evaluation process that all who are affected and those who will implement the decision should play a great role.

                A range of evaluation activities may take place within the school. It can be undertaken by a single teacher, small group of teachers or even the entire school. For example, two teachers may wish to examine a science unit they are both teaching. They will undertake an evaluation in order to improve their individual teaching activities. On the other hand, the whole school may undertake curriculum evaluation of the mathematics program across all levels in order to re-evaluate school policy and initiate re-development of the mathematics curriculum.

                Some of the advantages of the school-Based Evaluation include the following:

1.     Accountability is shared by all, hence bias and conflict are minimized.

2.     School personnel develop evaluation skills.

3.     The real concerns of the school and community are addressed by the evaluation.

4.     Broad participation of school personnel provides opportunities for building school cohesiveness.

5.     Provides reliable and valid information on curriculum, resources, and general school functioning.

        With these advantages the school administrators may opt for a regular evaluation of its school curriculum. This practice will make all stakeholders alert and will be on their toes the whole year round.

2. Accreditation – This is a voluntary process of submitting a curriculum program to an external accrediting body for review in any level of education: basic, tertiary or graduate school to assure standard. Accreditation studies the statement of the educational intentions of the school and affirms a standard of excellence.

                Among the many purposes of accreditation are to foster excellence and improve programs. The curricular accreditation will assure the academic community, other agencies and the general public that the curriculum meets standards comparable to other excellent institutions offering similar program.

                Usually there are ten areas for program accreditation one of which is curriculum and instruction. Quality instruction is a concern of curriculum. School administrators play important leadership role in maintaining quality of the program of studies, classroom management, instructional processes, graduation requirements, academic performances of the students and the administrative measures for effective instruction.

What are the areas for accreditation under Curriculum and Instruction?

1.   Curriculum and Program Of Studies

          Program of studies includes the clusters of knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and experiences that will provide the students at any level with the necessary competencies for effective learning. A list of subjects or courses to be taken and arranged in a logical order compose the program of studies.

2.   Classroom Management

           For effective instruction, the use of appropriate classroom management is suggested. The teacher who implements the curriculum sees to it that management of teaching and learning in the classroom follows procedure and guidance to enhance and create an environment conducive to learning. An environment conducive to learning considers the physical as well as the human factors.

3.   Instructional Processes or Methodologies

The decision of choosing and using the method of teaching is a crucial factor in curriculum and instruction. There are varied methodologies that are compatible with the different learning style of the students. These emerging strategies of teaching follow principles and theories that enhance learning outcomes. As teachers, there is a need to know not only the steps or strategies of teaching but to understand the pedagogical content knowledge of each strategy. Curriculum accreditors see to it that different methodologies are utilized in the classrooms by the teachers for effective teaching learning process. Further, teachers are also guided, supported and manage by their school officials.

4.   Graduation Requirements

          Graduation means successful accomplishment of the curricular program of studies. A student has to accomplish its academic program as prescribed in the program of studies. These requirements are clearly understood upon enrollment in college by the students and by the parents for students in the elementary or high school. The grade requirements of each subject should be known.

5.   Administrative Support for Effective Instruction

          A curriculum can be best implemented if there is a support of the school administration. In fact a school principal for example has a distinct responsibility for a curricular manager or manager of learning. The required physical facilities like good classrooms, libraries, playground, laboratory, study areas are the primary responsibilities of the school administrators. Procurement of books and equipment should be made possible to facilitate instruction. The school class schedules should result to efficient and effective teaching and learning. This would even include schedules for exams and short vacations or school break. Policies should be provided for punctuality of teachers and students in school attendance and submission of reports. Quality instruction should be sustained by requiring needed instructional materials, high quality of examination questions and other support for effective instruction. A school administration which can provide high and quality support to instruction assures effective curricular outcomes.

6.   Evaluation of Academic Performance of Students

          In curriculum, it is necessary that learning outcomes be evaluated. After all the best measure of a curriculum is the learning outcome of the students.

          The evaluation of students' performance should make use of valid and reliable tools which are periodically reviewed and revised. Students should be informed and be clarified about the grading system as well as the standards used. Schedules for examinations, periodical tests, midterms, finals should be given in advance and the results communicated to them soon as possible. Students should receive information about their school performance promptly and regularly. Likewise recognition like scholarships, certificates, and merits should be given.

          Success of the school curriculum is shown in the results of the evaluation of the students’ performance.

                    In summary, this lesson tells us that a curriculum undergoes a long and dynamic process from its plan, to writing, to pilot testing, monitoring and evaluating. The last three processes were discussed in this lesson which confirms that indeed a good curriculum is one that delivers good results in the learning outcomes of the learners. These outcomes are measured against the objectives set in the curriculum plan.